I Take It All Back

by hilzoy

I know I've been pretty hard on Sarah Palin. I've said that I think she's unprepared for the Presidency; I've made fun of the idea that she learns about other nations through osmosis; I've even questioned her energy expertise. I take it all back. I eat my words. I was wrong:

"Couric: And when it comes to establishing your worldview, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?

Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.

Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.

Couric: Can you name a few?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, "Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America."

That's a lot of newspapers! Did you know that there are 38 newspapers in Alaska alone? And Florida: one hundred and forty! I don't even want to think about how many there are in New York or California. Even Wyoming has twenty one.

And that's just the US. Imagine: there are forty one newspapers in Bangladesh, and twenty five in Nigeria; Mongolia only has eight, but they're in Mongolian. I started counting the newspapers listed for Italy, but my fingers got tired.

I did wonder whether these lists are complete. I don't know, but Sarah Palin does. She can just check them against the newspapers she reads "regularly", and see.

Think of the number of languages Sarah Palin must know! I look at this page, for instance, or this one, and while I think they're quite lovely, I can't understand them at all. I certainly couldn't read them. I am immensely impressed that Sarah Plain can.

I guess all that stuff about Putin rearing his ugly head and entering Alaskan airspace must have been part of the McCain campaign's clever expectations management game. I, for one, will never underestimate Sarah Palin again.

Although this one sentence from her interview does tempt me:

"I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate."

Comments

[publius]

You know -- what's amazing about her is that her coherent statements are actually worse substantively than her jibberish.

for instance, consider the statement about "it doesn't matter if it's man-made, we need to do something about it." i mean, what we do DEPENDS on whether it's man-made or not. that makes absolutely no sense -- though it's at least superficially coherent.

at this point, baseline expectations are low for Thursday, but I still think there's a relatively strong probability of a truly idiotic moment.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Alaska is like a microcosm of America

So what part of Alaska is like New Mexico, I'm wondering? I mean apart from both of us having Jackalopes, that is.

[Warren Terra]

And to loosely quote her recent, supervised visit with Katie Couric, I'm sure they're all full of Gotcha journalism, but that's OK. Does she expect anyone to believe this nonsense? Surely she can't be ao ignorant as not to know a few plausible names, so she could for example give a shout-out to her local fishwrap and then say that she somtimes picks up the Times and the Wall Street Journal, and reads the Economist on airplanes? Even such an answer were completely untrue - a problem that's hardly hindered a whole bunch of her statements - it's an acceptable and unverifiable answer that anyone who's strolled past a newsstand a couple times a year could give. Instead we get this blather thay essentially amounts to an admission that she doesn't read any periodicals she thinks will pass muster? Or was she afraid of the question, because the periodicals she does read are really fringe ones, like that Bircher newsletter spotted on her desk in a photo of her Mayoral office?

[Gary Farber]

"And Florida: one hundred and forty! I"

That link is broken.

Publius: "i mean, what we do DEPENDS on whether it's man-made or not."

What exactly do you mean by that?

[bwaage]

The microcosm comment is just ridiculous. It's a sparsely populated petro-state that survives on federal handouts. I mean seriously, there's parts of the state that go days without even seeing the sun each year.

[Gary Farber]

I saw the Palin stuff on CBS News tonight, and wondered particularly about this: "Couric: But ideally, you think it should be illegal for a girl who was raped or the victim of incest to get an abortion?"

"Palin: I'm saying that, personally, I would counsel the person to choose life, despite horrific, horrific circumstances that this person would find themselves in. And, um, if you're asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an … abortion, absolutely not. That's nothing I would ever support."

So does that make her pro-choice after all?

[Cardinal Fang]

It's not just newspapers. By her own admission, she also reads all magazines. Think of it: Time! Newsweek! The Economist! People! Popular Mechanics, Vogue Knitting, The Barbed Wire Journal (as Sarah can tell you, that's a real publication)! Playboy (of course she only gets it for the articles).

