Romney continues to insist Democrats, as well as some of his GOP rivals, are practicing "the politics of envy," and on NBC Wednesday made what might be his dumbest remark yet. Asked whether there was ever a fair way to discuss income inequality, the GOP front-runner replied:

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Now, just 48 hours later, it seems the trend is intensifying -- in a more concrete way that may mean something more than mere linguistic illusion. On the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal -- aka the biggest altar of corporate worship in the entire capitalist cathedral -- none other than Sarah Palin has published a scathing manifesto that could be Xeroxed and handed out at any Occupy demonstration across the country.

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Reading through the comments section at the online hub for grass-roots Palin activity calls to mind the sorts of exchanges that presumably occurred between Harold Camping's devotees and their skeptical friends and family members when May 21 came and went. "I can not believe she make all this hype ABOUT NOTHING!!!! She's in it for the money and I got played!!!" one commenter wrote, while another declared: "Ok People! LISTEN UP!!!!!!!!!! I have been saying for months and months that Palin never even considered running for president."

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Now Romney's being taunted by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who left the door open to entering the 2012 race at his Reagan Presidential Library address on Tuesday night. But Sarah Palin took to Fox the very same night to insist she still might run too. The comparison should wake Christie up to the fact that his public drama is getting close to seeming self-indulgent, not statesmanlike – even a little Palin-like, as the former Alaska governor milks questions about her intent to run for dollars and glory. Christie has to make a decision and stop flirting.

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Increasingly defined as a media sensation rather than a political insurgent, Palin will likely continue to exploit her celebrity status; she will rake in millions of dollars while keeping herself and her family in the public eye.

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We decided to call the longtime left crusader about a speech Palin gave in Iowa earlier this month, one which seemed to mark the transformation of Palin from a standard-issue movement conservative to something more independent and more reformist. And Nader told us he liked what he heard.

"I think she's a lot smarter than most people credit her," says Nader. "Judging by her comments, she is squarely in the camp of conservative populism, opposed to corporatism and its corporate state."

Palin delivered the speech in question in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 3. As Anand Giridharadas later observed in the Times, the media responded primarily by "ignoring the ideas she unfurled and dwelling almost entirely on the will-she-won’t-she question of her presidential ambitions."

Some of the rhetoric was familiar. Palin slammed the "far left," praised the Tea Party, and denounced the idea of more government spending.

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• She has done drugs.
• She had sex with a basketball player before she married Todd.
• She is mean and petty.
• She is a bad mother.
• She had an affair after she married Todd.

There is also, obviously, some stuff about Trig's birth, but I have not yet read the book, so I couldn't tell you how far down the rabbit hole that goes.

Here's my reaction to those revelations: Sarah Palin is a person! She's done drugs and pissed people off and slept with people, like 90 percent of American humans. If Sarah Palin was smart she'd dismiss the book with a chuckle, say nobody's perfect, laugh off the "gossip," and move on.

Sarah Palin might not be smart.

The Palins always prefer grand self-pitying martyrdom to quiet dignity, of course, which is why picking on them can be so profitable: They will always respond, and always help you drum up more publicity for your Palin-attacking venture. Instead of depriving the book of oxygen, they launched a multimedia attack on Joe McGinniss before he'd finished the first draft, and what they accomplished was ... giving him more material and ensuring that even more breathless anticipation awaited the book's release.

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More than 30 years after Britain's first woman prime minister entered Downing Street, America is still searching for its first female president. Sarah Palin has named Thatcher as one of her heroines, and Michele Bachmann compared herself to the former prime minister last week (and may well do it again during tonight's GOP debate). How do the Tea Party pretenders measure up to Britain's Iron Lady?

The important thing to realize about Margaret Thatcher is what a remarkable phenomenon she was. She fought her way up from a very modest background purely by merit, determination and hard work, at a time -- the 1950s and 1960s -- when women politicians were very few, mainly unmarried or childless and usually confined to "feminine" portfolios like education or government price controls. While her children were still very young she read for the bar, practiced as a tax lawyer, overcame the prejudice of selection committees to get herself elected to Parliament and quickly became a junior minister. Professional women juggling motherhood with demanding jobs are quite normal today; but Thatcher was a feminist pioneer long before she became prime minister.

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The Newsweek Michele Bachman cover posted newsstand sales no higher than most other Newsweek covers. The "crazy eyes" cover moved 47,225 copies, according to Newsweek, though AdWeek says other industry sources say it sold somewhere between 35,000 and 48,000. Is that good? Well, "the magazine's single copy sales averaged 46,561 per issue in the first half of 2011."

