Clueless French Newspaper MisIdentifies ‘Troubled’ Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

The Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin phenomenon has officially found its absurdist zenith in France (where else), where the daily paper Le Soleil recently printed a photograph of last week’s Palin/Couric SNL sketch to accompany a story about Palin’s “hesitant, troubled and clumsy” press-handling skills. The minor controversy that ensued had photo source Agence France-Presse scrambling to defend itself Thursday, insisting it had accurately identified Fey and Amy Poehler in the SNL still and that the caption goof was the paper’s fault. But really — does it even matter?

Frankly, we’ve never appreciated a French newspaper more than we love Le Soleil at this moment. Sure, SNL can corner the Palin impression market, but it takes a special kind of postmodern zeal to own such willful ignorance of arguably the most famous female politician going right now. We can hardly wait for the next “accident” attributing mythic, messianic public-speaking genius to Democratic presidential contender Fred Armisen. If it hasn’t been published already.

• Oops! Newspapers Around the World Use Palin Pic… [TV Squad via Vulture]