Sarah Palin’s words raise red flags

[january]

The country is understandably focused on the financial crisis. But there is another serious issue in front of us that is not getting nearly enough attention, and that’s whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president — or, if the situation were to arise, president of the United States.


History has shown again and again that a vice president must be ready to assume command of the ship of state on a moment’s notice. But Ms. Palin has given no indication yet that she is capable of handling the monumental responsibilities of the presidency if she were called upon to do so.
In fact, the opposite is the case. We know that there are some parts of Alaska from which, if the day is clear and your eyesight is good, you can actually see Russia. But the infantile repetition of this bit of trivia as some kind of foreign policy bona fide for a vice presidential candidate should give us pause.


The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews.
But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling.


The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing. You wouldn’t put an unqualified pilot in the cockpit of a jetliner. The potential for catastrophe is far, far greater with an unqualified president.


The United States has been lucky in terms of the qualifications of the vice presidents who have had to step in over the last several decades for presidents who either died or, in Richard Nixon’s case, were forced to leave office. Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson became extraordinary presidents in their own right. Gerald Ford successfully guided the nation through the immediate aftermath of one of the most traumatic political crises in its history.


For those who think Sarah Palin is in that league, there is no problem. But her unscripted public appearances would lead most honest observers to think otherwise. When asked again this week about her puerile linkage of foreign policy proficiency and Alaska’s proximity to Russia, this time by Katie Couric of CBS News, here is what Ms. Palin said she meant:
“That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada.”
She went on, but lost her way midsentence: “It’s funny that a comment like that was kind of made to — cari — I don’t know, you know? Reporters ...”
Ms. Couric said, “Mocked?”
“Yeah, mocked,” said Ms. Palin. “I guess that’s the word. Yeah.”
It is not just painful, but frightening to watch someone who could become the vice president of the United States stumbling around like this in an interview.
Ms. Couric asked Ms. Palin to explain how Alaska’s proximity to Russia “enhances your foreign policy credentials.”
“Well, it certainly does,” Ms. Palin replied, “because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there—”
Gently interrupting, Ms. Couric asked, “Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?”
“We have trade missions back and forth,” said Ms. Palin. “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 just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to our state.”


It was surreal, the kind of performance that would generate a hearty laugh if it were part of a Monty Python sketch. But this is real life, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. As Ms. Palin was fumbling her way through the Couric interview, the largest bank failure in the history of the United States, the collapse of Washington Mutual, was occurring.


The press has an obligation to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications. If it turns out that she has just had a few bad interviews because she was nervous or whatever, additional scrutiny will serve her well.


If, on the other hand, it becomes clear that her performance, so far, is an accurate reflection of her qualifications, it would behoove John McCain and the Republican Party to put the country first — as Mr. McCain loves to say — and find a replacement for Ms. Palin on the ticket.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/op...erbert.html?hp



Please, please, please, I am praying that Palin supporters are starting to see the light. This is absolutely crazy. I'm not sure why so many people are supporting this woman, why? I am not being condescending, I'm just so curious! She's not articulate, intelligent, or even capable of speaking freely with reporters. The word around McCain's camp is that they are terrified of the upcoming VP debate. Its almost a joke, I cannot believe that McCain chose so poorly. This has to be a cause for concern with Republicans. Is there any Republican out there who will admit that it is alarming and concerns them?

[Fluffy]

I don't get it either. I wish tkdgirl would explain why since she seems to be the only one I know of who admires Palin but she avoids the topic like the plague.

The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing. You wouldn’t put an unqualified pilot in the cockpit of a jetliner. The potential for catastrophe is far, far greater with an unqualified president.

Reminds me of Andrew Sullivan on Bill Maher's show saying it was an outrage that Palin was still on the ticket and why aren't more people outraged? I don't get it either and I'm sure I never will.

[RevellingInSane]

If every religious person in the world prayed twelve hours per day, and miracles did happen, there would still be one die hard freak at the polls on election day voting for McCrazy and PalinInComparison.

It will take this man having a total meltdown on national TV and become an enraged hate-spewing potential aggressor before his staunch supporters even question his abilities.

As for Palin, her abilities can not be questioned. She has none.

[nana55]

There are enough people who are starting to see the light about her and change parties. If McCain changes now to someone like Romney, people may flock back to his party and we lose the election. So let's keep Palin on and let her keep digging a deeper hole.

[MontanaMama]

I can understand why Palin was picked for McCain - she IS George Bush...she is unable to communicate simply thoughts, she has a weak history that is over blown, any challenge to her place on the ticket is derrided and dismissed. She is a do as I say not as I do person - which really just makes her a hypocrite. And she appeals to the unintelligent/ red neck population. She's also a self righteous fundamentalist who believes that her ascension to federal office is due to divine control. Haven't we seen this play before?

I propose that we Americans allow the rest of the world to elect our next President because there is no rational reason why this election is even remotely close - we clearly cannot be trusted to elect someone in our own best interest.

[Penny Lane]

The press has an obligation to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications. If it turns out that she has just had a few bad interviews because she was nervous or whatever, additional scrutiny will serve her well

How many "bad interviews" is a VP candidate supposed to have? How many times can we blame "bad editing" or "unfair, partisan questions"? People have bad days, I'll give her that... but she has consistently fumbled her way through interviews, giving ridiculous answers and then following up with a cutesy response or a loaded statement (I'm a mom.. I'm a Christian.. I'm a governor.. Obama isn't qualified.. McCain is the answer..blah blah blah) and never really answers the question as it was presented to her.

Seriously, there's supporting your political party and then there's being ignorant for the sake of not wanting to admit total failure. I can't see how anyone can support the ticket if she's on it.

[ymeman]

What is scarier to me than her idiocy is her apparently vengefulness. She could literally have the whole freaking country in an uproar. What Anne Kilkenny said in her letter about her having bitten the hand of everyone that helped her seems to be supported again and again when you read about the people she's fired, demoted, or otherwise gotten rid of or replaced over the slightest little infraction, (very borderline, that behavior) and that same thing she's said to always have repeated about the dismissals, (so and so doesn't "support"me/isn't "supportive" of me). It's freaking weird. It's one thing to be incompetent but quite another to be absurdly Machiavellian and incompetent at the same time. I mean, I can just see her with her little spiral-bound notebook sitting in her hotel room right now, and while she's supposed to be prepping for the debates instead she's just pouring over blogs and websites and online press taking down names of people who diss her and salivating over how she's gonna make these people pay when she gets voted pres, er, vice-president. It's what she's done her whole career. She'd get herself impeached, and that would underscore why women aren't 'fit' to be president.

[travelbug]

What scares me about Palin is how she doesn't know shit about other countries and has a tendency to categorize most of the world as "terrorists". And then you have McCain, whose answer to every conflict is to send troops in. We'll be in WWIII before you know it!