Just…wow September 30, 2008 Jill I thought that perhaps the Russia/foreign policy section of Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric was just particularly bad. But: Nope.
“crisis mode”, “track record”, “john mccain”, “bipartisan”…… I think she said each of these phrases at least 40 times in the eight minutes. She really is just a string of talking points. Too bad she can’t string them together in a way that makes any sense in the english language.
OMFG. Seriously, who is this woman fooling? She cannot answer a single question. I’m embarrassed for her.
Shore up…shore up…must shore up! She keeps looking at something in her lap, I’d love to see what it is…
She has two modes. In the Gibson interview, she was confident, even when dodging questions. But she is also dangerous. She might say what she really thinks, like that we should attack across our allies’ borders, as she recently said on Pakistan. Because she is so dangerous when unscripted, the campaign has tried to make her stick to talking points on topics where she doesn’t know the terrain. The result is a total loss of confidence. She tries to smile while blathering incoherently and hitting certain phrases as often as she can. Either way, the more people see of her the less they like the idea that she could be a heartbeat from the presidency. I’m predicting a 324-EV Obama win. More is she self-destructs on Thursday.
You know, I’ve been really eager to believe that she is an ignoramus and a zealot, rather than a simpleton. Many of her answers show that she doesn’t understand the facts, doesn’t know the context of the question, and tries to answer with ideology divorced from any contact with reality. But sometimes, there’s no getting away from her intellectual limitations. Watch this. Couric (better than she gets credit for) asks her to explain her stump-speech shot at Biden, and Palin ends up making the Obama Campaign’s basic pitch without realizing it. There’s no talking around that, it’s just stupidity.
I teach business writing and two things come to mind when I listen to her. 1. The brain has a hard time doing two cognitive tasks at once. When you are learning a new subject matter, your brain is busy trying to comprehend, organize and make sense of what it is you’re learning. This is cognitive task #1. As a result, a second cognitive task, such as writing, decreases in ability. This is why we see people struggle to write well in subjects that they are learning. I believe the same cognitive task theory holds true for speaking. 2. Research indicates it can take between 1-2 years to become fluent in job and workplace politics, niceties, nuances, etc etc (where the bodies are buried; what the correct reactions to things are, etc.) Palin’s blunders (such as the Palin /McCain administration or calling him “my running mate”) are “new to the job blunders”, imho. That being said, watching her is like watching the kid who crammed go through his oral exams. Knows the points to make; doesn’t know when, how or why to make them…(job creation! Alaska! terrorists! jobs! oh, got that one already. damn..)
It is also embarrassing to watch her repeat her answer to Couric’s first question word for word, clearly showing that she has no understanding of the issue, but is rather relying on a memorized answer. If challenged on any answer or asked a simple follow-up question, she simply repeats what she’s memorized and then tries to turn the conversation back to generalities. She simply can’t give an informed opinion because she’s not informed.
I agree that it’s predominantly an issue of, as the National Review said (and wow, me quoting them) her being completely out of her league.
Oh my god: watch this new clip of a Couric interview with Palin, in which Palin is asked if she is a feminist, if abortion should be illegal for a raped 15-year-old, and if she condemns the morning after pill: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4490713n
this is as good a place as any for this: “Asked what newspapers and magazines she reads, Palin – a journalism major in college – could not name one publication. “I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media,” she said at first. Couric responded, “What, specifically?” “Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.”” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/palin-a-journalism-major_n_130707.html why is she making this so easy? i actually want to believe that this is some dastardly plan concocted by karl rove, with palin saying all these stupid things to lower expectations and then BAM nails biden at the debates. if only. 🙁
btw, did i do something wrong here? my comments are constantly under moderation, i don’t get it. they never used to be…??
I think she uses a lot of words like bailout and bipartisan in the same way Smurfs use “Smurf” and South Park’s Marklars use “Marklar”.
Check out the Palin Parrot and get your own interview with Governor Palin! Basically, it was inspired by the interview linked above, and produces answers at least as coherent as the real thing. Belledame has the transcript from a sample interview here.