Palin Explains Why Alaska Experience Gives Her National Security Credentials
CBS News has just posted video of a chunk of Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin that will air tonight. It's indescribable. That's not meant as snark. Just try to describe the part where she explains why her experience as Alaska governor gives her foreign policy and national security cred:
COURIC: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials?PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our next door neighbors are foreign countries. they're in the state that i am the executive of. And there in Russia --
COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We do -- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia -- as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go?
It's Alaska, It's right over the border. It is from Alaska, that we send those out to make sure an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.
Anyone know what this means? Again, that's not snark. Never mind the image of Putin rearing his head as he floats into Alaskan airspace. Is she saying that American spies who keep an eye on Russia take off from Alaska? And what does that have to do with being Governor of the state?
What is the woman talking about?
Late Update: Here's the video:
Greg how much longer until posters are able to embed video?
September 25, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched it, shared it around the office, laughed my ass off 'till I realized that this moron has a viable shot at becomming CiC and proceeded to soil myself and broke out in a cold sweat all at the same time.
September 25, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
No I need a new President.
September 25, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
OT: That is an awesome avatar.
September 25, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it time for a new gathering of predominantly black cat avatars? It's been months since the last one on Lamont's "New Blog Post".
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, dear. That sounds suspiciously like witchcraft to me!
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why thank you :-) Sink-sized cats are an important addition to every progressive household!
September 25, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, I have a sink-sized tuxedo cat myself but if I put her up as my avatar, I'll just get more confused....
September 25, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Our tuxedo cat is about the size of a Volkswagen.
September 25, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
So is this one. Mr. Large and In Charge as he's known around the house.
September 25, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Every time I see your avatar I remind myself to take a picture of my own all-black cat who likes to nap in the guest bathroom sink, which is a white bowl surrounded by black granite countertop. It's really a stunning look, which is of course why she does it.
September 25, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I cat-sat for a friend and couldn't find the cat one day. Of course he was curled up in my bathroom sink - why do they do that?
September 25, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I cat-sat for a friend and couldn't find the cat one day. Of course he was curled up in my bathroom sink - why do they do that?
September 25, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
The VP debate will be like watching Noggin with my son ...
"I'll have to renounce your candidacy if you can't tell me which of these shapes is the circle."
September 25, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if it's more scary or more pathetic.
September 25, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's speaking in tongues...
September 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
She has this crinkled brow look on her face that suggests that Katie is not doing enough magical thinking to come along on her special journey to a place where all this horseshit makes sense.
September 25, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
You owe a Diet Mt. Dew ... and a new keyboard. Potentially a new nose, but I haven't fully evaluated the damage yet.
September 25, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think she simply uses a random word generator.
September 25, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
This made me laugh. Thanks for that chuckle.
September 25, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
seconded.
September 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does Palin even understand what part of Russia Alaska is next to? She's talking as if the Kremlin is just a stone's throw away. God I can't wait for the VP debate (baring another "crisis" that will require McCain to save the universe).
September 25, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America
I think she means that Putin has a really, really big head . . . just like that arrogant Obama guy.
September 25, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. His enormous head literally comes into the airspace of the U.S. when he raises it off the ground.
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've seen it, dude, it is too damn scary. Thank god for the Alaskan National Gaurd.
September 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
He projects it all over Russia like the Wizard of Oz.
September 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought Gorbachev was the Russian with the Large Scary Head.
I'm now more convinced than ever that the 'suspended campaign' was an elaborate ploy to cancel the VP debate. Biden's going to eat her lunch and take her milk money, and smile while he does it.
September 25, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think she was confusing reality with Top Gun.
September 25, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't mistake confidence with arrogance. The difference is that you DO actually know what you're doing. Look at the McCain campaign, it reminds me of the Clinton campaign x10. Constantly off message, reacting like a fire is under his pants, the hail mary's of hail mary's. and then there's no drama Obama.
September 25, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
They should have her go back to noun, verb, POW, and then try to work her way forward from there.
September 25, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Once those neurons are crossed, it's already too late!
September 25, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's unbelievable. I could make a more coherent argument for her foreign policy credentials. And I'm just some dude.
September 25, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, you're just some turd (at least your avatar is).
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
But I'd still vote for you!
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Hankey '08
Poop You Can Believe In
September 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Straight Poop Express.
September 25, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can I be Sect of Weather or maybe something to do with salt? As you can see, I am qualified.
September 25, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not an ordinary turd, he's Mr. Hankey.
September 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
...uh...it's Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo.
September 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Henky! it's Mr. Henky!
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I could make a more coherent argument for MY foreign policy credentials...
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the Poo has the VP spot sewn up.
September 25, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The only substantial thing she says here is about the trade missions. I don't know if this is true or not.
Everything else is just panicked filler.
