McCain committed political malpractice.
 

If the reports are true from Fox News (it would be a first), on top of everything else we have already heard about Palin's total ignorance of life outside of Alaska, she also didn't know Africa was a continent and didn't know the names of the nations of North America (shocking, particularly given that she bordered one of them and was a state of another, needing just one more to get the answer right!).

To select Palin knowing as little about her as McCain knew, and then to continue on with her on the ticket, knowing full well that she was totally incompetent to be vice-president, let alone president, is an act of political malpractice. What happened to the guy who would "put his country first, even if it costs him an election?" That sure isn't what seems to have happened with Palin, assuming Fox isn't just making stuff up again.

Cali, maybe you didn't realize it, but your guy won. Congratulations! Move forward and enact your agenda!

Stop parading around like such a preening jerk.

this is the most puzzling post I've ever read from you....

Do you honestly believe she doesnt know the names of Canada, US and Mexico?

Do you honestly believe she doesnt know that Africa is a continent?

I'm not big on sara palin but I know bullshit when I see it.

I rather agree with Tex.

This was reported on Fox News. That doesn't mean it's necessarily true, but I got the idea that the reporter thought "Well now that the election is over I'll go ahead and report this."

Some people know NOTHING about geography. Give them a map of the United States and they can only fill in about 10 states. Their brains just don't work well for that type of thing. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Palin didn't know the names of the continents or the location of countries.

Cali is simply getting a jumpstart on the 2012 Primaries!

Oh my hell, leave her alone.

You won, remember?

She never asked to be the VP candidate, she was chosen and answered a call to serve. All of this garbage coming out is from McCain workers who got their butts kicked and are just trying to cover their ass so they can get a job in 4 years. All this kind of crap does is give good people even more reason to stay the hell out of politics. But maybe that's what you want.

Oh, now that's just silly. She's one of the most ambitious people I've ever seen.

Look, I'm not saying Palin is without fault. Her shopping sprees were embarrassing, given the way she had portrayed herself, and she did not come of well in her Couric interviews. I just don't remember her ever campaigning to become the VP choice before she was chosen, and she certainly didn't deserve to be treated the way she was subsequent to her selection.

And sorry, I don't believe that she can't name the countries of North America.

I realize we're only two days past the election, but Sarah has gone back to the boonies, far from where she can ever harm anyone, so why continue to trash her?

* She couldn't answer which countries are in NAFTA - charitably, it could be that she hesitated not knowing if there were non-NA nations involved.

* Didn't know Africa was not actually a country, but a continent - somewhat understandable (from a generic Joe Sixpack perspective) given that there is a nation called "South Africa" (thus implying there my be a nation called "Africa", like Virginia & West Virginia).

* Refused preparation for Couric & Gibson interviews

* Threw tantrums at bad press clippings

I agree with Tex, somewhat. This is water under the bridge. But to the extent Palin might come back in 4 years as a GOP favorite, it's interesting & instructive to know some of her personality revealed from behind the curtain. She seems much like Bush II in terms of lack of general curiosity, certainly seems to have the ego to think she can charm her way through, doesn't have to prepare. Congruence with the "Diva" tag leaked from McCain campaign insiders.

At the heart, this is the "anti-intellectualism" concern expressed by some thoughtful conservatives at where the GOP is headed.

It will be interesting to see where the Palin movement goes.

I don't know. I'm not trashing her. I just think it's silly to suggest she agreed to the spot out of some sort of civic duty or notion of sacrifice.

And yes, if you follow politics as way-too-much as I do, you'll remember that she was indeed lobbying for the spot.

I also don't think there's much reason to feel sorry for her, as this election cycle has been very very good for her career.

I agree that there's no sense in continuing to criticize her, and I wish that Obama supporters would show a little more respect for the feelings of the voters who supported their candidates just as strongly as we supported ours.

Yeah, I guess that line did sound a bit hokey. :rolleyes:

I was only half kidding about 2012.

Nobody really took Ohbama seriously last year. This was Hillary's race to lose. Everyone know Ohbama had style, but it was dismissed as insufficient. We see this week the power of being a popular media figure.

Regardless of whether Palin is a bubblehead, shrewd Dems will not discount her...she has panache. She was a bigger draw than McCain. She re-energized the GOP ticket, she was the main topic of conversation, she caused non-viagra induced erections at town hall meetings across the country....in short, she is a media force now. To dismiss her would be irresponsible.

The strategic thing to do is to keep picking away at her wounds, thereby preventing them from ever healing in the public eye. If she is viewed as a knuckelhead, it will be tough for her to gain appointments or further her political career much more than where she is now. I think the Dems will watch her very closely for the next few years, day and night. In fact, I have volunteered to do so, with binoculars...at night...at her house.

Remember, keep your friends close...and your enemies closer.

History is what it is. I simply point it out.

It isn't my report that she didn't know the answers to those questions. It is Carl Cameron's report on Fox News, citing those who were present and assisting Palin in her debate prep. Do I find it believable? Absolutely. I watched her Couric interview.

I didn't say SHE committed political malpractice. To the contrary, I said McCain did, if what Fox reported is true.

Regardless of her performance this cycle, it's clear that, barring some sort of scandal or allegations of corruption, she will be a frontrunner.

The great thing about running as a socially conservative lower-middle-class torchbearer is that media scrutiny only proves you that much worthier to carry the torch. Abuse at the hands of the liberal media is so much of an assumption that being subjected to it lends you an air of credibility.

I guess that's ok if you're an accountant or dentist. It's kind of a problem if you want to be VP of the US. Frankly, I've never understood how someone can consider themselves to be educated and not know basic geography like Africa is a continent and not a country.

No she won't. Her campaign will make it about as far as Dan Quayle's did.

It will require somebody of Mitt's fundraising, with Jindal's communicative powers. Palin is neither, she's this year's Quale. Thank goodness.

She will most certainly be a frontrunner. That's not to say she'll garner either the POTUS or the VP nomination, but she'll be a frontrunner when things start up in 2010.

You are a small man.

I just look small to you because you are looking at me from Alaska.

If she wants, her hat will be in the ring, but I'm not so sure that she gets that far. If she wants the POTUS nomination, she's going to need to be far more polished than she was this time around.

As has been noted, conventional wisdom holds that Republicans tend to nominate the "next guy in line" and I'm not sure 2 months as VP really qualifies as taking over that slot. You'd think it would favor Romney, but a lot will depend on what he chooses to do too. He's not in a public position anymore, so he needs to shore up his conservative credentials in some other way if he really wants to take another shot.

I hereby volunteer my services to undertake all polishing, rubbing, waxing, and general massaging of Sarah Palin.

Just doin' my civic duty! Drill, baby, drill!

Obviously, Mitt will be a frontrunner for the nomination, too.

I find the opinion that it isn't "nice" to point out the absurdity of McCain's pick after the election to be misplaced.

His pick was absurd. Picks like that in the future should be avoided. They will only be avoided if we call politicians on the absurdity of picks like McCain's.

I argued a while back that what McCain was doing with Palin was a tragedy for democracy. I feel even more strongly now than I did then that I was right. Not only was the fact that she was totally sheltered from the critical eye of the public a bad step for democracy, the more we learn about the reasons she was sheltered, the more we realize just how bad the pick really was. Palin would have been a disaster for the nation as VP. She would have been an even greater disaster for the nation as president if something were to happen to McCain, and yet, they were a few million votes away (likely far less than that) from winning the election.

McCain said multiple times that he would "rather lose an election than lose a war." "Country first." His pick of Palin, and his continuing support of Palin in light of what he learned about her following her selection, totally undermines his credibility on that front.

Palin represents a tremendous step backwards for our political process. Fortunately she lost. Unfortunately, it wasn't by much (in terms of votes cast). A bright, shining light needs to focus on what happened and how it was that a person so unqualified for the office came so close to gaining it, with the knowing assistance of an American patriot.

I agree with you. I was just saying that I find it very believable that Palin doesn't know this stuff because of all the college-educated people I have met that are completely ignorant about the location of states and countries. See my avatar. 70% of Americans don't get the joke (my guesstimate).

Are you in Russia?

All Obama supporters are. We are required to make the pilgrimage semi-annually.

Are you serious?? I could have sworn it was China by way of Indonesia.

We should ask the Great Leader.

I only asked becasue you can see RUssia from parts of ALaska, you know.

And it's common knowledge that Tex prefers a BIG man.

Gullible.

Did you read this paragraph?

Don't confuse him.

Yep. Assuming Eisenstadt is not also Fox's "source."

NYTimes has more, presuming that we can believe them, of course.

Yes, they have more about how Eisenstadt isn't a real person and nothing that even remotely suggests he was the original source for the Africa story (which nobody but you has claimed).

Does it hurt when you try to think?

You mean, nobody except MSNBC.