More Palin/Couric Interview Goodness
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Foreign Policy, McCain, Palin, VideoThis one is much longer, and includes Palin’s previous Alaska/Russia foreign policy explanation, which Doug described as “Another Deer In The Headlights Moment For Sarah Palin.”
But putting that aside, she reveals her views on Henry Kissinger, spreading democracy and not second guessing Israel…ever. Well, unless we agree with them. Then we won’t second guess them.
Seriously?
Here’s the bit about Kissinger…
Couric: 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: I think, with Ahmadinejad, personally, he is not one to negotiate with. You can’t just sit down with him with no preconditions being met. Barack Obama is so off base in his proclamation that he would meet with some of these leaders around our world who would seek to destroy America and that, and without preconditions being met. That’s beyond naïve. And it’s beyond bad judgment.
Couric: Are you saying Henry Kissinger …
Palin: It’s dangerous.
Couric: … is naïve for supporting that?
Palin: I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, “Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.” Diplomacy is about doing a lot of background work first and shoring up allies and positions and figuring out what sanctions perhaps could be implemented if things weren’t gonna go right. That’s part of diplomacy.
And just wait for the “second Holocaust” and “Good guys, bad guys” lines at the end. Whoa.
After watching this video and all the others, I’ve come to the conclusion that her foreign policy views are even more dangerously simplistic than Bush’s. So not only is she the second coming of Bush in this respect, she’s not nearly as polished…which is certainly saying something.
But hey, feel free to disagree and give me your thoughts below…
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Foreign Policy, McCain, Palin, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Ahmadinejad just hosts holocaust denial conferences and says Israel should be obliterated.
I mean…whats the big deal. Isn’t that what the Irish want too?
September 25th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
These interviews are excruciating to watch. How will she ever be able to debate Biden? If you went to 100 high schools and had Palin debate the smartest kid in the Model UN club at each one, I guarantee you that Palin would get CRUSHED every time. She obviously has NO curiosity about the world outside Alaska. There’s no way a couple of weeks of cramming will make up for 44 years of pure ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I don’t think she has any foreign policy views. I think she’s just been listening to the various talking points that the McCain campaign has been throwing around and trying to remember the easiest ones.
It’s bad enough that she didn’t have a handle on any of this stuff when she was nominated, but even now, after weeks to brush up on it, she’s barely coherent, much less insightful in any way.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Simplistic is the only way to deal with monsters like Almond Dinnerjacket and his anti-Semitic Protocols philosophy. He all but said in plain speech that the Jews run the world’s economic system, run the politicians, that the Holocaust never happened. And not one member nation of the UN walked out, booed, called for a point of order: they applauded. And the Secretary-General gave him a warm embrace.
Why would anyone talk to someone like that? who vows to wipe Israel, a fellow nation-state, off the map, whose war cry is “Death to America?” Iran invaded the US in 1979 - that’s right: embassy grounds are the native soil of the embassy according to International law. Let Almond Dinnerjacket first say he regrets that act of war, yes, an act of war against America. How about that for at least one precondition? Simplistic? I’m even more simplistic than the two of them put together. I say we have half a million soldiers flanking Iran and that’s a good start.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
As far as I am concerned, Sarah Palin kicked Katie Couric’s ass. She was sharp with her answers and they were her views. Couric tried to take it to Palin and ended up looking like an idiot.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
That interview was mind-boggling. She is way, way out of her league. Watching her reminded me of that awful nightmare I have about going to class and having the teacher say that there’s a test that I had no idea about.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:10 am
SteveJJ
You’ve posted the exact same comments in other threads. Anybody who seriously thinks Palin kicked anybody’s butt is delusional.
You’re an idiot.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Steve JJ’s multiply-posted comment reminds me of the identical letters to the editor in support of the Iraq War that the Republican party was sending to local newspapers in 2004 to drum up continuing support for the war.
Are Steve Schmidt’s initials “JJ”?
September 26th, 2008 at 9:31 am
The bottom line is this: Anyone who would support Palin is intellectually bankrupt. She is not ready, nor ever will be, to be the leader of the most powerful nation in the world.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Rob and Mr. Metrik beat me to it, that was comical SteveJJ, I hope you were joking.
Px, there seems to be some distortion of the facts in your post. Ahmadinejad wasn’t president in 1979 so it seems unlikely he will apologize for a decision that wasn’t his…and actually wouldn’t be his today if it happened again, since it is the Grand Ayatollah that is the commander-in-chief in Iran. Secondly, we would want to talk to someone like that because not talking accomplishes nothing. Iran has proven to be resilient in the fact of sanctions and I would guess even under the threat of war.
Also, the Iranian people seem to want democracy and a more liberal system of government, evident in the revolution of 1979 when several liberal factions were stifled by the, at the time, more powerful conservative religious elements in power (please note liberal and conservative mean different things in this discussion). Bringing in half a million troops to their country would not only probably prove disastrous militarily, but also could well line up the country behind the Khamenei, saying “I told you so, those Americans can’t be trusted.”
September 26th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Palin is in way over her head. Does anyone under stand a word she says ? I dont think she understands what she is saying. Its like she is speaking in tounges but useing real words instead of made up ones. We need to get a wasillian translator, to translate her wasillian. Leave it to McCain to find someone dumber than GW. How did this woman become gov. of Alaska ? This is why they keep palin locked on the bus, because she is an idiot. They dont want america to see what a idiot she is (TO LATE).
