October 01, 2008
Hugh Hewitt Interviews Sarah Palin
We rarely editorialize here, but I had to note that Sarah Palin's performance in this interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, an interview chock full-o-surreal softballs, perhaps inspires even less confidence than her performance during the Couric interview. Over at Townhall:
HH: Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media. Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?
SP: Oh, I think they’re just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying you know what? It’s time that normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of sorts, and they’re ticked off about it, but it’s motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious, and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe six-pack like me, and we start doing those things that are expected of our government, and we get rid of corruption, and we commit to the reform that is not only desired, but is deserved by Americans.
HH: Now Governor, the Gibson and the Couric interview struck many as sort of pop quizzes designed to embarrass you as opposed to interviews. Do you share that opinion?
SP: Well, I have a degree in journalism also, so it surprises me that so much has changed since I received my education in journalistic ethics all those years ago. But I’m not going to pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrelful. I’m going to take those shots and those pop quizzes and just say that’s okay, those are good testing grounds. And they can continue on in that mode. That’s good. That makes somebody work even harder. It makes somebody be even clearer and more articulate in their positions. So really I don’t fight it. I invite it.
HH: Have you followed the attacks on you, say, via Drudge or the blogs? Some of them are just made up and out of left field, others are just mocking. Do you follow those?
SP: No, I sure don’t, and thank God I don’t have time to follow those. You know, I think that those shots, too, though, no matter what we’re taking and receiving, it’s nothing compared to what real shots are against Americans in this world.
Posted by Robin Varghese at 09:23 AM | Permalink
Comments
This candidate's ignorance and unctuousness do not bode well for the political process.
Posted by: missvolare | Oct 1, 2008 9:34:26 AM
The woman is quite literally dumber than my 6 year old niece. I'm being completely serious when I say that.
Posted by: S. Weynard Miller | Oct 1, 2008 9:52:36 AM
She exceeds my capacity for parody. Even her metaphors make no sense (broadcast media don't buy "ink by the barrelful.") But every phrase emitting from her lips sounds stupid; even the punctuation marks scream their "dumbth."
Posted by: Bruce | Oct 1, 2008 10:04:34 AM
Well, some are saying she is dumbing herself down for the debates, so she can sound brilliant! I think that is far fetched, like putting lipstick on a pig!
Posted by: truthseeker | Oct 1, 2008 10:58:54 AM
I am confused. That interview inspires little confidence in the interviewer, who seems to have lobbed cushy softballs. Palin, however, seems to swim quite reasonably in that cordoned-off toy pool. What part of that transcript was worse than the Couric interview?
Posted by: zai | Oct 1, 2008 11:26:46 AM
SARAH PALIN IS NOT INTELLIGENT.
There. Do I win something?
Posted by: Nick Smyth | Oct 1, 2008 11:30:26 AM
Sarah is is very intelligent. Her problem is that she is lazy, incurious, and provincial. She is not representative of the many Alaskans whose world view extends beyond the huge borders of our state.
She is one of the most shrewd politician I have seen in all my years in the state, because she has an uncanny ability to figure out what the public wants. In the gubernatorial debates two years ago, she just ignored questions that she wasn't prepared to answer and launched into issues that people were concerned about--oil company profits, a failed attempt to get a gasline going by the governor she defeated in the primary, etc.
So don't underestimate her. Just pray she bombs in the debate tomorrow and in a few weeks returns back to Alaska, where her popularity has declined from 82 percent to 68 and still sliding.
Posted by: Shehla Anjum | Oct 1, 2008 11:59:44 AM
Nick, you lose. Sarah Palin is cunning enough to know that her weaknesses are her strengths. Ignorance, zeal, utter confidence, positioning herself as Jane Sixpack/Head of the Pack -- this is only dumb if she undermines the ticket with it. If, instead, it's a visceral appeal to every low-information voter finding comfort in the fantasy of what s/he would do if magically elevated to a position of high national responsibility -- hey, not knowing much is no barrier these days, is it? -- then Sarah Palin is plenty smart. There are people in the world for whom knowledge, prudence and wisdom are no substitute for getting their way, and they seek only enough of these things to get their way, not one paragraph more. Self-esteem, a sense of godly mission, and rabid hunger to penetrate the power structure like a cat burglar on the roof are all Palin needs -- and all she has. Remarking on her ignorance and incuriosity does nothing to de-fang her -- and much to prop her up.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Oct 1, 2008 12:00:29 PM
de-lurking again to quote from the interview -
" and I would hope that they would kind of I guess give me the same courtesy through this of not mocking a person’s faith, but maybe perhaps even trying to understand a little bit of it."
Does the woman not have a vocal coach??? Even "um" is better than that muddle.
Posted by: reader | Oct 1, 2008 12:22:24 PM
whoops. Forgot to unitalicize... Hope that works.
Posted by: reader | Oct 1, 2008 12:23:44 PM
Come now my friends "It is the end of time, and the human race has finally stopped taking it's self seriously" as Moorecock opened a long forgotten novel with.
No one said late stage capitalism would be fun, but try to enjoy it in a Kafka like short story manner.
Some Cheese Whiz with that moose burger?
Posted by: Dave Ranning | Oct 1, 2008 12:51:44 PM
If the Dems have any sense of strategery, they would invite Tina Fey to occupy a front row seat at tomorrow's debate.
I agree completely with Elatia which is why I am not rejoicing yet. Let's also not forget that Dan Quayle was steam rolled by LLoyd Bentsen and Bush-Quayle won the White House.
Posted by: Ruchira | Oct 1, 2008 1:40:55 PM
I don't see anything in any of these Palin interviews that Aunt Betties who voted for GW *twice* wouldn't vote for again. However, if you can find any evidence that any of Palin's children were fathered by a black (or are pregnant by one)...
Posted by: Steven Augustine | Oct 1, 2008 2:10:02 PM
I can't tell you how much, because of national priorities it is important to be understanding what a lot of folks need to remember so that we should, I mean, have the balls to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do and it should not be a matter of but should be seen clearly as a creating of proper role in government.
Posted by: Jared | Oct 1, 2008 2:50:15 PM
Good idea, Steven. Perhaps a patriotic black man should rape her daughter in order to truly test her moral compass.
Posted by: SWM | Oct 1, 2008 2:57:06 PM
This came in a viral email...
A 75 year old Texas rancher caught his hand in a gate while working cattle. The doctor sewing it up struck up a conversation with him.
Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away the presidency.
The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.'
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.
The rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.'
Seeing a puzzled look on the doctor's face, he continued to explain.
'You know she didn't get up there by herself. She doesn't belong up there. She doesn't know how to get down, and you just wonder what kind of idiot put her up there to begin with.'
Posted by: John Ballard | Oct 1, 2008 3:29:39 PM
John B:
Dave Ranning posted that on another thread. Funny again but let's see who has the last laugh on Nov 4. We may turn out to be the post turtles if things don't turn out right.
I have felt like a post turtle since 2000 - out of place and terrified. I know I didn't get up there. I know I don't belong there. I don't know how to get down. But I DO know the idiot who put me up there.
Jared:
I feel your pain. But does Aunt Betty?
Posted by: Ruchira | Oct 1, 2008 5:01:55 PM
The wingnuts are crying "foul" even before the debate has taken place. If Palin tanks tomorrow, they know whom to blame - moderator Gwen Ifill!
Posted by: Ruchira | Oct 1, 2008 8:09:45 PM
Pailin said: "It’s time that normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency"
No, no it's not. No "normal" member of any nation should ever serve in its government if that nation is to survive. Only the BEST should. Or else other nations, where their best serve, will eat the U.S. for lunch.
Posted by: Zoc | Oct 1, 2008 10:24:41 PM
Hear hear, Zoc!
And am I the only one annoyed that a potential VP is even using the phrase Joe Sixpack?
As if the Bushies haven't done enough to make America looks like fools in the eyes of the rest of the world...
Posted by: grover | Oct 2, 2008 12:06:05 AM
Aunt Betty (aka my mom) hath spoken and she saith:
"Well she's certainly attractive, and she's a good speaker [gag from me], but what she would do as Vice President, I don't know."
Also, "We have all this debt, and we're at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all they did for two days was talk about lipstick on pigs."
Posted by: Vicki Baker | Oct 2, 2008 12:16:34 AM
SWM:
"Good idea, Steven. Perhaps a patriotic black man should rape her daughter in order to truly test her moral compass."
I don't need to be told that the concepts "rape" and "black man" go together like peanut butter and chocolate in the minds of many Republicans and Democrats alike, but the sexo-political fantasy underpinning my facetious comment involved consensual relationships; my subconscious doesn't even rule out having the inseminator-of-color, in my quip, being the character portrayed by Sidney Poitier in... etc.
Posted by: Steven Augustine | Oct 2, 2008 5:37:45 AM
She's another Dan Quayle, and that's not a compliment. I would never want her running this country.
Posted by: Bill Ectric | Oct 2, 2008 8:38:30 AM
I was sickened to hear how this person deliberately became pregnant at a high-risk age (after 4 healthy children) and then deliberately gave birth to a child with a severe mental handicap (after testing positive for Downs' syndrome). Then Palin failed to tell her 17 yr old daughter the facts of life, and the latter is now to join the legion of premature parents. So she's managed to fuck up the lives of 2 daughters and 1 grandchild. Great mom.
Posted by: aguy109 | Oct 2, 2008 12:54:30 PM
Don't forget, Guy, pressuring her pregnant daughter to become a child bride to a complete waste of space. So, two daughters, 1 grandchild, and a hapless idiot teenage boy.
Posted by: amen to that | Oct 2, 2008 1:57:45 PM
Losing island alternatives:
news
Posted by: CriticalMassI | Oct 2, 2008 3:38:45 PM
"We’ve gone through periods of our life here with paying out of pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs."
That line just blew me entirely out of the water! I don't even know where to begin....
Posted by: Elaine | Oct 2, 2008 6:04:30 PM
Sarah Palin - the one person who can almost bring out completely unified views amongst the netizens of 3QD. Think what we'll lose if she isn't elected!
Actually, in all seriousness, I've been wondering who the Democrats will vilify once they control both the legislative and executive. As someone who has enjoyed scapegoating the Bush administration mercilessly, I fear the day when we might actually have to develop more detailed criticisms.
Posted by: Cyrus Hall | Oct 2, 2008 6:21:04 PM
Hey, anyone who likes hockey can't be all bad. Just don't go near the White House.
Posted by: Jared | Oct 2, 2008 8:28:07 PM
I'm disappointed in 3Quarks one-sidedness.
Posted by: Lil | Oct 4, 2008 4:18:26 PM
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