PBS Fundraiser Turns Into Unscripted Sarah Palin Joke Turns Into Viewer Hate Mail
In that order
 


PBS is in some mildly hot water (lukewarm really, like the majority of PBS-related content) after an unscripted comment about Sarah Palin during one of the station's many fundraisers resulted in some angry viewer mail. Full rundown on what was said by "celebrity host" Mike Farrell (from Mash!) and some choice snippets of the elderly Haterade, after the jump:

 

While Farrell is introducing Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, Phillips says: "People may even know us as boyfriend and girlfriend from (the TV show) 'Providence.'" Then Farrell says: "'Providence' that's right. Now I've been thinking about the fact that with all your qualities and the fact that you don't know anything about economics or foreign policy that you could be in line for the Presidency!"

Oops, yeah, a little out of left-field there Farrell. Guess we can't all be Barbara Streisand and parlay our celebrity status into successful political commentary. Leave that to the professionals.

But even more unnecessary is the amount of ire this faintly damming but still innocuous comment drew from PBS fanatics:

 

• I like the 60's music telethon. I thought about donating, then I heard Mike Farrell. When he apologizes about the comment geared toward Gov. Palin then I may donate. This should not be for political issues. This is for the love of the music.

Union Springs, AL

• I love some of the programming you put on the air and would donate but when I hear Mike Farrell making jokes about Sarah Palin I don't feel like sending my money to your station.

Sean Breslin, Anaheim, CA

• On Sunday, the 14th, in the afternoon, you had a pledge drive hosted by Mike Farrell. He made a rude and vicious comment regarding Gov. Sarah Palin. Because of that I will not be donating to PBS this year. I would appreciate it if PBS would apologize for his comment and please keep him off of your pledge drives from now on.

Jose Narof, Glendale, CA

Whoa now pop-pop, let's calm down for a second. Yes, PBS should apologize, as it already has. If only because the unfortunate timing of Farrell's statement coincided with another incident on PBSs website with a poll on reader's feelings toward Palin, without any likewise poll for senator Joe Biden. Hmm, perhaps this wasn't a subtle dig as much as a part of the larger segment on PBS entitled Women, Power, and Politics?

But Farrell's comment was barely even a roast. It's firmly entrenched in the zing category. Blaming PBS for something that the station did not plan and which they are going within reasonable means to correct is as silly as stereotyping PBS viewers as a bunch of crotchety old-timers looking for a fight.

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Comments (14)

No. 1 · Beverly Hills

Right on Mike! Sarah Palin is a joke - and a bad one at that. The more her extremism and hypocracy is exposed, the better for the country.
She is already talking about a PALIN-MCCAIN administration. As someone once asked about Hillary Clinton, "What are we going to do about the bitch??" Surely the American people aren't stupid enough to come out of a Bush-Cheney disaster and keep it going by walking right back into an inevitable Palin-McCain disaster. My check is in the mail.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 5:36 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 2 · Bubblegrrl

I thought he was talking about Barack Obama. That sure is good description of Obama's lack-of-skill set.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 6:01 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 3 · Joshua Leach

Bubblegrrl are you in a republican bubble? His comment had nothing to do with Obama who has discussed and/or voted on these kinds of issues. I am really worried that all this propaganda and mis-education of the people has completely retarded our critical thinking and discussion skills. Absurd comparison's are the norm, they are intended to bring us off topic and offensive reactions to figures of speech? This is were we are because our ability to debate has been stripped from the people's minds and replaced with sensationalized B.S.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 6:27 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 4 · MyThinkingMind

Just proof that people will blow anything out of proportion.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 6:48 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 5 · Bubblegrrl

MyThinkingMind, you are correct.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 6:49 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 6 · sue

Maybe we should all quit donating to PBS. They already get all kinds of funding from the government. And as we all learned this week with the financial problems on Wall Street that the American people are the government. Let's do something great and give our money to our community churches instead and watch all the good they can do with our donations.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 8:21 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 7 · Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg

"The more her extremism and hypocracy is exposed, the better for the country."

