I think they've decided to go for the moron-American vote. I'm serious.

Well, it's a bit like the modern artist who throws cans of paint at a canvass and steps back to look at the effect.

In his New Yorker article "The State Of Sarah Palin," Philip Gourevitch writes:

"She sounded the same when we met, high-spirited, irrepressible, and not in the least self-conscious. On the contrary, she is supremely self-confident, in the way of someone who believes that there is nothing she can’t talk her way into, or out of, or around or through. There was never a hesitation before speaking, or between phrases, no time for thought or reflection. The words kept coming—engaging, lulling, distracting—a commanding flow, but without weight."

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/22/080922fa_fact_gourevitch

So what you see is what you get. Palin has never learned the national politician's technique of taking a question and carefully turning it to the thing she really wants to talk about. She's used to people nodding their heads and not wanting to look as if they don't understand what she's saying.

This kind of personal, one-on-one charisma has got her to where she is. Fascinating that Katie Couric so far has been best at displaying this for all to see.

Markov chain.

The whole thing has defied belief from the start, but it just gets worse and worse.

I experienced something approaching true physical pain watching her answer that question and the one about Alaska's proximity to Russia. It reminds me of watching early Woody Allen movies, where his character is so embarrasingly incompetent around women, you just cringe through scene after scene.

Watching this latest interview, I felt, for the first time really, that I would actually be more qualified to be vice-president than this poor woman.

This poor woman. It's come to that. I'm starting to feel actual pity for her, that she's been thrust into this position for which she is so blatantly unprepared.

Incredible.

At this rate, we'll be lucky if she's still speaking in English by the VP debate.

It looks like Trig's not the only one with mental problems in that family

Firstly, the McCain campaign staff is the third-rate remnant of the Bush/Rove staff, which was never that great to start with (they lost in 2000, remember). Secondly, the best of that bad bunch have their hands full trying to adjust McCain's meds and keep him under control and think up explanations for his increasingly random statements. Thirdly, Palin never showed any evidence of competence beyond looking good and reading a teleprompter: running Wasilla wasn't exactly a big job, but she had to hire a city manager to do it.

And finally, we know a lot about how she was picked: McCain wanted Lieberman or Ridge, when he realized that would split the party he went into a huff and picked Palin in a hurry, with practically no vetting and having met her only once for 15 minutes. All to keep on his schedule and stomp on Obama's convention bounce.

When you have a half-assed stupid way of taking decisions, you generally end up with a half-assed stupid result. Palin's incompetence isn't really a surprise.

The final factor is that the Republican party has worked hard over the last 12 years or so to purge itself of anyone inclined to independent thought. They've driven out anyone who can do more than regurgitate talking points. And then they've managed to pick someone who can't even remember the talking points.

Remember when McCain "flirted" with joining the Democrats? I'm beginning to think that he actually DID join the Democrats, but as a deep cover double-agent rather than a card-carrying member.

I meant this comment as a joke. But now the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems. At least when compared to, say, picking Sarah Palin as your running mate.

Ezra,
Her incoherence has the same cause as Bush's: both are talking about things that they have absolutely no interest, curiousity, or background it. As such, they know their talking points but have a hard time remembering which ones to use. I'm sure that if Couric (whom I have respected since she asked Bob Dole about tobacco) had asked her questions using the same words as Palin's handlers, there would have been no flubbing. However, because Palin lacks both the background and the interest in the subject, she has no context to determine how Couric's questions compare to her talking points.

I'm told the interview is no longer available on the CBS site. Librul media!

"At this rate, we'll be lucky if she's still speaking in English by the VP debate."

Well, it is doubtful that she knows any other language. But this could be fun. She will probably be the first politician ever to give an interview that is done entirely by speaking in tongues. She's almost there already.

Another possible factor is that if she's breastfeeding her infant, then the hormonal effects are significant and she's probably feeling both very tired, and mentally a bit slow and fuzzy.

It's possible that she has been, and will be in future, a bit more coherent than this. But we can't bet on it.

Get rid of raincntry's comment now, pls. Really crass.

She obviously speaking in tongues. We've heard about it and now we are seeing it.

Sounds like it's time for a "FAIL" macro.

It fits the facts. increasingly, Palin's worst answers are not on the questions she isn't expecting, but those that she's got to be prepared for. Russia and Alaska, for instance.

What this reminds me of is the bar exam and bar exam preparation. Almost no one takes a class on commercial paper in law school. I'm not even sure I could have. But commercial paper is almost always a subject on the essay portion of the bar, at least in Illinois, so everyone takes it in bar prep classes.

Commercial paper has something called the "holder in due course" rule. What it is isn't really important. What's important is that you are told a million times that 90% of commercial paper law comes back to the HIDC rule, so you better know it.

What I'm getting at is that they could conceivably put a commercial paper question on the bar that doesn't have anything to do with the HIDC rule, and I guarantee you that 99% of the answers turned in will at some point state the HIDC rule. It won't be relevant, but that doesn't matter. You were told to know the rule, and that it was important, and dammit, whether they want it or not, you're going to regurgitate it on that exam. That's what Palin has become. She's a living, breathing, talking point machine. It's like they've programmed her to just start blathering talking points when she hears a certain phrase, regardless if they have any relevance to the question.

Wow, she should star in the Alaskan remake of "The Office."

The creepiest thing about this past ten days of gaffe after gaffe after called-out lie, is that 45% of Americans still plan to vote for these clowns.

What's interesting/vaguely scary about Palin's flubbed answers is that at least some of them weren't difficult. The one you are flagging is such a case; the right answer (from the perspective of camp McCain) is that you have to distinguish between debtor relief, and confidence in financial markets. Bailing out individual debtors doesn't necessarily address the looming bank failures (or some such, and not saying that I agree with that answer).

Thing is, Palin might have come up with the right answer, if her head weren't filled up with mumbo-jumbo from McCain's hacks.

Palin is like a QB with decent running and passing skills, but not smart enough/time enough to memorize the playbook. The Republicans would have better luck not coaching her, and letting her do the best she can with her own native skills. The result couldn't be any worse than her performances to date.

Sarah Palin, post turtle.

Palin is like a QB with decent running and passing skills, but not smart enough/time enough to memorize the playbook. The Republicans would have better luck not coaching her, and letting her do the best she can with her own native skills. The result couldn't be any worse than her performances to date.

The problem with allowing Palin to run with her "native skills" is that her knowledge set and policy positions seem incredibly provincial. She doesn't seem to know anything about anything beyond what she needed to know to function in Alaskan politics. Even there, she stumbles over things like the amount of energy Alaska provides.

Just coming up with a vague, noncommittal response about something like the bailout requires at least some superficial knowledge of current events plus some knowledge of what the official McCain line is. She doesn't seem to have those down, so she pulls some babbling bullshit about McCain's economic platform out and applies it to the bailout, even though it's completely irrelevant.

You know, next to Palin, McCain almost makes sense. Have you noticed he is not much better--the boy is losing it too! Check out his syntax when next he speaks.

Knows about foreign affairs because she sees Russia out her window? HE SAID THAT!

On second thought, this could be an expectations lowering strategy - goof up in an interview that a lot of reporters and villagers will watch, but most Americans will not see (unless it becomes a YouTube hit). The press creates a buzz going into the VP debate that Palin will get totally creamed. Then she only gets mildly beaten in a debate that a lot of Americans will see, and the post debate spin is all how she performed waay above expectations.

Such a strategy is giving the McCain campaign a lot of credit, where credit recently just ain't due, but it is a possible scenario, where perception and media spin = reality.

It's like they've programmed her to just start blathering talking points when she hears a certain phrase, regardless if they have any relevance to the question.

It seems like more than just that though. I think what that looks like is something like Bush in the 2004 debates, or dozens of other contemporary spokespeople and politicians- quote from a limited selection of prepared talking points, at least distantly related to the question, if not actually answering it. But at least with Bush the talking points came out (more or less) intact.

Palin has taken it to a whole new level. She's probably starting from half-remembered briefings and talking points, but they get broken up and rearranged into a bizarre stream of gibberish.

It's sort of like "noun verb 9-11", but she's got a whole grab bag of nouns, verbs and catch phrases, and they don't alway come out in anything even resembling a grammatically acceptable formation, just a wild flail.

I think the only way to break new ground after this is with a full out "random dictionary response". Or maybe accepting interview requests only via IRC chat, so you could sub in the Eliza bot.

It turns out that it's a lot easier to be a superstar in local politics in a small state. Easier if you build up undeserved cred for integrity by bashing the non-moving targets in your own party, and easier still if you're promoted from within so quickly that no one has time to seriously assess your performance.

Palin would have done a slow fade over a few years in Alaska had she had a chance (and she probably will yet). Were it not for the desperation of the McCain campaign and her suitability in two key areas that needed to be addressed, the national party would have watched, waited, and eventually concluded that she's not really cut out for a high national profile.

But there was no time for all that, and so they had to discover along with the rest of us that she's not even moderately conversant on the important topics of the day--and worse, that her political skills aren't as formidable as they appeared on a smaller stage with weaker opponents. She's no more prepared for the stress of campaigning than she is for the job itself, and it's making her answers even more vacuous and confused than they might have been. It's no wonder they're terrified of letting her speak.

Even there, she stumbles over things like the amount of energy Alaska provides.

I think you misspelled "lies about...".

On second thought, this could be an expectations lowering strategy - goof up in an interview that a lot of reporters and villagers will watch, but most Americans will not see

I've considered this, but these aren't just screw ups. This is world class incompetence. Doing this on purpose in the fashion in which she's screwed up would make her the finest actor on the planet. If this is an act, she's a goddamn Oscar winner. Occam's Razor says she's just kinda dumb.

disgraceful.
dangerous.
outrageous.
she is a threat to national and global security.
john mccain has endangered all of us.

there were parts of this interview with katie couric that were even worse than the segment that you showed.
if i were her, i would be the second bailout of the week.....apologize to the country for the damage already done, the time and money that was already wasted on her, and get home in time for sunday evening mooseburgers with the kids.

I used to think people voted for people like her because they didn't like these know-it-all types who made them feel stupid.

Now I think it's because they are too stupid to tell Palin's dumb, or that Obama's intelligent.

My daughter thinks that voters should have to pass the same citizenship test we give to immigrants. I know, I know, testing voters brings back all sorts of memories of civil rights abuses, but if the test were the same for everyone, and it was on legitimate political topics (ie, who's the Secretary of State, multiple choice) I bet it would weed out a lot of people who simply should not vote - ie, people who can't tell how lame Palin sounds.

Well, at least this explains why McCain is hiding her. Much more of this and even the right-wing nutjobs will be having doubts. And that's saying something.

I can't help thinking that the whole "delay the Friday debate" thing has always been a way to just cancel the VP debates. McCain's people are very worried about her. Imagine a whole evening of her spouting mostly gibberish like this. It'd be a disaster.

On second thought, this could be an expectations lowering strategy - goof up in an interview that a lot of reporters and villagers will watch, but most Americans will not see

I've considered this, but these aren't just screw ups. This is world class incompetence. Doing this on purpose in the fashion in which she's screwed up would make her the finest actor on the planet. If this is an act, she's a goddamn Oscar winner. Occam's Razor says she's just kinda dumb.

Right. If it's an act, it's not only an amazing performance, it's too clever by half. She's not just being naively provincial and inarticulate, she's frequently very dangerously (and bizarrely) off-message.

Reminds me of what the physicist Pauli said when reviewing the work of a younger colleague: "That’s not right...that’s not even wrong."

C-Span showed a debate she did when she was running for governor -- it might still be on their web site.

I was only half-listening, so I couldn't say whether I agreed with her policies. But she SOUNDED fine. Spoke well, answered questions promptly and briskly. None of that deer-in-the-headlights hesitation, slightly panicky tone, and random half starts and stops to sentences that she does now.

Definitely overprepped.

I couldn't help but wonder the questions Couric asked her and the ones we were shown were totally different, her response was that bizarre - and that out of keeping from what we have seen of her previously (see Molly's comment). She may be tired and suffering information overload, which isn't helpful but also isn't a crime.

What's going on?

Simple. She's answering the questions as any beauty pageant contestant would - nonsensically blabbering.

And what else would anyone expect?

maybe she's been campaigning in all 57 states. Or her helicopter got "forced down."

She's your next VP and the 45th POTUS.

Very classy posts about Trig-Chelsea who?

Keep looking down your nose at her-the choir loves it.

Good luck to Barry with Bitter Bubba.

Not even gonna be close.

maybe she's been campaigning in all 57 states. Or her helicopter got "forced down."

She's your next VP and the 45th POTUS.

Very classy posts about Trig-Chelsea who?

Keep looking down your nose at her-the choir loves it.

Good luck to Barry with Bitter Bubba.

Not even gonna be close.

maybe she's been campaigning in all 57 states. Or her helicopter got "forced down."

She's your next VP and the 45th POTUS.

Very classy posts about Trig-Chelsea who?

Keep looking down your nose at her-the choir loves it.

Good luck to Barry with Bitter Bubba.

Not even gonna be close.

Definitely overprepped.

Yeah. To be fair(-ish) to Palin, it's really not about whether she's "smart" or not. There just really wasn't any other way. Most people on the national stage, even governors who are interested in moving up, have been living and breathing the relevant issues and ideology for years. They need a little prepping and grooming on the details and the message of the day, but they have a framework already built to fit it onto.

But the evidence so far suggests that Palin has never had any interest in much of anything of national interest. She can probably speak competently about the provincial issues she cares about, but nationally she doesn't seem to have put any thought into even the sorts of things engaged voters think about. Everything is brand new. (Except maybe abortion and creationism, but they'd hardly want to stand her up to digress at length about her positions on either of those...)

Suppose you've just aquiesced to be plucked out of your chair, installed as a high official in Qing Dynasty China, and Katie Couric is about to interview you on the intricacies of court politics.

For Palin, I'm not sure it'd be that different from what she's doing now.

I tend to think that Palin is bright but really, really badly educated. I don't think she knows how to learn new material, structure that new material in her head, and produce the kind of coherent sentences (and even paragraphs!) we're used to hearing from people in high office. I've heard her speak in Alaska and she's natural and comfortable and kind of charismatic. But here, she just doesn't know the material well enough to talk about it and she doesn't have the intellectual skills to be a clever learner and it all inevitably leads to, well, *that*. I think if she'd hung out in the background for another decade or so and worked her pipeline deals with Canada and whomever she'd be a lot more seasoned. They asked her too soon and she didn't have the self-control to say "not now, maybe later" and now she's going to be a laughing-stock for a generation (and possibly Vice President Laughing Stock).

Ron,

Each post of yours is funnier than the next.

Keep telling yourself this guys? After all, if enough liberals repeat it enough times, that means it it true right?

Don't bother looking at those polls which say that the people love Palin. Don't bother showing any respect of non-Ivy Leaque women! Who needs them anyway?

Just keep sneering and disrepecting. It is, after all, how you guys won in 2000 and 2004, right? Why mess with success?

She makes as much sense as Biden AND she's not out there every other day with gaffe-in-mouth disease like Biden.

She makes as much sense as Biden and at least she's not out there every other day with terminal gaffe-in-mouth disease like Biden...

This is just the kind of thing the right likes. The left just keeps needing to tell them how stupid their candidates are and how stupid the people who vote for them are.

Eventually the stupid right wing rednecks will get it and follow right along with whatever their more intellectual master tell them to do.

there's a direct connection between support for Palin and awkward or incomprehensible prose...hell, I'd be tempted to say "intelligence" but we all know that the ability to express oneself clearly and forcefully correlates not with intelligence but with membership in Teh Dreaded Librul Elite.....

Rick, I think you are right and I fully support you emailing this video to every person you know. Heck, send it twice. Hey, maybe you should write McCain and suggest that he put this on TV during commercial breaks instead of his normal ads? And you mentioned polls. I am sure you are just as concerned as I am about her recent free fall in the polls. I think its because she hasn't been exposed enough. That is yet another reason why I suggest you email this video to everyone. Surely it'll pop her poll numbers right back up to where they were during the convention.

It's interesting that the brain trust here doesn't think the repeated stupidity of their VP candidate, the lack of ability by Barack Obama and the bailing of Democrats away from Obama is important. No, they choose to spend their time sliming and smearing so they can pay more taxes and lose their liberty.
Yep, that's just what you all need.

I cannot truly believe that an Obama/Biden supporter is parsing PALIN'S answers. Biden thinks that FDR was president in 1929 AND spoke on television in that year! That would be tough, since IT WASN'T INVENTED YET. And he supposedly has 35 years of "experience?" That is just so laughable.

Palin has shortcomings, but to pick on her answers to questions when you have Joe Biden on your team is truly pathetic.

At the very least they should give her half a Valium before these appearances. They're quite painful to watch. The woman is a blabbering idiot. I recall Willard Scott used to do this before every "Today" show.

This woman is two steps away from the most powerful position in the world, and she didn't get there because Daddy gave it to her.

You folks are anonymous nobodies who will always be just that. Yet you say say she is basically retarded, so where exactly does that put you?

Does it make pathetic ciphers feel good to poke fun at actual movers and shakers?

Everytime I hear the liberals get all worked up about Sarah Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience, I cannot help but think that this is a red-herring. She is a governor of a state. Most if not all governors who became presidents have no foreign affrairs experience. In fact, our Constitution reserves this right as the exclusive province of the federal government. For those who claim to have some contacts with the outside world only have them at an artificial level: possible trade trips overseas. I believe that in fact it is the quality of experience that may serve Governor Palin well in her VP position: exposure to a wide-ranging of issues.

I do not hear much about liberals defending Obama’s lack of foreign policy credentials. He chairs the senate sub-committee on forein affairs and in his time in the Senate, he has yet to hold one hearing.

It's not merely that she doesn't have any foreign policy experience (or even primarily). It's that she doesn't even think about foreign policy or think about much, at all, outside of the parochial and idiosyncractic concerns of her home state. And she can't even coherently talk about them now that she's being confronted with concerns that the rest of the American people have to deal with.

Seriously, if Palin is so great, let's see that Couric interview posted everywhere. Let's see her go on a tour of the interview shows on all networks so she can show herself off to a national TV audience. You McCainiacs thnk she's so great, so clearly if she continues with that level of exposure, the rest of the American people will agree with you, right?

I believe that in fact it is the quality of experience that may serve Governor Palin well in her VP position: exposure to a wide-ranging of issues.

Yes, please let her do more interviews about an increasingly wide range of issues. The American people would love to vet her "quality of experience." It's a catastrophic error for the McCain campaign not to give her the chance to impress us with her foreign relations savvy.

This woman is two steps away from the most powerful position in the world, and she didn't get there because Daddy gave it to her.

No, she got there because creepy great uncle McCain gave it to her, based on a 15 minute conversation but no vetting.

Better trolls, please. Please collect your eGold from the McCain campaign and go away.

Don't bother looking at those polls which say that the people love Palin.

That's just it, the people DON'T love Sarah Palin. Perhaps you don't bother to look at the recent polls where the majority think she's unqualified to be VP? Or that her popularity has dramatically dropped in her home state of Alaska?

If this trend continues we can all look forward to her dropping off the ticket for "family reasons."

The Commodore 64 between her ears is overloaded. Tilt!

Once upon a time Gerald Fold lost an election for saying that Poland was independent and autonomous. Now the US had George Bush as President, and Sarah Palin is a VP candidate, and the media is trying to tell us she is smart. My, how far America has fallen.

Forget Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience-- the woman is completely and totally incoherent. After a month of cramming she still doesn't have a rudimentary grasp of what is going on right now-- she is NOT prepared to be VP for a 72 year-old man who has had cancer 4 times.

Palin's combination of ignorance and arrogance is frightening, pure and simple. Anyone who says that she is more qualified than Obama has a bright red tongue from drinking waaaaay too much GOP kool-aid. I wouldn't hire to her babysit my dog.

I am glad the second-stringer wingnuts showed up to blather as nonsensically as Palin herself. I noticed that not even El Viajero, who is usually the first to comment on a post here, can bear to try to defend this.

I notice that not one of you Palin defenders are actually insisting she makes sense in this video. But then, making sense is not high on your list of priorities, is it?

She knows Alaska is the biggest state compared to the competition's not knowing how many states we have.....let's see here's a list of "preferred Democrat" words for Republicans:
l. idiot
2. moron
3. uneducated
4. turd
5. McAnything
6. insane
7. bigotry
8. ignoramus.

Go Sarah stick to old Katie; she deserves it, and so do the rest of the left-wing creeps.

Yes, she used to sound better. NO woman improves from close contact with McCain, let's face it. He's forced her to graft onto her speech his ideas (the need for universal healthcare) and other things that don't come naturally to her. The word "maverick" comes out of her mouth all the time. It's like he's put his brand, maverick, on her. He's a completely controlling personality. People wither more than thrive in his presence.

This is a person who went to 6 colleges for 5 years to get her undergraduate degree. Or was it 5 colleges for 6 years? Either way, I could've told 'em cramming wouldn't suffice.

14All-

Presidents without a college degree:

l. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Harry Truman

Successful biz people without a degree:

l. Bill Gates
2. Michael Dell

I'm sure if you really thought hard about it you might come up with one more.

Sounds like you aren't a very creative thinker yourself, or probably just another Democrat copycat singing along with your party's talking points to the tune of "loser, loser"

14All-

Presidents without a college degree:

l. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Harry Truman

Successful biz people without a degree:

l. Bill Gates
2. Michael Dell

I'm sure if you really thought hard about it you might come up with one more.

Sounds like you aren't a very creative thinker yourself, or probably just another Democrat copycat singing along with your party's talking points to the tune of "loser, loser"

You know, it doesn't matter how dumb she is. She's an evangelical, so "the base" loves her and will vote for the Republican ticket because she happens to be on it.

It doesn't matter how dumb she is. She is our 'American Idol', and people in the red states love her.

Have any of you see the following link?

www.sixthcolumn.typepad.com/duckwalls/2008/09/barak-the-organ.html

It tells about Obama's days as a community organizer trainer for
ACORN-the revolutionary black power organization that
"shook down" the Democrats in Congress to get money to people to buy homes when they couldn't afford them?

Every Democrat Blog has the same mindless sayings ......nobody has any depth of thought, knowledge of history, or ability to see the big picture. No wonder they all wind up being employees of the rest of us..............they think college is way more important than it is.

By the way-how about Ben Franklin as another great guy without a college degree?Oh-and I believe Sarah paid for a lot of her college....she probably had a job ...that's why it took my 6 years to get my BA in Bacteriology with my three years of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. You people who think she's stupid must prefer the modern real idiot way of financing your college education: with GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS......or loans from OVERSEAS friends....or even grants for "minorities" who "need it". Well your days are numbered. Sarah was lucky; she was able to win beauty contests to pay for her schooling. Sounds like a lot of you are just sitting around making snide comments and that's about the extent of your upwardly mobile assent.

Zoe from Pittsburg-

Arrogant? What are you even talking about? I think you people project your own inferiorities on others. You must suffer arrogance.
Let's talk about Arrogance with a capital "A" ....that's Obama....no class at all.
He's a chain-smoker too...yuck

The famous YouTube video of Miss Teen South Carolina can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Compare to Palin's response, and ask yourself: who would you rather vote for? Remember that Miss Teen South Carolina is a much nicer piece of ass 'cause she's just 18 years old.

Sarah Palin is someone who believes that God created the world just 6,000 years ago.

She believes in The Rapture, where Jesus Christ will descend to earth and transport Sarah and other true Christians up into heaven to meet The Lord.

Here's what I believe: that Sarah is a religious wacko who isn't qualified to be governor of Alaska, let alone Vice President.

Jesus Christ, are we actually crazy enough to give this woman serious consideration?

Watching the interview, I, too, could not help feeling bad for her even though I think that she is power-hungry, incurious, and mean. It's just that she does not seem to realize that McCain does not have an ounce of respect for her. McCain is a classic male chauvinist, and I believe that he chose her primarily because he could not stand another forceful -- or more competent -- male next to him (like Romney). Of course, she delivered the base (which was his anyway, just without enthusiasm) but, more important, she was this young non-threatening woman who would be clearly his subordinate. But despite reaping the benefit of getting the base all excited because of her (which is something!) they would not even extend her the courtesy of treating her like a a real candidate. I feel like letting her fall on her face would be more respectful than the treatment she is getting from McCain. Of course, she has asked for this by accepting something for which she has no qualifications or aptitude but, as someone wrote on the Huffington Post a while ago, when she fails, they (McCain and other male chauvinists) will say it is because she was a woman. What I find most striking is that she seems to be burning her bridges back to Alaska by letting McCain creeps take over the governor's office there. Reading news coverage from Alaska, it does not look like she will have a bright political future there any longer come November.