Everything from Amateur Astronomer to the Journal of Buddhist Ethics to Wisden Cricketer's Almanac. Amazing.

[KCinDC]

Warren, surely you understand that she couldn't mention the dangerously liberal and un-American (but I repeat myself) Times. Same with the Economist -- it's European!

The WSJ should be safe, especially if she sticks to the editorials.

[Gary Farber]

To be sure, Giblets has a global warming explanation.

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought her all US newspapers ever.

[Warren Terra]

Gary, I think it doesn't make her anything. It might confirm her as dishonest, or in the least dissimulating, but that ship sailed long ago, so you can't give this statement the credit for making her so. As Palin clearly desires to build an America in which no abortions are to be had under any circumstances, with criminal penalties to the providers, Palin's reluctance to jail some small part of the women who seek what she has prevented them from getting is hardly a great concession to abortion rights.

[publius]

the type of climate change action we take depends upon knowing the source of the change.

[Roger Moore]

Publius: "i mean, what we do DEPENDS on whether it's man-made or not."

What exactly do you mean by that?

What we can do about it depends on what's causing it. You have to understand the problem in order to come up with a reasonable solution. If greenhouse gasses are the problem, than any practical solution will have to involve attempts to reduce emissions. But if the skeptics are right, emissions aren't the problem, and the whole thing has really been caused by changes in the solar cycle, cutting emissions won't help. In that case there may be nothing we can do to reduce warming, so that all we can do is to try to mitigate the damage.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Yes, yes that is all very nice. But what I want to know is:

Is she aware of all internet traditions?

[Nitish]

Gary,

I imagine that Publius means that if one believes that global warming is not caused by burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees, etc., one could conclude that we can go on doing more of that stuff, as these activities have nothing to do with climate change. If it's being caused by powerful aliens who hate Democrats, the best way to combat it might be to appease the aliens by electing Republicans.

To be fair to Palin, she hasn't endorsed the Democrat-hating alien theory; I believe she has acknowledged in the past that human activity may have contributed to the rise in temperature, even if it's not the whole reason.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Next question: Does she read Contingencies Magazine?

I'd just love to hear what she thinks of the articles in the September/October 2008 issue.

[Warren Terra]

TLTIABQ, either as part of her omniscient consumption of media she has included electronic media and has encountered and become aware of all internet traditions, or her punishing reading schedule has prevented her from spending time amidst what her friend Ted Stevens memorably described as A Series Of Tubes, and so she has not had the opportunity to become aware of practically any internet traditions. It's Alternately you might prefer a middle path: she must have read all the magazine articles about internet traditions, so she is aware of all internet traditions, but generally a year or two late.

[crayz]

In theory some subset of potential causes of/solutions to global warming could be mixed-and-matched. For instance if the sun is going through a cycle of increased radiation, we might still be able to reverse the warming through cutting emissions or inventing some carbon sequestration technology

That said, everything I've seen leads me to believe the commenters in this thread have given more thought to climate change in course of composing their brief messages here than Palin has in her entire lifetime

[UserGoogol]

I think we can see the real game here. Sarah Palin isn't being used to attract female voters--that would be sexist--she's being used to attract the 18-30 demographic through their well-documented love of surreal humor. I can very easily imagine her words being said by say, Master Shake or for that matter a certain other Palin. (Although John Cleese might be the better choice.)

[akj]

Don't forget all school papers... at the college, high school, and grade school level.

[a]

ugh. I read this stupid posting. I want my sixty seconds back.

[Fourthseven]

UserGoogol:
Ah, it all makes sense now! Someone should tell Katie Couric the plan though, because she looked dreadfully uncomfortable during that clip.

[Tony P.]

Somewhere out there, polls tell us, there is a dangerously large number of Americans who despise Barack Obama so much that they are willing to vote for The Man Who Picked Sarah Palin.

I know it's bad form to think ill of those Americans. I am therefore reduced to suggesting that we go out into the real world, find those people, and speak uncharacteristically nicely to them. "Even you," we should say to them, "are smarter than Sarah Palin, aren't you?"

