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Home Front: Politix
U.S. Has Achieved 'Victory' in Iraq, Palin Tells Couric
2008-09-27
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, describing the need for more troops in Afghanistan, said the United States has achieved "victory" in Iraq.

It was an apparent misstep in Palin's third interview since agreeing to become Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate nearly one month ago. These encounters have garnered enormous interest because Palin has largely walled herself off from journalists amid growing criticism that a vice presidential nominee should be more accessible. In an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll this week, 57 percent of those surveyed agreed that "Sarah Palin does not have enough experience and understanding of foreign and military issues to be president."

Palin told CBS's Katie Couric that "a surge in Afghanistan also will lead us to victory there as it has proven to have done in Iraq," adding that "we cannot afford to retreat, to withdraw in Iraq."

Palin struggled at times and appeared less comfortable than in her earlier sit-down with ABC's Charles Gibson. When Couric asked why she cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of her foreign policy experience, Palin said: "It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to . . . I don't know, you know . . . reporters -- "

"Mocked?" Couric asked.

"Mocked, yeah I guess that's the word, mocked."

Pressed on why her location enhanced her foreign policy experience, Palin said: "Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of." She added that when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska."

Asked whether her lack of a passport until last year indicated a lack of curiosity about the world, Palin said she was not one of those "kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents give them a passport and give them a backpack and say, 'Go off and travel the world.' No, I've worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life until I had kids." She said she learned about the world through education and books.
Posted by:Fred

#19  I wanna be Sarah Palin's SecDef!
Posted by: Old Patriot   2008-09-27 20:59  

#18  Useful story, Jolutch Mussolini7800. Always a pleasure when I can be helpful, Mercutio dear. :-)

Lots of Republican possibilities for 2012. That will be a fun primary!
Posted by: trailing wife    2008-09-27 18:15  

#17  I have total confidence in Joe to blow it. He'll be so over-prepped by nervous Obama consultants that he's likely to tank just on the prep-overflow alone. Given his propensity to fantabulize and outright fabricate shit (and plagiarize, but I bet he's been warned off that shit), he's a muzzled cannon, and the blowoff should be both entertaining and informative. Kinda like having a Tourette's syndrome patient as your PR arm
Posted by: Frank G   2008-09-27 18:09  

#16  The MSM's editors are doing a good job of defining expectations for Palin down before the debate with bin Biden. She was heavily over exposed aor the trunk convention. Having stayed out of the lime light and having been edited down, she should be in a good position to tangle with Biden should she have it in her. The pressure will be on.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-09-27 18:03  

#15  Hell, put Thomas Sowell or Shelby Steele on the ballot for POTUS and I'll RUN to the box to vote for them. It's not the color of the skin but the contents of the brain that matter. Lefty-lib fools peddling failed socialist redistributionism/grievance politics need not waste their time applying for my vote. That means YOU, Dems.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800   2008-09-27 17:58  

#14  another point: since the MSM, Dem Party play the Identity Politics/Grievance Party aspect so hard, is it any wonder then that the majority Caucasians vote for their own? After all, isn't that what the Oppo's expect and advocate for all Diversity groups?
Posted by: Frank G   2008-09-27 17:46  

#13  I gotta agree, Frank G.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2008-09-27 17:45  

#12  Ima thinkrn Michael Steele as a good first black POTUS - the guy's sharp
Posted by: Frank G   2008-09-27 17:43  

#11  I was interviewed last Friday by a German Television crew ( I forgot to ask which one)at the 145th Anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga Creek. The first question I was asked was, "What do you think of Obama?". I told them I didn't want to discuss politics at an event of like this but he persisted. The next question was, "Do you think a Black man can be elected President?" so I decided to answer. I told him I belived it was possible depending on who was the nominee. Most people will decide on the basis of the qualifications and positions of the candidate. We are not nearly as divided as most European media think. The "common" people are pretty much the same wherever one goes in the US. We may have different local cultures but we are Americans and will come to one another's aid if necessary. We don't care about one's skin color or gender, for the most part. We talked a bit more but the bottom line is he said he was surprised to find an understanding of US and foreign interests in a Confederate Civil War reenactor. I think the MSM is doing the US a huge disservice in portraying Americans as "Backwoodsmen".
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2008-09-27 17:42  

#10  I once did a 15 minute interview about a politically-important project. 10 seconds of it made the local news, and I didn't look good in it. Word to the wise.....
Posted by: Frank G   2008-09-27 17:25  

#9  I've learned through bitter experience that most journalists come to a story with a preconceived line and it almost takes dynamite to change that mindset. Far too many of them are lefty-lib liars who haven't the slightest qualm about changing what was actually said into what they wanted to hear, and embellishing from whole cloth if they feel it necessary. I generally despise the lot of them.

Here's the acid test: if you've ever been involved with an issue you knew intimately that received press coverage, ask yourself how close the press came to actually covering the story accurately. If your experience is like mine the answer to that question is "not very close." Then ask yourself why, if they didn't cover your relatively simple domestic issue accurately, you should expect that they'll do better on bigger, more complicated issues.

Good press coverage on anything is rare as hen's teeth and unicorns. Good analytical press coverage is even more rare. It's not a surprise that of all the reporting done by all the reporters in Iraq from 2001 to now the only one I've any real faith in is Michael Yon.

