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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2008 / Everyone All Aboard The Fail Train

Everyone All Aboard The Fail Train

by John Cole|  September 25, 20081:26 pm| 178 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008, Lies, Damned Lies, and Sarah Palin, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?

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Via Atrios, Palin discusses her foreign policy cred:


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This isn’t even funny anymore. I am now feeling bad for this moron, she is in so completely over her head. This is like one of those awkward moments in school when a student is giving a presentation they are completely unprepared for, and the teacher knows it, the student knows it, and everyone watching knows it, yet you sit there and go through the charade.

Heartbeat away. Jeebus.

*** Update ***

This woman is just dumb as a sack of hammers. Do not be mistaken, this is why they are trying to delay the debates next week.

I have to say, it is terrifying this woman might one day be President, but I am AB-SO-LUTE-LY dying to see how Hugh Hewitt, Red State, and the Weekly Standard are going to spin this.

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Reader Interactions

178Comments

  1. 1.

    LiberalTarian

    September 25, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    See what happens when you refuse to think blink?

  2. 2.

    comrade scott

    September 25, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Feel sorry for her? No fucking way. She’s a big fish from a really little bond, Head Heather/Cheerleader in her clique (and living in a small town, I know how the social dynamics work, it’s junior high school writ large).

    This is payback and a cautionary tale.

    And I hope to high heaven that word press doesn’t eat this post.

  3. 3.

    comrade scott

    September 25, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    Bond=pond.

    I blame President 19%.

  4. 4.

    Noah

    September 25, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    She is probably the dumbest person alive. Dumber than Bush. Dumber than Fred Thompson. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

    This is seriously the best the Republicans have to offer.

    Meanwhile, did you know that in the 2009 Virginia Governor’s race, only one Republican is expected to run? And he is known as Taliban Bob!

    These fuckers seriously have nothing left to offer.

  5. 5.

    DonkeyKong

    September 25, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    Oh c’mon John, she’s feisty.

  6. 6.

    justme

    September 25, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    Then there’s this little charmer.

    COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? … Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

    PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.

    WTF? She’s like a fourth-grader trying to remember her lines in the school play.

    Now we see why they’re trying to pull out of the debates.

    Also, from Couric (via thinkprogress)

    “She’s not always responsive when she’s asked questions,” Couric said of Palin. “It was a really interesting experience for me to interview her yesterday,” she added.

  7. 7.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    I watched it, and literally thought it could almost be a Saturday Night Live sketch. I had thought that my contempt for Republicans was at an absolute low before, but when McCain could nominated her and with very few exceptions they all nodded and pretended it was a defensible choice, I realized they didn’t even have a shred of integrity.

    Think if Obama had nominated someone like this. Forget about conservatives, we would have lashed into him. We may be a circular firing squad, but at least there is some attempt at any independent thought and criticism.

    I wonder if Republicans will continue to pretend after these interviews. It’s pathological by now.

  8. 8.

    comrade chopper

    September 25, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    God, I love this election.

  9. 9.

    Kath

    September 25, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    Oh shit, no this isn’t funny anymore…it’s terrifying. What if these people win? Holy crap…I’m leaving.

  10. 10.

    Comrade Jake

    September 25, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    The best part: Couric explaining that the word she’s looking for is “mock”.

    I joked the other day that McCain might have pulled his latest stunt to provide media-storm cover for this EPIC FAIL of an interview Palin gave. The more I see of the interview, the more clear it becomes that the joke is on us.

  11. 11.

    YellowJournalism

    September 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    I’ve had students who could B.S. better answers than that.

    That was painful.

  12. 12.

    Anna Granfors

    September 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    Dude, that’s NOTHING. Go over to Think Progress for more travesty.

    PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.

    http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/25/palin-bailout-healthcare/

  13. 13.

    A different Rick

    September 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    What — did she say something factually incorrect? Alaska does, in fact, have a very narrow maritime border with a foreign country — Russia!

    She nailed it baby, nailed it! She is undoubtedly ready….for 7th grade geography.

  14. 14.

    Larsmacomb

    September 25, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    For a number of years I was a coach of a highly competitive intercollegiate debate program. My goal as a teacher was always to prepare my students so that they would never, never, never ever end up sounding like Sarah Palin in that interview. One of my routine obligations when I attended intercollegiate tournaments with my students was to judge rounds of debate between students from universities other than my own. Sometimes I would have to judge as many as ten or more 2-hour debates in the duration of a 3-day weekend.

    There were occasions when I would hear students struggling–struggling to find words, struggling to get on to the next thought, struggling to hide their ignorance. As long as they were civil in their demeanor and had, at least, some sense of shame, I always felt bad for them.

    I felt like interrupting them to help them out, or tell them that, over time, they would indeed improve, or to gently plead with them to just…stop. I couldn’t, of course–such interventions are not allowed during competition. But my heart went out to them. My students were not perfect, but they were taught never to begin sentences they couldn’t finish, and to concede points that they could not win.

    Sarah does not know these things. It is unlikely that debate prep will help in this regard because it does not seem to be a matter either of her intellectual background or her discursive nature to ascertain the difference between reasoned argument and wingnut horseshit. What you are hearing is all she really knows about non-Alaskan, non-Christianist, non-moosehunting matters. The Republicans have nervously had their fingers crossed for several weeks. Upon seeing a sassy young politician deliver a scripted speech full of barbs and insults, they thought they had a bona fide Eliza Doolittle in their midst. Some briefing books, a little neocon philosophy, and voila, the rain in Spain would fall mainly on the plain.

    But this is what they’ve got instead.

    Unlike those poor students I had to listen to years ago, I do not feel sorry for her. It is not a debate tournament trophy that she seeks as the grail for her struggle, it is my aching country. The audacious entertainment of her juvenile delusions of grandeur. The unmitigated gall. The aggressive stupidity.

    Had she never been tapped for the vice-presidency, it is likely her Governorship would be tainted or perhaps curtailed by the full investigation and prosecution of the troopergate scandal. She promised full participation in a bipartisan investigation probably because she does not understand–does not grasp–that she did anything wrong! She loves her sister, so going after her former brother-in-law must certainly have felt like the right thing to do. Monegan, who did not understand how important this was to her (and probably did not see the need to sack a satisfactory cop for being a bad husband and father), got in the way and needed to be shown the door. Given what the subpoenaed testimony would likely have revealed (from all of the reports now trickling out of Alaska), she would have most likely been censured, perhaps impeached–or at least embarrassed enough to have ended her career as Governor with one term.

    Yet, despite her limited education, her highly limited curiosities, and her parochial, backwoods political experience, she still manages to see herself as annointed and entitled. To hell with her. No amount of lipstick can dress this up.

  15. 15.

    A different Rick

    September 25, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    What — did she say something factually incorrect? Alaska does, in fact, have a very narrow maritime border with a foreign country — Russia!

    She nailed it baby, nailed it! She is undoubtedly ready….for 7th grade geography.

  16. 16.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    Why didn’t McCain choose Mike Huckabee to be his VP? He would have shored up the base as well, and wasn’t a complete unvetted unknown. I used to think he would have been a laughable choice, but certainly not compared to Palin.

    What’s also frightening is McCain is making these goofy decisions, and then he (and the Republicans) can never admit he goofed up. It’s like when he ended up insulting a Nato ally rather than admit he’d misheard a question. It’s pathological.

  17. 17.

    comrade chopper

    September 25, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    so reducing taxes has got to accompany tax reductions? Tell me more, governor.

  18. 18.

    Mary

    September 25, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    That “Worst Week” show ad right before the interview was purely accidental, right?

    I’m going to have nightmares about giant helium-filled Putin heads invading North American airspace tonight. Cheez-us.

    (On replay: those are random show ads being shown there. OK. So it really was coincidental that I saw “Worst Week” first.)

  19. 19.

    4tehlulz

    September 25, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    >>“It was a really interesting experience for me to interview her yesterday,” she added.

