ASSOCIATED PRESS: A rural Wisconsin man blasted his television set with a shotgun after watching Bristol Palin’s “Dancing with the Stars” routine Monday night, saying he was fed up with politics and Palin wasn’t a very good dancer, according to court documents. Steven Cowan, 67, of the town of Vermont, about 15 miles west of Madison, then pointed the gun at his wife, 66-year-old Janice Cowan, who escaped and called police, authorities said. A SWAT team surrounded the couple’s farmhouse, and officers were able to talk Cowan out Tuesday morning after an all-night standoff.  Janice Cowan told police her husband came home around 6:30 p.m. Monday after drinking at a bar, but that she didn’t know if he was drunk, a sheriff’s detective wrote in a criminal complaint. She said her husband drank a bottle of beer during dinner and they settled down to watch “Dancing with the Stars.” When Palin, the daughter of former vice presidential candidate-turned-GOP celebrity Sarah Palin, began her routine, Cowan jumped up and began swearing, saying something like “The (expletive) politics.” His wife said he was upset that a political figure’s daughter was dancing on TV even though he felt she didn’t have talent. She told officers her husband left the living room and reappeared 20 minutes later with his shotgun, “raging” with his face bright red, and blasted the TV.  “He scared the bejebees out of me,” Janice Cowan told police. […] The Internet has been abuzz in recent days about how Bristol Palin, who has consistently landed at the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard, has been able to remain on the ABC show. Some have suggested that voters — particularly supporters of her mother — have been voting in blocs and manipulating the system. Both Palins have denied any organized vote-getting tactics. Bristol Palin, 20, says voters support her despite lackluster performances because she started the show with no dancing experience. MORE

NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE: Inside Palin World