Beverly Hills swings. Beverly Hills misses. Badly.

but u go grl.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 10:18 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 8 · Keith

Boo-Hoo. All those whiners that are upset with Mike and PBS are going to be so sad when Palin helps McCain and the Republicans LOSE THE ELECTION. Yeah that's right, I said it. No apologies. The only thing she's been good for is exposing A. What a terrible job McCain's 'advisors' did in vetting her and B. What a bunch of stale stuffy hypocritical politicians she's aligned with. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Obama '09!!

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 10:28 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 9 · thesube

Sarah Palin linked electoral success to prayer of Pastor Thomas Muthee Kenyan witchhunter
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“The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.
At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid.
In video footage of the speech, she is seen saying: “As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he’s so bold. And he was praying “Lord make a way, Lord make a way.”
“And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not “oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor,” no, he just prayed for it. He said “Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened.”
She then adds: “So, again, very very powerful, coming from this church,” before the presiding pastor comments on the “prophetic power” of the event.
An African evangelist, Pastor Muthee has given guest sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God on at least 10 occasions in his role as the founder of the Word of Faith Church, also known as the Prayer Cave.
Pastor Muthee founded the Prayer Cave in 1989 in Kiambu, Kenya after “God spoke” to him and his late wife Margaret and called him to the country, according to the church’s website.
The pastor speaks of his offensive against a demonic presence in the town in a trailer for the evangelical video “Transformations”, made by Sentinel Group, a Christian research and information agency.
“We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place,” Pastor Muthee says.
After the spirit was broken, the crime rate dropped to almost zero and there was “explosive church growth” while almost every bar in the town closed down, the video says.
The full Transformations video featuring Pastor Muthee’s story has recently been removed from YouTube but the rest of the story is detailed in a 1999 article in the Christian Science Monitor, as well as on numerous evangelical websites.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a “divination” centre called the Emmanuel Clinic.
Her alleged involvement in fortune-telling and the fact that she lived near the site of a number of fatal car accidents led Pastor Muthee to publicly declare her a witch responsible for the town’s ills, and order her to offer her up her soul for salvation or leave Kiambu.
Says the Monitor, “Muthee held a crusade that “brought about 200 people to Christ”.” They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor “the demonic influence – the ‘principality’ over Kiambu –was broken”, and Mama Jane fled the town.
According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.
After Mama Jane was questioned by police – and released – she decided it was time to leave town, the account says.
Pastor Muthee has frequently referred to this witchhunt in his sermons as an example of the power of “spiritual warfare”. In October 2005, he delivered ten sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God, the audio of which was available on the church’s website until it was removed around the time Mrs Palin’s candidacy was announced. The blog Irregular Times has listings and screen grabs of the sermons.
It was during that these sermons that Mrs Palin, who was then preparing for her gubernatorial run, was anointed by Pastor Muthee. His intercession, she says, was “awesome”.
Her June 8 speech was to mark the graduation of students from the Wasilla Assembly of God’s Masters’ Commission, which, as Pastor Ed Kalins explains, believes Alaska will be the refuge for American evangelicals upon the coming “End of Days”. After her speech, Mrs Palin was presented with an honorary Masters’ Commission diploma.”
***
Three car accidents in the neighborhood of the clinic where Mama Jane worked were enough to start this witchhunt. Muthee got the local people so into a panic, and so incensed, that Mama Jane was threatened with stoning if she did not leave town or ’submit’ to Pastor Muthee’s authority. Muthee demanded: “Mama Jane either gets saved and serves the Lord or she leaves town!”
When Mama Jane was finally released from jail, she fled town, fearing for her life - not without good reason as people in the surrounding areas have been burned alive because of accusations of witchcraft - eg: the eleven people in the article here.

Posted: Sep 19, 2008 at 11:20 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 10 · herbert

get on your jesus horse and ride, ride, ride…

Posted: Sep 20, 2008 at 5:16 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 11 · herbert

btw wtf good is pbs anyway? seriously.

Posted: Sep 20, 2008 at 5:17 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 12 · nikki

so my options are white trash and a nigger for president? i am outta here!

Posted: Sep 20, 2008 at 4:08 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 13 · Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg

"Yeah that's right, I said it. No apologies."

Golly, Keith. That's pretty manly of you. Are you sure you feel confortable just throwing it out there like that?

I mean, gosh.

Posted: Sep 20, 2008 at 8:58 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 14 · tony

nikki - don't let the door hit your stupid ass on the way out.

Posted: Sep 21, 2008 at 12:20 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
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