The real surprise is that there's even one good reporter, and most of the credit for that goes to Yon's military background and personal qualities. Even with those assets, if he wasn't an independent reporter with his own blog his POV would not be available. If he wrote for any of the MSM they would have spiked the majority of his stories.

As for Governor Palin, here's a secondhand story for you. I was coming across the Pacific last week, sitting next to a U.S. Army LTC who had served several years in Alaska and knew Sarah Palin personally. She had come to his base more than once to meet his troops. He said she's a wonderful woman, a straight shooter who's not afraid to look a difficult problem in the eye, flies coach on Alaska Airlines everywhere she can, carries her own bags when she flies, and goes to the airport (driving herself) EVERY TIME Alaska National Guardsmen leave or return from Iraq or Afghanistan. According to him, she wants them to know that their state appreciates and honors their service and that it's her job, as Alaska's top elected official, to be the symbol of that appreciation.

I don't know what that does for you guys but it makes me wish I had a governor like Sarah Palin. It certainly makes me understand why so many Alaskans love her. It also makes me want to grab low-life lying slimeballs like Gibson and Couric by the neck and shake them.

The press: at their best they're deserving of great respect but far too often, in fact in the majority of cases, they're reincarnations of Grima Wormtongue. Go farther to the left--Herbert, Dowd, Krugman, etc. and you've got the Mouth of Sauron. The real clue to the depth of their ignorance is that the vast majority of journos don't even understand why most thinking people despise and deeply distrust them.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800   2008-09-27 17:17  

#8  part of the (new) game is making your own recording of teh interview, so when the Donk Media tries to cut/edit , you have the raw footage to slam their credibility

/shouldn't be necessary, but the MSM makes it so
Posted by: Frank G   2008-09-27 17:15  

#7  TW_ thanks for the link. I had thought yesterday that they probably creatively edited the interview but couldn't find the raw feed.
Posted by: Mercutio   2008-09-27 16:42  

#6  She said she learned about the world through education and books.

Well, better than by directly experiencing a sniper attack in Sarajevo, eh?
Posted by: Uncle Phester   2008-09-27 14:14  

#5   Part of the game is understanding how the reporter can butcher your quotes and thus speaking in a way that they can't do it, or at least do it well.

If the producers/editors figure they can get get away with it, they will dowdify the most erudite and circumspect conservative's quote and characterize him/her as a complete loon. CBS also leaked a live, raw newsfeed of McCain getting prepped for an interview to David Letterman for the usual purpose.

I've had personal experience with reporters (local rags during the 2nd Amendment battles which took place in the 90s) completely re-writing my quotes. One "journalist" called me asking for a statement on an issue. I replied "Not a problem as long as you spell my name right and quote me accurately." And so both my name and quote were butchered in the article, which, I suppose, wasn't the worst-case scenario :)
Posted by: mrp   2008-09-27 12:03  

#4  Yes they did, but she still didn't do well (and I like her, and I intend to vote for Mac). Part of the game is understanding how the reporter can butcher your quotes and thus speaking in a way that they can't do it, or at least do it well.
Posted by: Steve White   2008-09-27 11:36  

#3  If it's any comfort, Tarzan Angeter7567, Ms. Couric's editors as deliberately butchered Governor Palin's interview as Charlie Gibson's editors did the last time. See here.
Posted by: trailing wife    2008-09-27 09:03  

#2  To save my gastric acids and digestive tract this Fall I've made it a POINT to avoid watching ANY of the Biased TeeWee Clowns yapping about the Election.

WHY not watch any?

Because the MSM is on a mission this year to get BooB-Bama elected, just ask Hitlery Clintoon.

I doubt if Sarah Palin will ever do a good Socialist-Sound-Bite to please the MSM's talking heads, or is so Politically Correct that she passes quietly away by pleasing the MSMs talking heads so their dog wins this race.

But the more the MSM disrespects Sarah Palin the more I love her, she is Tops in my book.

[ima prejudice, my Girl kilt herself a Moose and a Bar up in Alaska!]

She is honest, intelligent, haz more native abilities than, BOOB-BAMA or his VP running mate, GAS-BAG HAIR-PLUGS!

She's also a quicker study and has more character than almost every other demoC'rap & Rethuglican that has run for the President in the last 6 elections.

Sarah's has lots of other great assets... Right off the top she's is one of us, NOT THEM. for instance:

1) The treasonous MSM hates SARAH, LOL!

That's right the crooked MSM wants BOOB-BAMA ladies and gentlemen, and that is one hell of an asset for both you and me and Sarah Palin if we use it!

2) Another great asset of hers is most qualifying..

SARAH PALIN hasn't been corrupted by Washington DCs. excesses and horrible habits, like spending our money like it was hers!

And she is GOOD LOOKING LOL, Hey she is!!

~:)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Have you asked yourself why the MSM NEVER digs up the REAL connection between the Daley Machine and BOOB-BAMA in Chicago?

It's the SAME MOB CONNECTION the Kennedy Klan has used for 100 or so years.

Did you guys notice how Ted Kennedy had organized and was ready to take on the Clintons 3 years ago?

Where is the MSM?

:(
Posted by: RD   2008-09-27 08:51  

#1  That was the clumsiest interview I've seen in years. She was trying to say that her neighbor Russia was a state that she is in charge of? She was so loose lipped I was expecting her to say anything.

I would have been like yes, Russia is right next door and as a state bordering the former soviet union, we take security very seriously, period.

Oh well.
Posted by: Tarzan Angeter7567   2008-09-27 01:02  

00:00