    Is “a really interesting experience” another one of those new-fangled euphemisms for “torture”?

  20. 20.

    zmulls

    September 25, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    And yet….

    McCain is still going to get *at least* 40% of the vote, even if he loses.

    Forty percent will still vote Republican, despite all the evidence of incompetence and venality.

  21. 21.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    September 25, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Wait………. “Putin flew over my house in an airplane”?

    Witchhunters, aerial wolf hunting, moose, pigs, an heiress with a dope problem, malignant moles, Weather Underground, Rev. Wright in a dashiki, McCain invented the Blackberry, Obama dancing with lesbian talk show hosts, crushing “the python spirit” of the unbeliever enemies by stomping on their necks………..

    Best. Fucking. Election. Ever.
    [channeling Col. Kilgore from “Apocalypse Now”] “Someday this election is gonna end.”

  22. 22.

    Jay

    September 25, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    “People all over the world (everybody)
    Join hands (join)
    Start a fail train, fail train…”

  23. 23.

    comrade scott

    September 25, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    It’s telling when a traditional media tool like Couric elaborates afterwards about a given interview.

    We were afraid that the traditional media would act like they always have the last 10 years vis a vis the Repups, I mean it takes real (un)talent to fuck up a relationship like that.

    Senator McCain, meet McFuckup. The media drones don’t like being lied to so amaturely. They don’t like being frozen out of a process they feel they *own*.

    And while their numbers, readership and influence is diminishing, it still doesn’t pay to get totally on their bad side. Just ask Al Gore.

  24. 24.

    r€nato

    September 25, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    Is “a really interesting experience” another one of those new-fangled euphemisms for “torture”?

    No, it’s a euphemism for “OMGWTF what a moron!”

  25. 25.

    DrDave

    September 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    She is probably the dumbest person alive. Dumber than Bush. Dumber than Fred Thompson. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

    No. Bush is lightyears beyond Palin on the dumb-fuck scale. Bush was educated at Phillips Andover Academy, Yale and the Harvard Business School and still couldn’t find his ass with both hands if you gave him a map and GPS.

    But Palin suffers from Bush’s ailment: Unearned confidence. She might be genuinely stupid, too, but she isn’t (hopefully) going to be on the national stage for long enough for us to find out.

    As many others have noted, the Palin selection tells us much more about McCain than it does about Palin. Because he has been around for long enough that he should have known better. And that apparently didn’t matter.

  26. 26.

    Joshau Norton

    September 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    See what happens when you refuse to think blink?

    Which probably explains her Moose in the headlights look.

    I guess it isn’t very charitable of me to imagine how much of her intrinsic arrogance is being sucked out of her by the inevitably poor interviews, the drop from convention time stardom to an almost universally accepted laughingstock. It has to be deeply and personally humiliating.

    I think even a few weeks ago with the Gibson interview, you could still see the swaggering arrogance and the pride at work. In the Couric interview, her voice showed a new, nervous waver as she fumbled woodenly through her answers.

    In that last moment when she promised to get some info to Couric, she gives one of those smiles that seems to be a plea for mercy.

    But then again, the foreign dignitaries she met with glowing described her as “perky and cute”. That’s exactly what a Very Important Vice Presidential Candidate needs to taken seriously, a nice rack – right?

  27. 27.

    Dan

    September 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    I would probably enjoy having a conversation with any other middle class hockey mom with a college degree (regardless that it took 6 years and five different colleges to get that degree).

    Palin is not “dumb”, she’s in over her head. But I don’t feel bad for her because the one thing this one has going for her that your average housewife doesn’t is a razor sharp political lizard-brain. And the support of a large base of morons because of shared moronic religious beliefs.

  28. 28.

    demkat620

    September 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Yes but sadly, I can gaurantee you that a significant portion of the people who watch the debate Friday night will say:

    “Holy Shit, the democrats nominated a black guy? How the hell did that happen?”

    I shit you not.

  29. 29.

    sack of hammers

    September 25, 2008 at 1:45 pm

    Fuck you, Cole. Really, fuck you.

  30. 30.

    4tehlulz

    September 25, 2008 at 1:45 pm

    >>Holy crap…I’m leaving.

    Nah. You’re only hope is to get nuked first. That way you’re not around for radiation sickness and nuclear winter.

  31. 31.

    Incertus

    September 25, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    Why didn’t McCain choose Mike Huckabee to be his VP? He would have shored up the base as well, and wasn’t a complete unvetted unknown. I used to think he would have been a laughable choice, but certainly not compared to Palin.

    Because whatever Huckabee’s other problems are–and they are legion, from a progressive perspective–he has one killer for the Republican money side. Huckabee actually gives a shit about poor people, and the real base can’t abide that. It’s just as well, too, because Huckabee would have been a handful and a half compared to either Palin or McCain.

  32. 32.

    comrade scott

    September 25, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    Why didn’t McCain choose Mike Huckabee to be his VP?

    I ask myself that constantly. The Huckster would have had the exact same appeal to the base. But, he was also born for TV. Even when he speaks off-the-cuff, he nails it. Moreover, he simply exudes empathy, even if he’s telling you how it’s wrong for a woman to have basic rights to her body. He is scary good that way–it must be an Arkansas thing cuz Clinton had it although in a different way.

    James Carville said that the most formidable VP selections where the ones that made your campaign manager puke. The Huckster would have been that pick.

    We are so fortunate that McCain’s campaign is chock full of morans who’ve lost any sense of direction they (and he) might have had.

  33. 33.

    SN

    September 25, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    They had to know the Russian foreign policy cred question was coming. Did she forget her lines or is this the best answer they can come up with?

  34. 34.

    CommisarHumboldtBlue

    September 25, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    Well, at least she didn’t repeatedly call Couric, “Charlie” in that snide little tone of hers.

  35. 35.

    Doug H. (Fausto no more)

    September 25, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    McCain is still going to get at least 40% of the vote, even if he loses.

    Forty percent will still vote Republican, despite all the evidence of incompetence and venality.

    The local GOPers on a board I frequent were busily chattering to themselves happily about how Biden kept sticking his foot in his mouth and how he’ll be replaced by Hillary next month. I don’t think any of them have mentioned Governor Teen South Carolina in some time now.

  36. 36.

    comrade vishnu schizt

    September 25, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    OMFG! This can’t be real. I thought she was probably relatively intellegent but horribly out of her depth, but probably enough of a BS artist to get where she is. Now it is obvious she’s really not that bright, Jesus H Christ Bush is better than that and I thought he was a hammer in a drawer full of knives. She’s so pumped with campaign BS she doesn’t know what to say or when to say it and can’ tkeep any of it straight. You’d think that with three weeks they’d have drilled into her some stock fucking answer the Russia question, but she obviously fucked what ever that was up. What did she say about flying over or sending over something?

    God help us

  37. 37.

    Mary

    September 25, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    I prefer Foghorn Leghorn’s “She’s about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.” It’s even better if you play it back in your head in Mel Blanc’s voice.

  38. 38.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    I remember watching the 2000 debates between Bush and Gore. I was jubilant afterwards; I couldn’t understand why the Republicans had chosen him, but Bush had proven himself to be so incompetent on national tv there wasn’t a chance he could win now. I was certain. He went into deer-in-the-headlights mode when asked what he’d do in the event of an attack on the country, which is pretty much what he did when it actually happened.

    It seems like the Republicans keep pushing the envelope, stupider and stupider, and they’ll keep doing it until they loose. I think they’ve pushed it so far they can’t possibly win this one, but that’s what I’ve thought every election for the last eight years. If McCain-Palin wins, I dread to see who’s next.

  39. 39.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    You know, I think of all the times I’ve mocked Katie Couric, and I just want to say, “I’m sorry, Katie. You’ve more than made up for anything else you’ve done in your whole life. Thanks for this.”

  40. 40.

    r€nato

    September 25, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    If there would have been a real GOP maverick in this race, it would have been Huckabee. He was 100% in line with the fundies in some areas but he actually, to some extent, believes in what Jesus said so he gives a shit about the poor and the consequences of heartless GOP policies.

