Thread: Sarah Palin

t is a tale of two con jobs.
As outlined in my previous column, ABC’s Charles Gibson interview of Sarah Palin was questionably edited. Now CBS has followed suit with the Katie Couric interview of the GOP vice presidential candidate.



A pattern of distortion has emerged. Both ABC and CBS cut answers by Palin; answers that would have indicated a more nuanced approach to foreign policy when it comes to the issue of multilateral diplomacy.



In the Couric interview, Palin answered a question that dealt with what the U.S. should do to convince Pakistan to take a harder line against terrorists.

“At a time when new leadership comes in, that is the opportunity to forge better, tighter, more productive relationships and that’s what we’ll take advantage of with new leadership in the U.S. and in Pakistan. And I’m sure that President Zardari, too, will agree with us as we commit to the support that Pakistan needs, that other nations in the region need, in order to win this war on terrorism,” Palin responded.



This question and answer were edited out.

Could it be that Palin’s response did not serve CBS’ desired post-interview spin?

When Couric inquired about the implementation of democracy in other parts of the world, Palin answered, “Well, one is that America cannot be counted on to do this solely, to be the savior of every other nation, but we need friends and we need allies, and we need this nation-building effort and we need to forge new alliances, and that is what a new election will provide opportunity to do.”

This response, too, was withheld from the public.



Could it be once again that CBS did not find the response to be consistent with the hawkish image of Palin that mainstream media are trying to cloak her with?


Similarly, Couric asked about instances when a democracy does not produce the desired outcome, such as in the election of Hamas.


“Especially in that region, though, we have got to protect those and support those who do seek democracy and do seek protections for the people who live there. And you know, we’re seeing today, in the last couple of days here in New York, a speaker, a president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and express such disdain for one of our closest allies and friends — Israel — and we’re hearing the evil that he speaks. And if hearing him doesn’t allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, especially there in the Mideast, then nothing will,” Palin responded.



“If Americans are not waking up to understand what it is that he represents, then nothing is going to wake us up and we will be lulled into some kind of false sense of security that perhaps Americans were a part of before 9/11,” she added.

Again CBS editors snipped away.



ABC News cut similar content from the Gibson interview. Intelligent, thoughtful, reasoned responses edited out? Beyond shameful, this represents the utter corruption of the Fourth Estate.

The New Media thankfully ride to the rescue.



In other media missteps, CBS, Katie Couric, and Barack Obama had to be corrected by famed diplomat Henry Kissinger.



Kissinger released a short statement that was intended to clear up some false representations made about something he had allegedly said.

During the Couric-Palin interviews, Couric asked the following question of Sarah Palin: “You met yesterday with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who is for direct diplomacy with both Iran and Syria. Do you believe the U.S. should negotiate with leaders like President Assad and Ahmadinejad?”

Palin answered, with respect to Ahmadinejad, “You can't just sit down with him with no preconditions being met.”



Couric claimed that negotiating with Iran without preconditions was Kissinger’s position.



When the interview ended, Couric told her audience, “Incidentally, we confirmed Henry Kissinger’s position following our interview.” She repeated that Kissinger supports talks “without preconditions.”



Is it possible that CBS and the Obama campaign are communicating?

During the first presidential debate, Obama claimed that Kissinger “along with five recent secretaries of state just said we should meet with Iran, guess what, without preconditions.”



John McCain shot back, “Dr. Kissinger did not say that he would approve a face-to-face meeting [with Ahmadinejad]. He did say there could be secretary and lower level meetings.”



Kissinger later weighed in, saying, “Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next president of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend, Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality.”



I think that, without preconditions, CBS, Couric, and Obama should engage in talks with a make-up artist on how to get the egg off their faces.



James Hirsen, J.D., M.A. in Media Psychology, is a media analyst, teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University and professor at Trinity Law School.


Newsmax.com – CBS Distorts Palin Interview

I wonder if that has been reported in this thread?

"Reported"?

You posted commentary from Newsmax.

What about your own take on this?

I just read an interview with Fareed Zakaria, CNN foreign affairs analyst. He has called for Palin to step down, characterizing her choice by McCain as "fundamentally irresponsible". Zakaria summarized things pretty well with Palin:

"Gov. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly -- nonsense. Just listen to her response to Katie Couric's question about the bailout. It's gibberish -- an emptying out of catchphrases about economics that have nothing to do with the question or the topic. It's scary to think that this person could be running the country."

Zakaria: McCain's VP decision is 'fundamentally irresponsible' - CNN.com

Originally Posted by floorpotato

It's scary to think that this person could be running the country."

scary also that the man that could very well be running the country felt she would be capable to cover for him.


don't think Americans need to worry too much about it though.

the election is well and truly over.

