Palin Is Ready? Please.

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  • Posted By: NewsweekReader2008 @ 09/27/2008 10:20:49 PM

    Wow! I didn't think I could be more astounded than when I heard Palin's comments about how being in proximity to Russia made her qualified on foreign policy. But, her ramblings in response to the bailout question remind me of Caitlin Upton's infamous response during the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. I was concerned about Palin's experience level, but now, I'm concerned about her basic ability to synthesize and understand complex issues. Unfortunately, she is proving herself unsuited to be the Vice President.

  • Posted By: AdityaU @ 09/27/2008 10:20:14 PM

    Nice article! Coming from an author who has always been non-partisan, its clear that Palin is completely unqualified. Every time she opens her mouth, any informed person is like "huh?" even more so than for George Bush.

  • Posted By: quatzecoutl @ 09/27/2008 9:43:27 PM

    Comparisons to Truman is valid I think. The man had all the advisors of FDR but still ended up using all the nukes in our arsenol, the only President of ANY country to ever do so! Would Palin follow Truman and nuke Russia and get us nuked? We know she "won't blink".

    • Posted By: Bix Dugan @ 09/27/2008 10:20:12 PM

      Uh, maybe you're having a Biden history moment, but when Truman used those nukes there were exactly two in our arsenal: Fat Man and Little Boy (the third, "The Device," was used up at the Trinity Test).

      Truman had never heard of The Manhattan Project (no, it's not a spin off of Sex and the City) until after FDR died. Once Nazi Germany collapsed it was inevitable that those two deployable weapons would get used. The best estimates at the time showed the war dragging into 1947 or even 1948 with up to 7 million more casualties, mostly Japanese civilians, if the home islands of Japan were invaded. Truman did the math, and history (real history, not the Biden "FDR-was-president-in-29" type) proved him right.

  • Posted By: JonBen @ 09/27/2008 10:19:59 PM

    Who said Palen doesn't speak in tongues?

  • Posted By: Peanutfarmer @ 09/27/2008 10:14:05 PM

    TheUneducated: You are right on! Obama's finacial plan comes right out of the Marxist handbook. He wants to redistribute wealth. That's a Robin Hood communist ideology. Where's the incentive to succeed in business?

    • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 09/27/2008 10:19:51 PM


      Unlike the Bush plan that the Republican congress rubber-stamped from 2001-2007, which has done wonders for our economy! We're all rich I tells ya, damn-hell-ass rich!

  • Posted By: JonBen @ 09/27/2008 10:19:17 PM

    Who said that Palin doesn't speak in tongues?

  • Posted By: bubbleboy @ 09/27/2008 10:18:45 PM

    Reading these comments makes me sad. We sure act like a divided country. You, me, McCain, Obama, Palin and Biden are all much more similar than we are different. But you'd never know that reading the accusations of both sides -- some true, some false. Take a breather everyone. There is no devil in this race. Ignore the hate. Ignore the trivial noise about the candidates that distract us from what matters -- their stance on issues. Take this survey (the Minnesota Public Radio Candidate Finder) about the issues and learn which candidate will serve you best on the different issues. You might be surprised -- I was.

    http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/poll.php?race_id=13

  • Posted By: davidleon @ 09/27/2008 10:18:25 PM

    Considering the importance of the office of the vice presidency, one wonders whether Sen. McCain should have chosen someone more qualified to be his running mate. PeeWee Herman comes to mind. To paraphrase Sen. McCain, if you put lipstick on a dunderhead,,,well you get the idea.

  • Posted By: ProFromOregon @ 09/27/2008 10:17:48 PM

    To TheUneducated:: I don't care if the Fraud Palin had been a Senator, Rep, Governor or even if she'd been an Ambassador or Cabinet member, she can't string together enough cogent sentences to form a paragraph. THAT disqualifies her as a serious candidate.

    I never thought I'd say such a thing, but she is LESS coherent than W.

  • Posted By: Anticrisis @ 09/27/2008 10:17:12 PM

    Check out McCains tax policy - he wants to redistribute wealth too - from the working people to the uber-rich. The numbers don't lie - look them up.

  • Posted By: bill burt @ 09/27/2008 10:16:50 PM

    For years I have emphathised with John McCain for what he went through in North Vietnam. I've heard over and over that he was beaten beyond belief and that he was injured over and over by those cockroaches, but now and with this selection of a running mate, I think I see how injured he was. Now its us that is about to be injured by this very very wrong choice. The ramifications are catastrophic.

  • Posted By: AnnieIsAngry @ 09/27/2008 9:08:48 PM

    To rbeat8499: obviously, you have not watched Palin's interviews with Couric nor Gibson. if you had, you would understand that the "education" Palin needs to have is one in which she understands basic foreign policies and basic economic theories. she does not have a BASIC grasp of the issues. it was self-destructive for your party to put her forth as the vp nominee. you deserve to suffer the consequences.

