Tea Party serves tepid brew and Bristol Palin can't dance

I've spent almost forty years as a teacher of the performing arts and have had to judge countless presentations. Some young people had that undeniable spark and some worked at it to such a degree that they were able to transcend the footlights and connect with the audience.

Poor Bristol Palin, victim of the haters and buoyed up by the tea party supporters was incapable of creating that invisible connection. She never should have been on the dance floor past week four. Brandy had it. Rick Fox had it in spades. Audrina certainly had enough of it to last longer than she did. Even Florence Henderson still retained a bit of that fiery ember. All right, Bristol was slightly better than the "The Hoff"and a few of the others and could execute most of the steps most of the time but the deadpan glaze and the oft-times clumsy footwork took away so much from her performance that her placement in the finals was a travesty. Should have been Brandy up there with Jennifer Grey and either Kyle, Rick or Audrina.

At least, despite the politics, the best dancer won the day.