Well, our newest political rock star has done it again, sticking her expensively-shod foot in her perennially open mouth. I'm referring to her having fallen hook, line, and sinker for a prank call from a well-known Canadian radio personality, posing as French Prime Minister Sarkozy.I won't include the text of the entire call here, since it is available elsewhere. However, I think it worth noting that, given the McCain / Palin's vehement (and misleading) rejection of what they claim to be Obama's willingness to meet with foreign leaders "without preconditions," it would seem that one essential precondition to engaging in a discussion with any foreign leader would be knowing who you're actually talking to! Palin apparently disagrees.
I'm certainly not in a position where anything I say (or write) might affect American policy, much less, national security, but if I received a call from someone I didn't know well enough to immediately recognize, I certainly wouldn't discuss my own or a client's personal matters without at least verifying the caller's identity and the appropriateness of their call. And perhaps I'm just a bit too careful, but I consider any dialog with a head of state to be at least significant enough to warrant a modicum of caution. Apparently, Ms. Palin doesn't share that sense of caution.
Despite what any thinking person (or at least, one not blinded by their own ambition) would recognize as clues as to the absurdity of the call, Ms. Palin marched right along... a challenging task, what with both feet, and the greater portion of her lovely legs, now firmly implanted in her gullet. Asked about hunting wolves from helicopters and the joy of killing things, she just palled up to the idea. Offered a degree of sympatico at the veracity of being able to see another country as a requisite for knowing anything about that country, one could virtually see Palin nodding in agreement. Even when the fake Sarkozy spoke approvingly of a porn flick starring a Palin lookalike, Palin didn't blink. She never blinks, remember?
Now, I'm sure that even as her handlers and spin-meisters try to present her as "just being a good sport," they're undoubtedly wishing they could just slap a muzzle on her. Beyond the inevitable giggles this latest faux pas will incite, and the addition of another challenge to a campaign that has been brilliant in adding to its own challenges, this latest incident begs - and sadly, answers - one very serious question: Is this woman qualified and prepared to step into the role of vice president, much less, president?
I would challenge anyone to put aside the partisan spin - from either side - stop the giggling, and answer that question honestly. Their answer should reverberate in their mind as they stand in the voting booth on Tuesday, poised to make a decision that will itself reverberate throughout the world for at least the next four years.
Myself, I want someone who blinks. Or thinks about blinking. Or at the very least, thinks.
4 comments:
Ya hit it on the head again, Ron!
I listened to the audio of that call, and I think that if it had been me, I would have thought something was amiss just by the fact that the accent sounded so phony and hammy.
So maybe Sarah doesn't have a good ear for accents, despite her extensive foreign policy experience and all that...but surely the bit about the guy with bread in his armpits, or ESPECIALLY the thing about Hustler's "Nailin' Palin," would have provided further clues.
I wonder if her handlers are ultimately going to try to spin it by saying that in fact, she knew all along she was being pranked, and that she was just playing along to make fools out of the radio guys, or just because she wanted to have some fun. (Kind of like when a cat falls from a ledge or other high place and quickly gains its composure. Its entire demeanor communicates, "I meant to do that!" when, of course, everyone knows better.)
Rolling my eyes...
I wish her handlers good luck on the spin effort, Connie. Unfortunately for them (and Palin), anyone who actually listens to the exchange would hear how anxious Palin was to beat feet & hang up once she was told she'd been had.
Like I said, Ya just can't make this stuff up. Obama's campaign couldn't buy better material to prove she's not up to the task, and she gives it to them for free!
My lovely friend (and sometimes nemesis!) Elizabeth offered this bit of information on another blog, and I thought it pertinent to share it here. Thanks, Eliz!
"I watched a TV interview with one of the comedians who called Palin pretending to be Sarkozy. The young man said that among all famous people they have called this way, only two did not realize that they were being pranked: Palin and Britney Spears."
RevRon, you're a thinking man of the world, what do you think of the peak oil thing?
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