    Which of course means he loses the votes of heartless fundy mentalist assholes.

  41. 41.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too

    Until I hear the actual audio, I’m sorry, but I refuse to beleive she actually said this. There’s just no way she could have non-intentionally actually have spewed the COMPLETE “WTF?” response…..is there?

  42. 42.

    comrade scott

    September 25, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    I’ve never gotten the whole “hockey mom” or “soccer mom” identification. Are these women so devoid of self-something that their entire identity is wrapped up in their kids?

    If that’s the case, why can’t we start referring to Governor Gidget as a “teen pregnancy mom”?

  43. 43.

    DrDave

    September 25, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    “She’s not always responsive when she’s asked questions,” Couric said of Palin. “It was a really interesting experience for me to interview her yesterday,” she added.

    That is both incredibly generous and diplomatic.

    Yes, it might have been a euphemism for torture.

    Palin is now suspending her campaign?

    I heard a theory this morning: McCain recognizes that the country is fucked, mostly because of the incompetence and corruption of members of his own party. So he is going to phone it in and let Obama win and then let the Dems try to fix it. Then the GOP can sit on the sidelines and be critical while accepting none of the blame.

    That would be fine by me. I wouldn’t want to have to try to fix this clusterfuck but I am 100% confident that we are better off with Obama than McCain trying to get us out of this ditch.

  44. 44.

    D-Chance.

    September 25, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    It seems like the Republicans keep pushing the envelope, stupider and stupider, and they’ll keep doing it until they loose.

    Fail.

  45. 45.

    flounder

    September 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Springfield Elementary School. Martin completes his book report, titled
    “An Afternoon With Ernest Hemingway: Reflections by Martin”, complete
    with beard and fishing pole props. Ms. Krabappel gushes in admiration.
    Bart slips a packet on Martin’s seat. “A little ketchup for your buns,
    Papa?” (*splort*) Next up is Bart.

    Fellow students, prepare to be dazzled! [walks to the front of the room]
    Well, as Mrs. Krabappel already mentioned, the name of the book that I
    read was . It’s about these… [describing the book jacket]
    pirates. Pirates… with patches over their eyes… and… shiny gold
    teeth… and green birds on their shoulders… [pause]
    Did I mention this book was written by a guy named Robert Lewis Stevenson?
    And published by the good people at McGraw Hill. So, in conclusion,
    on the Simpson scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, one being
    the lowest, and five being average, I give this book… a nine.
    Any questions? [hands go up] Nope? Then I’ll just sit down.
    — Bart’s book report, “Bart Gets an F”

    Ms. Krabappel asks Bart if he actually read the book.

    Mrs. Krabappel, I am insulted. Is this a book report or a witch hunt?
    http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F03.html

  46. 46.

    DrDave

    September 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    “She’s not always responsive when she’s asked questions,” Couric said of Palin. “It was a really interesting experience for me to interview her yesterday,” she added.

    That is both incredibly generous and diplomatic.

    Palin is now suspending her campaign?

    I heard a theory this morning: McCain recognizes that the country is fucked, mostly because of the incompetence and corruption of members of his own party. So he is going to phone it in and let Obama win and then let the Dems try to fix it. Then the GOP can sit on the sidelines and be critical while accepting none of the blame.

    That would be fine by me. I wouldn’t want to have to try to fix this clusterfuck but I am 100% confident that we are better off with Obama than McCain trying to get us out of this ditch.

  47. 47.

    gbear

    September 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Dude, that’s NOTHING. Go over to Think Progress for more travesty.

    LOL. Love the first comment over at TP: Moose Lips Sink Ships.

    Hate the wordpress.

  48. 48.

    Incertus

    September 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Which of course means he loses the votes of heartless fundy mentalist assholes

    Nah. He loses the prosperity gospel assholes. The true fundies are mostly dirt poor and need government assistance as much as anyone else, and they love Huckabee. It’s the mega-church motherfuckers who hate Huckabee, because they know that he is, in some sense, the real deal that shows them to be fakers.

  49. 49.

    Comrade PeterJ

    September 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    I watched it, and literally thought it could almost be a Saturday Night Live sketch.

    We seriously need a “Sarah Palin OR Tina Fey” contest. Some quotes or videos and people will have guess who said it.

    I’m starting to understand why Tina Fey doesn’t want to do Sarah Palin on SNL. Fey got empathy, and I guess she’s having some serious problems making fun of Palin…

  50. 50.

    Comrade Napoleon

    September 25, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    I don’t feel sorry for her at all. No one forced her to run.

  51. 51.

    Comrade Dreggas

    September 25, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    I was speaking with my mother last week, someone I considered to be level headed and not nearly as big of a ditto-head moron as my father has become (thanks to FAUX NEWS and bush etc). She asked me what I thought of Sarah Palin. I told her I thought she was an idiot with no clue as to what she was talking about. My mother thinks she’s brilliant…

    My only consolation in all of this is that my parents raised me to be an independent thinker and to question everything so they can suck on it when I don’t agree with them about these things. It is however sad to see people I once respected for being relatively intelligent change into Neanderthals before my eyes.

  52. 52.

    Chris Johnson

    September 25, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Polar bears can sit there looking at Russia, and they are much more badass, with big claws and teeth.

    Let’s elect one of THEM vice-president!

    (reposted in correct thread, woopsy)

  53. 53.

    Dennis - SGMM

    September 25, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Robotics Firm Admits Failure
    Speaking on condition of anonymity, an executive with robotics firm Yoyodyne today admitted that engineers at his company had failed to create “the perfect Stepford candidate.” “We just couldn’t get it to answer questions,” said the official, “so we just programmed it to spit out random talking points.”
    The Yoyodyne exec refused to reveal who had contracted for the robotic candidate saying only that when he told the client that the problem with answering questions would require more R&D the client responded, “(Expletive) R&D gimme more T&A!”

  54. 54.

    wingnuts to iraq

    September 25, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    sack of hammers made me LOL

  55. 55.

    ppcli

    September 25, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    I feel sorry for her watching these too. Especially because she keeps looking like she is going to cry.

    Then I remember firing the librarian and the police chief for “lack of support”. (OK she was forced to rehire the librarian but made things so uncomfortable that the librarian eventually packed it in)

    And firing the respected public safety commissioner ( for reasons that keep changing hourly) replacing him with a known sexual harasser (but reliable card-carrying evangelical) who was forced to step down a few weeks later. And I look at the smalltown incompetent church-pal crony she appointed as Attorney General. And remember the bald-faced lies about nearly everything, repeated even when they’re shown to be false. And the smug “like a community organizer, but with real responsibilities” line and all of the other contemptuous drivel she poured over the adoring RNC crowd.
    And all that other stuff.

    Then I think == maybe there is such a thing as Karma after all.

  56. 56.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    Because whatever Huckabee’s other problems are—and they are legion, from a progressive perspective—he has one killer for the Republican money side. Huckabee actually gives a shit about poor people, and the real base can’t abide that. It’s just as well, too, because Huckabee would have been a handful and a half compared to either Palin or McCain.

    Yeah, this pretty well nails it. Huckabee has the potential to be a real Huey Long mass populist figure, and with the country falling apart, who knows what he’ll be able to make of himself. But the fact is, there’s no real future for him in the current Republican party.

  57. 57.

    Joshau Norton

    September 25, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    I wonder if Republicans will continue to pretend after these interviews. It’s pathological by now.

    Nope. They’re taking potshots at Couric for all those “gottcha’s”. Being asked questions isn’t fair when your candidate has zero political skills and can’t come within a mile of being able to answer something mildly difficult.

  58. 58.

    strawmanmunny

    September 25, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    The more this election goes on, the more that is shown by the Republicans,McCain and Palin, the more I think they are actually going to win. This country has jumped the shark and parody has become the truth.

