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The Read Menace

Sarah Palin, Sock Puppet. Coincidence that they have the same initials?

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The McCain campaign has taken Obama to task for supposedly saying Sarah Palin will do what she's told. I can't say whether anyone really said that Palin will do what she's told, but the evidence of her appearance with Charlie Gibson on ABC certainly suggests she SAYS what she's told.

When Gibson asked her if she would back Israel if Israel were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities she said, "I don’t think that we should second-guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves."

In fact, she's so anxious to not "second guess" Israel -- or her handlers' talking points -- she repeated it three times. Here's how it went:

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperate or agree with that.

PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.


What was amazing to me is that she repeated the lines so effortlessly, and I couldn't even detect Karl Rove's hand up her back.

So, now we know we have a person who can memorize things, and who believes what she's told, (as if her creationist pronouncements weren't evidence enough of that). We also know that McCain has picked a "running mate" as opposed to a Vice President. Do you want Palin up against Vladimir Putin, when her understanding of Russia is this?

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

One thing is sure. Rove didn't give her that line. She thought that up all by herself, which is even more terrifying.

1 Reader Comments

Adam Minter (not verified)07:35pm
Sep 14
Tom - Stupid or not, robot or not, I'll merely point out that the last two weeks of the campaign have been spent talking about how under-qualified the GOP VP pick is. That is, two weeks not spent talking about Barack Obama, much less talking about him in the way that helped him beat HRC. Which leaves us 50 days out, and McCain is starting to surge - partly because, of course, nobody is talking about Iraq, the economy, or - new disaster! - the melt-down on Wall Street. Instead, we're talking about how dumb Sarah Palin is. Now, I can't claim to know GOP strategy, so it might just be that they lucked into this situation, but if I'm running McCain's campaign, I'll take the last two weeks of Palin-centric thumping over issues-oriented campaigning (or blogging) any day of the week. Well-played by the GOP.

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