    • Posted By: rbeat8499 @ 09/27/2008 9:22:32 PM

      Actually, I have listened to both the Gibson interview and the couric interview, and the Hannity interview. I have also listened to MANY Hillary Clinton interviews both before and after she became snator. I listened to some of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's interviews... It is undeniable that liberal women (specifically those who support abortion "rights") are treated by the media as highly skilled scholars while conservative (pro-life) women are treated as inept, insane, moronic, "Bible thumping" zealots who are a danger to modern society! The next president's most important qualification should be their principles as a human being and as an American. I trust Sarah Palin's principles because she believes in a power that is greater than herself. Do you even KNOW what Barack Obama's principles are and where they came from? When I read about the bill that he opposed in Illinois about born-alive aborted babies...that's all I need to know about his principles... He's disgusting.

      • Posted By: sunsetrs @ 09/27/2008 10:15:35 PM

        Your Party does not have many Women leaders... But I haven't seen any media attacks on the intelligence or readiness of Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson..Or Sec. Condi Rice, Sen Olympia Snowe etc....The media doesn't put them down or question their readiness. It's not our fault that your party is more resistant to diversity in gender and race. Can you honestly compare Palin to any of these women? Palin is Mccain's token woman and nothing more. Why do you guys love her so much? It is very telling that most of you had never heard of her but you instantly loved her before she ever spoke..She was drawing crowds right after the announcement. CRAZY.

  • Posted By: AjayKK @ 09/27/2008 10:15:26 PM

    PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A SECOND AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS...
    Things are rarely as simple as they seem on the surface. I feel like McCaine camp is hiding Sarah Palin for a reason. Her limited exposure to the Media and American public could be well thought campaign strategy.
    The ???ELITE, biased, and liberal media??? and democrats are seeing her as an unfit person for the office. Now just when everyone calls her off, and VP choice seems like an obvious disastrous mistake she will make a remarkable comeback in the debate. If she beats Biden on Oct 2nd, McCaine will get props for his wise and bold judgment. Media will lose some credibility among independents. McCaine might come on top again.
    An Obama Supporter.

  • Posted By: moniqueO @ 09/27/2008 5:58:38 PM

    It is Soooooo funny that the LIBerals are all of a sudden concerned about "experience" these days.

    Funny how "experience" does not seem to matter for the Dems PRESIDENT pick but it does for the Republicans VP pick???

    LIBerals will vote for anybody as long as they say they are a Democrat. The lemming effect is on!


    Making up lies and stories about someone because you are afraid they are better then your guy makes you look petty and worried. Go do a little fact checking on your LipStickBoY Barry and his past RADICAL dealing and think for yourselves for once! You are stuck with him now, but you should know what you are getting and voting for.

    I will vote for a Real person over a empty suit Radical Elitist liar any day.

    • Posted By: NervousExpat @ 09/27/2008 7:09:08 PM

      Also, I hope you never get raped with Palin in power... not only would you have to pay for your own rape kit, but should you become pregnant as a result of the rape, well, you'll be forced to be reminded of it for the entire term of the pregnancy..... How does that sound?

      • Posted By: moniqueO @ 09/27/2008 10:14:31 PM

        .



        Well, You seem to be quite an ignorant individual. Palin in office has pretty much nothing to do with people getting raped. What a stupid comment. You have been reading too many lefty blogs!

        Read this and learn something.
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Wasilla, Alaska got it's first full-time police force in 1993, when eight uniformed officers formed the city's "thin blue line." More than a decade later, the small-town police force has tripled in size, to 24 commissioned officers.
        Wasilla was one of several small Alaskan police forces with limited budgets that found it difficult to deal with the cost of forensic medical examinations. Wasilla had a policy of allowing the City to bill victims (or more likely, their insurers) for rape kits, which can cost up ot $1,000. The policies allowing billing the victims in these small towns was finally outlawed by the state in 2000.
        Palin was mayor of Wasilla from 1996 until the time the state law (AS 18.68.040) banned the practice of charging victims August 12, 2000.
        We also know, via contact with the Wasilla City Clerk, that there were no rape kits charged to victims or insurers in fiscal 2000

        Current Police Chief Long's statement of, "A review of files and case reports within the Wasilla Police Department has found no record of sexual assault victims being billed for forensic exams" would seem to stand on it's own, would it not?
        If current Police Chief Long's information is correct, then Mayor Palin didn't know that rape victims were charged for rape kits, because none were.
        If that is indeed the case (and I'm not 100% sure that it is), why, then, is this story about nothing even making the rounds, and where did it come from?"
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        LEFTY *** that's where.

        You are sounding like a complete fool at this point!

        So you are willfully remaining stupid and reading the lefty blogs and buying into all of it BECAUSE you want to.

        And you don't seem to care that your Lipstick Boy had a Radical Racist American hating Rev. for 20 YEARs and hung out with an America Hating Terrorist and had business dealings with him for 15 YEARS, and you are afraid of Palin? WOW!

        You also seem to be forgetting Palin is a VP choice.
        Your PRES Choice has LESS experience then the Repubs VP.







