Sarah Palin now joins Emmett Kelly and Bozo as one of history’s iconic clowns.

The primary purpose of a circus clown isn’t to make people laugh. It’s to be a diversion.

While the crew is busy moving props between acts, or if the elephant has an, umm, accident, the clowns come out to distract the audience from the heavy lifting while maintaining the suspension of disbelief that something as phantasmagorical as a circus or a political campaign requires.

Palin’s assigned mission yesterday, which was to accuse Obama of “palling around with terrorists”, is that type of diversionary tactic. Expect more of them as the Republican elephant has more accidents.

For the Big Red Machine to be using her this way is both cynical and insulting to the folks she’s supposed to be courting, particularly the women.

That she’s allowing it to happen shows a monumental lack of self-awareness, like a pawn whose narcissism allows her to think she’s a queen.