Palin's Big Interview: The reviews are in

By GottaLaff

I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out if Lynn Sweet saw the same interview I saw:

Sarah Palin showed herself as steely and supremely confident--even when she stumbled over a question about the Bush Doctrine --and brushed off whether it mattered that she had never met a foreign head of state in her much anticipated first network interview as John McCain's running mate.

I'm sorry, what? IMHO, she came off as studied, yet unprepared, and played the role of "confident" without convincing me she actually was. When she stumbled over that question, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and very un-ready to be a heartbeat away from the Big Red Button.

Sweet gave her points for being able to pronounce "Saakashvili". So that's what it takes to be v.p.! Please ... Get real.

Here's more:

Gibson tested her when he asked about the "Bush Doctrine" (regarding pre-emptive strikes to protect U.S. interests) waiting to see if she knew about the doctrine that paved the war for the Iraq war. Gibson asked her if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine.

She tried to wing it---using the technique of asking "in what respect?" to get some clues about its essential elements--but Gibson made her squirm some until he gave up some details. [...]

A low point: trying to pass off she was some Russian expert because Alaska is near Russia's edge. "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

Time for a quick fact check:

Sarah Palin attempted to deflect a question about the fact she has never met head of state by saying that "many" other vice presidential nominees in history hadn't met a head of state either.

However Palin was mistaken.

Every vice presidential nominee over the last 30 years had met a foreign head of state before being elected vice president.

"Have you ever met a foreign head of state?" Gibson asked Palin Thursday.

"I have not," Palin said, "and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you."

However Palin, who obtained her first passport two years ago, would in fact be the first vice president in 32 years who hadn't met a foreign head of state.

But never mind. She's pretty and wears the kewlest eyeglasses and she likes mooseburgers and never blinks. That's all you really need to worry about when you vote for the person who could potentially control a nuclear arsenal (and yes, she pronounces it "nuc-u-lar") and otherwise profoundly affect our lives.

It's Bush all over again. The country cannot be this easily fooled again, can it?