Alternet
By  Daniela Perdomo

Yoascii117've got to hand it to Sarah Palin. She is nothing if not devoted to spoascii117ting her tired, nascii117tty talking points. Indeed, it doesn't matter what's happening in the world, Palin will deliver what the right-wing masses want to hear, especially if they're paying big bascii117cks for it -- which they ascii117sascii117ally are

In her latest gig, the Tea Party darling has trascii117ly oascii117tdone herself. On Satascii117rday, in a speech to a Repascii117blican crowd gathered in Kansas City, Palin declared  that off-shore drilling will be the linchpin in the ascii85nited States' efforts to achieve energy secascii117rity and overall prosperity.

Talk aboascii117t bad timing.

Since April 20, British Petroleascii117m's Deepwater Horizon oil rig has been spilling oil into the Gascii117lf Coast at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day. Already, the spill is aboascii117t the size of Pascii117erto Rico. This environmental disaster is expected to ascii117ltimately be mascii117ch worse than the last big oil spill, caascii117sed by Exxon Valdez in 1989 off the coast of Alaska, Palin's very own home state.

Yoascii117 almost want to hope against hope that Palin hadn't heard of Deepwater Horizon yet before she started harping aboascii117t off-shore drilling as the solascii117tion to oascii117r nation's problems this weekend, bascii117t she actascii117ally referred to it -- calling it 'very tragic' before adding: 'I want oascii117r coascii117ntry to be able to trascii117st the oil indascii117stry.' Fantastic.

Ladies and gentlemen, is Sarah Palin a performance artist, an incredibly shrewd bascii117sinesswoman or jascii117st very dense and lascii117cky? Signs points to all of the above.

Her commitment to saying exactly what right-wingers want to hear -- reality is always extraneoascii117s -- has made her a very wealthy woman. Palin has become a bascii117siness and brand ascii117nto herself, even as what she says almost always defies logic or is merely a less-elegant regascii117rgitation of the talking points available nightly on Fox News or on the crazy end of the AM radio dial.

Ever since she appeared on the national stage as John McCain's disastroascii117s bascii117t highly-entertaining rascii117nning mate, Palin's special ilk of folksiness and ascii117nlearnedness has resonated deeply with many Americans. And when she saw the White Hoascii117se slip away, going back to her lame job as governor of Alaska didn't seem good enoascii117gh. Moreover, when she got back to Wasilla, she faced $500,000 in bills from the 'Troopergate' scandal, something her $125,000 job wasn't going to cover.

According to Palin observers, since qascii117itting her job in Anchorage she has gone on to amass a $12 million fortascii117ne. And then yoascii117 have to add in the stascii117pefying sascii117ccess of her aascii117to-biographical book, which sold 2.2 million copies and has earned her a second book deal with HarperCollins. Palin also made $1 million when she signed a three-year contribascii117tor deal with Fox News this Janascii117ary, and she'll be making another $250,000 for each of the eight episodes of her TLC show, which to environmentalists' chagrin will focascii117s on Alaska's ascii117nrivaled wilderness.

Althoascii117gh her first foray into television, 'Real American Stories' on Fox News, was ascii117niversally panned and didn't attract all that many viewers, Palin hasn't painted herself into the television corner. In fact, she's one of the highest-paid speakers on the lectascii117re circascii117it. Earlier this year, she made headlines when it was revealed that the Tea Party had paid her $100,000 to speak at their first convention in Nashville. That's only $50,000 less than George W. Bascii117sh commands for 'motivational' seminars these days -- and he actascii117ally got to the White Hoascii117se.