September 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Trade missions was also panicked filler. She didn't say anything about her own involvement in trade missions, just a general "we have them".
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Trade missions".
Can you give specific examples of "trade missions" between Alaska and Russia under your watch, Gov. Palin?
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
'Trading' what, exactly? Stock tips? Subprime mortgages? Is she selling our precious American oil to the evil head-raising Russkies?
Talk about a shot in the dark.
September 25, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll try to find some and get 'em to ya!!
September 25, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nearly all states have trade missions with foreign countries. That means they are looking for doing business with them. Big deal!
September 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Obama should appoint me Ambassador to Canada. Just about my whole life has been spent in states that border the Great Lakes. And if you squint really hard, you can nearly imagine seeing Canada across the Lakes. I've bordered each and every one of them, mind you. And I've visited as far as Labrador and British Columbia.
I'm trying to drum up support here.
September 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd vote for you, but since I grew up in Rochester, New York, and could see Lake Ontario, which touches Canada, AND went to Niagra Falls and Toronto multiple times, I'm going to have to vote for myself as Secretary of Canada.
Or something.
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps we could join forces here!
September 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can take the ambassadorship, and since I'm such an obvious expert on Canada, I'll be the Canadian representative to the U.N for the US.
Or something.
September 25, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oooh.... the UN. Now that is ripe for a take-over!
September 25, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since you grew up in Rochester, see, you must know how to "shoot."
September 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can do better than shoot.
I can bowl.
Obviously, I could be President of Ontario, if the nation needed me to be.
September 25, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe you could institute bowling as a new type of diplomacy. Settle problems by bowling.
September 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, from Youngstown, NY, where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario, on a clear day you actually can see Canada, or at least the CN Tower in Toronto, which is only about 20 miles away as the salmon swims.
September 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
And of course, from Niagara Falls itself you can almost spit from the U.S. to Canada - it's only a couple hundred feet.
Tell ya what, sarie: if you can spit from any part of Alaska and hit any part of Russia, you get a pass out of the VP debate and credit for winning.
September 25, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, as teenagers in Toledo, we'd go up to Windsor and drink, since it was legal there. And Windsor's, like, practically the capital of Canada. Or should be. Anyway, those were very important trade missions for us, so I am definitely qualified.
September 25, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
When you get the job, can I put my name forward as someone you could post in the U.S. consulate in Québec City? It is beautiful there.
September 25, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok. Quebec City and the Shrine of St. Anne. You can have em both!
September 25, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent. As soon as you become ambassador I am packing my crutches and heading north.
September 25, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was born in Arizona which is next to Mexico, but I really like Thai food - should I be Ambassador to Mexico or Thailand? I'd even take Italy, I need more Prada!
September 25, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aw shit, I can top that... everything in my house was made in China. That makes me an expert on the Far East, does it not? And don't forget how much Middle Eastern gasoline I burn in my truck either, that makes me at least Ambassador material for Saudi, or at least Bahrain doesn't it?
September 25, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've said it before. She can't form a coherent sentence. I have no idea what thought she is trying to express. She might as well bang a walk to express the same point.
September 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even worse than the words is her manner. She looks excruciatingly uncomfortable in the video.
September 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Putin a Witch? Perhaps Scary Palin had her Kenyan Preacher perform a sorcerer repelling ritual that has been keeping Russia out of our airspace. After all, Scary Palin claims that the witch repelling preacher got her elected governor.
Yup! Yup! She really did, just in June of this year.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/09/june-2008-palin-tells-church-t.php
September 25, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's now totally clear why the McCain campaign is so desperate to keep her out of a debate with Biden. Her natural answers to questions, even when discussing a topic with which she is comfortable, are incoherent. On top of that, when asked about issues with which she has little familiarity, she has a hard time remembering, articulating, and varying her talking points—if she can recall with a talking point at all she just repeats it ad nauseum as she is questioned further. The end result is that her answers to tough questions end up being both grammatically and logically incoherent.
No wonderSteve Schmidt is frightened to death of having her talking, unscripted, on a debate podium for 90 minutes.
September 25, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, ya know, I said thyaanks, but noe thyaanks for that debate to nowhere. If I find any answers, I'll bringum too ya.
September 25, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Spot on! Palin-on-a-stick! :)
September 25, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Palin on a stick"? Wouldn't that be an In-Palin?
September 25, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"our next door neighbors are foreign countries. they're in the state that i am the executive of."
Do you get that folks? Russia and Canada are in the state she is "executive of."
Uh... huh!
What a Dame! Honestly she's a floozy!
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bingo!
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Its all gobbledygook. She can't finish a sentence.
I'll take you up on your challenge tho': she's saying that the mere proximity to Russia and that Air Force planes (spy planes?) take off from AK means that she has foreign policy cred. Nevermind that she has absolutely no influence in Air Force or DoD matters doesn't occur to her.
