What We Learned: Palin/Gibon Edition, Part 1

Now, I'm just sayin'...

After keeping the Governor of Alaska safely protected from media inquiries for weeks, Charlie Gibson of ABC was finally permitted to ask some questions of the small town mayor who wants to be our president. So, what did we learn about where she stands? What kind of person was the beneficiary of John McCain's judgment?

1. She has the foreign policy credentials of an IHOP coffee mug.

Asked about the Bush Doctrine, Palin is a moose in headlights. Caught off-guard, her snide, exasperated, condescending tone shines through in a sad attempt to mask her panic. Has she been paying attention for the last 8 years? Watch as she stumbles, bumbles, and finally - once she remembers her coaching - bullshits for the remainder of the answer.




2. Iraq and 9/11? Even Bush doesn't believe that anymore.

Front page of the Washington Post:

Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

3. War is her first reaction.

This woman is a dyed-in-the-wool hawk.

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

And if Israel is threatened?

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 cooperative 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.

"We can't second guess what they need to do to defend themselves?" Translation: "I love me some KA-BOOM!"

Her first reaction - the place where her mind jumps - is not diplomacy, or any other form of working with allies to bring peaceful resolution to a conflict. It's bombs. It's retaliation. It's war. That's not change. That's more of the same. More itchy trigger finger foreign policy. More diplomacy as an afterthought. More war.


4. Her foreign official address book consists of Jose Cuervo and Joe Canadian.

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: I have not, and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you.

If that sounds wrong to you, it's because it is.

However Palin, who obtained her first passport two years ago, would in fact be the first vice president in 32 years who hadn't met a foreign head of state, if she were elected.

5. She disagrees with John McCain - and agrees with Obama - on taking action against terrorists in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border.

Great summary by John Aravosis at Americablog:

First, here is what Obama said earlier this year:

“Let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains, that murdered 3,000 Americans,” he said, continuing with resolve: “If we have actionable intelligence about high-valued terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.”

Here is what McCain had to say about Obama:

Obama at the time was talking about attacking known al-Qaeda terrorist targets, not suggesting mounting an attack on the country or government of Pakistan. Still, he caught flak shortly thereafter from some on both sides of the aisle for discussing the merits of attacking a sovereign ally.

And McCain saw no distinction, while speaking with reporters, today. “That’s still bombing Pakistan,” he said when pressed on the topic. McCain then sidestepped, discussing the merits of diplomacy. “The first thing you do is you don’t tell people what you’re going to do; you make plans, and you work with the other country that is your ally and friend, which Pakistan is.”

Here is what Palin said, in [her interview with Charlie Gibson]:

"If there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend."

6. She's fighting a Holy War.

Palin knows she's been exposed as a zealot, trying to backtrack and discredit the messenger, then tries to shine a turd (or put lipstick on a pig, if you prefer), but still directly injects religious conflict into the discussion:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is, and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side.

That's what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It's an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln's words, but you went on and said, "There is a plan and it is God's plan."

PALIN: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That, in my world view, is a grand -- the grand plan.

Finally, exposed and desperate, she desperately jumps for the nearest exit.

GIBSON: But then are you sending your son on a task that is from God?

PALIN: I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie.