On November 7 of last year, the following unsolicited advice appeared on these pages:

” . . . Alaska can also provide her with a little cover, a safe harbor while she weathers the storm she wrought on the McCain campaign and its aftermath.  She can use that cover to brush up on her geography and on national politics, ease into the ways of Washington, and brighten her star-struck eyes for the cameras.”

Not only has the advice not changed, it is even more crucial she follow it today.

For those who’ve made their living in politics, even on the periphery, there are things that can make you cringe just a little bit when you hear them.  The visceral understanding of the right thing to do, and equally importantly the wrong thing to do, can become acute enough, instinctive enough, that you know without looking that blood has started to flow.

Sometimes the wounds are self-inflicted, sometimes they result from a strong blow landed.  In the case of Alaska Governor and former presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the wounds continue to be the former.  The injuries, by her own mouth, are so easily avoidable, and in more talented politicians whose inner monologues keep pace with real time, they are, in fact, avoided.

David Letterman’s correct when he admits there are “thousands” of jokes he wishes he’d never used, and his attempt at humor last week gets a miserable “FAIL.”  But, Letterman is never going to run for political office, will never need to ask for votes, will never have to find politically safe and productive words.  Palin, in contrast, will be running again, will be asking for votes, will have to find the right words.

Wasting a few in a war of words with Letterman is a battle she can not win, and can not convert to a productive discussion on the merits of some worthy and worthwhile issue.  Even the Clintons had the good political sense to keep their heads down when John McCain went after daughter Chelsea with a tasteless joke – - not because they were bad parents, but because they were good politicians.

Palin is wading through her political life mindlessly, and has been since the election was decided last November.  While her public appearances since then should have been measured and mindful, she’s instead engaged in self-sabotaging oratory, picking her battles poorly, and failing to make favorable impressions beyond the narrow segment of the Republican base she’s already impressed.

One news item earlier this morning suggested that the media has been less than friendly toward her of late because her staff is not as polished and prompt in its press dealings to keep folks happy.  There are bound to be press people who get miffed in the way any political organization treats them, whether the miff-inducing behavior is intentional or inadvertent.

Palin’s behavior, though, has been very sophomoric, frankly.  It’s sounded more like the “Oh, yeah, Letterman?  I know you are but what am I”  in the past week.  At the least, she has not been very “presidential” in her comportment, and she can’t blame that on the media. This is not to excuse Letterman for his tasteless remarks; this is to indict Palin either for bad judgment on her part  or bad advice from her staff.

She should have followed the advice offered here last November.  Her words seem no more carefully considered and thoughtful today than they ever did.  Alaska can be far, far away, and easy to get lost in for a while, and that’s exactly what she should do.  Spend the season in a hidden lair out of the elements, and don’t come out until 2010’s political spring time arrives.