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And now you know…
Thursday, November 6th, 2008…the rest of the story.
31 Responses to “And now you know…”
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christ. and it was the obama fans who were the ‘bots? country first, my friends, country first. i’m having trouble even plumbing the depths of my contempt, much less expressing it
I did not vote for her as governor in 2006. As the campaign went on, it became increasingly painful to watch, to the point that I could not watch.
I think that she was immensely possible for several reasons. First, whether anybody wants to admit it, she is attractive. That contributed to her popularity. Second, she was extremely unknown outside this state. As such, she was a blank slate, allowing people to attribute various ideas to her regardless of the actualities. Another reason is a perceived underdog effect. Coupled with the anti-intellectual bias in a large part of cultural conservatism, there was a groundswell of support for her against any sort of perceived ‘attack’, even though attacks regarding her qualifications, education and intelligence are fair grounds for any candidate.
On a personal level (as opposed to political), I like Sarah. She’s nice and personable. I don’t think she’s the culturally conservative extremist she has been portrayed as, but maybe I’m wrong. If she goes on in national politics, she may change, but she hasn’t governed that way while up here.
But even though I like her personally (and I have met her several times and my wife knows her family), I do not think she is at all qualified to be President, nor do I agree with all of her policies. All I can ask is that readers of this blog not judge all of Alaska by her (or by the idiots who voted to retain Ted Stevens and Don Young).
[...] [From And now you know… [The Agitator]] [...]
This is McCain’s people trying to deflect their loss by trashing her. They should be ashamed.
I would eat a puppy before I would believe that Palin did not understand that Africa is a continent as opposed to a bunch of countries. I call BS on NAFTA too. It’s not like there’s a lot to remember.
They waited the least amount of time possible to maintain a whiff of dignity, then send this out. Pathetic.
@aland
Ah … wow … where have you been? You have seen this person give an interview right? Palin is a joke.
Far be it from me to suggests that we take the rantings of anonymous people within a failed campaign with a grain of salt.
Somebody wanted to derail the Palin 2012 campaign before it started.
i’m with aland – this is definitely the campaign’s attempt to distance themselves from her…
i’m not certain *everything* that’s been said is true, but we all know she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer – we’ve seen it in her interviews. they used her for all the reasons Alaska mentions above, found out too late she was useless, then tried to pass her off anyway to limp across the finish line.
and i used to have an ounce of respect for the senator. i have more contempt for mcCain than palin, ttytt.
i’m not certain *everything* that’s been said is true, but we all know she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer – we’ve seen it in her interviews.
Anyone can be made to look like an idiot with proper editing. As for Africa, was she confused about “Africa”, or did she perhaps assume that someone who said “southern Africa” meant “South Africa” (the latter being a country, of course)?
supercat:
Anyone can be made to look like an idiot with proper editing.
you did see the actual, softball interviews she did? this isn’t the whole explanation, but: i grew up around christian fundamentalists. many of them take a special pride in not knowing things about the world. imo, i kinda doubt she’d need a lot of editing. i’m not being mean here – just truthful.
“All I can ask is that readers of this blog not judge all of Alaska by her (or by the idiots who voted to retain Ted Stevens and Don Young).”
Hey, no worries there. I completely understand where youre coming from.
Signed,
Resident, Minnesotas 6th Congressional district.
*cackles with glee*
Oh this is rich. And from Faux News too.
But did she know that there is no such word as “knowledgeability”?
Brooks:
you did see the actual, softball interviews she did?
What part of editing don’t you understand? :)
This is how proper editing could work:
Couric: Gov. Palin, what is your favorite color?
Palin: Red.
Couric: Gov. Palin, What… is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Palin: What do you mean? An African or European swallow? … OK. I Don’t know.
(edit)
Curic: Gov. Palin, What is your favorite color?
(edit)
Palin: (edit) I Don’t know.
Brooks: What an idiot!
I reread my comment and it looks like I was calling Brooks an idiot at the end. I didn’t mean it that way. It was meant to read as Brooks response to the Palin interview. Sorry for any confusion.
Palin in ‘12: Because we’ve haven’t learned yet.
A candidate for Vice President of the United States not knowing that Africa is a continent almost seems too absurd to be true.
However, I’ve read this blog for years… what is it that Radley always talks about, Post Reductio America? It’s almost too absurd to *not* believe…
Wow, Radley, I think you’ve finally proven that you’ve jumped the shark. Seriously, I come to this site because *in the past,* you’ve been responsible enough to call BS on things that are obviously absurd, even if the absurd rumor promotes your personal wishes. You’ve completely discarded that around this election.
Dudes, in her defense, she’s real pretty. McCain likes himself the ladies.
