Good god! The latest Sarah Palin interview killed me. Let me just dissect:

Firstly, as one of the people who've trekked, without the financial support of parents (or lack of job), this is a very offensive response to the question, "why didn't you get a passport until 2006?"

Palin: I'm not one of those who maybe came from a background of, you know, 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. I was not a part of, I guess, that culture. The way that I have understood the world is through education, through books, through mediums that have provided me a lot of perspective on the world.

C'mon, this is a woman who went to 4 other schools before graduating in journalism from Univ. of Idaho! She understands the world through education?!

What about the XIX century argument regarding proximity of Russia as a national security concern? Does she even know where decisions get made in Russia? Has she any idea how close Moscow really is to Alaska, or how hard it is to get the Russian army to mobilize through Siberia and Kamchatka? Arg.

Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.

Finally, this last comment demonstrates her foreign affair credentials, and her complex, nuanced understanding of the Mideast crisis/history.

Palin: We don't have to second-guess what their efforts would be if they believe … that it is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth. It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones who say Israel is a stinking corpse and should be wiped off the face of the earth. That's not a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States, in my world, those are the good guys.

I'm not sure this post has a point, except that it's amazing how unprepared this woman is for dealing with the vice-presidency on international affairs, or even understanding the complexity of the different types of people who live in this country. There're good and bad countries, and privileged and working people. The world of diplomacy, internet, and modernity seems to have passed her over.


[source of interview: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/eveningnews/main4479062.shtml]