Sarah Palin on Oprah: Journalism, Bristol, and Moose Stew

Today on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," former vice presidential candidate turned political commentator, Sarah Palin, announced that she couldn't wait to "put that journalism degree to work." At the start of 2010, Fox News announced that the former governor of Alaska had signed a multiyear deal to provide "political commentary and analysis" across all of the cable network's platforms.

In a recent interview, Palin's new colleague Glenn Beck described her as "the most guarded woman I have ever seen in my life." And her somewhat stunted appearance on Oprah did little to change that perception, despite a decent joke about "moose stew."

Appearing via satellite from her fancy kitchen in Wasilla, Palin stuck to a painted on smile and clear talking points, steering clear of "liberal media" bashing as some cynics might expect. Oprah pointed out that in her New York Times bestseller "Going Rogue" Palin criticized the media "a lot, and now you are a part of the media." Palin countered with a cue card worthy quote: "When I studied journalism we learned all about the who, what, when, where and why." Her goal on Fox, Palin continued, will be to get "back down to the simplicity of what journalism should be about," like "stating the facts."

"There are such awesome stories out there," Palin continued, adding that she wanted to "find those people who I would like my kids to look up to" and tell "those Americana stories that will make our society and our culture a better place."

One such story might be that of her 19-year-old daughter, Bristol, who has a one-year-old son by her former fiance, Playgirl model Levi Johnston. "I respect that Bristol has chosen life," said proud Grandma Palin. Sitting beside her mom and looking a bit dazed, Bristol said her typical day starts at four in the morning -- she wakes up, gives son Tripp a bath, heads off to work, comes back from work, gives Tripp another bath, and then readies him for bed. "How come babies have to be bathed so much?" asked Oprah. "Are they that dirty?" Bristol and Sarah gave a simultaneous yes.

But it seems the queen of daytime talk was more interested in Bristol's recent announcement in In Touch Magazine: "I'm not going to have sex until I'm married...I can guarantee it." Oprah, along with her studio audience, thought the younger Palin was in danger of "setting herself up" (I guess for failure) by making such a blanket statement so early in life (because she is still a teenager, after all). But the Palin women didn't see it that way. "I'm proud of Bristol. That is her goal and I believe her. She's a strong, independent woman who can do this," explained Palin.

"I think it's a goal to have and I think other women should have that goal," said Bristol without blinking. "You don't think you're setting yourself up?" asked Oprah. "No I don't," answered the younger Palin very matter of fact. Then Oprah wished her luck.

The interview ended on a much lighter note. When Oprah asked Palin what she'd be making for dinner in that fancy kitchen of hers, she said "a big crockpot full of moose stew sounds pretty good," which I thought was funny in a I-didn't-know-people-ate-moose kind of way. And when the talk show host thanked the Palin women for rising so early to get all dolled up for the show, Palin, demonstrating her skills with hockey mom humor, joked, "Nooo, we always get up at three in the morning and look just like this."