Sarah’s husband is the mackdaddypimp lost in all this. He was hoping for a loss so he can hit the snowmobile trails early (snow is falling in Alaska!). And, he’s just happy his hot wife has money coming in and a hobby to keep her busy.
By the way, what’s all this nonsense about Africa “not being a country”? I have enough knowledgeability to KNOW Africa am a country. The triumph of public schoolin!!
(Not checked for accuracy.) Didn’t Obama allege that there were 57 states? Then we (well, not me) elected him President. Seems like not knowing how many states there are has waaaAAAAaaay less “knowledeability” than that Africa thing Palin fumbled on.
I think the problem is more her refusal to accept preparation. I mean, she should know who’s in NAFTA and what the Bush Doctrine is. If she’s too darn stubborn to listen for that, she’s likely too darn stubborn to listen to anyone about anything. I tend to believe that she is fundamentalist, only because a friend of mine who has known her since they were children told me so. I’ll believe that.
Wayne, you don’t get it. We ignore stupid things said by Obama or Biden. Thankfully, at that, since Biden is a walking gaffe machine. Don’t expect to see too much of him after Jan. 21 – they’re probably fitting his office with an outside lock right now.
Wayne – Obama misspoke, there’s a big difference. Nobody should have any doubt that Obama, a constitutional law professor, knows how many states there are. (Is he too elite or does he not know how many states – can’t have it both ways).
Palin on the other hand genuinely does not know these things: Bush Doctrine, Africa is a continent, you don’t use campaign money to buy things for your family, what newspapers you read, etc. These aren’t “goctha” moments unless you really don’t have the knowledge. And as others have said, the bigger issue is the lack of curiosity, and we’ve seen 8 years of why that creates problems. She could have been prepared for the interviews, but she refused. She apparently does not have the work ethic necessary, just like Bush. She has no place in the government.
We have gaffes, ideological blinders, plain ignorance and willful ignorance. The first get magnified by the nitpicking party-faithful types on both sides — waste of our time. The second seem to be near-universal among politicians, especially Dems/Reps. The third is forgivable, but can legitimately be an issue. The last deserves nothing but scorn.
But playing willfully ignorant for the masses — that is the height of cynicism.
I don’t think Palin is stupid at all. But she sure does come off that way, and I can’t help thinking that was a feature and not a bug.
Full disclosure in case anyone is wondering: I don’t vote.
Guys, Obama was joking about the 57 states thing I can’t believe that people still bring this up. If you’ve actually seen the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws), it’s pretty obvious that he’s cracking a wry joke about how tiresome campaigning is and how long he’s been going at it.
Yeah, the only thing I can think of from the O/B ticket that even approaches this is Biden’s forgetting what article of the Constitution describes the executive branch. Which, in fairness, is probably something that most Americans don’t know either. Unlike, say, whether Africa is a continent.
And not knowing what countries are in NAFTA? Seriously, she can see Canada from her house!
Palin will finish what Bush II started (i.e. the final destruction of the Republican party).
Want to know if the Republican party is going to recover quickly form their crushing losses? If they run Palin 2012 the answer is no.
I can’t take seriously anonymous comments made by a losing campaign, especially from a reporter that uses the word “knowledgability” at least twice in the story.
I just finished watching Matthews and company on Hardball going down the same road, all the while talking about the three countries in North America (they were talking the continent, not the treaty) obliviously unaware that all of Central America is on the North American continent.
Gaffes, misspelled words, grammatical errors, bad interviews aren’t great indicators of a person’s intelligence. When you consider ALL the comments made during a campaign, to catch them in a few errors and blow them out of proportion is easy.
Palin may be dumb, but it’s an awfully convenient story. Meantime we have a whole government made up of people unaware of the meaning of “Congress shall make no law” and that the 9th and 10th amendments limit the power of government. Now THAT’S stupid.
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I watch the Couric interview. She sounded like she was over-prepared. Someone stuff her head full of talking points and she got them all jumbled up.
She worked through her issues with the press. By the end of the campaign was doing much better.
Who are “they”? Could we have some names please?
Balko has devoted most of his career to informing us about the dangers of anonymous informants. Innocent people get killed when stories are not vetted. Innocent people also go to prison when gullible people sit on juries. Since this thread is about Sarah Palin rather than police and prosecutorial misconduct, we learn that Balko is quite willing to participate in spreading unsourced gossip.
May I assume that all these new Faux news fans also believe President Roosevelt went on TV and addressed the nation in 1929 and that Joe Biden was influential in driving Hezbollah out of Lebanon? Couric and Ifill fell for both of these Biden “gaffes,” so to what extent can the American people any longer trust any journalists?