Finally, we get to hear Governor Palin in an interview — even though that interview is being released in bits and pieces over the next few days. Palin showed a degree of confidence and almost a lack of humility in her ability to step in as president. She also reminded me of a person trying to use vocabulary above their ability and ends up sounding simply and silly — like a guy at the gym trying to impress the girls by lifting weights that are too heavy for him. Nevertheless, I will give her credit for trying and for a rookie effort. But, I still believe that it is a very, very sad day in America when a potential acting president must be trained, like an actor learning her lines, on the eve of elections (remind anyone of Bush?).
In any event, one of my favorite answers that Sarah Palin gave — after she explained her extensive pre-2006 international travels (before she had a passport) to Mexico and Canada, was her view on why her lack of exposure to foreign experience somehow qualified her above others:
. . . Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.
Did she just diss John McCain with his decades in the Washington establishment and meetings with heads of states? Does she mean that the country is sick and tired of dealing with politicians like John McCain? Is she more qualified than John McCain?
When asked, “What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?” she gave a very literal answer, “They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” Yes, very true. But I don’t think that Gibson meant “sight” — as in “what can you see” — by “insight”. So yes, she can see Russia from an island in Alaska, but I wonder if she knows that Moscow is roughly the same distance from Anchorage that it is from Washington, DC (give or take a few hundred miles).
Grave Error 