--TP

[Pacific moderate]

I suspect Sarah Palin has read fewer books than Barack Obama has written.

[cleek]

whatever. she's white, right?

[Doctor Science]

You have to keep in mind the Crazification Factor, which has been scientifically established to be 27%:

Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

Note that the Crazification Factor was elucidated during a discussion of a speech of GWB's that was only marginally more sensible than Palin's interviews.

I'm not going to be able to watch on Thursday, due to embarrassment squick.

[tfan]

I think the only major newspaper name she could think of off the top of her head was the NYT and she desperately did not want to say that name aloud. Probably the only newspaper she reads is the ADN and she knows that doesn't count for world news.

Off the top of your head think of five major newspapers. Any of them conservative other than the Wall Street Journal? Didn't think so.

[blogbudsman]

The dread blogger hilzoy has sunk deeper into silliness. Most busy executives have staff that provide in some method highlights of the days news that could include actual articles or referenced articles from a broad spectrum of media sources. Palin recognized immediately that Couric was fishing for an irrelevant moment and properly navigated around her ridiculous question. The truly honest answer would have been that she pays no attention what-so-ever to any mainstream media, but that would have served no useful purpose.

[cleek]

mmm. pie.

[Warren Terra]

FSM help me, I have no idea whether blogbudsman was joking. P.S. The "dread blogger hilzoy" appelation does rather fascinate, even if it's about twelve days late. Has hilzoy been blogging left-handed all this time just to make things interesting, while in fact not being left-handed? Does hilzoy have a take-no-prisoners approach? Has hilzoy really built up a resistance to Iocaine powder? Is she the first dread blogger hilzoy, and if she should retire, does she know someone who'd make an excellent dread blogger hilzoy?

[G]

>>The truly honest answer would have been that she pays no attention what-so-ever to any mainstream media

Hah! Nice to make ignorance sound like an informed choice. She didn't answer, "My staff pulls together a compilation of important stories from newspapers around the world and I read that." I think the commenters here have it right. She probably reads ADN and couldn't think of any other newspapers that didn't sound too liberal.

Though I can imagine this answer to whip up the base:

"Oh mostly I read the Drudge and Malkin. I got no use fer the mainstream meadier."

[Jesurgislac]

FSM help me, I have no idea whether blogbudsman was joking.

"Well, I think so, John, but I can't memorize a whole opera in Yiddish."

[byrningman]

Biden actually has a tough assignment on Thursday. I'm not certain of the format for the debate, but I'd be surprised if the McCain campaign didn't insist on a very rigid (ie not at all debate-like) format that will enable Palin essentially to recite a memorised script for each topic.

Biden's task then is hit notes that are so effective that they demand a rebuttal from Palin, in other words to lure her out of her scripted fortress. Yet he can't do this simply by being the attack dog, as I think most of us are sure that that will backfire.

So he has to walk a very fine line, made all the more tricky by Biden's own autonomous mouth problem. Luckily, he can get away with a few gaffes.

[Phil]

I can very easily imagine her words being said by say, Master Shake or for that matter a certain other Palin.

You know, you're right. If I substitute Frylock's and Shake's voices for Couric and Palin, respectively, it's comedy gold.

[hilzoy]

Grr!

Fixed the FL link. Thanks, Gary.

[John Thullen]

"I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate."

I used to blame most of my man activities on sunspots.

Then, global warming came along and I got along for a few years with that excuse.

Now what?

But honey, I was late from the bar because the Earth's core wobbled and upset my equilibrium.

[professordarkheart]

"I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate."

Well, maybe not all. But she has a point: there's something about a lovely sunny fall morning that just seems push me out the door for a good run.

[Eric Martin]

dread blogger hilzoy

I'm so jealous. Why does Hilzoy get all the cool names?

OT: Hey Phil, did you get a chance to check out Hopewell on Saturday? Thoughts?

