"AMERICA JUST wants to be entertained!" writes Tina Brown of Sarah Palin's inevitably continuing future -- no matter the outcome of this election. And Tina has none other than Lorne Michael, the genius of "Saturday Night Live," adding: "There's a real intelligence there. She connects with people. Whatever it means to be a star, she is."

Two weeks ago I also pointed to the future Sarah Palin who might go home to Alaska, but not in defeat. It would be to cram on economics and international affairs and come back as the darling of the conservative GOP in four years. (They'd be done with stifling old cranky guys by then and ready for a real killer candidate!)

Or, on the other hand, Gov. Palin can be a reality TV host or a talk show biggie, set up by Fox across from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Television awaits.

P.S. Do read Jane Mayer's extensive piece on Palin in the current New Yorker. The Alaskan governor had bewitched elite conservative politicians and pundits long before she was "plucked from obscurity" -- as the legend now reads. (Bill Kristol and Dick Morris were especially besotted.) Far from coming to light "out of nowhere" as so many of us said, Sarah was more than ready to be chosen, to be "The One" for ultra-conservative Republicans.

SPEAKING OF all this, diehard Obama supporter Damien Miano is co-owner of the Miano Viel Salon & Spa. His partner is diehard McCain supporter, Louis Viel.

On Saturdays, the staff wears custom-made "No Pigs With Lipstick Allowed" T-shirts. (That's the day Louis usually doesn't come in.) Miano has a workstation facing the street window and the Omni Berkshire Hotel, which is where Sarah Palin stayed last weekend. Passersby on 52nd Street stop, stare, applaud or sneer at Miano in his T-shirt.

Last Saturday, the staff didn't wear the shirts because Boss Viel was coming in. It was a good thing. Palin's people called; Bristol Palin needed a manicure-pedicure. Viel ended up with an autographed photo to add to his other one of Cindy and John McCain. The Democrats in the salon had to just shut up and swallow hard.

LET'S SPEAK of a real movie star -- the late Rita Hayworth, a woman so fab that they pasted her photo on the Atom Bomb! (If you feel that's a dubious distinction, try harking back to World War II when things were very different.)

Rita was a star of stars. She lives on via daughter Princess Yasmin Aga Khan and the Alzheimer's Association, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary Oct. 28 at the Waldorf. The honorees this year are philanthropist Lily Safra and Frank Bennack Jr. (He is back running Hearst after a failed attempt to retire.) Call 212-843-1712. Remind yourselves what a real movie star means.

I'M NOT like Claude Rains in "Casablanca" -- "shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here." But I am "shocked, shocked" to find that some New Yorkers are willing to gamble with the city's future, making a big fuss about setting aside term limits so that Mayor Mike Bloomberg can run again.

If New Yorkers don't know how lucky they are that Bloomberg exists, then where've they been?

IF YOU care about the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (and anyone who doesn't should be in jail!) maybe you'd come to their gala at the Pierre on Oct. 27 where they're honoring your old friend here. You aren't going to let me stand up there before empty tables, are you? And, in such a fine cause! Plus, the greatest jazz pianist in the entire world, Barbara Carroll, will sing while tickling the 88s. Actually, I'm told, there are only a few tickets left. Call 914-579-1000.

AGAIN -- speaking of Sarah Palin: I went down to NYU to be part of a panel on privacy issues in the media. I was the least of an illustrious group -- New York Times media ace David Carr, Time's Jim Kelly, the legal counsel for the Washington Post and Newsweek's Sherrese Smith, plus Judge Andrew Napolitano who advises Fox News. We were monitored, hectored and amused by the great legal mind Arthur Miller as moderator.

Gov. Palin came up again and again in the arguments. Had she been badly treated in the matter of exposure of her family and children? Or had she used them to enhance her image, bringing them into the limelight herself?

We decided, I think, that "media ethics" is an oxymoron these days.

BROADWAY is still making them laugh. In "Spamalot," Rick Holmes improvises each performance as the Knight Who Says Ni. He usually goes pop culture in his remarks. So he brought the house down with the following spoken in the Queen's English: "Here's a riddle/When is a plumber not a plumber after all? When his name is Joe!" The audience goes wild ... On Nov. 10 stars will shine for the Chris & Dana Reeve Foundation's gala at the Marriott Marquis. The theater's Jimmy Nederlander is being honored by chair Francine LeFrak. The artist Chuck Close and the New York Rangers will also shine. Call 212-763-8594.

(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)