September 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
L Says,
I think that Px might have been referring to the theory that Ahmadinejad was quite possibly one of the persons involved in holding the hostages in 1979. A few months ago there were some pics traveling the net that bore a startling resemblance of him being one of the captors. Nothing was ever substantiated though.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I am at the point where I actually feel sorry for Sarah Palin. As much as I dislike her policies, watching the interview with Katie Couric was painful. She is hopelessly out of her depth, and McCain has done Palin, himself, and the Republican Party a huge disservice in selecting her.
Evan as a Democrat, I take absolutely no joy in watching this sorrowful affair of an interview. This is all the more so because of the very real possibility that McCain could become president. By now, as Americans, we should have had enough after 8 years of assuming someone is qualified for office based on nothing more than the idea that an individual has personal qualities we can identify with.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I can’t remember the last time we cared so much about a VP’s foreign policy knowledge. I don’t think any of the Presidential candidates have been taken to task the way Palin was in the interview with Couric. Can we just assume that those who were not voting for McCain are still committed to vote for someone else? Do you really think Katie Couric is unbiased? In Obama’s 20 month tenure as a Senator from Illinois with 130+ ‘present’ votes, what are his foreign policy credentials?
September 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
You may be right, but we’re in a post-Cheney world now. Things have changed.
Honestly then, I don’t think you’ve been paying attention. In fact, just recently Obama sat down with Bill O’Reilly and O’Reilly brought up Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.
The truth is this…Palin is not instilling any confidence in her ability to lead. In fact, she’s so bad that people are starting to question McCain’s judgement. Simply put, you don’t put somebody so shaky in the spot that’s just a heartbeat away from the Presidency. But if you do, be prepared for the consequences. And we’ll see what those are in the coming weeks.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I watched the interview and I really felt bad for her. It reminded me of the poor girl from South Carolina that was in a beauty pageant and cracked. They asked her a simple geography question and she lost it under pressure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R84a7njTd0
Sarah might just be a bad interviewer. It doesn’t mean she is not qualified. Wait… …Yes it does! What was McCain thinking?
September 26th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
If I were Sarah’s husband I would post comments remarking how great Palin’s answers were to Couric’s questions below all the videos of the interview I could find.
And then I would sign them SteveJJ.
Honey, don’t cry, you’ll still be my hot, moose-dressin’ sweetheart, even if that nasty Couric tore you to shreds!
September 27th, 2008 at 10:37 am
InDisbelief Says:
September 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I can’t remember the last time we cared so much about a VP’s foreign policy knowledge. I don’t think any of the Presidential candidates have been taken to task the way Palin was in the interview with Couric. Can we just assume that those who were not voting for McCain are still committed to vote for someone else? Do you really think Katie Couric is unbiased? In Obama’s 20 month tenure as a Senator from Illinois with 130+ ‘present’ votes, what are his foreign policy credentials?
The reason you can’t remember the last time we cared so much about a VP’s foreign policy knowledge is because we have never had a 72 year old presidential nominee. With his age it is quit possible the VP could become the Prez. before his four year term is up. GOD BLESS
September 27th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Sarah Palin has been a disappointment I am sorry to say. Like many others, I was excited about her nomination and it initially strengthened my support for McCain. However, she needs to be replaced! It hurts me to say this but it is true. It is so clear during her interviews that she does not have a grasp of the issues and is not ready for the job. If McCain is to have any chance of winning this thing he is going to have to replace her with a proven fiscal conservative such as Romney or Huckaby. Otherwise, McCain has lost my vote to Bob Barr.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Listening to Palin trying to talk on her own to Couric reminded me of the now famous, “Miss Teen North Carolina” answer. I really like McCain but picking Palin has offended me. I’d love to have a female President or VP but Palin is not the right choice. No one could fairly listen to Palin and think she would be a good Vice President of the Greatest country in the world. Those that say she did a good job have clearly stopped paying attention.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I am glad I am not the only one who saw a sad resemblence of Palin to the beauty queen contestant from North Carolina who kept saying “as in” and then her next words would be grasping at straws to finish her sentence. . I hope McCain will have the guts to do the right thing and the thing a real mavrick would do and “change” his mind about his choice of Palin. Maybe Palin is going through “the change” in a menopausal sense, that could explain the “going blank” in the interview with Couric. Maybe she just let her anxiety get the best of her. But if she really knew what we expect her to know she would have been able to pull it off even if that were the case.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:10 am
This interview shows her inability to be the Vice President of the United States! She is not Hillary Clinton or Condelissa Rice! She is truly clueless! I am in prayer for our nation!
September 29th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Erik mostly undecided Says:
September 27th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Listening to Palin trying to talk on her own to Couric reminded me of the now famous, “Miss Teen North Carolina” answer.
Very true. It was miss South Carolina though. Here is the clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R84a7njTd0
September 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Can any Americans actually spell? It’s difficult to take any of you seriously when you can’t spell. You obviously want to be viewed as intelligent so consult your dictionary. This is just pathetic, but expected. Amaricans is so smart I want to be juss lick them . yeeeeeee haawwwwwww
October 1st, 2008 at 10:50 am
It’s tough to judge one on one, since Biden did not go on Couric. Yes, her lack of knowledge was scary. The answer will show on Thursday night’s debate between Biden and Palin. However, one must know Hillary Clinton tell interviewers exactly what to ask. It was apparent Palin did not do this, stupid also on her part. She had scripted answers and was likely told not to leave the script, as it is hard to remember every single stance McCain has on every subject. My opinion dropped significantly of her with the interview, however I do think she has promise and I will wait to form an opinion till Thursday. Also, I agree with some of the comments above, the VP candidate has never been scutinized to this degree. In part, I think this is due to the fact she is a woman. I am a Republican/Feminist but will vote Democrat if she sounds the same and worse than Biden on Thursday.