First of all, I didn't even know there was such a thing as "The Sportsman Channel." Second of all, the thing that strikes me about this commercial is that it feels like one of those awkward, depressing ads you see for reunited one-hit-wonder rock acts playing reunion shows at your local casino:

This ad for Sarah Palin's new TV show is all about dwelling on the past. Palin stands in front of a big American flag, the way she would have if John McCain had won the election in 2008. Get a load of those press quotes that are supposed to set Palin up as a big deal:

• "Poised. Stirring. Charming." That's from a Time magazine story from 2008, right after the RNC.

• "Every sentence she uttered was news." Note the past tense.

• "A complex woman, fusing celebrity and populism" That's a Washington Post story, from 2010.

The parody-level electric guitar in the background, Palin's ridiculous American flag shoes, the "S" (for Sarah!) on an American flag-colored star on her chest. This is all Elvis-in-Vegas-style drama, the kind of thing you have to do when you want to distract from the fact that the talent you're promoting is a has-been in the eyes of the world.

This commercial almost makes me feel sad for Sarah Palin. Almost. It's important to remember that this is the path she chose, when she realized that she didn't have what it takes to be a politician. Instead, she went the celebrity route, and this is what happens when Americans get sick of celebrities: We dump them out there in the television wasteland, where they shrivel up and surround themselves with bombast, so they can't hear the sound of their own irrelevance sneaking up on them.