Sarah Palin crib notes mocked by White House aide

From the BBC

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

A White House aide has appeared at a briefing with the words "hope" and "change" written on his hand in a jibe at Republican Sarah Palin. Mrs Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, had been shown reading crib notes from her hand at a question and answers session on Saturday. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also appeared to have his shopping list written on his palm.

Mr Gibbs was speaking at the White House shortly after the president had been stressing the need for a bipartisan approach to politics. Showing his left palm, Mr Gibbs said: "I wrote a few things down." The list read in vertical order - eggs, milk, bread [which had been crossed out]. "And then I wrote down 'hope and change', just in case I forgot," he said. The jibe reportedly drew groans from reporters present.

At the weekend, Mrs Palin was delivering a speech and taking part in a question and answer session for the Tea Party movement, which draws together opponents of Mr Obama's healthcare reform, his economic stimulus package and other aspects of his agenda. A photo taken during the event showed her left hand with the words "energy", "budget cuts", "tax" and "lift Americans' spirits". The word "budget" had been crossed out. Video footage showed her seemingly reading from her hand when asked what top three things a conservative-led Congress should do. In her speech, Mrs Palin received a standing ovation as she called for a "return to conservative principles". She also spoke of a "charismatic guy with a teleprompter" - an apparent reference to President Obama.

[The world so dodged a bullet when she failed to get elected as VP. Let’s just hope she doesn’t make the ticket next time!]