Oh, and trade missions? I'd like to learn more about those...jeeez.
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Air Force planes take off from my city. They fly over the Great Lake by me.
So... what does that make me?
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sec'ry of Defense.
September 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a Minnesotan, does that mean that I can claim foreign policy credit for keeping Stephen Harper at bay?
September 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Potential Secretary of Defense.
September 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
This has to be the most insane, ridiculous, embarrassing thing I've ever seen.
No wonder they won't let her out of the box - she's an imbecile! An imbecile who thinks being all "by golly and you betcha" is the same thing as intelligence, knowledge and experience.
SHIT!
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this is the most ridiculous thing you have ever seen, I suggest you check out her even more ridiculous answers to economic questions.
As the Kos diarist asks "reducing taxes... has got to accompany tax reductions"!?! What does that even mean?
September 25, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Epic. Fail.
Pufferfish
September 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHA! So true. So great. I love that line. Kudos!
September 25, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I showed that video to my sister and she said, "I don't know what she's talking about." I started explaining that it had to do with her comments that Alaska is in close proximity to Russia, and she stopped me and said, "I know, but I don't understand what Palin's trying to say. Is she saying that we need to keep a close eye on Russia? I don't get it."
September 25, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
And it's not like that question came out of left field, either. She had to know it was coming, and still, that was the best she could do with it?
September 25, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's worth remembering the subtext of the crusader zealot. They live dual lives, always one foot in the here and now, and t'other in the Rapture, and it's the second life that is their reality.
So when she speaks, she talks as though everyone not only gets the underlying message ("dudn't matter, I'm on a misshyun from gaad"), but AGREES with her, all nudge nudge, wink wink. There aren't any opponents. Only unsaved sinners.
The denial this creates means she has no clue she has no clue, and actually thinks herself quite clever and above it all.
She will return to Alaska, only to be impeached, is my prediction. She has brougth great shame to Alaska, and to the Nation.
September 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I've been wondering what her future in Alaska is if and when the Republican ticket doesn't win. The way her party is treating Alaska right now, I'd say she's in some deep yogurt when the election is over and she goes home.
It really seems like the Republicans in general are all-in with this election. If they lose, that party is gonna have a one way ticket to downtown Chaos.
And politically, Palin will be done for, but she'll be small potatoes in comparison.
September 25, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the thing that makes me most giddy. They had HOW MUCH TIME to dream up some sort of coherent line to try and explain this and she still can't do it? Seriously, how bad is it that she can't memorize some idiotic line so as not to appear searching for the truth where there is none?
These idiots are the masters of perception over substance and they're failing miserably. Before our very eyes. I never thought I'd see the day. But I must tell you, I'm enjoying it very much.
"This election is not about issues. It's about the candidates."
So sorry for you, then.
September 25, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Worst. VP. Candidate. Ever.
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
No...this is SCARY...remember Bush sounded just like her and he was elected President!!
This is frightening.
It is a repeat.
September 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to say, I remember these gems from the 2000 presidential debates....ah, from the mouth of W....
"Africa is big."
"Israel is important."
"Mexico is a friend."
(This one always struck me as a good travel slogan...or some kind of garbled James Taylor medley?"
September 25, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also, let's not forget the inimitable Dan Quayle:
"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is IN the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
September 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Painful. Just painful. McCain should be ashamed of himself.... Wow. A team of Mavericks..... This shit is unbelievable.... I keep expecting a big hook to reach in and pull her off stage like the old cartoons.... PAINFUL...UGH!!!!!!!
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMFG!!!! That's just indescribable.
The worst part of this is that this has been a continuing issue and she's been asked this question repeatedly...why hasn't she (or someone from the campaign)come up with a somewhat coherent answer?
September 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
The scary (pathetic) thing is they probably did and she botched it. Hopefully someone at CBS took some video footage of the reaction of her handlers as they watched this train wreck.
September 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
THAT would be awesome. I would pay to see that.
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
One of the more painful videos Ive seen... the question is, will it get much play?
September 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
This lady has a future. Impersonating herself. Think of the videos!
September 25, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
It will on my TV.
And then on my DVR.
September 25, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
All she does is try and patch different talking points together. She must have memorized about 40 of them or so for each interview. Every once in a while she mixes them up and we get a bit of what came out to some of Couric's questions.
Every time I see her interviews I think of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
September 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
haha thought the same thing, posted it below. Double post, sorry!
September 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin must have been that poor Miss South Carolina's coach. The way that she botched all her "talking points" is just eerily familiar.
September 25, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm curious how her handlers are doing psychologically. It's those folks I feel sorry for.
"Oh, for God's sake, not the 'I can see Russia from here' thing again! Where'd I put that hemlock?"
September 25, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
It makes me really angry that John McCain would choose such an idiot as his running mate.
