Sarah Palin not being paid to speak at high school commencement, and "doesn't want a frenzy." Are they sure this is THE Sarah Palin? Update!

Courtesy of the Spokesman -Review:

On April 18, Weyer and school officials had the phone call with Palin’s representative and learned that Palin would be coming to graduation. 

(RHS principal Shawn) Anderson’s priority is to preserve the event as a commencement ceremony – something focused on the students and their families. 

“This isn’t going to be a circus, and this isn’t going to be a political statement,” he said. 

Weyer says that Palin, who is not being paid and is traveling on her own dime, has expressed similar wishes. “She doesn’t want a frenzy,” he said. 

Still, certain frenzylike elements are bound to accompany the appearance of a figure like Palin. Each graduate gets 20 tickets to distribute for the 1 p.m. commencement ceremony on June 1, and then admission to the small gym will be first-come, first-served. There’s room for around 700 people; Anderson expects he’ll be turning people away. 

Weyer said the event is the talk of the 1,000-resident town. 

“Everyone’s asking for tickets,” he said. “Everyone’s very ecstatic.”

"Not going to be a circus?"

Has this guy never seen a circus? THAT is the very definition of a Sarah Palin appearance.

Sometimes she dresses like a clown.

Sometimes she appears as the incredible shrinking woman.

Sometimes she plays the part of the big cat.

Or reminds us of her skill as a sword swallower.

And sometimes she appears as the scary thing that goes bump in the night.

But yes it will ALWAYS be a circus.

And if the simple, somewhat ignorant, folk of Republic think otherwise they are about to experience a rather rude awakening.

If Palin is not being paid to attend this event then she must have another reason for flying there on her own dime, and rest assured it is NOT out of the goodness of her heart.

"This isn't going to be a circus. We don't want a frenzy." Please, these people have NO idea of the forces they have unleashed.

(H/T to Seattle PI)

Update: Well it appears that if this IS going to be a "frenzy" it might prove to be one that nobody bothers to notice.  This from Seattle Weekly:

Still, to a large extent, Palin’s visit has drawn a rather ho-hum reaction from the 1,073 folks who populate this old gold mining town in Ferry County. 

“I haven’t heard much about it all, or anyone really talking about it” says Alice Barnes, bartender at Madonna’s, a bar and grill on Main Street. 

“I don’t think there’s that much going on, other than her going to talk at the school. We’ve been left completely out of the loop of this,” sniffs Jim Milner, director of the town’s chamber of commerce. “We’ve been working on our annual Prospector Days celebration next weekend. That will be a lot bigger deal than this.” 

Palin’s star-power is barely a glimmer these a days. “We’ve had no requests from anyone in the national media,” notes Republic High principal Shawn Anderson, who’s coordinating the event. Indeed, it’s been a long, strange journey for the one-time governor Alaska who John McCain recklessly plucked out of obscurity to jump-start his moribund campaign in 2008.

Yeah well you certainly could not expect Palin to compete with the white knuckle excitement associated with the Prospector Days celebration, now could you?

Well THAT certainly paints a different picture than that first article did. Hmm perhaps Palin will actually get her completely disingenuous wish of being ignored by the media.

Update: Well this is more than a little disturbing;

The closest Tyler Weyer has been to Sarah Palin was dressing as her — red blouse, auburn wig, rimless glasses and all. 

About a month ago, before his classmates, teachers, principal and mother, the 17-year-old senior wobbled on high heels, purchased from the “11 plus” shelf at Value Village in Spokane. He towered over a blonde eighth-grade girl in a pantsuit on the Republic High School stage as they discussed the role of sexism in the 2008 presidential campaign. 

“So please,” implored Tyler to the audience, “Stop photoshopping my head on sexy bikini photos.” 

“Stop saying I have cankles,” the eighth-grader deadpanned. 

Their spoof was a hit, even though everyone knew Tyler would do Sarah Palin. Last year, for the debate team’s annual “Interp Night,” he read the first paragraph of Palin’s book Going Rogue and nailed her distinctive Wasilla accent. He can still recite the opening lines — “It was the Alaska State Fair, August 2008. With the gray Talkeetna Mountains in the distance...” — from memory.

"Cankles?" Now on which site have I consistently read about Palin having cankles? 

Interesting to see that Palin's supporters continue to be these disturbed stalker types with unhealthy fixations and bizarre methods for demonstrating their reverence.

Palin may need more than old "Two Tone Todd" to protect her from THIS group of admirers.