Should Sarah Palin Distance Herself From Reality TV?

After waiting a week to make sure that daughter Bristol wasn't making a complete fool of herself on "Dancing With the Stars," Sarah Palin is now down in Los Angeles, strolling around Beverly Hills in short shorts with Bristol and company, indicating her tacit approval and, in doing so, demonstrating her continued, unabashed embrace of reality TV. She also cheerfully posed for Twitter photos with Bristol's dancing partner Mark Ballas, and has a reality TV show of her own with husband Todd coming up, featuring a guest appearance by none other than Kate Gosselin.

At this point, it's getting difficult to distinguish Sarah Palin from Kim Kardashian. Or the Octomom.

I mean, seriously, even in this highly partisan, deeply divided nation, we can all agree on one thing: reality TV is trash. In addition to the Gosselins and the Kardashians, there's Ray J, "The Girls Next Door," "Celebrity Rehab," "Hoarders" and Bret Michaels, all of whom compel me to shower after viewing. And while "Dancing With the Stars" may cover up its trashy nature with spray tans and glitter, it's still junk food of the cheesiest order. When Bristol Palin announced that she would be joining the cast, I figured Sarah would be mortified that her family's true pedestrian nature would be so brazenly on display and she'd distance herself from the tacky affair as much as humanly possible.

Well, that lasted a whole week.

As soon as Sarah saw the attention -- much of it positive -- that Bristol was garnering from her first (mediocre) performance, Sarah dropped her rifle and jumped on the first plane out of Alaska. And I will bet dollars to donuts that Mama Bear will be in the audience either this week or next. All of which begs the question: DOESN'T SHE HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?

It's not just about the image that she's projecting here, which is dangerously close to Gosselin and Kardashian, but also about how she's choosing to spend her time. Look at someone like Cory Booker, another media-savvy politician who's dancing around the edges of presidential prospects. Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J., is actually working to, you know, improve the lives of his constituents, having just raised $40 million to match the $100 million from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced on Oprah last week, to improve Newark's public school system.

And Sarah Palin's going fishing with her new BFF Kate Gosselin.

Seriously, as part of a cross-promotion strategy, since both Palin and Gosselin's shows are airing on TLC, Kate is taking her eight kids up to Alaska for a camping trip where she - surprise, surprise - drops in on Palin. In this completely genuine, true-to-life scenario, the two "good friends" (who I'm sure hadn't even met before this) go camping and fishing together. According to a source, Gosselin is "excited because it will be fun and educational for the children. Sarah will even teach Kate how to avoid bears!"

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with avoiding bears, or camping, or even a little reality TV. But if you're actually eyeballing the Oval Office, don't you think you'd be a TAD more concerned with how you're coming across to the American people? It's OK to rise above the trash Sarah, even if you have to fake it. Otherwise, that already thin line between you and the Kardashian sisters ceases to exist. If you're willing to go "camping" with Gosselin, then what's going to stop you from getting an on-camera bikini wax with Khloe? It's a slippery slope Mama Bear! And I warn because I care...


Joey Porter is a writer and a parent, not necessarily in the order, living in Los Angeles.