Northern Exposure of the Day

As part of her deal with the devil (otherwise known as her employment with FOX News), Sarah Palin will serve as the host of a television program called "Real American Stories". This one-hour program is being described as "a series exploring inspirational real life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape".

The first installment of this series (which ironically aired on April Fool's Day) was originally scheduled to include LL Cool J (born James Smith) in a segment called "In Their Own Words". However, according to a spokesperson for the actor/musician, "LL Cool J was never scheduled to be a guest on 'Real American Stories' with Sarah Palin this week. The show had planned to use an interview from 2008 that was being repurposed without LL’s permission." To further emphasize his position, LL Cool J posted the following comments on Twitter: "FOX lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else and are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's show. WOW." So how did FOX News respond to the fact that the network was clearly planning on using previous footage of LL Cool J inappropriately? In a completely mature manner, of course: "'Real American Stories' features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith's interview fits that criteria. However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career." "Fledgling"? While I certainly don't compare LL Cool J to the great thespians of our time, I wouldn't describe his career as fledgling considering the fact that he has a starring role on CBS's "NCIS: Los Angeles" and has performed in more than twenty films, not to mention his widely successful music career.

And in case anyone thinks that this was just an isolated incident, there is also Toby Keith. Keith was surprised when a radio reporter contacted his publicist in order to obtain details on the country singer's announced appearance on Palin's program. The publicist replied: "You're wrong. There is no Sarah Palin special with Toby Keith on it on FOX." The reporter then responded by e-mailing the press release from FOX News which claimed that Keith would "explain the inspiration behind his song 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue'" during the television program. Keith's publicist believes that the interview was conducted in Las Vegas in January 2009. At the same time, neither Keith nor his publicist received an e-mail or telephone call from FOX News to inform them that the footage would air on Palin's program.