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Sarah Palin's career has been declared dead more often than Jason Voorhees, but like the "Friday the 13th" boogeyman and fellow hockey accessorizer, she always rises again. This week will test that cycle once more.

On Saturday, the former Alaska governor delivered the keynote speech at the first National Tea Party Convention, followed by a short Q & A with a Tea Party moderator.

Palin's speech, which featured heavy criticism of President Obama, whom she cracked is a "teleprompter reader," got a rousing response from the assembled crowd of 1,000 fiscally conservative Tea Partiers, each of whom had spent at least $350 for the privilege.

Then, some sharp-eyed C-Span viewers spotted something on Sarah Palin's left hand. High resolution revealed crib notes written on her palm, and she could be seen reading from it during the Q&A session. While the crib notes were embarrassing, the most damaging part of this is that it indicates she knew what questions were coming.

Palin was already having a really bad week. Will this be the straw that breaks the caribou's back?

Palin's Bad Week

"Retard"-gate
Early last week, Sarah Palin denounced White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded" to describe liberals, and called for him to be fired.

Later in the week, though, she failed to react similarly to Rush Limbaugh's repeated use of the word, and even had her spokesperson call him to beg for mercy.

She has since gone on to defend Rush's "retard" screed. All of this rightly has people calling her a hypocrite whose sole interest in special-needs children is in the degree to which she can exploit them. That episode continues to play out, and it cuts deeply into the bulwark of Palin's appeal -- her humanity.

You've Got Mail
MSNBC obtained thousands of emails from Palin's abbreviated stint as Alaska governor, and they are a treasure trove of Palin-myth-crushing tidbits, including details about tanning beds, taxpayer-funded air travel and the extensive role of "First Dude" Todd Palin in her governorship. On the bright side, there are so many emails that this story lacks the focus needed to really make it blow up.

Let the Tea Party Eat K-K-Kake!
Prior to her keynote address, Palin already faced some pretty damaging PR from the National Tea Party Convention. For months, she's been mocked for her enormous six-figure speaking fee, taken from the blood and sweat of regular Joes who paid upwards of $350 a pop to hear her lecture about fiscal conservatism.

In the lead-up to this convention, many leaders of the Tea Party movement denounced Palin for her support of John McCain's re-election over a Tea Party candidate. The larger Tea Party movement effectively disowned this convention, and it's easy to see why.

To kick off the convention on Friday, former congressman Tom Tancredo gave a speech in which he waxed nostalgic for voter literacy tests, which were part of a system of obstacles used to disenfranchise black voters during the Jim Crow era. The speech got huge cheers from the crowd and an official defense from the convention's organizers. This was the environment Sarah Palin was walking into.

The Good News
Lucky for Palin, her hand gaffe has such a perfect storm of traffic-friendly elements that it will completely overshadow all that preceded it. That leaves her with only one devastating meme to deal with.

How the Story Will Play Out
It has already begun, with NBC News' Andrea Mitchell already mocking Palin on Morning Joe this morning by scribbling the hosts' names on her hand. Tonight, "Countdown"'s Keith Olbermann will dance a jig over this, and Jon Stewart will have a field day. Palin's talk of presidential ambitions on Fox News Sunday will provide a broad canvas for mockery.

Palin's salvation will be someone like Olbermann, or some other liberal (or SNL?), who will make some kind of innocuous crack like "Empress Palin Has No Clothes," or "Sarah and the Hand Jive," at which point Palin's spokesperson will call them misogynist rape-fans and demand their heads. Palin's supporters will rally around her, and her detractors will point and snicker.

This is the key to Sarah Palin's longevity. She's a win-win-win for everyone concerned. For conservatives, she's a publicity supernova/cash cow; for liberals, she's a constant reminder of their own superiority; and for the media, she's a ratings/traffic perpetual-motion machine. Sarah Palin may not be going to the White House, but she's not going to disappear, either.