I expect to see a near landslide.

I usually don't put much credence into the opinions of Hollywood celebrities, but on a gut level the following interview of Matt Damon regarding Sarah Palin is extremely powerful.

love the reference to a really bad hollywood movie with an absurd storyline.


"I want to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago, seriously."

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

I want to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago,

good god. is this true?

does she really think this?

Wonder if the hard core right wingers that have been backing her without question are beginning to feel a little silly right now.

Originally Posted by aging one

Wonder if the hard core right wingers that have been backing her without question are beginning to feel a little silly right now.

jet has softened but boonmee is still going strong.
brit is similarly impervious.

Originally Posted by raycarey

good god. is this true?

I think it's quite possible that she does.

I know memock believes that the earth is 10,000 years old and he seems far more normal than Palin.

Thanks, FP for the YouTube. That was a very good, mature, interview.

I did some more searching and found this article on the dinosaur, issue. I don't think we'll ever hear her comments again on this topic. Maybe the teacher is not being truthful. I'll look for more.

Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy

Her faith views are strong and sometimes controversial. Her aides say she seeks to share but not impose her faith; her critics say she has 'a fine-tuned sense of how far to push.'

By Stephen Braun, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 28, 2008

ANCHORAGE -- Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said.

After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.


Palin told him that "dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time,"Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said "she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks," recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.


The idea of a "young Earth" -- that God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago, and dinosaurs and humans coexisted early on -- is a popular strain of creationism.

Link & Entire: Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy - Los Angeles Times

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

the earth is 10,000 years old

Mebbe. I know mice created the earth and put fossils in the earth's layers to fek up archaeologists. I read it in one of Adams' books.

September 30, 2008 - 6:43AM




Republican White House hopeful John McCain today defended his running mate Sarah Palin amid growing criticism of the vice-presidential nominee, telling supporters "she's going to be my partner in Washington".
McCain devoted the beginning of his speech to praise Palin, in the first rally since he announced the suspension of his campaign last week in response to the country's financial crisis.
"She's a bit of a maverick herself," McCain told the rally in Columbus, Ohio. "She's going to be my partner in Washington. She's a leader and knows what it means to put country first."


Palin has faced rising criticism in the press, including among conservative commentators, for avoiding the media over the last four weeks. The attacks have also expressed doubts about the Alaska governor's potential ability to serve as vice-president.
Her Democratic counterpart, vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden, has given over a hundred interviews with national and local media since being nominated in late August.
Palin has given three interviews, including her most recent interview with CBS News last week that has prompted calls, even among some former supporters, for her to step down as the nominee.


Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wrote this week that "Palin is clearly out of her league" and called for her to leave the race.
Speaking at the Columbus rally alongside McCain, Palin said: "Here in Ohio, the high price of gas is making a full tank seem like a luxury."
She told Ohio supporters the McCain-Palin ticket would mine coal resources in the region, in contrast to their Democratic opponents.


This afternoon Palin will travel from Columbus to Sedona, Arizona - where McCain owns property - to prepare for the vice-presidential debate on Thursday.

McCain defends 'maverick' Palin - US Election - smh.com.au

Panama Hat.

Thanks for the article.

First Fareed Zakaria who is a Neo-Con/conservative and now, Kathleen Parker are criticizing Palin.

There may be a momentum change against Palin.

Her post pick bump in the polls is settling down.

For the VP debates Palin will be on her own. She's been coached and practicing.

But Palin will all on her own in front of the nation. I hope she bombs.

This is probably here somewhere. How can anyone support this woman? I'm embarrassed for this. John McCain has done damage to America with such a stupid choice.

i'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for her.
it's really not her fault that mccain was so desperate to win that he picked a totally unqualified person---it just happened to be her that got the nod because she's a jesus freak.

apparently on the yet to be aired final segment of the interview with couric, palin is unable to name a single case heard by the supreme court except roe v. wade.

Of concern to McCain's campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin's interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.

The Palin aide, after first noting how "infuriating" it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.

After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.

There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

silence? sounds like a deer in the headlights moment that isn't going to play well on TV.

if so, she's toast.

Politico.com

Originally Posted by raycarey

apparently on the yet to be aired final segment of the interview with couric, palin is unable to name a single case heard by the supreme court except roe v. wade.

The rightwing media have censored the interview to make Palin look good. I wonder about a possible connection between CBS and the McCain campaign. LOL

It just gets worse . . . the follow-up interview with Couric: McCain had to tag along and kept speaking for her!!!!!

Also:

Sarah Palin Has The Same World View As My 7 Year-Old!