[ericblair]

Sarah Palin isn't being used to attract female voters--that would be sexist--she's being used to attract the 18-30 demographic through their well-documented love of surreal humor.

If she comes out and states at the debates that she's running on the National Bocialist party ticket, she'll pick up millions of votes. Well, maybe dozens.

I suspect Sarah Palin has read fewer books than Barack Obama has written.

Stupid to write books when you can go down to the local Walmart and purchase one for only a few dollars. Stupid.

[Jesurgislac]

But do you have a wheelbarrow?

[John Thullen]

Tina Fey must be very conflicted right now between voting for Obama/Biden or doing the right thing for her career by voting for McCain/Palin.

[John Thullen]

More seriously, it is true that interest rates on some non-financial commercial are lower, but I don't know why this is a source of comfort.

If BTFBZ's car dealership can't supply loan money from the financial arm of the auto suppliers, customers don't get loans and customers don't buy cars and salespeople and workers get laid off.

It becomes non-financial very quickly.

Further, when states and municiplaities cancel or postpone construction and capital projects, private construction firms lose revenue, which might cause them to seek financing in the commercial paper market to continue operations.

Good luck with that.

Also, yes, some banks with conservative lending records, including some good community banks, are doing fine (their stock prices, if they are public companies, have held up well). But, they too are tightening lending standards, which further slows the growth of the economy.

There are no safe havens.

By the bye --- some stupid Republican politicians at the local level in my state are cheering on failure of the bailout package AND cheering its effect on state and local government spending.

They want government to fail.

When I become a flesh-eating zombie, I'm going to their houses and I'm going to eat their children.

[John Thullen]

That last post of mine belongs on the previous thread.

It's global warming ... I'm telling ya.

[eddie vedder is not dead]

I can't believe I wasted time not only reading this foolishness, but then took the time to respond to this foolishness.

If Senator Biden had said he reads all newspapers and magazines he had access to, the left would be praising him for being very well-read.

However, the Palin Derangement Syndrome demands that any statements made by this governor be taken to the ultimate extreme.

What are you, twelve years old?

[Eric Martin]

If Senator Biden had said he reads all newspapers and magazines he had access to, the left would be praising him for being very well-read.

You missed the point completely. Common for twelve year olds, dude.

To properly frame the question at hand: How would Americans react if Biden claimed to real all newspapers and magazines, but then couldn't name even one?

[cleek]

If Senator Biden had said he reads all newspapers and magazines he had access to, the left would be praising him for being very well-read.

oh that wicked "left" ! the stuff they do in counterfactual futures is simply despicable !

[Marc]

Wingnuts can be so *cute*. Our 10:38 contributor apparently doesn't realize why claiming that you read all newspapers is such a head-smackingly stupid thing to say. Words fail.

[SisterZip]

A bit of a hijack...
I saw this on the Fox News morning program (and no, I don't normally watch Fox News, I just saw a pic of Ifill and stopped as I was surfing) and am appalled. Just another distraction tactic to keep the spotlight off Gov. Palin's performance.

VP Debate Moderator Pens Pro-Obama Book
WASHINGTON: Gwen Ifill, who is moderating Thursday's vice-presidential debate, is releasing a book on Barack Obama and other young black politicians who are "forging a bold new path to political power."

Questions are being raised about PBS anchor Gwen Ifill's objectivity after news surfaced that she is releasing a new book promoting Barack Obama and other black politicians who have benefited from the civil rights struggle.

Ifill is moderating Thursday night's vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Her book, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," is due to be released about the same time the next president takes the oath of office.

In her book, Ifill contends that the black political structure of the civil rights movement has cleared the way for post-racial politicians to ascend to new heights.

Now some are wondering whether Ifill can be fair and balanced, and whether she should be the moderator of Thursday's 9 p.m. ET debate.

"Clearly her books aren't going to do as well unless Obama wins, so it looks like she has some investment, literally, in one candidate or the other. And she's supposed to be sitting there as a neutral arbiter during the debate," said NPR's Juan Williams, a FOX News contributor. "I think the world of Gwen Ifill but I know there's a perception problem."

Web site WolrdNetDaily first reported on the Ifill book Tuesday night.

FOX News political analyst Michelle Malkin argued in a post on National Review that Ifill is "so far in the tank for the Democratic presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running."

[SisterZip]

Tina Fey must be very conflicted right now between voting for Obama/Biden or doing the right thing for her career by voting for McCain/Palin.

Posted by: John Thullen

Uh, I don't think Tina Fey needs to 'do the right thing' for her career. She just won 3 Emmys.

[mjm]

Not only do I read all the newspapers, I drink all the beer!

Actually, as I was writing the above, an exchange from The Blues Brothers popped into my head.

"What kind of music do you usually have here?"

"Oh, we have both kinds, Country and Western!"

Maybe she reads the ADN and the Wasilla Frontiersman -- that's all the papers, right?

[Eric Martin]

too bold, too beautiful.

[Jesurgislac]

Misformatting, misappear!

[SisterZip]

I can't believe she couldn't name one major newspaper from the lower 48. How hard is it to guess that NYC would have a Times? Or LA? Or a Tribune in Chicago?

Lord, help us all.

[Phil]

OT: Hey Phil, did you get a chance to check out Hopewell on Saturday? Thoughts?

We got to the Aragon late, so I only saw the last three songs of their set, but they were good! Lots of nervy postpunk influence that I could hear. And your friend not only plays a mean piano, he tossed in some nice percussion in spots, too!

My Bloody Valentine, in addition, was simply fricking amazing. The "death chord" section of "You Made Me Realise," which of course closed the set, went on for a good 15 minutes. You have to appreciate a band that simply comes out and plays their set -- after not touring for 16 years -- and whose entire banter from the stage consists of "Thank you all very much for coming"/"Yeah, thanks."

[John Thullen]

Whatever Biden's daily reading list, it would be characterized as yet another "elitist" nail in his coffin by the likes of our 10:38 contributor.

Palin, like Bush, doesn't read books, magazines, and such. Like Bush, she reads her gut and other people's souls.

If souls had guts, she'd examine them with her reading glasses.

Six months of Palin leading delegations to Russia and Putin will be setting up missile sites in Anchorage.

[Phil]

Here is how far away I was from the stage, and it was still one of the loudest things I've ever experienced. I've stood against the stage, without earplugs, at a Sonic Youth show. This made that sound like a butterfly flapping its wings across a meadow.

[Eric Martin]

Lots of nervy postpunk influence that I could hear. And your friend not only plays a mean piano, he tossed in some nice percussion in spots, too!

Cool. Glad to hear you enjoyed them and, of course, My Bloody Valentine. Hopewell was pretty amped to be playing with them. Big influences.

Fun fact: We used to call Tyson "Man Dog." Still do actually. Not a Santorum reference mind you, but a commentary on his previously hirsute appearance.

[Eric Martin]

Link not working for me...

[KCinDC]

We used to call Tyson "Man Dog."

I thought that was Rick Santorum.

[Eric Martin]

Man Dog, not Man On Dog.

And Man Dog was Man Dog from way back in the day, pre-Santorum's Freudian beastiality slip ups.

[russell]

I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate.

I should think not.

Clearly, alcohol consumption must also be considered.

Thanks -

[ptet]

Crazy, yup... But don't think - just feel...

All glory to the HypnoPalin :)

[doretta]

My name is blogbudsman! You killed my father! Prepare to die!

[Eric Martin]

doretta wins!

[Gary Farber]

"Here is how far away I was from the stage"

That's not accessible without a Facebook membership, or at least someone's login.

[Gary Farber]

Underestimating Sarah Palin.

I've watched the video of her debate against Murkowski, and she was good.

[Gary Farber]

More on Palin's debate style.

[KCinDC]

That's not accessible without a Facebook membership, or at least someone's login.

Not even then. Probably have to be a friend of (or at least share a network with) the album owner.