        .

    • Posted By: NervousExpat @ 09/27/2008 7:05:57 PM

      So McCain has a dozen houses, versus Obama's 1, and 13 cars vs Obama's 1. but Obama is the elitist?? hmmm... perhaps you should look up Elitist in the dictionary. Also, why is being educated so elitist? isn't this something we should ASPIRE to? Sounds like a bunch of ditto-heads learned a new work, and are trying to use it... but they don't know how....

    • Posted By: awakealaskan @ 09/27/2008 6:14:36 PM

      You simply can't compare this woman's intelligence and life experience to anyone at the national level... even George Bush looks like a genius...This woman is a poor excuse for providing energy to a campaign holding on by the skin of their teeth of religious zealots. Alaska is a small gene pool.... everyone thinks they are qualified because the bar is set so incredibly low!!! This woman is what you have given us for "Country First"??? The Rep. party has a # of bright women who would have done the job well. Mc Cain always is drawn to the "trophy" to stand beside him and look pretty. What a disgrace...

      • Posted By: markscoular @ 09/27/2008 6:31:15 PM

        I agree, there were 2-3 well qualified women who could stand the test of time and intelligence. Perhaps McCain wanted someone on the ticket that would make his impeachment the last option because people would be afraid of her as President.

  • Posted By: alburns001 @ 09/27/2008 9:53:14 PM

    It's amazing, Palin hesitates gets a little off tempo as she's attacked by partisan hacks calling themselves journalists and we get articles like this. Obama stutters through any non scripted questions, Thinks there are 57 states, can't come back with an intelligent quick reply, did I mention he stutters, and he's labeled as "cerebral" and a deep thinker.

    • Posted By: american idiot @ 09/27/2008 10:13:51 PM

      A little off tempo? The Woman's answer made absolutely no sense. She was obviously terrified. Partisan? Palin is terrified of Katy Couric? How the hell will she be able to deal with Putin? Do you think Putin is going to be partisan? John Mccain has really let the country down with this choice. I mean, republicans went from a former secretary of defense as a VP to this? KATY COURIC makes her stumble?

  • Posted By: NJbadgerelf @ 09/27/2008 10:13:27 PM

    Mr. Zakaria has it exactly right. Senator McCain's life while filled with honorable moments, also betrays the same hot-headed and "gut check" decisions that substitute rapid actions for thoughtful and prudent decision making. Governor Palin is exactly as much of an uniformed lightweight as she appears to be.

  • Posted By: Mysticalsister @ 09/27/2008 10:00:14 PM

    Perhaps McCain will admit his colossal mistake in choosing Palin after he and his campaign flacks have finished labeling every single journalist in the world as being in the tank for Obama. Can't she just be a horrible choice on her own lack of merits without it having anything to do with politics? Not during campaign season apparently. Even those McCain supporters who are privately freaking out, cannot publicly admit what a blunder this is. It would be funny if it wasn't so deadly serious.

    • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 09/27/2008 10:13:07 PM


      Excellent point. Wait until the inside campaign stories get published and if McCain loses, wait until she decides to run for the republican nomination in 2012, let's see how those who now sing her praises treat her then.

  • Posted By: sarafan @ 09/27/2008 9:42:17 PM

    Sarah Palin is a "Governor" who was thrown into the National arena before she was ready. No, she isn't well versed on national politics and everyone knew that before she got started. But let's, be fair, she has done some good things for the people of Alaska and I'm sure if she is given the chance she will work just as hard for all the US citizens. When very seasoned journalist try to trip her up, it just makes the journalist look nasty. Sarah Palin is a decent person who probably should have told John McCain to take a leap. She is being used to boost his campaign and she is also being treated badly by the main stream biased sexist liberal media. I wouldn't blame her if she dropped out of the race and told John McCain and the media to take a hike. The US is going to get just what it deserves in the White House ... Obama, a corrupt politician from Chicago ( a sexist scumbag) and Biden, an old Washington insider who makes an idiot of himself every time he opens his mouth. And when the middle class starts paying through the nose for all the "social programs" that Obama has lined up to support the slackers of this nation and the small business go broke, I hope Sarah Palin laughs herself silly while she is leading her state to energy independence.

    • Posted By: Nataya13 @ 09/27/2008 10:11:32 PM

      When very seasoned journalist try to trip her up??? Excuse me, none of these questions was particularly hard. She has given three interviews since being selected - if she is qualified to be VP then why can't the reporters interview her, why can't we ask her questions? Do you really think that a hostile head of state will treat her with kid gloves because she is a girl? It is not sexist to ask a woman the same questions you would ask a man? With all due respect, these comments are ridiculous. McCain and his people clearly feel the same way since they won't let her talk to anyone.

    • Posted By: Character Counts @ 09/27/2008 10:02:58 PM

      Give me a break, no journalist seasoned or otherwise has tried to ???trip her up.??? Sarah Palin is simply incapable, unfit for high office. She can???t answer the simplest questions without resorting to incomprehensible babble.

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