    McCain and Palin are part of the Republican “tribe”. No matter how much lying,incompetence and downright ignorance is unleashed, they support them because they are Republicans, period. And I think there are enough, “Oh, I’m not racist, it’s just that I don’t know about that Obama fella, (I hear he’s a Muslim) to vote for him” people that he will lose.

    One reason I appreciate this blog is that Mr. Cole actually has a brain and has seen the light. That tribe doesn’t supersede Country.

    I guess the reason some Republicans want to use “the Messiah” mocking tag on Obama is that it’s the first time they have seen someone actually have brains and try to fix a problem. Therefore, he must be the second coming.

  59. 59.

    strawmanmunny

    September 25, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    The more this election goes on, the more that is shown by the Republicans,McCain and Palin, the more I think they are actually going to win. This country has jumped the shark and parody has become the truth.

    McCain and Palin are part of the Republican “tribe”. No matter how much lying,incompetence and downright ignorance is unleashed, they support them because they are Republicans, period. And I think there are enough, “Oh, I’m not racist, it’s just that I don’t know about that Obama fella, (I hear he’s a Muslim) to vote for him” people that he will lose.

    One reason I appreciate this blog is that Mr. Cole actually has a brain and has seen the light. That tribe doesn’t supersede Country.

    I guess the reason some Republicans want to use “the Messiah” mocking tag on Obama is that it’s the first time they have seen someone actually have brains and try to fix a problem. Therefore, he must be the second coming.

  60. 60.

    Andrew

    September 25, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Until I hear the actual audio, I’m sorry, but I refuse to beleive she actually said this. There’s just no way she could have non-intentionally actually have spewed the COMPLETE “WTF?” response…..is there?

    I couldn’t believe it either, but here it is: .

    She’s literally just saying one buzzword after another. Forget the paragraph as the medium for a thought, Sarah Palin can barely manage a single coherent sentence.

  61. 61.

    cleek

    September 25, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    back in 2004 a certain word was over and over as a way to measure the candidates against each other in much the way “experience” is used in 2008: “gravitas”.

    Sarah Palin is completely devoid of it.

    she is without intellectual or moral weight. she is unserious.

    FIX YOUR SERVER

  62. 62.

    Comrade EdTheRed

    September 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm

    Governor Palin, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

  63. 63.

    Colonel Danite

    September 25, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    If you want to alternate between laughing and crying uncontrolably, go over to RedState and read the posts. They alternate between blaming Gov Palin’s laughable performance on partisan editing and making the ridiculous claim that Palin is still more qualified than Obama.

  64. 64.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    GOS has diary up about how McCane will turn around, vote “no” on this, claim independence and maverickiness, and raise his favorability numbers.

    That’s the amazing thing, and Atrios hits it, too. Few Average Joes want this. That’s what makes the Dems so adamant to pass this abortion so stunning. FISA redux, natch.

  65. 65.

    tomdurk

    September 25, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    Pallin may be wholly unprepared for VP, but at least she isn’t plagued by witches!
    I have been suggesting that we talk up the shift in debates, moving the Pres to the VP date & the VP to Tomorrow. After all, the room is ready, the hotels are ready, the media are ready. I can’t think of anyone who might not be ready. Oh, wait . . .

  66. 66.

    strawmanmunny

    September 25, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    Seriously, I don’t MEAN to post things twice(not even sure how I am,lol). Is this what people are talking about when they say they don’t like WordPress?

  67. 67.

    Barbar

    September 25, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    You know, Moscow is basically in Europe, not Eastern Siberia.

    Not that it’s necessary to… what’s the word… right, mock this “Russia/Alaska” border even more.

  68. 68.

    Comrade Jake

    September 25, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    You know what the real stunner of that video is? Palin thinks the argument is obvious.

    Since Alaska is close to Russia, and she is the Governor of Alaska, she has foreign policy experience. 1+1=2. That’s what her comment about the reporters is all about. She doesn’t understand why people don’t get it. Why would people mock that, when the answer’s so clear.

    These are scary times, my friends. Scary times.

  69. 69.

    Nylund

    September 25, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    To her credit (regarding the regulation question that she bombed), it is very hard to prove your party is for something (eg deregulation, anti-lobbyist, etc) when every fact and every bit of history says the opposite. Its like A-Rod arguing that he’s never played baseball.

  70. 70.

    Gerald Curl

    September 25, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    My favorite part of the audio is when she says “Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too.” She might have well have said “Oh my God, Katie, I almost forgot this talking point they drilled into my head … I had a great mnemonic to go with it — ‘JC’ equals job creation equals our Lord and Savior and witch killer Jesus Christ … wow, that would have been embarrassing if I had forgotten to deftly slip that talking point in there.”

  71. 71.

    Tom Hilton

    September 25, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    Shorter Sarah Palin: “Who am I? Why am I here?”

  72. 72.

    debbie

    September 25, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Doesn’t EVERY governor go on trade missions and have people from trade missions visit their states?

    Doesn’t EVERY governor have planes from other countries travel in their air space?

  73. 73.

    Andrew

    September 25, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    This kind of made me laugh a little, too:

    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 airspace of the United States of America, where do they go?

    I had the mental image of Putin as a dragon bursting out of a cave in Russia, flying over to Alaska to kidnap maidens and burn castles to the ground with his infernal breath.

  74. 74.

    Comrade Zifnab

    September 25, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Robotics Firm Admits Failure

    PotD!

  75. 75.

    Colonel Danite

    September 25, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    CBS just removed the video from their website. Vast Right Wing conspiracy? Hmm.

  76. 76.

    Krista

    September 25, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too

    I re-read that sentence three times, and I still don’t know what the hell she was trying to say. Maybe she’s playing one of those quirky games from improv class, like where you pull slips with terms on them out of a jar, and wind up having to make a coherent sentence out of “potato masher”, “Newt Gingrich” and “1957 Chevy.”

  77. 77.

    uila

    September 25, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    Think of Palin as a repair(wo)man… patching up cracks in the glass ceiling, one interview at a time

    (Could this be the GOP’s plan all along? The election is unwinnable, so might as well set the women’s rights movement back in spectacular fashion, with an extra special Fuck You to Hillary just for laffs…)

  78. 78.

    Trinity

    September 25, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    To Larsmacomb @ September 25th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    That is the best comment I’ve read all day!

  79. 79.

    Comrade Jake

    September 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    Reading some of the right-wing defenses of this clip is pure comic gold. They’re all something like:

    If you don’t pay attention to the words she speaks, but rather focus on reading her mind, it becomes clear what she meant to say, and it’s perfectly reasonable.

    She’s a very quick study, Sarah Palin. Very quick.

  80. 80.

    Michael D.

    September 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    Comment from Washington Monthly

    “A random number generator would have assembled a more cohesive sequence of talking points.”

  81. 81.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    I think there are two things happening with Republicans. The saner variety are gradually peeling away. You see this with John, with Sully; even George Will can hardly stomach McCain anymore. I see it with people I know in real life. They’re either going to vote dem or they say “a plague on both your houses.”

    The others just retreat deeper into wingnuttery. The more Pain and McCain show evidence of incompetence and insanity, the more the economy tanks and all evidence shows the goopers will rob them blind, the more these people just double down and close their eyes and ears and vote for the True Cause.

  82. 82.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Its like A-Rod arguing that he’s never played baseball

    Well, he hasn’t…at least not in the playoffs.

  83. 83.

    YellowJournalism

    September 25, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    I watched it, and literally thought it could almost be a Saturday Night Live sketch.

    I was thinking that this all might just be a really long SNL intro sketch. I keep waiting for McCain or Palin to look into the camera and say, “Live from New York…”

  84. 84.

    Adam

    September 25, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    HuffPo calls McCain offices:

    The Huffington Post called up 15 McCain-Palin and McCain Victory Committee headquarters in various battleground states. Not one said that it was temporarily halting operations because of the supposed “suspension” in the campaign. Several, in fact, enthusiastically declared the continuation of their work. Others hadn’t even heard that the candidate for whom they were devoting their time had officially stopped campaigning.