We are talking only about newsstand sales, not total circulation, but this does mean that Bachmann's incredibly controversial and very buzzy crazy eyes did not "move the needle," as annoying people say. Of course, the actual article about Bachmann, inside of the eye-grabbing cover, was pretty bland. But since when does the quality of the journalism have anything to do with newsstand sales?

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1. Jesse Eisenberg in Dostoyevsky adaptation: It sounds crazy, but making "The Double" into a movie might actually be a good idea. Very Charlie Kaufmanesque. Maybe Michael Cera can play his doppleganger?

2. Connor Ratliff is old enough to be president: Well, I'm sold on this guy's campaign. If only the rest of politics were this easy.

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Such was the case for the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf, who typically writes about weighty issues connected with "politics and national affairs." He’s a good writer -- even if you’ve never heard of him. Until now.

What has put Friedersdorf on the map is one of those dashed-off blog posts I referred to in the first paragraph. A few days ago, Friedersdor went to see a midnight showing of "The Undefeated," a limited-release Sarah Palin propaganda film then playing in 10 theaters, including one in Orange County, Calif., where Friedersdorf happened to be visiting his parents. He wrote an article for the Atlantic's website about the experience, whose title -- "Sarah Palin Movie Debuts to Empty Theater in Orange County" -- sums up his thesis.

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Do you think Barack Obama would be taken up to Heaven in the Rapture or not?

Think Obama would be taken up to Heaven: 19 percent

Think he would not: 44 percent

Not sure: 37 percent

Meanwhile, more than half of respondents thought Sarah Palin would be Raptured:

Do you think Sarah Palin would be taken up to Heaven in the Rapture or not?

Think Palin would be taken up to Heaven: 51 percent

Think he would not: 13 percent

Not sure: 35 percent

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film "grossed $60,000 to $75,000, meaning a per-screen average of $6,000 or $7,500, the measure by which limited openings are judged. A screen average below $10,000 is considered mediocre."

Nonetheless, conservative filmmaker Bannon told THR, "To describe this as anything but a hit is inaccurate... This is a documentary opening against Harry Potter on the toughest weekend of the year. We had small numbers but only in small theaters. In bigger markets, like Orange County, we'll do $12,000 per screen." (It was at an Orange Country screening that The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf sat almost alone in the audience).

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The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf found himself one of the only viewers at a late night debut of "The Undefeated" in Orange County, California. Four other people joined him in the audience, including a brother and sister who stumbled upon the viewing when they were unable to get Harry Potter tickets and then left after 20 minutes.

If Friedersdorf's experience is an indication, the film will not have much mainstream appeal. Even committed Palin-bashers may not be up for paying to sit through a feature-length celebration of the former Alaska governor. But that's not to say the film will flop. Bannon described it as "a call to action," which probably excites Palinistas. As Politico's Ben Smith noted, "[Palin supporters] have been organizing trips to see it and promoting it energetically."

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The Undefeated Teaser Trailer from Dain Valverde on Vimeo.

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With second quarter fundraising numbers in, it's clear Mitt Romney remains the front-runner, crushing his rivals in the money primary. But even he came in second to the Mitt Romney of 2008, who raised $23.5 million in this quarter last time around. With $18.5 million, Romney far outstrips his rivals, but lagging behind where he was in 2008, in a race he didn't ultimately win, can't be encouraging. Can this really wind up as a race between Michele Bachmann and Romney?

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Mitt Romney
"Governor Romney offers his prayers to all victims of child abuse. The tragedy of the death of a small child shocks all decent Americans."
-- Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, in an email to Ben Smith.

Sarah Palin
Once again we see, with our nation in crisis, President Obama stands by and does idly nothing while an injustice is committed here in this glorious nation of ours. It's almost strange that the president has not yet made one statement on the issue of the death of young Caylee Anthony. Why the strange silence, Mr. President?
-- Sarah Palin
12,429 people like this.

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Of course, Sarah Palin is not actually (yet) running for president, unlike Bachmann. It's still not clear that she will run for president. Palin's in Iowa promoting the third or fourth "premiere" of the silly documentary about how she used to be considered competent and independent. It's sort of sad. Dave Weigel's comparing Palin to Norma Desmond.

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Palin, of course, is still not saying when her magical mystery tour will start back up, because she probably hasn't decided yet, because she's an undisciplined flake who is just stringing along her incredibly devoted followers and resentfully trolling the media. Still: Not canceled, lamestream media! Just indefinitely postponed without notice.

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