LOS ANGELES – Sarah Palin is honoring one Reagan and offending another with the same speech.
The former Alaska governor was scheduled to speak in California on Friday at a tribute to former President Ronald Reagan — just one of the celebrations marking the centennial of the 40th president’s birth on Feb. 6.
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But his son, Ron Reagan, says he doesn’t see anything in common between his dad and the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate, who was invited to speak by the event’s sponsor, the conservative Young America’s Foundation.
“Sarah Palin is a soap opera, basically. She’s doing mostly what she does to make money and keep her name in the news,” Reagan said.
“She is not a serious candidate for president and never has been,” said Reagan, a political independent whose politics lean left.
But former Reagan speechwriter Kenneth Khachigian praised the choice of Palin to discuss Reagan’s legacy.
Palin was a teenager when Reagan took office in 1981 and like many young people “their lives and philosophy and political fortunes were shaped by the Reagan era. She can reflect on that as well as anyone could,” Khachigian said.
Palin was expected to talk about Reagan’s 1964 speech, “A Time for Choosing,” which he gave on behalf of then-Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. In it, he touched on themes he would revisit for years to come, including the dangers of high taxes and encroaching big government.
Palin was introduced to the nation at the Republican National Convention in 2008, and her folksy, wisecracking style sometimes earned her comparisons to Reagan, who was known for his wit and appeal beyond the traditional Republican base, especially with blue-collar Democrats. She frequently referred to Reagan on the campaign trail, and in her debate with Vice President Joe Biden reprised Reagan’s famous rejoinder from his 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter: “There you go again.”
But Palin, now closely aligned with the tea party movement, has become for some a polarizing political figure.
Pressly pleads not guilty to drunken-driving charge
LOS ANGELES — Jaime Pressly has pleaded not guilty to drunken-driving charges in Los Angeles.
Court records show the former “My Name is Earl” co-star entered the plea through her attorney Friday.
Prosecutors in the city of Santa Monica charged Pressly on Wednesday with driving under the influence and having a blood alcohol content of more than .20.
Pressly was arrested Jan. 5 after police say she was stopped for a traffic violation. She was released after posting $15,000 bail.
Royal wedding bells ring registers
LONDON – They may not get chocolate on the pillow — but at least they’ll have a pillow.
Tourists eager to soak up the pomp of this spring’s royal wedding will be hard pressed to find a hotel room, as an estimated half-million others will be here with the same idea. But for those willing to pay a premium (and do without amenities) there’s a solution: their very own London flat.
“Hotels are going to be very full,” said Jane Ingram, head of Savills Plc’s rentals unit. “People are going to need to look at private apartments as an alternative.”
London’s roughly 120,000 hotel rooms are nowhere near enough to accommodate the hordes of royalty buffs expected for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. That means many Londoners plan to do what they always do whenever a big event hits town – rent out their homes for a huge profit.
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