Ugly Tour Bus Photoblogging: Missed Opportunity For Infinite Recursion

Click for bigger.

Uh, oh, the ugly tour busses are becoming self-aware!

Random Arizona Anecdote

I've already mentioned that when you grow up in a weird, weird place like Arizona, its other-worldliness doesn't become apparent to you until you leave and experience "normal" places. And then, after leaving, you find out that, to most people, Arizona might as well be Mars.

I left Tucson in 1983 to attend UC San Diego. I quickly picked up on the low regard my home held in the eyes of Californians (fucking Zonies, they called us). I also noticed that to most Californians, Arizona was a mysterious, distant place on the edges of their awareness; many were unaware the two states shared a border! Really! I lost count of how many times I had variations of the following conversation:

Friend: OMG, you're going all the way back to Arizona just for Thanksgiving/Xmas?
Me: Uh, well, yes. It's only a few hours away.
Friend: Really?
Me: Yes, it's right next door. Where are you going for Thanksgiving?
Friend: Chico.

Distance between San Diego and Tucson: 415 miles. Distance between San Diego and Chico: 592 miles.

Arizona Roundup: New Law Quickly Becoming Nightmarish

Photo by A.C. Huestis. Click for bigger.

Let's look at some predictable happenings roundup style:

• From the Washington Post: The day after the Arizona legislature approved the bill, the police headquarters was flooded with phone calls. A typical complaint, according to [Tucson Police Chief] Villaseñor, was this: "Hey, there are some Mexicans standing on the corner? You need to check them out."
• Also from the Post, the first of many, many lawsuits to come.
• The Associated Press reports that the new law has already aroused the ire of local gal Linda Ronstadt.
• The Los Angeles Times reveals that this is going to be a big mess for major league baseball, which I've heard sometimes employs Latinos: "Pulling baseball's annual showcase out of Phoenix could cost the state more than $40 million, a baseball spokesman estimated." Well done.
• Ruben Navarrette, in the San Diego Union-Tribune, reports this unsurprising anecdote: There are many stories, but here’s just one. A Mexican-American friend of mine who is a corporate executive was mowing his lawn in an affluent and predominantly white neighborhood. He was unshaven and dressed in work clothes when a passer-by complimented him on the landscaping job and asked for a business card. “What’s the name of your company?” he asked. My friend smiled and responded: “Sprint.” 
• Elsewhere in the San Diego rag, even less surprising support for the bill on the Letters to the Editor page. A sampling:  "I do not anticipate midday public apprehensions of people walking down a street." Really? I do. "Illegal immigration, aside from being against the law, causes economic damage to the public and is resulting in a wide range of offenses, ranging from burglary to murder," claims another. Wow, that's quite a range: from burglary to murder, and, presumably, everything in-between.
• The Wall Street Journal reports this morning on a new movement in Arizona to get rid of teachers who sound too Mexican. 

Isn't is marvelous to live in a post-racial society?

Here's Your World Expo Mascot

(Diego Azubel/European Pressphoto Agency)

Part Smurf, part condom, part soft-serve ice cream... what's not to like? I think I need one of these. His (?) name is Haibao, and you can see more –probably too much more– of him here.

This Is Arizona: Roadrunner, Feed Store

Photos by A.C. Huestis. Click for bigger.

Ugly Tour Bus Photoblogging: Five Points

Click for bigger.

"Little Punk Staffer" Button Spotted In The Wild

I was so thrilled to spot a stylish "Little Punk Staffer" button on the Metro this morning, proudly sported on a young woman's purse. You go, girl! Thanks for laughing and letting me photograph it.

This Is Arizona: Stone & Glenn, Tucson

All photos by A.C. Huestis. Click for bigger!

It's true that there's nothing particularly "Arizonan" about Tucson's resident Muffler Man™, but he's always seemed to be very at-home in the Old Pueblo™. Sadly, his double-sided ax was stolen recently.

These photos show him with his holiday accessory. Now, don't get too excited when I tell you this, but he used to have an entire Santa suit, complete with hat and white beard! I'm pretty sure I've got photos of that somewhere.

Roadside America mentions that some Arizonans know this Muffler Man as Glenn Stone because of the corner he guards. In the 70s and 80s, though, we all called him Leo the Lumberjack, because he was located in front of Leo's Auto Supply. Nobody native would ever think to call him Paul Bunyan.

Poor Leo. He's always been reasonably well maintained, but I'd like to see a slightly better paint job. I'd like to see his irises and lips detailed, for instance, as long as nobody gets carried away. He really does need a new ax.

Arizona is home to at least three other surviving Muffler Men. See Leo contextualized here at Google Maps.

Exciting New Feature/Contributor

Photo by A.C. Huestis

I'm pleased to say that my brother Andrew has agreed to supply this site with photographs on the theme of "This is Arizona" for the foreseeable future.

Like me, Andrew moved away from the state for a while, and I think that's crucial to understanding the mixture of bizarre and hyper-normal, bleak and chaotic, amusing and aggravating, gorgeous and tawdry... the endless dualities which make up Arizona. Unlike me, however, he moved back, so that puts him in a great position to process and document what he's learned.

I'm very excited! Stay tuned for more!

Panicky Corn Syrup Vendor Wants You To Know That Name Was Always Just A Cutesy Marketing Gimmick

Next thing you know, they'll tell us that the Hyundai Tucson, or Tuscon, or whatever, is Korean or something! This just in via NY Daily News:

The Brooklyn founder of AriZona Iced Tea put out a statement Wednesday reminding customers the tea is brewed here in New York - not that other state people are calling to boycott.

"AriZona Beverages proudly traces its origins back to New York," said Don Vultaggio.

"In 1992, two hard working guys from Brooklyn with a dream created AriZona Iced Tea.

"Since then ... we have remained loyal to our family-run business based in New York. For the last 16 years, our headquarters have remained on Long Island."

As the News reported Tuesday, the popular tea company is getting caught up in public anger over Arizona's harsh new anti-immigrant law, which allows cops to demand citizenship papers from anyone they think looks illegal.

Comedian George Lopez briefly made the drink a top ten topic on Twitter by joking that he "went to buy a AriZona Iced Tea - they asked me for my documentation. So I bought HORCHATA instead!"

Expect JC Penney to follow through shortly. Could this be a silver lining? Could the era of using "Arizona" as a maudlin, vaguely-Western marketing ploy be over?

PSP Really Does Want To Help You Understand Arizona, And Unrepentantly Admits That Failure Is Inevitable

Do Not Play On or Around: Your teentastic host emerging from a dumpster at "The End of Alvernon," Tucson, ca. 1984-5 (photo probably by Sam Friedman or Jeff Farr).

It's true! I have every intention of taking a strongly Arizona-centric detour on this blog for at least the next several months. I want to make one thing clear: this is not about Arizona-bashing and certainly not from a standpoint of "what a dump; I'm so glad I moved away from there." Nothing could be further from the truth. This will not resemble, for instance, "The People of Walmart," a website I think is evil and horrible and makes me sad and angry (at the people who publish it). It also won't resemble The New Republic, which simply dismisses the state as a bad job and then washes its hands, thinking its work is done. To be honest, I can't really express a coherent opinion about the state because it's such an ingrown part of me that it would be foolish to pretend I could be objective. Arizona just is: there are things about it that are awful; things about it that are breathtaking; things about it that are peculiar and make you feel funny. But you can't make sense of it all unless you... oh, what the heck, you can't make sense of it all period, but it's still worth the attempt.

Photo by AC Huestis, click for bigger.

I have plenty of old ephemera and photographs I've taken and/or collected over the years, and I'm hoping to also feature more photos by Sparkle Sibling Andrew (see above and here). I hope other Arizona Pony Pals™ (hint, Nixie Bunny, hint) past and present will feel free to contribute as well.

So anyway, stay tuned for probably too much Arizona, because you may as well capitalize upon something you know. The place is getting a ton of press lately, and there's just such a "they don't get it" quality to it all, I know I can help! And by "help" I mean "muddle the waters more." Don't expect me to actually explain anything outright; think of it more as color commentary.

