Sarah Palin Was Also Wrong About That Slim Jim Thing

Just yesterday, we celebrated star actress of The Learning Channel, Sarah Palin, and her sweatshirt-glam cover on Newsweek magazine, where she bravely declared , “I can win,” even though she is not in any sort of snowshoe race or Scrabble match at the moment, not that she could possibly win either of those things. The most riveting piece of this important cover story was, of course, the part where Sarah Palin got all nostalgic for the imaginary time in her head when a lady could hop off her Tour Bus to Nowhere, wander into the mini-mart with a single dollar bill, and leave with a Slim Jim in hand. Apparently this happened to Sarah Palin, “just recently,” before beef jerky prices skyrocketed 169 percent. More than likely, though, Todd Palin just has an unquenchable thirst for Slim Jims.

Somebody (probably a trucker who got stuck reading Newsweek , for some reason) thought there was something wrong about this Slim Jim story, and called Politifact to complain. Politifact then used its Pulitzer Prize-winning skills to remind America that Sarah Palin is still always wrong about everything.

But even a 10.2 percent increase in beef prices -- a major ingredient of Slim Jims, even if not the only one -- does not explain a price rise of 169 percent, which is what Palin’s comparison would suggest.

Still, national statistics alone can’t settle this question. So we went directly to ConAgra, the food giant that makes Slim Jims.

Teresa Paulsen, a ConAgra spokeswoman, said that "we admire Mr. Palin’s taste and appreciate his support," but added that "we haven’t raised the price significantly on any Slim Jim products."

She also offered a possible explanation for the confusion. "Our iconic Slim Jim Giant Sticks are priced around $1.30," Paulsen said. "Mr. Palin might have been reaching for one of our Slim Jim Monster Sticks, which offers double the meat for $2.30, or our Slim Jim Kippered Beef Steak, which typically sells for around $2.65."

Todd probably got confused and thought that a Monster Stick is something that can be used to ward off a nearby monster. He planned to buy a crate of them and carry them on his person, whenever he is at home. [ Politifact ]