I guess it would be a tough question if you didn't actually read any...
Last night on the CBS Evening News, host Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin which sources she relies on for her news consumption. Three separate times, Couric tried to elicit a response from Palin about which specific newspapers she reads. Seemingly caught off guard, Palin could not name a single news source:
COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?
PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —
COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.
PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.
COURIC: Can you name any of them?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.
12 comments:
Oh brother! These bastards have no shame--at all! The bald-faced lying and pugnacious equivocating is making me half crazy--I sound jabberwocky!
Shades of W.
Actually I thought that was sort of clever. If she names any group of publications the next interviewers will be waiting to ask a bunch of questions about a story on page 10 below the fold on a Tuesday morning in May, leaving herself open for a 'gotcha.' She didn't take the bait on what's essentially an unimportant question. She reads widely from a variety of sources. Most politicians do. No news there.
Anonymous:
After eight years of a president with a total lack of intellectual curiosity, Couric’s question is both reasonable and relevant to me. A widely read candidate could easily answer it without their response becoming a campaign issue or a “gotcha” moment as you describe it. Well informed public officials read a wide range of publications which reflect many viewpoints. And if that is also true of Ms. Plain, as you claim, she could have easily made that clear by responding to Couric’s question with specifics. No big deal for someone who actually reads.
And then they have the gall to blame the "gotcha" questions from the media. Honestly! I hope there are enough intelligent people who see through all this insanity. It's scary... She's a real pitbull, though--and I think she has a mean streak. I hope Americans are smart enough to recognize what's going on here. She just sounded embarrassingly out of it in several of her responses.
Oh, I just saw your other comments. Duh!
Anonymous: vice presidential candidates should not only read newspapers, but should be familiar with the historical ideological leanings of the various national papers -- that is, they should care about things like public opinion, the media, national discourse, the public sphere, and so on and so forth. Why didn't she simply say that she reads the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post?
In any case, it's clear that Palin is one of those people who, when faced with the apparent challenge of acting like a thinking person, resorts to stringing together words that sound important in a thinly veiled attempt to impress her auditors. The problem is that she's neither sharp enough or mentally quick enough to do that convincingly, so she ends up with unnecessarily verbose phrases ("vast variety of source," "as Putin rears his head," "job creation [...] under the umbrella of job creation") that have very little actual meaning. Think back to the kid in college who spoke frequently, impressed about half of the class while driving the other half and the teacher crazy, and said very little of value -- and you'll have Sara Palin -- the very definition of empty rhetoric.
I particularly liked the comment by conservative Kathleen Partker in a recent op-ed piece. It fits many of the verbose and meaningless statements by Palin. "If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."
And how about the answer to the Supreme Court decisions: Can you name another besides Roe v. Wade that disappointed you? She could not yet a couple months ago she said she was disappointed about the Valdez decision handed down. Shouldn't she remember something she publicly commented on that is under her so-called expertise of both governor of Alaska and energy?
Freebird,
Palin's inability to answer this question is unimportant compared to her other confused and vapid responses. Couric provided a real service to the country by actually acting like a journalist and repeating the question when Palin spouted memorized talking points which didn't address the issue. It is amazing that Palin couldn't name another court case. And her response to the worst decision made by Dick Cheney? Unbelievable!
I would have thought that at least she would name the Anchorage Daily News.
The whole Republican meme is an insult to intelligence. I am sick of it. I only have 3 years of college and I can give better answers to these questions without coaching. Then again I am a reader, and a lifelong learner. I have curiosity...and yes I have more foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin.
Then again...I am a long-haired hippie latte-sipping liberal elite.
She is dumber than dirt. To see what she thinks of animals in alaska visit You Tube under Dalaiwmn for the video, it is also on my space Dalaiwmn
To paraphrase: "too little learning is a dangerous thing."
I'm disappointed in the Canadian result, but still have hopes of change in your country.
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