I was watching “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama” (available on HBO On Demand), and I noticed one of those funnier-in-hindsight moments that pop up sometimes.  This documentary reveals much of the artifice involved in any political campaign, but on the heels of Sarah Palin‘s much-hyped “Handgate” gaffe, there’s a neat pre-echo of that incident during a debate prep sequence. I think it underscores the silliness of the media’s newfound obsession with “optics,” and their misunderstanding of them.

In the day’s second clip from Fox & Friends, the crew manages to keep Sarah Palin‘s Handgate rolling by interviewing George W. Bush‘s press secretary Dana Perino, condemning Robert Gibbs‘ version of the joke and comparing Palin’s hand notes to Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s during a debate way back in 1990. Feinstein, though, was breaking the rules.

At today’s briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs joined the ranks of comedy legends like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, and Andrea Mitchell when he did his own version of Sarah Palin’s “helping hand.” Is the Palin Hand Jive the new “I’ma let you finish?”

The usually reliable Keith Olbermann‘s inability to nail Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin on Limbaugh’s use of the term “retard” has been pretty frustrating. Sure, he has posited Palin as a hypocrite, but several times he has repeated Rush’s and Palin’s dueling assertions that he was “quoting” Rahm Emanuel, or that he was being “satirical,” without really challenging it. Luckily, Stephen Colbert actually knows what the word “satire” means, and deployed a pile of it on Palin and Rush last night.

Hyperbole must be over. How else does one explain the extremely disappointing bits that Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann did on Sarah Palin last night? Handed (thank you, I’m here all week) 3 days of Palin material that rivaled anything George W. Bush ever gave them, Olbermann could barely manage a molecule of spittle, let alone a lather, and Stewart deployed his seldom-used Nerf™ jokes.

In case you’re wondering how the Sarah Palin “Telepalmter” story is going to play out this week, look no further than this morning’s Morning Joe. NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell satirized the former governor (and future candidate for President?) by writing her colleagues’ names on her hand, and Joe Scarborough pushed back with the omnipresent conservative TOTUS meme, which states that every politician except President Obama is allowed to use a teleprompter.

It seems that during her keynote speech at last night’s Tea Party Convention, Sarah Palin used the inside of her hand to scribble notes reminding her of topics including “energy,” “budget cut,” “tax,” and “lift American spirits.” During the Q&A after her speech, you can see Palin glancing down to reference her list after attacking President Obama for using a teleprompter. Pics and video inside!