    …

    …I can’t add anything to that.

  85. 85.

    Soylent Green

    September 25, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    If Rosie Perez in “White Men Can’t Jump” could memorize all of those words that start with the letter “Q,” why can’t Palin memorize the simple talking points that her handlers have been drilling into her?

    Olbermann on Letterman nailed the reason for McCain’s attempt to cancel the first debate. Plainly, the debate is too important not to be rescheduled, thus will be. But within the condensed timeframe ahead, only three debates can be held. Ergo, we cancel the least important one, Palin/Biden.

  86. 86.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    Seriously, I don’t MEAN to post things twice(not even sure how I am,lol). Is this what people are talking about when they say they don’t like WordPress?

    You haven’t been around very long. Double posts are the least of it. Stick around for the afternoon and wait until WordPress goes down just when you’ve composed an elaborate post with a couple of links and the whole thing gets eaten.

  87. 87.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    First, Sarah Palin would be smarter if Obama had agreed to a million town hall meetings with John McIndispensableMan.

    Second, Palin may not be vice presidential material, but surely she is poised to return to the beauty circuit and give Miss Teen South Carolina a run for her money.

    A Trip Down Memory Lane

    My question is: Why isn’t McCain being openly treated as the joke he is? (I mean, apart from the American people being so stupid and the media being a bunch of self-obsessed adolescents.)

    A quote for the ages:

    “Well, it certainly does, because our next door neighbors are foreign countries. There in the states that I am the executive of….”

    “…that I am the executive of…”

    It’s impossible not to hear those words and think…we are doomed.

  88. 88.

    Tony J

    September 25, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    WordPress did it again, so to recap.

    WTF? when did Seth McFarlane start writing Palin’s scripts?

    I swear, by the end of it I was expecting a quick pan across Couric’s bemused face to this scene:

    A close-up of a furious Stewie wearing a Cossack hat and muttering to himself –

    “Damn. How did she know?”

    opens cell-phone, speed-dials and waits for a reply –

    “Vladimir! Cancel Operation Red Dawn, there’s obviously a leak… don’t argue with me, Comrade, this bitch is onto us! What’s that? I don’t care if Fidel won’t like it. Wha… don’t you cry, don’t you dare cry.. uh.. Vladimir. Vladie, Vladie, come on now, I said you could have Georgia and I meant it, just not yet. Make do with the one you’ve got. Yes, yes, I’ll deal with it… I’ll, ooh, got to go!”

    Brian ambles over

    “What’s up?”

    Stewie clicks off his cell-phone and shrugs.

    “Oh, Nuthin.”

    “Nice hat.”

    “Thanks. “

    And then I wrote this, because there is no freaking way that even the worst MSM in the world can spin this kind of performance. Even PRAVDA would have just pretended it didn’t happen, because it was that freakin bad. No wonder the McPalin Campaign is trying to exploit financial meltdown to keep her out of televised debates with Biden. After that revealing shambles I wouldn’t trust her to answer the phone and say I’m out without adult supervision.

  89. 89.

    cleek

    September 25, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Palin thinks the argument is obvious

    in a way, it is.

    Palin lives near (relatively) Russia. i imagine people in Alaska talk about Russia, make jokes about its proximity, and maybe they even encounter Russian boats or aircraft now and then. it’s a part of their lives in much the same way people who live near Canada or Mexico think about those countries more than someone from KY does. and, i’m sure as governor, some of her decisions have had to take Russia into account, if only to avoid crossing borders, etc.. so, i’ll give her that.

    but that doesn’t mean she’s negotiated or even met with Russian leaders, nor had she any authority to do so. and given the fact that practically nobody crosses the border up there, her experience isn’t even on the same scale as the governor of VT or NM.

  90. 90.

    mellowjohn

    September 25, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    it’s really kinda spooky when — in a two-person conversation — katie couric comes across as the heavyweight.

  91. 91.

    fuddmain

    September 25, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    This interview put me in mind of this great comment on GOS a couple of years back:

    And yet what I really hate is the way that he keeps reaching for the same fucking soundbites when he’s supposed to be speaking extemporaneously. And not just the same general concepts, which is called intellectual consistency and is actually a fine trait in a public speaker… the exact same fucking words. And he just stutters and sputters along desperately trying to access whichever vaguely relevant soundbite has been drilled into his thick monkey skull, and when he finally gets his mind around one you can tell he thinks he sounds smooth and impressive, when in fact he sounds like an idiot.

    When he talks the picture I get in my head is of that one Price Is Right game where the contestant would rummage around in a bag trying to come up with the disks that had numbers instead of X’s so that they might win A New Car. It’s like his head is that big, empty bag, with about 25 different phrases painted on rocks and thrown in there in a jumble. And if he can just pull out the five correct rocks, he wins A New Question!

    It really is performance art.

  92. 92.

    DonnaInMichigan

    September 25, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    I have great admiration for Sarah Palinocchio.

    She has made it possible for Bush to seem intelligent and honest.

  93. 93.

    Adam

    September 25, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Well, I could add the next two paragraphs of the article, I guess:

    In Ohio, Brenda Lewis of the Greene County Victory Office seemed surprised there was any doubt that the office would be open. “Suspension of the campaign?” she asked out loud, before saying that her colleagues would be phone banking, going door to door, and could use some front desk help as well as assistance getting signs together.

    “Huffington what? Whatever, would you mind coming in and watching the desk for a while?…”

    In Ashland County, Ohio, a McCain worker named Ken confirmed, “We’re still campaigning for him.” He added, “I’m taking off in two hours. A Japanese couple will be watching the shop after, but they’re very anglocized.”

    “…Wait, you’re white, aren’t you? OK.”

  94. 94.

    Bubblegum Tate

    September 25, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    To Larsmacomb @ September 25th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    That is the best comment I’ve read all day!

    I was just about to say the same thing.

  95. 95.

    PC

    September 25, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    The bad Disney movie trailer.

  96. 96.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    As for RedState, they attribute Palin’s poor performance (though she did fine with Gibson…giggle…oh, the soft bigotry of low expectations) to “selective editing” by CBS.

    In a rare visit to RS, I was amused by two things. One, for some reason their new incarnation seems to have cut the number of comments down significantly. Second, how stupid they still are. It’s still all ideology, all the time. Facts? We don’t need no steenking facts.

    The official verdict at RedState: Sarah Palin is more qualified than Barack Obama.

    Note: never read RedState comments while eating. The chances of choking to death are too great.

  97. 97.

    nicethugbert

    September 25, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    Go ahead, you Godless Amerika Haters! Just give her the sympathy vote!

  98. 98.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    We should be attacking her much harder. Republican acted all offended at anyone making the slightest criticism of her because that’s what they’re most afraid of. If a little boy who dares to say how government insurance helped him is suddenly fair game, then certainly someone running to be Vice President is. This should be made into a commercial or someone; we should make sure everyone sees it before election day. Republicans will scream and cry, but that’s all the more reason to do it.

  99. 99.

    comrade chopper

    September 25, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    GOS has diary up about how McCane will turn around, vote “no” on this, claim independence and maverickiness, and raise his favorability numbers.

    that’s the thing tho, mccain really likes to pivot on shit. but he’s proven to be really, really bad at it. he’s like baryshnikov’s fat, drunk brother-in-law who has an inner-ear problem.

  100. 100.

    Sherrell H.

    September 25, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    Like I said earlier….this woman went to 5 schools and took 6 years to graduate from college…my guess is she isn’t that focused of a student or that quick of a learner.

  101. 101.

    Scot

    September 25, 2008 at 3:01 pm

    This woman makes Dan Quayle look like Stephen fuckin’ Hawking.

  102. 102.

    Svensker

    September 25, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    Comrade John, you should highlight larsmacomb’s post.

  103. 103.

    comrade chopper

    September 25, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    The bad Disney movie trailer.

    lolz. oh dear, it’s so very not far off.

  104. 104.

    Comrade PeterJ

    September 25, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    In a rare visit to RS, I was amused by two things. One, for some reason their new incarnation seems to have cut the number of comments down significantly. Second, how stupid they still are. It’s still all ideology, all the time. Facts? We don’t need no steenking facts.

    There are a lot of people that stays away from blogs from the other side of the aisle or from news media since they are in their view biased. It’s people like that that they are catering to.

  105. 105.

    Comrade Napoleon

    September 25, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    But within the condensed timeframe ahead, only three debates can be held. Ergo, we cancel the least important one, Palin/Biden.

    That will not happen. Assuming for a moment that Friday’s debate does not happen, Obama’s people can not be stupid enough to not say no to McCain if they want to reschedule to the Biden/Palin date. Regardless of how McCain reacts Obama wins. If McCain pulls out of the debate they look whiny, defensive and childish. If they go forward Palin gets destroyed. There is no upside to agreeing to reschedule this Friday’s event if it impacts the VP debate.

  106. 106.

    Comrade PeterJ

    September 25, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    In a rare visit to RS, I was amused by two things. One, for some reason their new incarnation seems to have cut the number of comments down significantly. Second, how stupid they still are. It’s still all ideology, all the time. Facts? We don’t need no steenking facts.

    There are a lot of people that stays away from blogs from the other side of the aisle or from news media since they are in their view biased. It’s people like that that they are catering to.

  107. 107.

    Doctor Science

    September 25, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    That “feeling bad for her” feeling is technically known as an “embarrassment squick”. The thing is, there are two kinds of embarrassment squick:

    1. the kind Larsmacomb @1:38 recalls, when you’re watching someone fail who knows they’re failing, and you feel the agony of defeat along with them.

    2. the kind where it’s as though there’s this massive blob of embarrassment that someone *should* be feeling but they’re not, so it attaches to you, the watcher. I could never watch “I Love Lucy” for this reason: Lucy wasn’t embarrassed, so by some sort of Law of Conservation of Shame, I had to be.

    What we’ve got here IMHO is a Type 2 Embarrassment Squick, with bonus Everyone In The World Is Watching My Country Forget Its Lines, Wake Me When It’s Over Shame.

    Katie Couric has nerves of *steel*.

  108. 108.

    r€nato

    September 25, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Palin lives near (relatively) Russia. i imagine people in Alaska talk about Russia, make jokes about its proximity, and maybe they even encounter Russian boats or aircraft now and then. it’s a part of their lives in much the same way people who live near Canada or Mexico

    except that, hardly anyone lives in that part of Russia as far as I know. It’s far, far easter Siberia. It is literally as far as you can get from Moscow and still be in Russia.

    It would be like a Nevadan saying, “I know all about Californians, after all they are right next to us!”

    Except… that part of California consists pretty much of Death Valley.

  109. 109.

    w vincentz

    September 25, 2008 at 3:07 pm

    I have no reason to insult hammers by making a comparison.
    None.
    What’s with the red stuff on her cheeks? Is it crayola?

  110. 110.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    McCain said, “Obama Would Rather Lose a War in Order To Win a Political Campaign,” but now it’s sickeningly clear that McCain would rather risk saddling this country with a completely completely incompetent president than to admit he made a mistake and possibly loose the election. He’d rather insult a Nato ally than admit he misheard a question and loose the election. I never bought all the talk of a principled wonderful person he was, but even I’m astonished. Winning is everything to him; he has no scruples whatsoever. We’d better hope the voting machines are beyond tampering this time around.

  111. 111.

    Tsulagi

    September 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    This woman is just dumb as a sack of hammers.

    Yeah, there’s that. But she’s protected from the evil influences of witchcraft. Could or would Obama make the same claim? I think not.

    As for RedState, they attribute Palin’s poor performance (though she did fine with Gibson…giggle…oh, the soft bigotry of low expectations) to “selective editing” by CBS.

    Yesterday at RS I saw a fair number of comments from the clear thinkers it’s McCain’s fault, and that of his campaign staffers. They’re not letting Sarah be Sarah.

    Instead they’re using her to deliver McCain’s more liberal talking points rather than letting her put forth the conservative view she’s comfortable with. And wrongly keeping her from the press and interviews where she could showcase those positions. They just know if the real Sarah were unleased, the force of Palin and Republican conservatism would win the election. I hope those guys don’t come across any sharp objects because I want the comedy to continue.

    I’m sorry I doubted you, McCain. I thought Multiple Choice Mitt as your mate would deliver the most laughs. You proved me wrong.

  112. 112.

    Octavian

    September 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    H.L. Mencken has for a long time been one of my favorite writers, and there’s a quote from him people like to toss out and apply to Bush. Nope. It’s Palin all the way:

    ” . . . all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

  113. 113.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 3:13 pm

    and wind up having to make a coherent sentence out of “potato masher”, “Newt Gingrich” and “1957 Chevy.”

    According to wiki, he was born in 1943, not ’57.

  114. 114.

    NonyNony

    September 25, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    In a rare visit to RS, I was amused by two things. One, for some reason their new incarnation seems to have cut the number of comments down significantly. Second, how stupid they still are. It’s still all ideology, all the time. Facts? We don’t need no steenking facts.

    I think that’s because RedState has a tendency to knee-jerk ban not only trolls, but anyone who posts a comment that could remotely be construed as negative towards Republicans. If you aren’t a cheerleader, you’re banned.

    It pretty makes RedState useless to anyone who isn’t interested in delving into the muck to see what the rabid wingnuts are thinking. I used to brush by there every once in a while back in the day, now it’s one of the sites I try to avoid at all costs – I treat links to RedState like links off to goat porn or to Rick Astley videos these days.

  115. 115.

    scarshapedstar

    September 25, 2008 at 3:15 pm

    CBS deleted the video.

  116. 116.

    cleek

    September 25, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    except that, hardly anyone lives in that part of Russia as far as I know. It’s far, far easter Siberia. It is literally as far as you can get from Moscow and still be in Russia.

    right. that’s why i wrote “and given the fact that practically nobody crosses the border up there, her experience isn’t even on the same scale as the governor of VT or NM.”

    though, there is some traffic between Alaska and Canada, it looks like VT has many times the traffic.

  117. 117.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    and wind up having to make a coherent sentence out of “potato masher”, “Newt Gingrich” and “1957 Chevy.”

    According to wiki, he was born in 1943, not ’57.

  118. 118.

    NickM

    September 25, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    The others just retreat deeper into wingnuttery. The more Pain and McCain show evidence of incompetence and insanity, the more the economy tanks and all evidence shows the goopers will rob them blind, the more these people just double down and close their eyes and ears and vote for the True Cause.

    The only way to describe them now is as a cult. Anyone who thinks that Sarah Palin is some kind of saviour of the party/nation must be drinking some pretty intense Kool-Aid. The internets, talk radio, their churches and Fox News allow them to live in a bubble of unreality almost all of the time. It’s frightening because I don’t know how you deprogram 100 million heavily armed morans.

    What’s with the red stuff on her cheeks? Is it crayola?

    It’s FAIL.

  119. 119.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    and wind up having to make a coherent sentence out of “potato masher”, “Newt Gingrich” and “1957 Chevy.”

    According to wiki, he was born in 1943, not ’57.

  120. 120.

    r€nato

    September 25, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    There’s got to be some kind of aphorism somebody already thought of long ago, that goes something like, “Satire eventually becomes prophecy.”

  121. 121.

    NickM

    September 25, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    Wow – that’s one ugly blockquote screwup. Sorry.

  122. 122.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 3:21 pm

    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Deutschland is happy and gay
    We’re marching to a faster pace
    Look out, here comes the Master Race
    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Winter for Poland and France
    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Come on Germans, go into your dance!

    I feel like I’m right about this point in the movie.

    Any minute now the men in white lab coats are going to come, take the electrodes off my head, and tell me of course it wasn’t real. It was all an experiment make my experience stranger and stranger, to see at what point I’d figure out it couldn’t possibly be real.

