SALON

Tuesday, Nov 9, 2010 10:39 PM UTC

The Bristol Palin conspiracy

How in the world is the younger Palin still on "Dancing With The Stars"? Her mama might have some answers

By

Topics: Bristol Palin, Dancing With the Stars, Sarah Palin,

The Bristol Palin conspiracyDANCING WITH THE STARS - "Episode 1101" - The Season 11 star-studded cast and their professional partners get ready to break in their dancing shoes on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" for the long awaited two-hour season premiere, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 (8:00-10:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/ADAM LARKEY) BRISTOL PALIN, MARK BALLAS(Credit: Adam Larkey)

“Operation Bristol” is a go, Benji Sarlin of the Daily Beast writes, and it’s keeing the cub of the most famous Mama Grizzly in the land pitter-pattering away on America’s No. 1 show, “Dancing With The Stars.”

Bristol Palin, who despite painfully flubbing her way through waltzes and cha-chas, has miraculously secured a spot in the final five of the weekly competition. She has consistantly gotten the lowest scores from the “DWTS” judges, yet “America” keeps her chugging along and booting off more, uh, talented contestants like Audrina Patridge. Thank God “The Situation” is still around.

A conspiracy theory has emerged that the GOP is behind Bristol’s puzzling success. It’s inconceivable to many viewers that after moments like the gorilla suit incident she wasn’t yanked off the stage with one of those old-timey hook things. While it is entirely possible that viewers actually enjoy watching Bristol bust a move, that’s a little hard to swallow. Could something more nefarious be afoot? Like a groundswell Republican movement to keep a Palin winning and in the public eye?

One conservative who’s adding fuel to the conspiracy’s fire is Tammy Bruce, a blogger with more than 14,000 followers who has launched “Operation Bristol.” Last Monday night, she tweeted, “Operation Bristol waltzes in tonight!” followd by voting information for her followers. Her campaign has been picked up by Conservatives4Palin and us4Palin, sites devoted to supporting a 2012 presidential run by Palin the Elder and now, apparently, Bristol’s ascendence to the “DWTS” throne.

Here is Bristol’s most memorable performance on “Dancing With the Stars.” Enjoy …?

Michelle Fitzsimmons is an editorial fellow at Salon.com. More Michelle Fitzsimmons.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 10 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations