09/12/2008
Sarah Palin Links Iraq to 9/11, Clueless on the Bush Doctrine
McCain running mate Sarah Palin is receiving poor marks on her knowledge of foreign affairs and policy based on remarks she made at a 9/11 troop ceremony yesterday and excerpts from a 20/20 interview airing tonight.
Yesterday, at the ceremony to send her son to Iraq, McCain running mate Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq to 9/11, the Washington Post reports, "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.'"
Writes the WaPo's Anne Kornblut: "The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself."
Her knowledge of foreign policy faltered in her interview with ABC's Charles Gibson as well.
Excerpts of the interview, which will air tonight on 20/20, were released last night. You can read them here.
Before offering Charles Gibson "a blizzard of words" on whether or not she believes the U.S. has the right to preemptive strikes, Sarah Palin is stumped when Gibson asks her about the cornerstone of Bush's foreign policy known as 'the Bush doctrine.'
It's no wonder they're not letting her talk to anyone.
Watch the clip, AFTER THE JUMP...
Via the Jed Report, here's McCain explaining the Bush doctrine:
And don't miss Palin's thoughts on going to war with Russia.
Posted 8:59 AM EST by Andy Towle in 9/11, John McCain, News, Republican Party, Sarah Palin | Permalink
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Wow! Yes, when you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, you then baffle them with your bull shit. Being in middle management, I know that drill all too well.
Yup, you can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. You can draw a smiley face on a balloon, it's still an airhead. Just because there's tits on a bull does not make it a feminist. I can keep this up all day...
Posted by: Rad | Sep 12, 2008 9:19:19 AM
To be fair, the enemy who planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks is exactly the enemy her son and his comrades will be fighting in Iraq. Of course, they're only there because the US invasion of Iraq so weakened that country that what Saddam's iron fist had kept out came rushing in.
Posted by: Jonathan | Sep 12, 2008 9:21:23 AM
Well, Charlie, I don't really know what I'm talking about, Charlie, but if I use words like hell-bent, Charlie, and Islamic extremism, Charlie, and terrorists a lot, Charlie, then maybe no one will notice, Charlie, what do you think?
F**k**g Scary!
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 12, 2008 9:25:20 AM
All of you are sexists! Sexists, I say! How dare you say that Palin is unqualified just because she's unqualified! You all make me sick!
Posted by: Sami | Sep 12, 2008 9:33:31 AM
I'm an Obama supporter and I don't think there is ONE issue Governor Palin and I agree on but this interview was the WORST piece of journalistic crap I have ever seen.
Charles Gibson's sexist, chauvinistic tone was disgusting to watch and made me cringe through most of the interview. He literally was looking down his nose at her. Palin is an accomplished Governor and like it or not she IS a Vice Presidential nominee and should be treated with respect and not treated like she is on trial. I saw the same thing happen to Hillary with the sexist media.
It is an embarrassment that other people around the world will see this and think this is the way the country I love treats women. Now I know why the McCain camp didn't want any interviews. SHAME ON YOU ABC!!! SHAME ON YOU ABC!!!
Posted by: daveynyc | Sep 12, 2008 9:34:45 AM
Al Qaeda has been entrenched in Iraq ever since the U.S. invaded... so she's not entirely wrong with that one viewpoint.
Instead of empowering the tacky dim bitch with sensational attention, how about setting our sights (and sites) onto McCain... he's an easy target! Shoot him down, and we won't have to worry about his running mate.
Posted by: A.J. | Sep 12, 2008 9:41:22 AM
You are a shrill, vacant, myopic twit, Davey.
But I'd still rather have you as VP than Palin.
Sigh.
Posted by: Dan | Sep 12, 2008 9:45:07 AM
She is as dumb as dirt so, don't blame ABC for showing it, and, since it was all a ploy to get the female voter with McShame putting her beside him, why couldn't he have found a GOP chick with at least a semblance of a clue? There are many women who are a part of this party of hate (GOP) that actually are well spoken and have a clue about issues, Palin isn't one of them, and, we will not be hearing too much from her after this debacle and the cries of "sexism" are as muddled as McBush trying to explain how she really is smart on so many issues that affect the so called "American people," that GOP code word for straight, white Christians.
Posted by: Sebastian | Sep 12, 2008 9:46:29 AM
The Washington Post edited its original online story this morning to include “But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.” I don't think there is much to this. And the Bush Doctrine is a piece of shit. We need to abandon it. We need to MSM to be fair or at least appear fair. They could cost Obama the election trying to help him. John Roberts said the word "we" when describing the Democrats! What? Please, stop helping. The press is throwing cinder blocks to a drowning man!
Posted by: John | Sep 12, 2008 9:48:46 AM
To be fair to Charlie Gibson, DaveyNYC, he does that annoying look-down-his-nose thing with almost any interview where he's using notes in front of him. He puts those glasses on to read the notes and then ends up looking down his nose at everyone. So it wasn't him showing contempt for Palin - at least not in that way.
I'm actually happy that he showed up all the critics who imagined this would be a softball interview.
Adam Reilly in The Boston Phoenix had a good piece this week about McCain's ploy to demonize the "liberal media" - the same media that coddled and fawned over him all through the primaries - and ow it might backfire by making the media actually ask hard questions of him and Palin. You know, like they might actually do their jobs this time. Read it here:
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/68093-Beating-the-press/
Posted by: tonyg | Sep 12, 2008 10:01:38 AM
she did quite well for herself in the interview which you have to view in its entirety and not just snippets and soundbites which can be manipulated to whatever purpose you may as per usual in the media... she didn't go overboard on the god stuff and as for the bush doctrine i don't anybody knows what it is either and won't matter a whit. does anybody remember the monroe doctrine? you all are just going to have to get over it.. the woman is smart, has charisma and is a force to be reckoned with and may very well help land mccain in the white house. and no i'm not a republican -- tho considering the way the wind is blowing perhaps not a bad thing to be these days (now THAT's grist for the mill isn't it?) no, i'm just viewing the entire process impartially... never underestimate the opposition my dears, never... the repubs are smart cookies and know how to work a room, that's why they got where they are so give credit where credit is due... hold on to your tampons 'cause a lot can happen between now and election day... the fun is just beginning...
Posted by: the queen | Sep 12, 2008 10:02:00 AM
Hate to be Danny Downer (as usual) but what we see as a shrill, uninformed twit is seen by 'Wal-Mart moms' (shudder) in Ohio and Pennsylvania as a 'strong woman' with 'strong values' standing up to big old mean male journalists.
It takes a special kind of moron to make Democrats look good in my eyes...and Sarah Palin does just that. I wish America would wake up and realize that this is a presidential election and not the screenplay for 'Erin Brockovich', but I have no faith in that happening.
Posted by: another matt | Sep 12, 2008 10:08:06 AM
It's people like you--QUEEN---without any redeeming principles, who float in the direction of the blowing wind--and think it's "FUN" to see our freedoms taken away and theocrats, warmongers and thieves in charge of our government--that have ruined our country.
Posted by: Ray | Sep 12, 2008 10:12:41 AM
oh RAY dahling, i think i have a few "redeeming principles" such as i give a pretty good head -- never had any complaints yet sweetie...
Posted by: the queen | Sep 12, 2008 10:19:07 AM
"In what respect Charlie?" <- the answer of someone who has NO CLUE what the question means, let alone its answer. I absolutely LOVED the look on her face when Charlie then asked her what she interpreted the Bush Doctrine to be.
"His world view" <- the generic non-answer to a question from someone who has, well, NO CLUE what the question means....
Anyone who has ever attempted to BS an answer on any kind of test (and let's face it, we all have at some time or another) ... would immediately recognize that Palin is in this way over her head, and is trying to fake her way through the topic.
