Distance between Anchorage and Moscow is roughly the same as distance between New York and Moscow FWIW. Not a lot of people living in far northeastern Russia (or in far northwestern United States).

By the grace of God almighty... and the presence of the marketplace...

Yup. Pretty much sums up Republican governing philosophy.

And she knows more about earmarksenergy than anyone else in the country.

The Garrulous Buffon (trollboy to his acquaintances) farts smoke over all issues that demonstrate Republican hypocrisy/incompetence/lunacy.

Escalating gun violence? ~ "An armed society is a polite society".

The illegal war on Iraq by America utilising institutionalised torture and death squads? ~ "Perhaps they'll have peace someday".

Sarah the patsy Judas goat understands foreign policy? ~ "Soviet long-range bombers, capable of carrying nuclear missiles, are being seen more frequently off Alaska."

It wouldn't have anything to do with bush/cheney stoking the fire in Georgia or sending warships to the area, would it Buffoon? And what announcement/statement/policy directive has StpJg issued on the subject? Or was she too busy testing the loyalty of the town's librarian?

Sarah the patsy Judas goat
thinks she's a dog and so goes for the throat
Know's very little, takes her orders from on high
Claims divine mandate to smear and lie
She's Chimpy with tits, no brain no soul
the perfect camouflage for the repug trolls
to steal the election by lining people up to kill
with the big bottom line - you can all go to hell!

When I have a boner I'm the closest one to it. I must be gay.

Just because I spent the night in the drunk tank in Tijuana, it doesn't mean I'm qualified to be Mayor of San Deigo.

This is why analogies are banned on Unfogged.

But seriously, GB, are you honestly making the argument that Soviet flights near or into US airspace in Alaska, which are responded to by the US Air Force, not the Alaskan National Guard (which the Alaskan Governor doesn't actually "command" anyway), somehow give Sara Palin credible foreign policy experience?

Seriously?

I'll note that she herself is not making that ridiculous argument (at least not yet that I know of). Instead she's offering the even more ridiculous argument that because there are some places (which I'd be willing to bet she hasn't visited) in Alaska where you can see Russia, that somehow qualifies her.

I think she was simply noting that if you are Governor of Alaska, your state is so close to Russia that you end up being aware of Russia's presence in a way that someone from, say, Illinois, is not.

That doesn't mean that Palin has vast stores of foreign policy experience. (Neither does Obama, of course, and he's running for the actual presidency, but that doesn't seem to bother the MSM much.) But it does mean that pretending Russian is of no more concern to the Governor of Alaska than the moon is to the average person is stupid. Makes a nice, snarky one-liner, though.

Separately, I'd also note that the whole idea of demanding that our President have "foreign policy experience" is a bit stupid. Many of our recent presidents, even ones generally regarded as having done a pretty good job (Reagan, Clinton), were state governors before becoming president. As such, they had no real experience hashing out international treaties, forging peace in the Middle East, deciding how to put pressure on the Russkies, and so forth. But, somehow, they picked it up on the job. Being the POTUS has a funny way of giving you all the "experience" you need.

Neither does Obama, of course

Three years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including 1.5 as Chair of the European Affairs subcommittee. Also on the Senate Committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs since January 2007.

That isn't vast stores, but it's vastly more than Palin has (or GWB, Clinton, Reagan, or Carter had).

pretending Russian is of no more concern to the Governor of Alaska than the moon is to the average person is stupid

No, she was asked specifically what insights into Russian policy she had gained by being governor of Alaska. She managed not to name any, aside from the fact that if she happened to be standing in one of the most remote areas of Alaska, you could see one of the most remote areas of Russia.

It isn't Democrats that held up proximity to Russia as one of her qualifications; it was GOP consultants and Fox News personalities. And Palin.

Three years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including 1.5 as Chair of the European Affairs subcommittee. Also on the Senate Committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs since January 2007.

I'm not aware of the precise duties of a junior senator on any of those committees, but I'd wager they don't involve actually meeting and negotiating mano-a-mano with foreign heads of state. Which seems to the kind of experience Gibson was looking for Palin to demonstrate in his hit-job interview:

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: . . . I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

the most troubling part of this laughable argument is that half of the US is actually ok with it. People just want a candidate that reminds them of the kind of people they know. Nothing else really matters. Everything else is just rationalizing to the other side a choice that was made with little or no logic. How does anyone really know what kind of experience a person needs for this job anyway? The vast majority of Americans vote for a president with the same methodology they use to vote people off of reality shows. This is how McCain can call himself a "maverick" and call for change, even with a decades-long record of just the opposite. This is how the huge percentage of the population that's suffering economically, on all fronts, can be in support of a man who thinks the middle class makes millions of dollars a year and lost track of how many home he owns.

Of all the human strengths, perhaps our greatest is our ability to deny reality and find creative ways to rationalize that denial.

I'd wager they don't involve actually meeting and negotiating mano-a-mano with foreign heads of state

Who in the Senate do you think negotiates "mano-a-mano" with foreign governments? Obama has, indeed, met with several heads of state.

No, she was asked specifically what insights into Russian policy she had gained by being governor of Alaska. She managed not to name any, aside from the fact that if she happened to be standing in one of the most remote areas of Alaska, you could see one of the most remote areas of Russia.

No, you are wrong on what she was asked, and wrong again on how she answered. But I can't blame you since you seem to be working off the chopped-up ABC interview edit. Here is the transcript:

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

A pretty good answer to a smartass question. Note that ABC edited out the second question-and-answer exchange shown above. Viewers never got to hear Palin's full response, only the bit about how she could see Russia from Alaska. Of course that would be a stupid answer all by itself. As an introduction to her full response on the subject, it's a nice lead-in.

Who in the Senate do you think negotiates "mano-a-mano" with foreign governments?

No one, of course. Which is why Gibson's question was a cynical attempt to hurt Palin, rather than an effort to get at anything meaningful. I'm not sure how meeting a head of state suddenly makes you an expert on foreign policy. I would have loved it if Palin had responded, "Why do you ask, Charlie? Do you believe there a certain number of heads of state one must meet in order to be a credible vice-presidential candidate? And if so, how many? Three? Five?"

People just want a candidate that reminds them of the kind of people they know.

Having gone to a liberal-leaning college and law school, I know many, many people like Obama and almost no one like Palin.

I see dogs all the time, yet I can't lick my own balls.

A pretty good answer to a smartass question.

No, it's a content-free answer to a legitimate question, given that nearly the entire Republican media contingent was citing Alaska's physical proximity to Russia as some sort of foreign policy bona fide for Palin.

I see dogs all the time, yet I can't lick my own balls.

You can train your dog to do that for you. Uhhh, I mean, um, so I've been told.

ABC has clearly decided to do whatever it can to help Obama win?

McCain/Palin: [Ridiculous claim]
Media: [Asks candidate to justify ridiculous claim]
McCain/Palin: [Splutter, hem, haw, retreat to soundbite]
Conservatives everywhere: That's a gotcha question, dammit. The media's in the tank for the Democrats!

23 gets it exactly right. GB, you've totally bought into the "THE PRESS MUST SHOW DEFERENCE!!1!!" bullshit that has become a standard Republican talking point. Just because Palin can't provide a good answer doesn't make a question "smartass".

19 -- the presence of an exception does not disprove a truth.

Also, I don't see how Palin's responses can be seen as answers at all. Here's how I read it:

G: what insight into Russian actions does being "close" to Russia give you?

P: well, you can see it from Alaska...

G: sure. But what does that have to do with what they're doing?

P: well, I'm just saying it's a small world, isn't it? And we all need to get along. We won't have another Cold War. If we all get along, it's better for everyone.

...a possible follow-up question could have been:

G: sure, but what does that have to do with what they're DOING?

P:

you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

From one of the most godforsaken clots in the bare ocean, perhaps. I seriously doubt that Palin has ever ventured out that-a-way to see Russia from Alaska for herself.

Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'

If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American story.'

If you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an 'experienced executive'.

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and attend a church where (to put it kindly) the simple congregation members are encouraged to writhe on the ground and jibber 'in tongues', your'e Christian.

If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'

If you espouse abstinence only in sex education and your teenage daughter gets pregnant, you're 'spreading God's word'.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter regstration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, are repeatedly involved in abuse of power scandals, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, know more about energy than anyone in the country, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation to 'perhaps' go to war with Russia because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If the political party which has committed numerous nefarious crimes, acted repeatedly against the best interests of the people they represent, reduced the economy to a shambles and (if re-elected) promises more of the same, selects you to be VP, you're a loyal American committed to change.

If you campaign against the Republican party, you're 'uppity'.

Check out Electoral-vote.com. On Sept 12 the "Stupid Republicans" just took the lead in the current electoral vote count. NM was +9 Obama, now +2 McCain; NV was +3 Obama, now +2 McCain; NY was +21 Obama(Aug 18), now only +8 Obama; MN was +5 then +12 Obama, now only +1 Obama; etc.

Stupid Republicans indeed!

Being ahead is hardly evidence against stupidity. Britney Spears is the only artist to ever have four consecutive albums debut at number one.

Sarah the patsy Judas goat will be news 'til about 3 seconds after the election.
Rope-a-dope is still in play but the last rounds are coming. The economy falling to pieces is the clincher.

Britney Spears- yet another exemplary example of intelligence and motherhood.

As for the electoral vote- I guess that depends on your source. Karl Rove, yup demon-man himself, had Obama with the most electoral votes on Fox News last night.

Britney Spears- yet another exemplary example of intelligence and motherhood.

As for the electoral vote- I guess that depends on your source. Karl Rove, yup demon-man himself, had Obama with the most electoral votes on Fox News last night.

Doh- sorry for the double post. The Elmo songs makes me have slight seizures. :)

I like people like gaijin - they help my memory.

I was thinking - nit-picking? No, that's not it. Quibbling? Not exactly. And then it came to me: picking raisins from a turd.

Yeah, that's the phrase. "Picking raisins from a turd." Thanks gaijin, I'm gonna put that on a yellow-sticky cause I think I'm gonna be needing that phrase more and more the next couple months.

31
Point noted, but blowing a sure-win election just might qualify...!
33
Source is Electoral-vote.com, the webmaster is an admitted left-leaning/Dem supporter but runs a straight-up, well explained site with present and past election statistics and info. It's a must for poly sci junkies.

Any thoughts on Obama dumping Biden and replacing with Hillary...?

blowing a sure-win election

A black guy with a foreign-sounding name was never going to have anything but a close election in 2008. Anyhow, we'll let the convention bounces finish settling out and see where it all stands. The fundamentals all still point to the Democrats pulling it out, but I expect Nov 4 to be a long night before it's called.

Any thoughts on Obama dumping Biden and replacing with Hillary...?

Never happen.

Having gone to a liberal-leaning college and law school, I know many, many people like Obama and almost no one like Palin.

You're almost implying more highly educated people tend to lean left. Hmm... ;)

By the grace of God almighty... and the presence of the marketplace...

Yup. Pretty much sums up Republican governing philosophy.

In Republican philosophy, they've become one and the same.

After the big financial shakeup, I think it should be made clear that Republicans do not have the policy advantage when it comes to economics and fiscal responsibility. The Obama campaign is pushing the message, but a lot of heads have to be banged against that brick wall for it to get through. People should be getting their 401(k) statements in October, right?