Sarah Palin's Palm Notes Not So Odd, Says Political Historian

(FiniteTimes.com) – If you’ve been too busy recovering from a Super Bowl hangover or digging out from several yards of snow (howdy Washington), you might have missed the news story that’s been raging through the blogosphere, left wing: Sarah Palin wrote crib notes on her hand for a Q&A session at the so-called Tea Party convention held this past weekend. Among the notes she wrote to herself: “Energy,” “Tax Cuts,” and “Lift American Spirits.”

Many on the left are holding Palin up to ridicule because she apparently has to remind herself what her core values are. A brief stroll through history, however, reveals that hers is not an isolated case.

“Well gosh, throughout history men and women have relied on what I call ‘palm points’ to get through speeches and other public events,” says political historian Dr. Jeremy Whippet, of the academic think-tank Mobius. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, Democrat or what have you. Ronald Reagan loved to jot down the beginnings of jokes on his hands so he wouldn’t forget them. I remember a photo of him lying on a stretcher after he was shot with ‘Two Russians and Mondale walk into a bar…’ scribbled into one pale palm.

“Bill Clinton was notorious for collecting women’s phone numbers, going so far as to group them on his left hand under ‘Knee Knockers’ while notarizing his right with ‘Jerkin’ Buddy’ so he would never accidentally rub out a number. Even Ross Perot used to rely on palm points when campaigning for president, although his tended to be terse reminders like ‘Show the goddamn chart!’ or ‘Stretch to look taller!’”

Palm points weren’t restricted to just politicians, Dr. Whippet says.

“Gandhi went for years with ‘Don’t eat’ scribbled in his palm in India ink. Actors sometimes use their palms to remember really important lines, such as John Wilkes Booth and his ‘Sic semper tyrannis!’ Even athletes have been known to scribble notes to themselves, although with all the sweating and stuff, this is less common. The classic example of this is golfer John Daly. Back when he was really boozing it up, he’d always write the same word on his palm so he would never forget it.”

The word?

“‘Fore!’”

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