The literature of celebrity and politics

I've come to the realization that both Bristol Palin and her ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston, have books coming out. Thousands of writers are out of work, but these two teenagers can get their memoirs published by major publishing houses? I fear that both books might end up on the bestseller list. Just the fact that I can use their names without having to explain who they are is a sad commentary on our melding of politics and celebrity — and how "celebrity" has somehow become its own occupational category.

Bristol is the daughter of a former Alaska governor who quit in mid-term after an unsuccessful bid for the vice presidency. Johnston is the teenage boyfriend who appeared in the audience at his girlfriend's mother's speeches, looking uncomfortable and out-of-place. Bristol was a pregnant teenager when her mother ran for vice president three years ago, but she's likely the only teen mom who has made a career out of making an embarrassing mistake. Not only is she paid for being a spokesperson for an abstinence-advocacy group, she even appeared on the "Dancing with the Stars" television show. (I didn't watch it; was she the star or the dancer-in-training?)

Palin's book reportedly implies that she was the victim of a sexual assault by Johnston. In his book, Johnston is reported to be highly critical of the whole Palin family. When has a she-said/he-said dispute ever achieved such literary success?

For that matter, when has a losing vice presidential nominee ever become the entrepreneurial commodity that Sarah Palin has, with her own gig on Fox News, a couple of books, a successful speechmaking business, a national bus tour and I'm afraid to imagine what else? Henry Cabot Lodge (1960), Bill Miller (1964), Ed Muskie (1968), Tom Eagleton (1972), Bob Dole (1976), Geraldine Ferraro (1984), Lloyd Bentsen (1988), Jack Kemp (1996), and Joe Lieberman (2000) were rarely heard from after their party ticket lost the election. OK, John Edwards (2004) did achieve a bit of notoriety after the election, but not in a good way. Palin has joined that uniquely American job category, the celebrity who is famous for being famous, and now it appears her celebrity is transferable to her offspring and even to her antagonists.

America has developed a history over the past century of idolizing its past presidents, giving them fat pensions, Secret Service protection and presidential libraries. Some have earned excellent salaries (on top of their pensions) just by making speeches. As a nation, we have come a long way since the days of John Quincy Adams, who won a seat in the House of Representatives after leaving the White House, and Thomas Jefferson, who reportedly stood in line for lunch at a boarding house after his inauguration.