September 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know what - I think it has made a whole lot of people angry, since they've come to really get a look at her.
And rightly so - what the hell kind of American tries to foist off this person on us as someone who is prepared to be president?
Surely anyone who ever had confidence in McLame is angry -
September 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not just supposition: I actually talked to someone who hates Obama and who would vote for McCain except for - Palin! She's absolutely horrified and terrified of Palin. She won't vote for Obama, but she won't vote for McCain either. Works for me.
September 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's his finger poked in the eye of every American. It's a punch in the nose! It's a knee in the groin. Falin is the snowball with a rock inside thrown by a reckless rogue!
September 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jibberish. She thinks she can fake it.
I agree that she doesn't realize Maine is closer to Moscow than Anchorage is.
September 25, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't give Susan Collins any bright ideas.
September 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
This makes Putin sound like a dragon or something.
September 25, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHA! Oh god. Line of the day! LOL!
September 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fits with witches!
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was unaware Russia aircraft were violating American airspace which is, if you take that incoherent dreck of an answer she gave, at face value of the words she sputtered out.
September 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's also suggesting that we send out trade missions to spy on the Russians. Whatever that means.
September 25, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just when you think Shrub could not be any worse...
I am so tired of these morons and the more-moronic people who support them. Can you imagine what the rank and file folks at the State Department must be going through right now? Every time they open their mouths, they're on the verge of causing unnecessary headaches.
Medvedev and Putin must be laughing their fool heads off at us!! He may be Putin's boy, but he's not stupid. And even though some of our fellow citizens may be in deep denial of the deep doo we're in, trust that no one else is.
People as recklessly stupid as Unstable/Unable (and it's tough to figure who's more unstable and who's more unable) threaten our security. Period. They shouldn't even be within a 10 mile radius of the White House.
September 25, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Precisely the cure we all need right now.
September 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was watching AC360 a couple weeks back and an Obama surrogate came out and said, well, I can see stars from my back yard, does that make me an astrophysicist?
September 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's awful hard to top that one. :)
September 25, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read on another blog a similar line:
"I can see the moon from my back yard, but that doesn't make me a f***ing astronaut!"
Either/both are worth repeating as needed.
-- ARG
September 25, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heard from a Michigander: I can see Canada from my house--can I be Secretary of State?
September 25, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Based on the few glimpses we have, surely Palin's campaign handlers have concluded that she runs a high risk of losing herself in an inarticulate stream of consciousness during the VP debate. Has Vegas opened betting on the VP debate being canceled?
September 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad that she's in front of Miss Middle America, Katie Couric.
September 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not big bad meanie Charlie Gibson brow-beating her as he peers over the tops of glasses at her.
Katie even helped her with a word. Ironic that it was the word "mock."
September 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL! You got it.
September 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Must have been at the tip of Katie's tongue!
September 25, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow! She takes credit for foreign policy experience because the US Air Force patrols from bases in Alaska?
I guess I'm a European expert since the Atlantic approaches are patrolled from Cape Cod. Who knew?
September 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm speechless, except I'm lmao at McLame for doing this to himself.
September 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, lay off the little lady!
Its what she MEANS that's important, not how she says it!
This will be the response of not a few McCain supporters, not to mention the Republican campaign.
September 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
So she is unable to say what she means? Or does she mean the bullshit she says?
Take your pick.
(Not meaning you, that's just my response to your suggestion of what the Reeps might say in their half-hearted defense of her)
September 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
You people don't understand how difficult it is to deal with all those foreign countries who are RIGHT NEXT DOOR!!! After all, their leaders are almost always foreigners.
Quick, someone ask her what happens if Stephen Harper rears his head and invades Alaskan airspace. Any bets on whether she knows who Stephen Harper is?
September 25, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
President of Greenland? Mayor of the North Pole?
September 25, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Intrade numbers are approaching the levels they were at prior to the GOP convention (Obama approach 60, McCain nosediving to 40). . .seems to me people are putting their money on the true leader and not the "pretender to the throne". Maybe they can make tomorrow night's debate a "Group Intervention" and everyone can just say "It's all right John, you tried your best, but you are really hurting yourself and the country with this bullsh*t".
September 25, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
They would already be there if someone hadn't been tampering with the markets.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/intrade-betting-is-suspcious.html
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish I knew more about them before saying this, but www.fivethirtyeight.com is the sexiest and most amazing poll-aggregating blog I've ever seen (which is a huge caveat actually).
In this case though, the H.L. Mencken in me is willing to believe that U.S. centric* Intrade is just suffering from too many bozos following our news cycle.
Also: What about Obama supporters who put InTrade money on John McCain, just so they don't feel totally despondent if McCain wins? (Look I know it's defeatist, but hasn't anyone else thought about doing that.)
*Dublin-based company, mostly U.S. customers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrade#Further_activities
September 25, 2008 11:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Grammar Weenie self-Reply: Punctuation.