When Sarah Palin started babbling to Katie Couric about the "good guys" and "bad guys" in the Middle East, I had one immediate terrifying thought — she has the exact same worldview as my 7 year-old son, Sasha. He too in his childish mind, sees the world starkly divided into the two camps.
He also believes in superheroes with superpowers and monsters under the bed at night.


Now, while you expect 7 year-olds to play "good guys" and "bad guys" — and they do — you don't expect the person who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency to think this way.
That was just one of the shocking revelations in Sarah Palin's second sit-down interview. The other alarming revelation — she is astoundingly inarticulate, ill-informed and NOT a quick learner.
It had been 12 days since her last aired interview with Charlie Gibson, in which she first claimed that her state's proximity to Russia gave her an understanding of that complex nation's politics.

Yet here she was, almost two weeks later, still untutored — or so it seemed — and claiming the very same thing. The McCain-Palin camp hadn't even bothered to prep a better answer to this obvious question. Which makes you wonder if she and her handlers didn't realize how inane she sounded in the first place, or if Palin truly believes that she gave a perfectly sound response.


My 7 year-old also wouldn't be capable of seeing the world in a more complex way, but then again, John McCain hasn't selected Sasha to be his running mate.
Speaking of quick studies, or lack thereof, it took John McCain at least three days to read the two and a half page, 700 billion dollar bailout proposal. If anything, Sarah Palin is even less clued in. When she and Couric discussed her running mate's plan for reforming Wall Street and how he has led the charge for more regulation, Couric asked her to cite specific examples of his push for more regulation, Palin could only lamely promise to "try to find you some and I'll bring them to you." That had to be a first for Katie.


What's becoming totally obvious is that Palin is a terrific actress. Give her a good speech/script, a Valentino jacket and a great pair of patent pumps and she can deliver with gusto. She looks and sounds perfect for the Lipstick Pit Bull VP part. No Hollywood actress could do better.
But once she has to go off script, in the Gibson and Couric interviews or even in her first four questions and answer session with reporters in NYC, recently, she can't string together an intelligent-sounding answer, if her life or the election depended on it. The "Great Communicator" she is not. She makes George Bush sound like the leader of the Oxford Debating Team.


Now there is one way that my 7 year-old does have an edge on Sarah Palin. He knows for a fact that dinosaurs walked the earth millions of years ago. He also knows that human beings were not around at the same time.
But then my son isn't a creationist like our potential Vice President.
Now all of this begs the questions: if Sarah Palin ever becomes president and has to deal with complex political, economic and social issues and crisis, both domestic and foreign, will she be able to see these worlds in terms beyond just black and white and "good guys" and "bad guys"?


Will she be able to inspire Americans to be leaders in science and technology or will her non-scientific views about science get in the way?
And finally, will she be able to multi-task a myriad of often unexpected issues and crises and speak intelligently and articulately about them to the American people or will she have to get back to us?

It is an indictment of the US political system how anyone like this can even become mayor of Buttfukk, Alaska . . . let alone governor of the state . . . . please let us not even talk about VP . . .


Quayle, please come back, all is forgiven!

Thanks for the video, Rattanaburi. She may be worse than Dan Quayle, and that's hard to do.

For the debate, Palin will be on her own, and Biden and his team have a few things up their sleeve for Palin, IMO.

Palin is a mannican that needs handlers. Wait a minute....hasn't this already gone on for 8 years?

Originally Posted by Milkman

For the debate, Palin will be on her own, and Biden and his team have a few things up their sleeve for Palin, IMO.

No matter what Joe does or says he will be accused of picking on her. The best strategy would be to cede most of his time to Palin and let her dig her own grave. She needs no help from Joe.

Yes, Norton. Biden has to be careful not to be seen or heard "picking on her." He has to be careful.

Here is a brief video of Palin's interview equating foreign policy experience with Alaska being close to Russia.

there's an interesting article on politico about what his strategy will most likely be....call her 'governor', don't directly point out her mistakes (leave that to youtube), and go hard after mccain.

Biden's strategy: Go easy on Palin - Roger Simon - Politico.com

^ Thanks ray.

Here is a link, and link only, not a paste of Fareed Zakaria's interview on why Palin was a bad pick. It's short. But significant.

Link: Zakaria: McCain's VP decision is 'fundamentally irresponsible' - CNN.com

while you're watching the VP debate, keep this in mind...



he's had practically every type of skin cancer, and he's 72 years old.

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

How can anyone support this woman? I'm embarrassed for this. John McCain has done damage to America with such a stupid choice.

Ouch and double ouch. I could probably have answered that question better and I'm an economic nincompoop.