  123. 123.

    Soylent Green

    September 25, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Palin lives near (relatively) Russia.

    Alaska is BIG. Mainland Russia is more than 700 miles from where Palin lives, and Alaska’s capital is more than 1,200 miles away. The only Alaskans who can see Russia are the 100 or so Eskimos living on Little Diomede Island in the middle of the Bering Strait 25 miles from the Alaskan mainland. They can see Russia’s nearby, unpopulated Big Diomede Island, but not mainland Russia across another 25 miles of ocean. Not that it matters; nobody lives there anyway. Interestingly enough, Palin has visited Little Diomede Island. Michael Palin, that is.

  124. 124.

    Comrade Jake

    September 25, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Instead they’re using her to deliver McCain’s more liberal talking points rather than letting her put forth the conservative view she’s comfortable with. And wrongly keeping her from the press and interviews where she could showcase those positions. They just know if the real Sarah were unleased, the force of Palin and Republican conservatism would win the election.

    That’s some strong cool-aid.

    It really does remind me of some of the arguments as to why the moon landing was a hoax. People can “justify” anything if they want to try hard enough.

  125. 125.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 3:23 pm

    Yesterday at RS I saw a fair number of comments from the clear thinkers

    The “clear thinkers” are they the ones taking Haldol or the ones taking Thorazine? I always get them mixed up.

  126. 126.

    Tsulagi

    September 25, 2008 at 3:27 pm

    except that, hardly anyone lives in that part of Russia as far as I know. It’s far, far easter Siberia. It is literally as far as you can get from Moscow and still be in Russia.

    Yeah, not many. I wonder if Putin knows he has a rich, untapped source of foreign policy experts in the Russian fisherman fishing the Bering Sea. They’ve seen Alaska.

  127. 127.

    Punchy

    September 25, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    I cannot post today without posting thrice. Excuse me while I beat the shit out of WordPress.

  128. 128.

    Comrade Bucharin

    September 25, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    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.

    I know it is hard to know what she is saying, but I think this is the nugget that everyone is missing. Is she saying that we are flying “those” into russian airspace to spy on Russia, and we are sending “those” thingies from Alaska?

    First, I believe it would cause an international situation if we admitted to sending “those” into russian airspace to spy.

    Secondly, what are “those”? And how do we get them 12 time zones, half way around the world, to see the parts of Russia we want to see, and then get them back?

    Third, why don’t we send “those” thingies from our military bases in Eastern Europe?

    And lastly, are you fucking kidding me? A VP candidate getting her ass handed to her by Katie Couric!?!?!? I no longer fault the McCain camp for the media blackout, they had no choice.

  129. 129.

    Dupe

    September 25, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    Who would’ve thought that George Bush would look good in comparison to any major national political figure…

  130. 130.

    Quaz

    September 25, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Wow… that kind of reminds me of this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

  131. 131.

    Laura W

    September 25, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    She’s literally just saying one buzzword after another. Forget the paragraph as the medium for a thought, Sarah Palin can barely manage a single coherent sentence.

    Man. Katie’s facial expressions (or lack thereof, as she tries to think of having a colonoscopy to keep from snorting aloud) are PRICELESS. I want SNL to put Amy P. or someone in Katie’s seat and do a voice over of what might have been going thru her mind as Palin yakked up nonsensical words.

    as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America,

    Man, I had a visceral reaction to that part, both her words and her facial and hand expressions. It was loaded. It reminds me of her preacher man and whatever he said about stomping on snakes or breaking snakes necks or whatever. (I am not going back to watch that or get the quote, guys. I know my limits.) We think McInsane is trigger happy. Lordy.

  132. 132.

    Rick Taylor

    September 25, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    In retrospect we were far too hard on Hillary Clinton. True, she probably did stretch the amount of experience she should be credited for by being first lady. But she never came close to arguing she had foreign policy cred because Putin had flown over her state.

  133. 133.

    Comrade Tax Analyst

    September 25, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Rick Taylor Says:

    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Deutschland is happy and gay
    We’re marching to a faster pace
    Look out, here comes the Master Race
    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Winter for Poland and France
    Springtime for Hitler and Germany
    Come on Germans, go into your dance!

    I feel like I’m right about this point in the movie.

    Rick, I read an except on a thread here last night from her Katie Couric interview where she’s showing off some …”amps that go up to volume eleven” that I SWEAR nearly duplicate the dialogue from a scene in “Spinal Tap”.

  134. 134.

    zuzu's petals

    September 25, 2008 at 3:42 pm

    Unfortunately, I’m not sure it will matter to the true believers.

    Words were said.

    That is sufficient.

  135. 135.

    gbear

    September 25, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Mainland Russia is more than 700 miles from where Palin lives, and Alaska’s capital is more than 1,200 miles away.

    I can see my friend’s house in Dallas if I look down I-35E from my house in St. Paul.

  136. 136.

    Laura W

    September 25, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    This is the funniest comment I’ve read today, but then I’m only partly thru the threads:

    comrade chopper Says:
    that’s the thing tho, mccain really likes to pivot on shit. but he’s proven to be really, really bad at it. he’s like baryshnikov’s fat, drunk brother-in-law who has an inner-ear problem.

  137. 137.

    JL

    September 25, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    A former friend said that she was “a breath of fresh air” and my response was “polluted air maybe.” Americablog has a new segment on the anti-semetic screed her preacher makes. Guess if someone has the money for the ad, they can kiss Florida goodbye.

  138. 138.

    Dennis - SGMM

    September 25, 2008 at 3:47 pm

    zuzu’s petals has it right: as long as Palin’s head didn’t rotate 180 degrees and spray Couric with undigested moose meat the Republicans will be fine with her performance.

  139. 139.

    w vincentz

    September 25, 2008 at 3:53 pm

    Is she grooming Trig for a prez run in 2048?

  140. 140.

    Laura W

    September 25, 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Doctor Science, this is deep!

    The thing is, there are two kinds of embarrassment squick:

    2. the kind where it’s as though there’s this massive blob of embarrassment that someone should be feeling but they’re not, so it attaches to you, the watcher. I could never watch “I Love Lucy” for this reason: Lucy wasn’t embarrassed, so by some sort of Law of Conservation of Shame, I had to be.

    This TOTALLY explains my experience whenever I dare to flip over to Larry The Banal King! I will never forget years ago when he had Sting on. I had to watch for Sting, of course, but I was cringing and squicking the whole way through. Likewise when Stewart is on, but he ridicules him fine. Colbert is too nice to ridicule him, so I squick squick a lot there, too. I did not dare watch Clinton on last night (was it?). He falls into #2 lately for me too and I would be, like, such as, squick squared or something!
    I can not believe King still gets an hour of tee vee. The man is old. And inane. Thank Shiva Rachel is on at 9 now.

  141. 141.

    BP IN MN

    September 25, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Rick: lose, not loose, please (don’t know why that typo bothers me so much, but it’s like nails on a chalkboard).

    Seriously, watching Palin is squirmier than the British version of the Office. And like Dr. Science said, the fact that she doesn’t seem to know she should be embarrassed makes it even worse.

  142. 142.

    Comrade Napoleon

    September 25, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Check it out – its being reported on TPM that McCain, who has suspended his campaign, is sitting down to do interviews on all the 3 broadcast news reports tonight.

    But he doesn’t have time for the debate tomorrow.

  143. 143.

    Buck B.

    September 25, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Why the fuck are you people composing long comments in the browser anyway?

    Boo-fucking-hoo WordPress ate your comment. Use a goddamn text editor!

    Sheesh. Even my grandmother knows better.

  144. 144.

    Linda

    September 25, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    True Believers are immune to embarrassment. In Free Republic, posters are arguing, ardently, that Palin should take on Obama if McCain doesn’t show up, and that she would wipe up the floor with him. Kool Aid is a helluva drug.

  145. 145.