Above and below – two views of a very political and stylish encampment of elderly homeless at an abandoned gas station, 22nd Street and Park Avenue, Tucson, 1986. Click for bigger.

UPDATE: I think I'm going to go ahead and implement a Draconian™ "no simplistic Arizona-bashing comments" policy, because we've all already said "this new law sucks blah, blah, blah," so there's no reason for this boring stuff to get repeated and minutely varied endlessly on and on, OK? So if you comment something along the lines of OMG, have you heard they're all racists because of new legislation? I'm going to delete it.

What Part Of His Body Will Mitch McConnell Eat Next Once He's Finally Finished The Years-Long Process Of Devouring His Own Lips?

(Photo: Newscom.com via Talking Points Memo, no date provided.)

Seriously, I want to know! Nose or chin? Or do you think he'll go for something more distant from his mouth, like his toes or nipples?

It reminds me of this wonderful poem from Monty Python's Big Red Book (Methuen, 1971):

Much to his Mum and Dad's dismay
Horace ate himself one day.
He didn't stop to say his grace,
He just sat down and ate his face.
"We can't have this!" his Dad declared,
"If that lad's ate, he should be shared."
But even as he spoke they saw
Horace eating more and more:
First his legs and then his thighs,
His arms, his nose, his hair, his eyes...
"Stop him someone!" Mother cried
"Those eyeballs would be better fried!"
But all too late, for they were gone,
And he had started on his dong...
"Oh! Foolish child!" the father mourns
"You could have deep-fried that with prawns,
Some parsley and some tartar sauce..."
But H. was on his second course:
His liver and his lights and lung,
His ears, his neck, his chin, his tongue;
"To think I raised him from the cot
And now he's going to scoff the lot!"
His Mother cried: "What shall we do?
What's left won't even make a stew..."
And as she wept, her son was seen
To eat his head, his heart, his spleen.
And there he lay: a boy no more,
Just a stomach, on the floor...
None the less, since it was his
They ate it – that's what haggis is.

Language Virus: Quick, Which Four-Syllable Word Beginning With "D" Best Describes Arizona's New Immigration Legislation?

Well? OK, if you're going to be writing about Arizona's wonderful new law which everybody loves, you could do what I did last week and call it "draconian," or you could choose what everybody else is calling it, which is also "draconian."

I can't remember the last time this wonderful word has had such a revival, but I'm pretty sure this sets a new high-water-mark for its usage in modern history.

Pink Pony Spotted In This Week's Doonesbury Strips

My first reaction, obviously, is that it's a coincidence, and to think otherwise would be indicative of delusions of grandeur.

Or is it? Would it? Could it?

What if the pink pony turns out to be a tea party infiltrator? Stay tuned!

Stare Deeply Into The Eyes Of This Obscene Cartoon Saguaro Until You Feel Better About Arizona

Click for bigger!

Yay, Sparkle Sibling™ Andrew has come to the rescue with this startling evidence of Arizona's true, terrible beauty. Behold its awesomeness, please, and cower.

I must say, though, about Arizona, that I always tend to doubt that "things are getting worse" there. I never believe it. Ironically, however, I frequently fear that things there will get "better," more like normal places, because it isn't a normal place and should never try to disguise itself as one. Does that make sense?

Keep staring into the cartoon saguaro's eyes...

Forecast: Light/No Blogging Followed By Plenty Of Fluids, Television

Oh, hey! Hi!

Sorry, but I came down with a terrible cold last week which, unfortunately, morphed into something more fanciful. I'll get back to blogging as soon as I can figure out how to get this invisible vice off my head.

Michael Gerson's Arizona Metaphors Need Some Work

Though the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means that it represents little threat to humans.

As a former Arizonan, naturally I'm interested in the big McCain vs. Hayworth match. So much to dislike on both sides! Michael Gerson, in this morning's Washington Post, tried in a cutesy way to make the whole mess Arizona-relevant by roping in the local wildlife:

When Arizona's bitter Republican primary election arrives in August, it is likely to be 102 degrees in the shade, of which there is little. It is the kind of weather in which only the hearty and highly motivated venture outdoors -- Gila monsters and Tea Party activists. Which may not be good news for Sen. John McCain, who is generally disliked by the latter.