I just wish Charlie hadn't explained what the Bush Doctrine is. He should have persisted in asking her to interpret it. Let her squirm and make up some more BS. By the time she finished, she would have looked like Miss Teen South Carolina. "Because some people in our nation don't have maps, and I believe that our education, such as South Africa, and The Iraq, and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here, over here in the US, should help the US...."
*squeal*
Posted by: sparks | Sep 12, 2008 10:27:44 AM
Well then it's little wonder, Queen, that you have an affinity for Palin. You have identical skill sets.
Posted by: 24play | Sep 12, 2008 10:31:01 AM
... just because she floats down in a bubble does not make her a Good Witch.
Posted by: Rad | Sep 12, 2008 10:31:15 AM
palin's continued use of charlie... charlie.... charlie.... had a pleading quality to it--as if there had been a pre-interview agreement with the campaign that this was going to be a backyard game of badminton.
and although gibson did seem to bet increasingly impatient, the fact that he has a country fair "dried apple" face didn't help--nor did his reading glasses. the bifocal/reading glasses thing gets some getting used to. being of an age, i have first hand experience.
america's wall-mart mom's are comfortable with and enthusiastic about palin because she makes them feel less insecure about themselves. this is one reason that hillary had problems with their support--anyone remember the "cookie baking mom" drama of a few years back?
if anything is learned from this election, and mcain/palin winning (according to "the queen's" crystal ball) no matter what state you're in--red or blue--and how the electoral college gets manipulated into a repug win, popular vote needs to be a landslide in favor of obama.
the long standing lesson of this election will not be the reform of washington, but the electoral process.
Posted by: my2cents | Sep 12, 2008 10:34:13 AM
Is the sheen coming off?
Posted by: Nick | Sep 12, 2008 10:37:44 AM
..." and as for the bush doctrine i don't anybody knows what it is either and won't matter a whit. "...
Preemptive war.
I'm sorry, but anyone running for the Presidency should know what the policy of the United States currently is. It's a pretty big deal to say we'll start wars if we even sense a threat. That she had no idea of the basic policy position of the United States is inexcusable.
Posted by: MAJeff | Sep 12, 2008 10:40:50 AM
i've started the countdown to my head exploding....
Posted by: cdotpearl | Sep 12, 2008 10:48:37 AM
Well, THE QUEEN is right on one point: this IS just the beginning of the examination of Sarah Palin. Hopefully, we will begin to see that she has no "world vision" and the most effective role for United States in the world, and that she is a pawn of anti-feminist right-wing Republicans. She is to American women what Clarence Thomas is to American blacks.
THE QUEEN is not our enemy in this debate. THE QUEEN is simply saying, "be vigilant...this Alaska baked hockey gal must be reckoned with". OK, THE QUEEN, we're watching and waiting and searching. The Charlie Gibson interview didn't create big cracks in the Palin popularity, but it's a beginning.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Sep 12, 2008 11:01:39 AM
MISS DERRICK, thank you honey for understanding and explaining what i've been trying to tell these fervid, feverish and fatuous fags all along... you got it, mama...
Posted by: the queen | Sep 12, 2008 11:37:41 AM
THE QUEEN, if you're gay you CAN'T be impartial in this. There is a clear choice here between 2 people who would stand up for our rights and 2 people who would (at best) look the other way as equality is ripped to shreds.
"Hockey moms" should be looking to the likes of Nancy Pelosi (who has managed to rise to 2nd in line for the WH while still being a mother and wife) and regular dads should be looking at Obama (whose daughters seem so happy and grounded) and Biden (who has gone above and beyond to be with his family since their losses). Palin is surely a tough, ambitious lady who did some very good things - and a lot of bad stuff too. She is not someone who should be helping rule the world. End. Of. Story.
Posted by: sexyback | Sep 12, 2008 11:39:43 AM
24PLAY dahling, "indentical skill sets" hmmm, well i'm taking that as a compliment... like i said she's a smart cookie and knows how to work it... watch out for the big barracuda mama...
Posted by: the queen | Sep 12, 2008 11:40:11 AM