The Sarah Palin Interview Part 2: Militaristic Mama

Just made it through the Nightline interview which wasn't all that different from the Readers Digest version they put on the national news at 5:30. Mostly it filled in the cracks, so the ineptly edited earlier version made more sense. For the most part my initial assessment stands. This is a well coached debate student parroting answers to anticipated questions.

This time, however, it did appear that we were hearing some of Palin's own thoughts on issues related to terrorism and the war in Iraq. Given the fact that she just sent her son off to war this was to be expected.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to indicate that she had thought very deeply about these issues, nor that she understood the complexity of what's been happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kind of like our current commander in chief. In fact, it sounded a whole lot like what we've been hearing for the past six years. The world is pretty much divided between good guys and bad guys. We're the good guys. Good people like us need to send troops wherever we need to go to take out the bad guys because they're out to get us. Don't like our way of life. And it's all about winning and losing, kind of like a high school hockey game only a tad bit bloodier.

Reports about the speech she gave this afternoon at the send off for her son say she made the link that even Bush has stopped making between Iraq and 9/11. She told Gibson that she hates war, but this plus most everything else she said in response to Gibson's commendably pointed questions about foreign policy suggest, despite her attempts to add nuance to her responses, that this is a person who would have no qualms starting wars for what she would consider righteous causes. The bad guys better look out if this pistol packin', moose shooting, pit bull of a hockey mom (with lipstick) is sitting in the White House. There'll be no place to hide. But then, when the nuclear missles start flying we won't have any place to hide either.

This is scary stuff, especially when you put it alongside the militaristic impulses of her running mate ("bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."). And don't forget his shoot from the hip decision making (can anyone spell P-A-L-I-N?).

Next: Palin on global warming

The Sarah Palin Interview Part 1: Polly Wanna Cracker?

OK, we've heard the first 10 minutes of the ABC interview and she didn't do too badly. No major gaffes (like her one off script comment about Fannie and Freddie earlier this week). Nothing too radically ridiculous. And, boy, have they worked with her to get the pronunciations right. That Ahmadenijad slid right off her tongue as though she had actually said it once or twice before.

But, of course, she knew these questions were coming. She may, in fact, have had them ahead of time. That was the buzz earlier - ABC sent her the questions. But even if they didn't her handlers pretty much knew what Charlie Gibson was going to ask. No real curve balls here (except perhaps the one about the Bush doctrine. She seemed to be a bit clueless about that. Thought Gibson meant Bush's "world view," a Christian buzz word with which I am well familiar, but not what Gibson had in mind). And clearly she was well coached in what to say about the hot button issues buzzing around blogs, like her views on Israel and the God statement she made in her church about Iraq. Pretty clever of her handlers to put that bit about Abraham Lincoln into her mouth. I mean, who's going to question someone who's merely quoting one of the greatest presidents ever! Kind of a conversation stopper, don't you think?

But here's the point. We still don't have much of a clue what Governor Palin actually thinks or believes, or whether she knows enough to do the job of helping to run the government of the most powerful nation in the world. All we have so far is a well coached debate student parroting what her handlers have taught her to say. I'll reserve final judgment until I've had a chance to listen to the longer interviews later tonight and tomorrow. But right now I remain unimpressed. Not only unimpressed, but deeply concerned that all we're going to get between now and November 2nd is this kind of paint by numbers sort of response to every question put to her. So I repeat what I said in an earlier blog:

"Trained monkeys can do this."