(Look I know it's defeatist, but hasn't anyone else thought about doing that?)
September 25, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
O I should be Empress of Mexico - I live in two states that border Mexico.
Uh huh [nods head]
September 25, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, we've got North American covered then!
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, the island I live on touches the Atlantic Ocean, and the British Isles sit in the Atlantic, so...
I call King Of England!
September 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think, in retrospect, that I was pretty insulting to Miss South Carolina yesterday.
She's obviously more able to handle questions about foreign policy than Palin is.
Palin thought it was funny that questions about her statements about Russia were....she COULDN'T EVEN COME UP WITH THE WORD...And Katie had to step in and help her out.
"Made fun of"?
Oy.
I'm betting $100 that there won't be a Veep debate. Seriously.
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not taking that bet - I don't think there will be either.
September 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ooooo....that's a tough bet to take! At this point, its how many trains they send into the collision, debates or nae...
September 25, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
But she said the word "maritime" very credibly. Isn't that enough?
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm counting on that debate. Video of the century!
September 25, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
No way Palin gets out of the debate... McCain may try but it won't fly. Can you imagine the uproar? It will so blatantly be about shielding Palin that the McCain campaign may risk losing coverage. I'd even think the GOP powers-that-be - those with no connection to the Eagle Forum or Dobson, that is - would howl in horror.
September 25, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just keep thinking of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's spiraling. Her performance in these Couric clips is nuts. Her answers to Charles Gibson seem almost reasonable by comparison.
September 25, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is too weird.
Come on, her two interviews have been Couric and Gibson, and they are the ones making her look dumb?
I mean Obama took on "Do it live" O'reilly.
How long til the American people demand that their leaders are able to have coherent arguments?
September 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was thinking the same thing. If she can't manage these two softball interviews without looking like a doofus, what will happen when someone asks her a real question?
Chances of a VP debate actually happening are approaching zero.
Lincoln was right. Better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget Hannity.
It's almost as though they insist upon her interviewers being as vapid as she is.
September 25, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I bet she thinks Patrick Swayze's movie "Red Dawn" was a documentary.
September 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
just lol'ed in office. People probably think I'm nutz.
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
You, sir, owe ME a keyboard for this comment.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Comment of the Day!!!!!
September 25, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
"WOLVERINES!!!"
Priceless.
September 25, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Man is she dumb, guys.
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The likelihood of Palin crying during the VP debate (should it ever be held) is looking stronger each day. I wonder how that'd cut.
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
i worry more about Biden. she says something like that, he has a problem containing his scorn for idiocy, and the media talks about his "sexism" for the rest of the election.
September 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's people are probably going to make him watch this on a loop for two hours every day until he becomes absolutely numb to it. Otherwise we'll hear "WTF?" uttered for the first time during a VP debate.
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, it would at least get them NH.
September 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
zing!
September 25, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Intrade should be all over this.
The real question is: if she does, will McCain win New Hampshire?
September 25, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin may be talking about the NORAD (so called in the 60s -- maybe a new name now) early warning ssystem for detecting Russion ICBMS, installed all across northern North America and certianly in Alaska in particular. Of course, this is a U.S. Air Force effort of decades-long standing with nothing to do with the governor of Alaska.
September 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The inscription on Palin's political gravestone will be:
2008-2008
Bitchslapped to death by... Katie Couric
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOLOLOLOL!!!
I guess my fave part has to be Putin the Raptor.
September 25, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Clearly, she believes Putin is a king cobra who resides in one of those large woven baskets in Moscow, and when the rays of the sun light on the basket he rouses from his reptilian torpor and rears up out of the basket with fangs bared, his ominous shadow striking Alaska first, where Sarah and her moose-hunting gubernatorial centurions are there to safeguard the Land of the Free from the Serpent O the East.
Now why can't the rest of you figure that out? It's plain as the nose on your face.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
That sounds just like something from Harry Potter!
September 25, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
can anyone actually imagine her in a room with Putin? he has to be chuckling at this interview.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see a meeting between her and Dmitri Medvedev.
September 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain inflicted our Nation with this imbecile. Never forget that.
By the way: A Maverick is a stupid calf that keeps getting lost, and having to be rescued from the dangers that they keep straying into.
That sure sounds like McCain.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the fact she makes Katie Couric seem like the thoughtful one says a lot.
September 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
She makes Katie Couric look like a damn genius.
That's not leadership we can believe in, my friends.
September 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The only way I can describe her is as confidently clueless.
She takes some of the worst attributes of George Bush, his arrogant certitude and lack of curiosity, and ratchets them up several notches.
I hope people will see this for what it is -- not just a continuation of the Bush years, but a doubling down on everything he represents.
September 25, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup, yup!
September 25, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's already learned everything she'll ever need to know in church.