But to Ezra's point: I think she has been browbeaten by McCain, Schmidt, Davis and company. It looks like they have impressed on her that she is stupid and should not stray from the script. No wonder, she is beginning to lose her confidence after 4 weeks in a cage with those guys. And perhaps all that leering and verbal groping she got from "world leaders" has gotten to her. God, I hate McCain.

I couldn't help but wonder the questions Couric asked her and the ones we were shown were totally different, her response was that bizarre

Are you suggesting CBS would intentionally try to make Palin look bad? Like they are, I dunno, biased are something?

I can't imagine that.

Is it really productive to comment on this typical liberal smear? The author is a far left liberal attack dog with the insight of an idiot

70+ comments already. Palin Derangement Syndrome is strong with you folks.

I think that she is power-hungry, incurious, and mean.

Oh, good, you've got the talking points. I was worried that we'd only have about a million bloggers and lefty news pundits saying that, instead of a million and one.

Yawn.

I feel like letting her fall on her face would be more respectful than the treatment she is getting from McCain.

On the one hand, it is true that McCain isn't give her due respect, although that's probably because (a) she's a conservative and he's not, and she's actually and outsider and he's about as inside Washington as you get and (b) VPs have to parrot the presidential candidate, even with some of the policies don't dovetail with the Veep's. But they are coaching, and trying to shut up, the wrong person in the campaign.

You folks who would never vote for a Republican in a million fucking years don't need to like her. In fact, you can hate her and, politically, it's probably better if you do. But she's the best choice McCain has made in this whole campaign, and if there are any real problems with Palin, they are being foisted on her by the McCain camp.

And, of course, McCain's bizarre political posturing and saying he's not going to the debate is about suicidal.

But, boy, do I love Palin. Although it seems likely every day that McCain is out there being McCain but won't let Palin be Palin, I'd like to see McCain win. Just because the fringe lefties go so bat-shit crazy hatin' on her.

But, I'll get my chance. Even if Obama wins, Palin's going to be back. McCain may fade away, but Palin won't. We red-staters love her. Hate to tell ya. And there's a lot of us.

Is it really productive to comment on this typical liberal smear? The author is a far left liberal attack dog with the insight of an idiot

Ezra? Ezra's a liberal, and writes some very thoughtful stuff. If you meant Katie Couric, then the jury's still out. Heh.

if there are any real problems with Palin, they are being foisted on her by the McCain camp.

And this befuddles me, Kevin, as you are the most (perhaps the only) intelligent conservative who ever posts here.

She transparently does not know what she's talking about. She has been caught lying repeatedly. And (perhaps as a consequence of the first two points) she has barely uttered an unscripted word in a month of campaigning, an obvious vote of no confidence by her own running mate and handlers. Save a frighteningly far-right point of view, what the fuck do you love about her? And why do you think you are making your party and its philosophy look good by burbling about her?

You can compose a coherent sentence, but your admiration for her makes me revise my estimate of your IQ down by ten to twenty points. She is all sizzle and no steak.

And this befuddles me, Kevin, as you are the most (perhaps the only) intelligent conservative who ever posts here.

Kevin is not intelligent/informed. He is distinguished here in that unlike our other conservative commenters, he is rational.

Palin's incoherence and ignorance are not, for Kevin, something he considers to be personal or moral failures on Palin's part, as those features are not things he's looking for in a candidate or something he is interested in himself.

She is all sizzle and no steak.

For Kevin, the sizzle is the steak.

Look, just because Kevin is essentially honest, does not engage in childish namecalling, and writes essentially rational and coherent posts does not make him intelligent or mean that he has any interest in candidates that would do good work or know what they're talking about.

No, we're past "rational" now. Being committed to conservatism after its unmistakable failure is irrational. Being so committed to it that you're still eager to vote for a campaign that is being exposed daily as dishonest and incompetent...that's off the charts.

This is what Nixon, and Reagan, and Bush hath wrought. The Southern strategy, culture wars, whatever you want to call them--the GOP has made a substantial portion of the populace care about nothing but their hatred of the rest. They don't care whether their policies succeed in any sense of the word, just as long as their opponents lose.

I don't know how else to explain this. She's smart enough to be a governor, if a corrupt and ridiculously partisan one, but she's so not ready for this--and there are people who would put her in charge of the nuke codes just to see the looks on our faces. It's what it comes down to.

America is going to cease to be a major world power before too very much longer, and that has to be a good thing. We don't have a good enough citizenry to trust with a Kwik-E-Mart.

I think you are insulting abstract artists by comparing them with this dumb a$$ bee @ch

Hate to rain on all you's guyses parades, but I recall one Ronald Reagan at a debate answering questions exactly like you're seeing Sarah answer them. Nancy was furious and demanded him be kept away from his handlers to "Let Reagan by Reagan." If McCain's handlers are smart, they'll do the same and Palin will charm her way to the White House.

And yet I'm sure she knows that Franklin Roosevelt was not the President when the stock market crashed, that there were no televisions in the 1930s, and that a guy in a wheelchair probably can't stand up. What is it they say about people in glass houses?

