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Opinion: All in good fun as real Sarah Palin appears on ‘Saturday Night Live’

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(UPDATE: A second Sarah Palin video is now available by clicking here.)

If you were hoping for a two-shot of Sarah Palin and Tina Fey on ‘Saturday Night Live’ last night -- along the lines of Hillary Clinton‘s appearance next to Amy Poehler -- well, you were sorely disappointed.

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That said, Palin proved herself to be a good sport on a show that has, to put it kindly, mocked her mercilessly over the last month.

The show opened with ‘Palin’ (Fey), holding forth before ‘the liberal elite media as well as the liberal regular media’ at her first press conference.

How did GOP presidential nominee John McCain do in the most recent debate? ‘He did great, because the American people are angry, and John McCain is angry too,’ she said. ‘And you can tell he’s angry by the way he sighs and grits his teeth, and he’s always goin’, like, GRRRR.’

As for Democrat Barack Obama, ‘if he’s angry, I certainly can’t tell. His words are smooth when he’s talkin’, it’s like an angel whisperin’ in your ear.’

As ‘Palin’ finessed additional questions by entertaining the reporters with ‘some fancy pageant walkin’,’ we cut to the real Sarah Palin, dressed identically to Fey, standing in a hallway with ‘SNL’ boss Lorne Michaels and watching the sketch on a monitor.

The promos for the show had promised ‘special guests’ -- and if Palin wasn’t special enough, she and Michaels were joined by Mark Wahlberg, who had made it known that he was unhappy at the way he had been portrayed by cast member Andy Samberg in a sketch the previous week. Wahlberg told Michaels he’d ‘bust your head open’ unless told where Samberg was, then stalked off.

‘He didn’t like the impression we did of him on the show,’ Michaels told Palin.

‘Tell me about it,’ Palin replied.

Next came special guest Alec Baldwin, an outspoken....

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...Hollywood liberal who stars with Fey on the NBC sitcom ’30 Rock’ and is a frequent ‘SNL’ host.

Evidently failing to recognize exactly who was standing there, he exhorted Michaels not to let Fey -- gesturing at Palin -- ‘go out there with that woman [who] goes against everything we stand for. ... This is the most important election in our nation’s history, and you want her -- our Tina! -- to go out there with that horrible woman?!? What do you have to say for yourself?’

‘Alec,’ Michaels said, ‘this is Gov. Palin.’

Oops. But Baldwin, ever suave, quickly recovered: ‘Forgive me, but I feel I must say this: You are way hotter in person.’

He then took her on a studio tour, ending up where ‘Palin’ was continuing the press conference (asked about polls, she replied, ‘The only poll I care about is the North Pole, and that is melting’).

Baldwin whispered in Fey’s ear -- ‘The real one?’ Fey asked -- and as Palin walked to the podium, where she opened the show with the trademark ‘Live from New York ...,’ Fey exited, acknowledging the Alaska governor with an almost imperceptible nod.

You may recall that on Emmy night, Fey said of Palin: ‘I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5. So if anybody can help me be done playing this lady Nov. 5, that would be good for me.’

-- Leslie Hoffecker

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