Just one thing, though, Michael: Gila monsters are mainly nocturnal. Whatever.

The rest of the Op-Ed is funny, because Gerson tries to paint Hayworth with the broadest, most horrible brush possible, while McCain... well, see if this sounds like our Walnuts to you:

At his best, McCain is precisely what a senator should be -- independent, passionate, unawed by power, unmoved by influence. He has quickened national debates on torture, the environment, immigration, military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the budget process.

Ha ha ha! OK, now THAT is hilarious.

And in other Arizona news, yes, the draconian new immigration legislation just passed, which more or less requires cops to constantly harass brown people because they don't get to do it enough already. Of course, it's all about checking immigration status, nothing more. My mother is still a Canadian citizen; think she'll get "carded" constantly? Think she'll get pulled over every time she drives? Of course not, because the whole entire point of this new law is to make Mexicans, specifically, leave the state, whether they're here legally or otherwise. This should have an interesting impact on the state's economy.

Oh, Arizona, take off your rainbow shades... and crush them into the dirt with the heel of your Tony Lama boots.

Mitch McConnell Hand Turkeys

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, gestures while talking to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2010, following a meeting between President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Random Nancy Panel

11-27-60

Quickie: Caps-Lock Poetry Corner

Via The Stranger, yes, I'm afraid it's tea party poetry:

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
BLIND OBAMA
YOU HAVE WAKEN UP A SLEEPING GIANT
WE THE PEOPLE UNITED WE STAND
AS ONE NATION
TO SAY NO
YOU MUST GO
WE THE PEOPLE SAY
NO YOU MUST GO
IMPEACH OBAMA
AND BRING HIM TO JUSTICE
IMPEACH IMPEACH
BRING HIM TO JUSTICE WITH ALL THE OTHER TRADERS
TO WE THE PEOPLE AND THE CONTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHO STAND TOGETHER AND WILL NOT FALL
PLAY WE MAY BUTT WHEN NEEDED WE COME STAMPEDING PROWD AMERICANS READY
TO FACE ANY ENEMIES FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC
WE THE PEOPLE SAY
THE CONTITUTION IS IN OUR HEARTS
ONLY A TRUE AMERICAN KNOWS ITS TRUE PATH AND WILL DEFEND UNTIL DEATH
YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOW'N FREEDOM WILL STAND FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE

Tea Party Roundup: Poll Reveals Split Personality

(Still from The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, via)

I written twice before (here and here) about how the Tea Party movement contains an unstable, unsustainable alliance between the Libertarian types on the one hand, and the "family values" Christian crowd on the other. Politico polled the participants at the most recent DC tea party, and the results nicely underline this phenomenon:

The results, however, suggest a distinct fault line that runs through the tea party activist base, characterized by two wings led by the politicians who ranked highest when respondents were asked who “best exemplifies the goals of the tea party movement” — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a former GOP presidential candidate.

Palin, who topped the list with 15 percent, speaks for the 43 percent of those polled expressing the distinctly conservative view that government does too much, while also saying that it needs to promote traditional values.

Paul’s thinking is reflected by an almost identical 42 percent who said government does too much but should not try to promote any particular set of values — the hallmarks of libertarians. He came in second to Palin with 12 percent.

That's quite a fault line, and neither of these groups are known to play well with others. It's hard to see how just hate (for Obama) will keep them together. The tea party movement, for now, is existing in a political fantasyland, one with neither a platform nor candidates. Their laughable new "Contract with America" contains no "social issues" whatsoever, and obviously this isn't going to sit well with the Jesusy folks indefinitely.

Of course, given the advanced years of most of the tea partiers, they're going to die off soon enough anyway. Next movement!

EDIT - By the way, if you want some delicious Tea Party in-fighting schadenfreude see here.

Ugly Tour Bus Photoblogging: “But At My Back I Always Hear, Time's Winged Chariot Hurrying Near; And Yonder All Before Us Lie, Deserts Of Vast Eternity”

Click for 1200x900.

Quote from Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress.