I think we've neglected to consider another possibility: isn't marijuana use legal in Alaska? Is it possible that Palin is doing this interviews while completely stoned off her ass?

My god, have all you liberals lost your mind? Just read these posts and you sound like a bunch of high school girls. "girl, can you believe she's wearing those shoes with that dress?" "She thinks she's all that but it must take her an hour in the morning to get all that fat in those skinny jeans" "you know it girl"......just listen to yourselves. You know nothing about issues, the economy, foreign relations, the military, etc.... When Obama loses this campaign it won't because of racism or his complete lack of experience, it will be because people see and here you whackos and realize that Obama can't lead this country because he's backed by a bunch of screwballs.

Yeah yeah. Play the video again.

She. Doesn't. Know. Anything.

Why do Republicans want America to die? That's what would happen under Palin. That's what would happen if we elected someone so unaware of what's actually happening in the world.

Play the video again. Then tell me you're a big fucking patriot, you piece of shit.

define:farce.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/22/080922sh_shouts_saunders?currentPage=1

So she's Joe Biden in a skirt...and your point is?

No, she's not like Biden in a skirt.

- She's got no relevant perspective.

- She's got no relevant experience.

- She's got no demonstrated expertise at anything except wriggling and hosanna-ing her way into small time political offices where she disgraces herself and does injustice to her constituents.

- She's got no honor, lying and cheating repeatedly.

Face it. She got nuttin'.

Folks, it's a meltdown. Here is a sad picture of a woman who could not say no to a power figure such as John McCain. I think she had her country in her heart when she answered the call. Maybe I'm the fool, but I think Sarah is a patriot and a brave woman. But she's way out of her depth, and she's petrified. I do not think this is going to wear off. McCain will have to select a new running mate, or turn the election over to his opponent. I'm a conservative; even I, myself, think this could be the most prudent decision at this point. And no, I do not see McCain as a conservative - - just the closest thing we have to it in this election.

Obamabots believe that "elitism" is a synonym for "rich."

However, elitism is actually what all your comments reflect -- the politics of personal attack, based on your own "superior judgment."

That you deem Gov. Palin's comments to be "incoherent" is obviously a reflection of your own personal political biases. It's unattractive and decidedly NOT any "new" kind of politics promised by The Chosen One.

Here's what the rest of us say to your political venom:

"It's pretty damn hilarious for a guy with ZERO foreign policy experience -- who's running for PRESIDENT -- to ridicule a gal with at least as much experience as him -- and who's running for Vice President."

Barack Obama once said that he would not be running his campaign based on tearing any other candidates down.

So why is it that the only "issue" he's ever running on is tearing other candidates down?

"That you deem Gov. Palin's comments to be "incoherent" is obviously a reflection of your own personal political biases. It's unattractive and decidedly NOT any "new" kind of politics promised by The Chosen One."

No Jan. I am a conservative of 25 years who is embarrassed that anyone with whom I share a McCain vote in this election would deny that Sarah is, shall we say, a fucking trainwreck? Read what Ben Stein has to say about her. Write McCain's office urging them to replace her ASAP.

"We need to accompany our tax reductions with reduced taxes, and pair that with tax relief for Americans?"

Reminds me of Bush saying "most of our imports come from abroad"!

i was wondering when sarah palin will be cashing in to write her book...
but after seeing her pitiful interviews, the question isnt "when" but..."how?"

even in the twenty-first century, look how far a pretty face and no brains can get you.

right up the crystal staircase to the presidency.
and we keep trying to tell our daughters that they can succeed by being good, smart and well educated.

McCain is falin in the polls due to Paliin. She palin comparison to Obama-Biden. She is the reason McCain is failin.

McCain is falin in the polls due to Palin. She palin comparison to Obama-Biden. She is the reason McCain is failin.

Come on, guys! Cut her a little slack. She's a Pentecostalist. Maybe she's speaking in tongues. Sheesh, don't you respect her religion?

'But, boy, do I love Palin. Although it seems likely every day that McCain is out there being McCain but won't let Palin be Palin, I'd like to see McCain win. Just because the fringe lefties go so bat-shit crazy hatin' on her. "

Now Republicans see why so many Democrates love Hillary.. Because they know Republicans hate here.

This is our Political system. Ithas nothing to do who who we the voter thing is the best for the job, it is all about what our party can do or say to make the other side cringe.

Surely you all know that CBS edited the tape to make Palin look like she didn't know what she was talking about -- in fact, she's a veritable Henry Kissinger. I saw a picture of Kissinger and her discussing world affairs just a few days ago. What do you expect from the liberal media? Yet, it is amazing to me how they manage to dub in words that exactly match Obama's lips. Well, ever since we put a man on the "moon," the wonders of TeeVee never cease to amaze me.

The oddest thing for me is there's no Rove-wire (remember the bulge on Bush's back?) which would then just require that she have some fluff conciliatory opening remark in response to a question ("that's an interesting question Katie") while a backroom wonk feeds her soundbites.

