Breaking News: Rupert Murdoch Buys White House, Inserts Sarah Palin!

A number of years ago, Charlie Rose interviewed America's best known billionaires over the course of several episodes on his talk show. When he talked to Bill Gates, he asked the world's richest man what it was that he feared most. Without hesitation, Gates replied, "Rupert Murdoch."

Rose was astounded. He found the media mogul to be a charming man, if conservative in his politics. At the time, Murdoch was best known for being a union buster and a panderer of soft core porn. Now Murdoch is becoming known as the man who intends to buy the White House and insert Sarah Palin into it.

Why not? If the country could survive George W. Bush for eight years—if just barely, and the verdict is not yet in—then why not a third rate diva?

But having the country "survive" is not a Rupert Murdoch goal. Gathering a vast amount of wealth into a mountainous pile and sitting on it is. (See Frank Rich's take on the Palin-Murdoch connection.)