September 25, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The scariest part is that she seems so confident while she is talking complete nonsense.
I don't think she is dumb, just painfully ignorant and incurious about the world.
September 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think she is dumb, just painfully ignorant and incurious about the world.
And seemingly quite proud of the fact, given her smug, self-congratulatory manner.
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
since when is being cripplingly ignorant and proud of it not qualify as "dumb"?
September 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Well Brian........... I hit the ball the first time and there it was in the back of the net." - John Cleese, Monty Python's Flying Circus
September 25, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I don't think she is dumb, just painfully ignorant and incurious about the world."
As are most Americans. And therein lies her appeal to the radical narcissists among us.
September 25, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
And, all other things being put aside, one has to give Katie some kudos for asking the question.
September 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does this mean that the Governor of Hawaii is also super qualified to run for vice president because Hawaii is closer to China than any of the other 49 states?
And for the love of pete, anybody listening to her blather on about this should just pull up Google Earth and take a look at what's in that particular part of Russia. A few fishing villages. Maybe an air force base or two. Other than that - NOTHING!
I think some idiot in the McCain campaign came up with the bright idea of using Alaska's proximity to Russia as a line of defense re: Palin's lack of foreign policy experience. It was ridiculed from day 1 but they're stuck with it. So they stumble and bumble any time it's mentioned or questioned, making them sound even more ridiculous.
But whatever, Sir John McCain of Sedona has ridden into DC on his white horse and we now have a tentative bailout deal. My hero!
September 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
No silly. You can't SEE China from Hawaii. Jeez, don't you know anything?
September 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget! Obama was born in Hawaii.
September 25, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoa! That's right...I forgot that! And Biden was born in the Scranton area, which is only a 2 hour drive away from the UN. Palin was born in Idaho, which is close to...nothing. Advantage - Obama/Biden.
Of course, McCain wasn't born outside of the US, so he trumps them all.
September 25, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
And McCain lived in Hanoi for five years. Did you know that? I didn't...had no idea.
September 25, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone....which I think means he should be entering a caged death match with Hugo Chavez for the throne of Venezuela right about now, or something...
September 25, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the McCain campaign is counting on the fact that a large majority of Americans couldn't even find Russia on a map. For all they know, Russia and Canada ARE in the state that Sarah Palin is the executive of.
September 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well no offense, I don't think that matters. The statement is absurd regardless of whether Moscow or Kamchatka Island is closer to Anchorage.
Seriously - that ain't the point. ;)
September 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I understand and completely agree - but for many people who aren't accustomed to any analysis more complex than "should I get the McNuggets or the Quarter Pounder meal tonight" - just the mere mention of Russia, or Putin, or ANY foreign leader, sends their brains into a tailspin: "Whoa. She knows that foreign dude's name. She must know what she's talking about."
September 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boy, I didn't mean to be dismissive, but watching this video, I couldn't help feeling that Couric was a social worker counseling a teenage girl who was getting ready for all sorts of mischief.
What was she talking about? Do we really send folks out to Alaska to keep an eye on Russia? Isn't Moscow, the capital of Russia, much closer to Europe than to Alaska? Are we really that interested in Siberia to have folks in Alaska peeking? Some expert has got to come out and say something.
I have the feeling that this woman definitely needs to stay away from "witchcraft".
September 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because we all need some laughs these days....
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/25/91356/3480/342/609860
I guess you'll have to copy and paste it. I'm better than McPain, but still technologically challenged.
September 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin is a blithering idiot. That's all there is to say.
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Couric:
What do you feel should be our next step to a peaceful Afghanistan?
Palin:
I believe, countries such as Afghanistan and Russia, need loving parents. We need unilateral alliances formed to defeat evil in it's place. Afghanistan neighbors such as Pakistan, Georgia and Iraq need to put pressure on Osama bin Laden to come out of hiding. Retreat is not an option.
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this for real? Please God...
September 25, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hoo-boy, what a load! And she clearly buys her own filth!
Unbelievable. I'm with hrebendorf on this.
September 25, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
How fucked up is it that we can't tell the difference between real and fake?
September 25, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're making this up, right?
RIGHT?????????????
September 25, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
;)
September 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
mike, you have a future!
September 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Katie Couric is a SEXIST
September 25, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we go back and get a model that blinks?
September 25, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
But she is saved from the witches...and she will lead us for all cities and states to be headed by born again christains! Be sure to watch the witch hunter video of Sarah with the MR. Reverend of witch hunting...
September 25, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, that witchcraft stuff is pretty funny. I guess Obama can keep it on ice if McSuspenders whips out Rev. Wright.
September 25, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is ZERO footage of laying on of hands by Rev Wright. What happened in her "church" was an abomination to rational thought, and it's clear she's wrapped up in it tighter than a duck's foot in a cat's ass.