Bush seems to have got vaguely ok at inserting the pauses when responding to questions; you even get the impression that he's actually giving deep consideration to the topic at hand, but he's just listening and repeating. I bet >80% of his unscripted time in front of cameras was being conducted in this manner.

This is one sick, delusional whack-job.

If people have not realized by now that she is totally incompetent and unfit for the job she currently holds, much less for VP and/or possibly president.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!

This is one sick, delusional whack-job.

If people have not realized by now that she is totally incompetent and unfit for the job she currently holds, much less for VP and/or possibly president, they never will.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!

My fellow Americans, I have come up with a bailout plan that is far and away more useful and beneficial to this great country than the Bush Administration's $700 billion giveaway to Wall Street. I propose instead that we dispense the $700 billion to current American citizens who are Christian, god-fearing, Sarah Palin-loving Republicans for the sole purpose of enabling them to emigrate to Alaska. Then, on January 1, 2010, Alaska is allowed (forced, if necessary) to secede from the Union to form an independent queendom with Sarah Palin as Queen Mother.

I think that Sarahcuda can be a decent politician in the party. Give her a few more years and she can be mid-level talent.

Oh, wait: I said that two weeks ago. It is clear that she is similar to a Single-A pitcher going against big-league all-star sluggers. Hopefully the experience of getting shelled doesn't wreck her confidence and make the crowd disbelievers.

I'd really like to have such a whackjob to point to, so work with me here.

Best,

D

I'm with Mike B.
It turns out that it's a lot easier to be a superstar in local politics in a small state.

She was governor of a state with the population of Little Rock, Ark. And how much of its population is scattered in remote towns? How many are tribal members and have their own elected leaders? How many are just leave-me-alone types that take no interest in local goverment? Being governor of Alaska is the minor leagues of politics, in a place where most people don't like baseball.

Palin just happens to be someone of extremely average intellect who happened to be in the right place (Wasilla) at the right time (amid Ted Stevens' implosion).

We will all look back on this and laugh our asses off.

I'm with Mike B.
It turns out that it's a lot easier to be a superstar in local politics in a small state.

She was governor of a state with the population of Little Rock, Ark. And how much of its population is scattered in remote towns? How many are tribal members and have their own elected leaders? How many are just leave-me-alone types that take no interest in local goverment? Being governor of Alaska is the minor leagues of politics, in a place where most people don't like baseball.

Palin just happens to be someone of extremely average intellect who happened to be in the right place (Wasilla) at the right time (amid Ted Stevens' implosion).

We will all look back on this and laugh our asses off.

Aaaaand we see exactly *why* it took Sarah Palin seven years and five colleges to come away with a bachelor's degree in journalsim, for God's sake. (No offense, just... I hang with physicists and engineers and mathematicians... SO not impressed with the "difficulty" of a journalism degree.) She's dumber than a sack of hammers.

Two words:"cocky wacko". (thanks Sen. Chafee)

I find PalinDrone's garbled talking points the first real sign of her intelligence I've seen. Cramming doesn't work for really bright people.

If she starts studying now, she might be ready for national office in 2020.

"Get rid of raincntry's comment now, pls. Really crass."

i agree. Leave children out of this - and remarks on someone's disability is way beyond the basics of decency.

Just for kicks, I want to see Palin become president. We'll have 4 (perhaps 8 if we're lucky) years of really awesome comedy. This may be our only chance. Vote McCain and hope he pops a rivet.

David Kernell, the 20-year-old son of Democratic Representative Mike Kernell of Tennessee, got popped. According to CNN (“Democratic lawmaker's son indicted in Palin hacking”), he reset the password and gained access to GOP VP candidate Palin's personal E-mail account. It is alleged that he read the contents, took a screenshot of her E-mail directory and obtained other personal information. The information that may have been compromised includes E-mail addresses and pictures of family members, one or more cell phone numbers of family members, family birthdates and more from Palin's address book. Interestingly, after turning himself in, David Kernell pleaded not guilty. He pleaded not guilty despite the fact that he (allegedly) took the information he hacked from Palin's personal account and posted it to a public Web site. Not only that, but he posted the new password he’d created, which would enable others to easily access Palin's E-mail themselves and view any of the contents. As a result, Kernell Junior may be subject to the heat of a five-year prison term, $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. That’s enough to turn anybody into a fluffy white piece of popcorn. At the maximum of $1,500 per loan, that bail would require about 167 individual payday loans to free that fluffy little popped grain treat from being overcooked by cellmates.

It's just that she does not seem to realize that McCain does not have an ounce of respect for her. McCain is a classic male chauvinist, and I believe that he chose her primarily because he could not stand another forceful or more competent male next to him. Of course, she delivered the base but, more important, she was this young non-threatening woman who would be clearly his subordinate.

thaanks

Stop Dreaming Start Action

All very true. Palin is confident to a fault. She spits out the only information she has and thinks shes teaching us something. If she truly believed in what she was saying her speech would be much more fluid.

Hey,you will do better.your posts have inspired me! - I love the way you directly get to the point, and then work outwards. I’ve been trying to do figure out what I want to say about ,that would allow me to do exactly the same thing.

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