Oh, By The Way, Condi Still Exists

It's been a while, but lookie, a few Condithings happened while we weren't paying attention:

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gives a speech during a lecture on "Asia's Future" at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Friday, March 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

As relevant as ever, I'd say! And here she is receiving for her contribution a "souvenir" (their words, not mine):

You know what's nice, now, for Condi? That souvenir? Now that she's no longer SoS, she gets to keep it! Yay for nice things for Condi!

And finally, from a few days earlier, my favorite Condiproduct in some time:

Former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice speaks at the National Bank of Kuwait annual international symposium in Kuwait City on Sunday, March 14, 2010. Rice gave her views on the outlook for Iran and Iraq and the strategic, economic and political implications for the Middle East region. (AP Photo / Gustavo Ferrari)

It makes me wonder if there's a rider in Condi's contract that states that she must always be accompanied by oversize text stating who she is.

And yes, she endorsed Carly Fiorina, and that's funny because Carly Fiorina is funny.

Favorite Random Recent News Photo

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko gestures during a meeting with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Lukashenko offered to help Venezuela strengthen its military, saying Tuesday that President Hugo Chavez's government should not have to worry about foreign threats. In background, a painting depicting Venezuela's independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Junk Drawer: Waltons Lunchbox, 1973, Aladdin Industries

Click each for bigger.

I grew up in the suburbs but, ever since I can remember, always longed for the city. And so it was with a special dread that I loathed The Waltons, that goody-goody fake rural hell filled with boring people and their mundane woes. God, I hated that show. I was baffled by the idea that it was able to arouse feelings of nostalgia in people. Were they crazy?

Here's the other side, where we see the cretinous Waltons trying to get their truck unstuck, a job which would be considerably easier minus the seven passengers weighing it down:

On one side, John Boy Walton, the single most annoying character in 1970s television, and that's saying something:

On the bottom, let's all gather 'round and have a lot of fun watching Gramps getting his hair cut. THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DID BEFORE THE INTERNETS:

On the other side, the house. It's nice enough, I guess, if you like that sort of thing:

And, finally, on the top, the littlest Waltons cavorting with vermin (I removed the handle for scanning):

It's a nice, embossed lunchbox. I can't imagine this one was very popular with kids, though, so it appears to be pretty scarce, judging from past eBay auctions. Retrocrush features it in their "worst lunchboxes of all time" lineup.

Inside this lunchbox is a full set of Mad Magazine trading cards (still available from Amazon!), a pharmaceutical company promotional key chain, and a Chapstick™.

Minstrel Show

Screenshot from texasteaparties.com

One theme we've been hearing over and over at the recent tea parties is that they've been spending a lot of time on the defensive, gazing at their belly buttons and saying, hey, that belly button isn't really racist, is it? This is hilarious because they're devoting much of their rallies now to talking about themselves and their "portrayal" in the media, rather than about their nebulous causes. And they fall effortlessly into the standard contemporary Right Wing trope: racism itself is never a problem, really no big deal and not worth pondering, but being accused of racism is a terrible crime which must be battled ferociously.

This also reminds me of a certain kind of behavior I've seen for many years on forums and message boards where a clueless person will post something along the lines of "I don't mean this in a racist way, but...*" and then proceed to say something totally, well, racist, as if the first part of the sentence somehow mitigates the rest. 

Charles M. Blow had an excellent Op-Ed at the New York Times yesterday, and he really nails this phenomenon, wherein a Texas tea party's attempt to show diversity goes hilariously awry, and nobody even realizes what's going on:

At first I thought, “Wow! This is much more diverse than the rallies I’ve seen on television.”

Then I realized that I was looking at stadium workers. I should have figured as much when I approached the gate. The greeter had asked, “Are you working tonight?”

[...]

I had specifically come to this rally because it was supposed to be especially diverse. And, on the stage at least, it was. The speakers included a black doctor who bashed Democrats for crying racism, a Hispanic immigrant who said that she had never received a single government entitlement and a Vietnamese immigrant who said that the Tea Party leader was God. It felt like a bizarre spoof of a 1980s Benetton ad.

[...]

