PALIN KNOWS WHO SIGNS HER PAYCHECKS

Sarah Palin spoke to some Republicans and teabaggers in Arkansas last night and demonstrated that when she's bought, she stays bought:

...she quickly pivoted to the broader question of whether the Tea Party movement might successfully field its own candidates in national elections, and on that point she sounded far from convinced.

"Now the smart thing will be for independents who are such a part of this Tea Party movement to, I guess, kind of start picking a party," Palin said. "Which party reflects how that smaller, smarter government steps to be taken? Which party will best fit you? And then because the Tea Party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: 'R' or 'D'."

Palin said that the Republican platform best meshed with the Tea Party’s creed.

Palin works for Fox News. Palin's book is published by another News Corporation subsidiary, HarperCollins. And, as I say over and over, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes are running the press office of the Republican Party. Their goal right now is to seize the brand "tea party" and attach it to the GOP; teabaggers who want to remain indie are going to have to do battle with the GOP and Murdoch, and there's a good chance they'll lose.

Palin is saying what her boss wants her to say. Will her efforts really help rebrand the tea party movement -- or will they just destroy the Palin brand? We'll see.