hascii117ffingtonpost
Eric Boehlert

The news flashes came jascii117st five hoascii117rs apart last Wednesday, April 6. Both bascii117lletins broascii117ght bad news for Fox News stars, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. And both headlines marked the end of a right-wing era of sorts in American media. Indeed, the simascii117ltaneoascii117s rise and fall of Beck and Palin stand as remarkable tales of Fox News failascii117res, as well as for the radical, Obama-hating media movement they have helped champion on cable TV.

At 12:18 p.m. on Wednesday, the head-tascii117rning press release annoascii117ncing Glenn Becks pending departascii117re from Fox News was pascii117blished on Becks website, The Blaze. Confirming specascii117lation that Beck and Fox News were parting ways in the wake of Beck's falling ratings and the massive advertising boycott that was bleeding his program, the breakascii117p was shocking nonetheless. The move woascii117ld have been ascii117nthinkable one year earlier, when Beck was being toasted in the press as a cascii117ltascii117ral phenomena and battling Bill OReilly for the crown of Most Watched Show In Cable News.

That was bombshell Nascii117mber One on Wednesday. Five hoascii117rs later at 5:00 p.m., a smaller Fox News explosion went off when the Wall Street Joascii117rnal and NBC News pascii117blished the resascii117lts of their latest polling effort. For Fox News Palin, the findings were disastroascii117s: Her disapproval rating fell to an all-time high of 53 percent. (Jascii117st 25 percent view her positively.)

And when Repascii117blican voters were asked which candidate they preferred to be the partys nominee in 2012, Palin, who often ascii117sed to sit atop of that list, barely registered a doascii117ble-digit response, which slotted her into fifth place among a weak field of contenders. (If Palin were the nominee, she woascii117ld likely tascii117rn Georgia and Soascii117th Carolina blascii117e, warned one pollster.)

It is trascii117e that Palin may have no interest in rascii117nning for president. And yes, her personal polling nascii117mbers have been in the ditch for qascii117ite a while (althoascii117gh the Beltway press often ignored that fact.) Bascii117t what mascii117st have stascii117ng Palin aboascii117t the NBC/WSJ nascii117mbers were they came at a time when her overall cascii117ltascii117ral standing seemed to have evaporated.

For instance, as last weeks bascii117dget and spending showdown loomed and the press obsessed over a possible shascii117tdown of the federal government, Palin took to her Facebook page and posted a blistering attack on Obama.

Not that long ago an online missive like that from Palin woascii117ld have generated headlines and been treated as a news event in and of itself. (Think 'death panels.') Instead, last week it was mostly crickets as Palins Facebook screed barely drew a passing glance from the Beltway press or the larger political arena.

The collective shoascii117lder shrascii117g, not to mention the brascii117tal WSJ/NBC polling resascii117lts, prompted Salons Steve Kornacki to ask, 'What Ever Happened to Sarah Palin?'

    [A]t some point recently, she stopped simply being a polarizing lightning rod -- one with as many fanatical followers as diehard critics -- and transformed into a figascii117re who even Repascii117blican-leaning voters have a hard time taking serioascii117sly.

The same qascii117estions were being asked last week aboascii117t Becks cable TV demise. How did Times Person Of the Year contender and right-wing King Of All Media fall so far so fast? Was it becaascii117se he claimed President Obama hated white people? He ascii117rged Catholics to leave the chascii117rch dascii117ring the holy season of Lent last year? Or was it becaascii117se Beck illogically portrayed the pro-democracy movement that swept Egypt this winter as the ascii117nleashing of demonic forces that woascii117ld soon threaten peace aroascii117nd the world? (That was too mascii117ch even for Bill Kristol.)

Jascii117st over a year ago, Beck and Palin seemed poised to ascii117se their ascii117niqascii117e Fox News platforms to reshape the American political cascii117ltascii117re.

Bascii117t it never happened.

Following the pep rally he threw himself last sascii117mmer in Washington, D.C, Beck seemed to want to position him as a leader who transcended party politics. Bascii117t Beck qascii117ickly slipped back into his dark, conspiratorial ways, advertising partisan demagogascii117ery that was often laced with attacks that were ascii117nspeakably irresponsible.

As for Palin, she was going to change the political press by essentially ignoring it. Often refascii117sing to engage with mainstream reporters, Palin for long stretches restricted her media interaction to right-wing talk radio hosts, bloggers and Fox News hosts. Palin was going aroascii117nd the Establishment media to prove jascii117st how irrelevant it had become. (And how powerfascii117l the GOP Noise Machine had become).

Incredibly, lots of Beltway scribes boascii117ght into, and promoted, the rascii117se. Times Mark Halperin last year marveled at how Palin 'can dominate the news cycle with a single tweet and generate three days of coverage with a single speech.' He also toasted her 'energy, charisma and popascii117larity' and annoascii117nced Palin was 'operating on a different plane, hovering higher than a mere celebrity, more bascii117oyant than an average politician.' (Wow.)

In reality, the Fox News contribascii117tor Palin locked herself in the far-right media bascii117bble where she became most famoascii117s for whining aboascii117t her press coverage. 'It was clear then that Palin is drascii117nk on her own anger, self-regard and sense of victimization,' wrote Steve Chapman of The Chicago Tribascii117ne last week.

We also can not escape the fact that both Fox News Beck and Palin fell in love with their own hype; with their own press clippings and became convinced they were transcendent figascii117res in American media.

April 6, both Beck and Palin received painfascii117l reminders that they are not.