I'd like to see the false promise of Rapture take a real beating. This is exceedlingly dangerous thinking. To permit it to control the catching of mongrels is patently unwise, much less the presidency.
September 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if this qualifies her as an expert of Africa...
September 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, of course! Because next we'll hear she's African American!
September 25, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Duck's foot in a cat's ass". I lika yo style...
September 25, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why, thank you! Henry Blake has always been a personal hero!
September 25, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd love to see some video of Palin speaking in tongue.
Maybe she was about to break into that here, hoping God would bail her out if her gibberish became incomprehensible enough to please Him.
September 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG
September 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
The front page headline says "Palin On Foreign Policy Experience: Alaska Is Close To Russia. QED. "
I'll bet my paycheck Palin doesn't know what QED means either...
September 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did someone say Paycheck?
September 25, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did she say Canada?
We have Russian spies in Alaska?
Alaska has a No Zone?
She and McCain are just sad...He said her son's National Guard Unit was going to Iraq, he is in the Regular Army...
I have been in the military for 21 years and this is no longer funny!
September 25, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been to Canada about a hundred times. By Camp McGoo's criteria, I'm the fucking Prime Minister.
September 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry, but TheraP and I already have dibs on anything related to Canada.
Get your own country, dude.
September 25, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's what elections are for. Besides, I've met Gordon Lightfoot, so fuck you!
September 25, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
The gentleman from Milwaukee casts his vote for the one who has met Gordon Lightfoot!
September 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Green Bay seconded.
September 25, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh really? I know the first two words to the Canadian national anthem so I'm declaring TheraP and me the sovereign state of Canada. Go take your Gordon Lightfoot 8-track tapes and go home, eh?
September 25, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup, this partnership is working out here!
September 25, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
.Whew, thank god I called Empress of Mexico.
September 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Two words to you, missy: huevos rancheros! Had 'em for breakfast.
Me and Mexico? Like this (crosses fingers)
September 25, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I was bar mitzvah'd so I might as well and call dibs on Israeli Prime Minister.
September 25, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW!! Just fucking WOW! I don't post here much, but that 60-75 sec performance was absolutely pitiful. I certainly hope she's wearing extra-absorbent depends
September 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gondoliers for Obama
(via Sullivan)
September 25, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain just put Italy on the list right below Spain.
September 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey guize! Did I miss anything good?
September 25, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHAHAHAHA!
Oh no, not a thing, nothing to to see here...
Were I a bug on a the carpet of TPM's livingroom, awash would I be in a sea of dropped jaws.
September 25, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's seeing Putin balloons floating around Alaska.
Pass me a bowl of that shit, honey.
September 25, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
That Tina Fey, she's hilarious, this was some of her best stuff in recent mem-... Uh? Oh...
September 25, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is the video not working for anyone else? Should I consider myself lucky?
September 25, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
hyperRevue? It's a truly disturbing video, notwithstanding the downright hilarious reactions to it here.
September 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, it's working.
I'll be under my desk in the fetal position in case anyone needs me.
September 25, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have a therapist nearby.
September 25, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good god, what I wouldn't give to see Biden look at her and say WHAT THE FUCK?
September 25, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Knowing him, he might just say that on live TV. Which may be good for the Obama campaign, who knows.
September 25, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is laughter on national TV sexism?
September 25, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
God help me, I'm starting to feel sorry for her. I think a big part of the problem is that she is trying to defend an indefensible position -- she should just admit (ala Laura Bush) that she doesn't have any foreign policy experience, but that she balances out McCain's foreign policy experience (such as it is) with domestic policy experience (such as it is).
I'm kind of blaming the McCain campaign for even trying to make this argument. She might not know better, but they really should have. And now they've got her on national television trying to defend McCain's record on deregulation and the whole Rick Davis / Fannie Mae thing, too. She has enough problems with not sounding like an idiot without trying to defend McLame's own talking points.
September 25, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it will end up costing her the governorship. Troopergate is not going away. The only reason more action wasn't done now is because the legislature is not in session.
When she returns, it will be to face the music of her own lies and obstruction, the same crimes for which Clinton was impeached. She has brought great shame to Alaska, and I think she will pay dearly for it.
See, this is the problem with Life by Hail Mary (e.g. The Rapture): no plan right afterwards, and unto the end of Time.
September 25, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I cannot fathom why you or anyone would feel sorry for this woman. She CHOSE this of her own free will, and by golly, she honestly believes she is qualified and deserves the office.
Arrogant ignorance deserves no quarter. She is not the victim here - WE ARE.
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Word up!
Sorry hell - she didn't have to go through this, she could have said - O hell, I'm not qualified and that would have been an end to it.
She's a willing party to this charade.
September 25, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't help it -- I have a soft spot in my heart for the delusional. Especially the non-blinking, jibberish-spouting sort. Because she probably watched her interview clips and mentally high-fived herself at her performance.