[KCinDC]

Nate Silver makes the case for giving in to the right-wing pressure to dump Gwen Ifill as moderator.

[Dave Weeden]

It could have been worse. Part of me wanted to her to continue. "But there's one paper I won't read. It's called the MSM, I can't remember what that stands for exactly, the Missouri State Monitor or something, but it's just full of liberal bias, mostly reprinted from the New York Times. You know, blogs are like, all over it. Who do these people think they are?"

[mkd]

Recall please classic Simpsons episode no. 43: "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"

(Homer has been asked to join the new German ownership for a "brief friendly chat".)

Take it away satirical cartoon show:

German Man 1: You have been safety inspector for two years. What initiatives have you spearheaded in that time?

Homer: Uh... All of them?

German Man 1: I see. ... Then you must have some good ideas for the future as well?

Homer: I sure do!

German Man 1: [waits for a follow-up, which doesn't come]

This exchange, of course, immediately precedes Homer's now legendary fantasy trip to the Land of Chocolate.

Sarah Palin is Homer Fu**ing Simpson.

[idlemind]

This should be her "I invented the internet" moment if there was any justice in the world.

[xanax]

Yes but have you seen the "poetry" of Sarah Palin (as presented by Slate.com)?

An example (to whet your appetite):

"You Can't Blink"

You can't blink.
You have to be wired
In a way of being
So committed to the mission,

The mission that we're on,
Reform of this country,
And victory in the war,
You can't blink.

So I didn't blink.

(To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008)

[Gary Farber]

Palin tonight on CBS, complete with video.

Dig the blankness when asked if there were any other Supreme Court cases she disagreed with.

I make the rest of my points at my post.

[mjm]

Let's not forget that she has a degree in journalism. You might have thought that she would have picked up on the names of a couple of magazines and newspapers by osmosis while in school.

[KCinDC]

Gary, it should be a big deal that Palin believes in a constitutional right to privacy as well (as you mention at your place).

[KCinDC]

MJM, her degree in journalism taught her that trick questions like "What do you read?" are unethical:

I have a degree in journalism also, so it surprises me that so much has changed since I received my education in journalistic ethics all those years ago.

[Gary Farber]

"Gary, it should be a big deal that Palin believes in a constitutional right to privacy as well (as you mention at your place)."

And as I pointed out, her simultaneous declaration that she also believes abortion should be left to the states is in contradiction to her belief that, well, this:

[...] Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.

Couric: The cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.

Palin: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that.

She doesn't seem to get that if something is a Constitional right, the states and the people therefore do not get to make up their own minds and will about it. That's what a Constitutional right means.

[hilzoy]

Gary: I swear to God I did not read your post before I wrote mine. (Or anyone else's, except a couple that came out before the video was up.)

But: great minds, and all that... ;)

[Gary Farber]

"Gary: I swear to God I did not read your post before I wrote mine."

I believe you. But you might want to read your email more promptly, then. :-)

[russell]

I have a degree in journalism also, so it surprises me that so much has changed since I received my education in journalistic ethics all those years ago

Journalistic ethics?

Is there an ethical dimension to asking "can you name one publication you've read?", or "can you name one SCOTUS decision you disagree with?".

These are "gotcha" questions?

The woman is running for Vice President of the United States of America. It's the big show. Politically, short of running for POTUS, it's the biggest show there is.

It should come as no shock to her that people will ask her questions about what she thinks and believes. It should come as no shock to her that people will want to probe the depth of her understanding of US history and law.

THESE ARE NOT EVEN THE HARD QUESTIONS. These are the layups.

Nobody's picking on you Sarah. It's part of the job.

Thanks -

[Fledermaus]

ok I think I have Sarah Pailin figured out. She is actually Lennie Bruce, risen from the dead and in drag. Funniest routine ever. I bet Andy Kaufman is pissed he didn't think of it first.

[Tsam]

During the debate, I was shocked to hear Palin repeat the line, "I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate."