Bristol Palin, the eldest daughter of conservative superstar Sarah, has reportedly joined the cast of ABC's celebrity talent show "Dancing with the Stars." According to E! Online, the 19-year-old will compete alongside other luminaries such as David Hasselhoff, Audrina Partridge of "The Hills" and "Jersey Shore" star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. The younger Palin's bid for reality TV fame has provoked a tidal wave of unusually chilly snark from the blogosphere. (Watch an E! News report about the announcement.) A sampling of the slams:
"[Bristol] seems like a typical, vapid, self-absorbed teenager — but no matter how loosely you define the word 'star,' Bristol is not one. And except for at least one night doing the Horizontal Mambo, there's no evidence she can dance...."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Everything about the Palins is simultaneously shocking and totally expected..."
"Wouldn’t it be a riot if Bristol hooked up with the other bad boy who is also rumored to be joining the show — 'Jersey Shore' cast member The Situation? Imagine the family dinners in Alaska then. Hide the cutlery, please."
"You know what [this] means, right? That Snooki and Sarah Palin could quite conceivably be in the same room at the same time to support their contestants during taping this fall. I smell a bouffant-off–and I hope it’s televised."
"I think I speak for everyone when I tell her, 'Break a leg. Preferably in four or five places.'"
"Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter was a wild child known for late-night partying and riding in cars with mysterious men. 'I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both,' he once sighed. [Sarah] Palin is no Roosevelt—at least not yet. But if she wants to run for president, this mama grizzly needs to start getting tough with her own cubs."
—Alan Mascarenhas, Newsweek