So very sad. Someone really needs to stage an intervention.
September 25, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Over and under on whether or not Obama makes a play for AK after this?
This is worth the - what? - 30 points he was down?
September 25, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had no idea that Russia and Canada are both in Alaska. So technically, she has tons of foreign policy experience -- as the simultaneous executive of both countries. Couric should have asked her why she invaded Georgia.
September 25, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was because of those damned peaches!
September 25, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, God help you! Do not feel sorry for this person! She could be the prez!!!
September 25, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
software getting messed up again!
September 25, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ezzackly - nobody forced her to want to be prez, either.
September 25, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holy fuck. Can any of her supporters in the punditocracy see this and keep a straight face? How about you Newt?
September 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, dear. That sounds suspiciously like witchcraft to me!
September 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
software mixed up!
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The funny thing is, I remember the first time I heard this argument - on Colbert I think, showing the clip of Steve Doocy or the Guy Who Isn't Steve Doocy saying that Palin had foreign policy experience because Alaska was close to Russia. I thought it was funny, just in that it seemed like such a silly idea that only the Fox-n-friends would come up with or entertain as a serious argument.
I am just agog that this has actually become the staple bullet point for those who defend her, as well for Palin herself.
September 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
McGoo's got the all-important Sympathy Voters locked up, that's for sure.
September 25, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
So when does she go on the Howard Stern show?
September 25, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
To answer Josh's question, I think she is talking about installations like Shemya, where the air force bases, or used to base, planes that fly out along the territorial limits of Russia to look down into Russian air space.
As governor, she wouldn't have the security clearance to get on the base, but she has probably heard about it. It is not clear whether she has any specific information, or just knows about it from general Alaskan lore.
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Incredible. It gets worse with every new clip that comes out. I only wish this guy were moderating the VP debate.
saywhat
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mocking her is all good fun but realize that Palin is going to walk into the VP debate (which I'll bet is going to happen) with the lowest expectations in history. Truly, if she avoids soiling herself the conventional narrative will be that she triumphed and that either all our criticism and meanness was unjustified (sexism!) or that she has dramatically improved (she's a quick study!). That narrative is going to shape how people react to the debate. Don't think that, after a few weeks of Palin-bashing, the media won't be happy to turn to a new story about Palin the Redeemed. The woman makes irresistible copy - remember how she dominated the news after she was announced?
Also, remember that these debates are not scored on formal points established and arguments defended. Sure, junkies and wonks like us may care about policy detail, but most viewers don't, especially the late-deciding, low-information ones who hold the balance of power. The goal is to connect with the audience in terms of tone and an intangible "I want (or don't want) that person to be my leader." Palin CAN do that. We've all seen the video from her performances running for and serving as governor. She's an effective, even appealing communicator on television and this will not be her first rodeo (or, should I say, moose hunt).
Look, I'm not saying she is anything other than an embarrassment. Neither am I saying that this is all some kind of super-insidious McCain campaign plan to lower the expectations. Obviously, they'd prefer their candidate were not incoherent. But the things that most of us are focusing on as we ridicule or recoil in horror from her will not matter much during the debate. She has a track record of being good at the stuff that will matter and we/Obama/Biden underestimate her at our own peril.
September 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the context of the veep debate, you are probably right.
I do not predict, however, that it will have any effect on the race itself. This recent pivot is assuming a life of its own narrative-wise; McLiar is no longer in control of it, if he ever was.
Biden should just let her talk. It's really the best comedy-as-tragedy I've seen in years!
September 25, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
O come on - there is no fucking peril here.
None, zilch, Sarah Palin is not a person to fear in any way for any reason.
I doubt very much she'll make it to a debate.
September 25, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 25, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right Tena. IF she debates the expectations game isn't going to save her. At some point bad is just bad, and there's no other way to call it.
September 25, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are we absolutely sure about this?
September 25, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin is going to walk into the VP debate (which I'll bet is going to happen) with the lowest expectations in history.
Lowest expectations from whom? From us? Well yeah, but we aren't exactly exemplary of the rest of the electorate. We see all this Palin travesty, but I'm not sure the rest of the country is perceiving it thusly. Sure, many are underwhelmed, and her favorability polling numbers reflect that. But we here are dissecting her commentary way more than most, I think.
That said, I do agree with a number of your points. In spite of her inability to articulate any policy idea with clarity or even common sense, as long as she smiles and remains easygoing in her delivery, even as she mutters and mispronounces words, she has the potential to be effective. Biden can't simply be as mocking as we are - that's OUR job. He can point out all sorts of flaws in her comments to be sure, but he has to mirror whatever pleasantness she embodies while doing it.
We need to win debates not just on the policy points, but on the subconscious level. That's trickier.
September 25, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't discount the possibility that she will underp