I found the imagery surreal and a bit sad: the minorities trying desperately to prove that they were “one of the good ones”; the organizers trying desperately to resolve any racial guilt among the crowd. The message was clear: How could we be intolerant if these multicolored faces feel the same way we do?

[...]

Thursday night I saw a political minstrel show devised for the entertainment of those on the rim of obliviousness and for those engaged in the subterfuge of intolerance. I was not amused.

UPDATE - Here, via Geekette70's photostream at Flickr, is a photo from the very same event attended by Blow:

And what, I ask you, is implied by the young man's "Join or Die" t-shirt?

*Seriously, click that link and crack the fuck up.

Quickie: Reason #8,783 Why I Should Never Leave My Office Without My Camera

I just saw some Tea Partiers outside wheeling a couple dozen "Don't Tread On Me" flags down the sidewalk... in stolen shopping carts.

UPDATE - Heroic blogger David Weigel posted a photo of the same people here (second picture).

Photoblogging: Site Specific

They're redoing the elevators in the East Building at my work. It cracked me up when, riding up with one of the guards, he pointed to the buffed-out spot shown above and said, "So how do you like our new Rothko?"

Quickie: Erstwhile Pony Crush A Total Douchebag

Remember when, for a brief moment, we got all distracted by Adam Kokesh, the handsome Marine who liked to protest Bush and hoist his delicious arms into the air?  Well, I hate to break it to you, but it turns out that he's a total Tea Partier/Ron Paul freakazoid and he's running for Congress in New Mexico.

If you doubt that he's gross, all you need to do is go to his campaign web site and note the picture that shows him talking on his cell phone while wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses. Blecccch.

Ugly Tour Bus Photoblogging: For The Birds

Click either for larger.

I Hate To Break This To You, But Sarah Palin May Have Fibbed About Something

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, right, discusses the the documents related to a speaking contract for former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, found in the trash bins at California State University, Stanislaus, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 13, 2010. CSU, Stanislaus students Alicia Lewis, left and Ashli Briggs, right, say they were tipped off on April 9, about the the administration officials attempt to get rid of documents concerning Palin's speaking appearance with the CSU Stanislaus Foundation in June. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

OK, this is kind of a Sarah Palin roundup. First of all, those young women shown in the picture up top? The ones who found Sarah Palin's speaking engagement contracts in the trash? They are heroes. Moving on.

In other news, Reid Wilson at Hotline caught something interesting and unsurprising in Sarah Palin's latest FEC filings: remember how she took a lot of heat for her six-figure payday to talk at the Tea Party convention and then claimed she'd donate it "to the cause"? Well, Wilson looked and looked and just couldn't seem to find any such donations. Revelation!

This has become a pattern for Palin: get caught being greedy and then make up a lie about giving what she grabbed to charity. We saw this last month when she went on her infamous Oscars gifting suite rampage: in one breath she claimed she was taking tie-dyed jeggings (urrrrgh) "for Bristol," and then immediately afterward lied and said it would all go to charity so that she wouldn't look like the avaricious pig that she is and forever will be.

And finally, yes, she spoke at some Tea Party™ thing in Boston today and wore red leather, so she's just wearing tons of leather lately even though it's Spring. The end.

Potential Advertisers Laugh, Roll Eyes At Discovery Channel's Sarah Palin Show

(Photo: Newsweek [cropped])

This just in from the Huffington Thing:

Last week Discovery had its annual sales conference for ad buyers for all of its 13 networks. The presentation showcases all of their new shows across the different networks. That night the presentation was on Sarah Palin's Alaska.

Our source says "the whole thing [was] comical." Apparently the ad buyers were not impressed. This Discovery insider said, "When the promo was over, people (employees and buyers) were rolling their eyes, snickering, and even laughing. People were laughing and it's not even a comedy. No one took it seriously."

This person was concerned that given the lack of interest from ad buyers that Discovery would have to dump the show to "a crappy time slot" to cut its losses. They added, "Bottom line everyone thought it was a new all time low for Discovery. My guess is the show is going to tank big time."

Serves them right. What did The Discovery Channel think they were getting when they started shovelling wheelbarrows full of money down Palin's bottomless maw? Educational value? Voiceover talent?