    SDM

    September 25, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    oh, john, they’re far too busy tackling the important issues to pay attention to this.

  146. 146.

    wobbly

    September 25, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Uh…she doesn’t even seem to know that it’s not the business end of Russia she’s looking at???

    Couric earned her pay with this one. Perky doesn’t have to mean stupid.

  147. 147.

    liberal

    September 25, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Delia wrote,

    I think there are two things happening with Republicans. The saner variety are gradually peeling away. You see this with John, with Sully; even George Will can hardly stomach McCain anymore. I see it with people I know in real life. They’re either going to vote dem or they say “a plague on both your houses.”

    Nah. They loves themselves those prospective tax cuts, is all.

  148. 148.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 4:05 pm

    Americablog has a new segment on the anti-semetic screed her preacher makes. Guess if someone has the money for the ad, they can kiss Florida goodbye.

    Sully has it, too. He has the vid and here’s the text:

    The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It’s high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That’s what we are waiting for. That’s part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the — you know — if you look at the Israelites, that’s how they work. And that’s how they are, even today.

    This was preached in Palin’s presence.

  149. 149.

    Geeno

    September 25, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Because whatever Huckabee’s other problems are—and they are legion, from a progressive perspective—he has one killer for the Republican money side. Huckabee actually gives a shit about poor people, and the real base can’t abide that. It’s just as well, too, because Huckabee would have been a handful and a half compared to either Palin or McCain.

    I thank god every day that he didn’t get either slot on the republican ticket. He would have been formidable. Dude haz mad skillz at this game.

  150. 150.

    Tsulagi

    September 25, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area.

    Well then God is going to get sloppy seconds because Bush has already fucked it up.

  151. 151.

    Dawn Hannity

    September 25, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    The bottom line is that Sarah Palin perfectly represents the current state of Republican leadership. Utterly vacuous, half baked ideologues pretending to lead the country away from themselves.
    If the country falls for this again, as GWB once said, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, won’t get fooled again errrr” or something like that….

  152. 152.

    w vincentz

    September 25, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    I’m guessing that since the McCrap campaign has been suspended, some shithead named Tucker Bounds hasn’t been in contact with the Ol’ Debateavoider. Tucker was all over the teevee today…five times.
    Oh…in Katie’s defense, she was a cheerleader, as was the current Chimp-in-Chief, though, he wasn’t very cheery last night. Go Wall Street, Go!

    My two pennies…fuck ’em all. Rectally.

  153. 153.

    ChrisA

    September 25, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    Just like W, a master of the obvious.

  154. 154.

    Comrade PeterJ

    September 25, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Has Putin ever been in Alaska? Has he ever been in Alaskan airspace?

  155. 155.

    Comrade Grumpy Code Monkey

    September 25, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Palin lives near (relatively) Russia.

    And much nearer to Canada, but does she give them any love? No!

    But you know, it’s not like Canuckistan is a foreign country or anything.

  156. 156.

    Krista

    September 25, 2008 at 4:36 pm

    he kind where it’s as though there’s this massive blob of embarrassment that someone should be feeling but they’re not, so it attaches to you, the watcher. I could never watch “I Love Lucy” for this reason: Lucy wasn’t embarrassed, so by some sort of Law of Conservation of Shame, I had to be

    .

    And that’s why I avoid most reality TV shows.

  157. 157.

    zuzu's petals

    September 25, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    And I guess Palin didn’t get the “no-campaigning” memo either. Today she held a mini-press conference at, get this … Ground Zero. Eccchh.

    Palin Takes Reporters’ Questions

    Well, I’m not sure you’d call it a press conference. She “fielded” four questions (ignored at least one) and gave the same incoherent answer almost every time.

  158. 158.

    Comrade Texas Dem

    September 25, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    I somehow still can’t get past the image of Putin’s giant head rising over the Bering Sea. Hilarious. I hope the guys over at the Daily Show use that clip.

  159. 159.

    AnneLaurie

    September 25, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Why didn’t McCain choose Mike Huckabee to be his VP?

    Because Old John McLame didn’t like Hucksterbee. He was sick of the Media Village Idiots eating his good barbeque while talking regretfully about how “funny” and “nimble-minded” and “down-to-earth” the Arkansas Elmer Gantry was, at least in comparison with Dubya Lord Emperor Fail and his butt-buddy You-Know-Who. Sarahcuda Palin, on the other hand, kept standing reeeeaaal close (so Old John could smell her perfume & admire the outlines of her nursing brassiere), staring deferentially up at him, tilting her head to one side & nodding when Old John made a good point, giggling at all his jokes.

    If this country dodges the teflon-coated razor bullet of a McCain presidency, it will be due in part to the old-fashioned patriarchalism that made a failed beauty-pageant contestant look like a good choice for VP One-Malignant-Freckle-Away.

  160. 160.

    Comrade Cris Ivanov

    September 25, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    Palin’s performance is so space-bendingly stupid that it has made John’s already borderline server go over the edge into total insanity.

  161. 161.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    as GWB once said, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, won’t get fooled again errrr” or something like that….

    I think what George Bush said (or at least meant) was “I’m going to fool the American people twice. And it will be easy, because they are really, really stupid.”

  162. 162.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    as GWB once said, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, won’t get fooled again errrr” or something like that….

    I think what George Bush said (or at least meant) was “I’m going to fool the American people twice. And it will be easy, because they are really, really stupid.”

  163. 163.

    KXB

    September 25, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    In our family, we often note after visiting relatives in India, how some elements of Indian culture have come over here, and in some cases the traits we admire in America are now starting to make inroads into India. For example – airlines. It used to be in India, you have limited flights, amenities, and schedules. This, plus high prices and surly service made flying something to be avoided at all costs. Now, with market reforms – prices are more reasonable, service is better, and they feed you before takeoff, during the flight, and one drink after the meal (no booze though). The staff is better trained and more personable than they were even just a decade ago. The decline U.S. aviation is well documented.

    As far as politics – there is a saying in India that people do not cast their votes, but vote their castes. Having something in common with the candidate matters far more than qualifications. Now in the U.S., Palin’s glaring lack of qualifications does not matter – she just happens to be a member of a large tribe (evangelicals) that think she is super simply for being one of them.

  164. 164.

    Calouste

    September 25, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    Check it out – its being reported on TPM that McCain, who has suspended his campaign, is sitting down to do interviews on all the 3 broadcast news reports tonight.

    But he doesn’t have time for the debate tomorrow.

    Obama is going to take him to the cleaners on that tomorrow night. Just list everything he has done since “suspending” his campaign to address this “urgent ” issue. Then he is going to take him to the cleaners for not sending Palin to take his palce. And then at the end of every answer he gives if McCain doesn’t show up, he can give tow answers for McCain, one from before he flip-flopped and one after.

  165. 165.

    oh really

    September 25, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    WordWordPressPress SucksSucks.

  166. 166.

    Delia

    September 25, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    Why didn’t McCain choose Mike Huckabee to be his VP?

    You know, the Huckster is really smart and has a very good sense of humor. I sure as hell don’t want him as President, but when I’ve seen him on teevee, he’s sometimes made me laugh. Also, he’s not verging on senility and can stay on topic. He would have overshadowed McCain and he would have scared the money guys. But I’m sure he’ll be back one day.

  167. 167.

    Bob In Pacifica

    September 25, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    Comrade John, in our consciousness raising meeting this afternoon the bag of hammers complained about your characterization.

  168. 168.

    zuzu's petals

    September 25, 2008 at 6:12 pm

    Comrade Texas Dem Says:

    I somehow still can’t get past the image of Putin’s giant head rising over the Bering Sea. Hilarious. I hope the guys over at the Daily Show use that clip.

    Yeah, the airy little wave of the hand that went with it was priceless.

  169. 169.

    LA Confidential Pantload

    September 25, 2008 at 6:12 pm

    “as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America,”

    That is definitely the strangest porn fantasy I’ve ever heard.

  170. 170.

    cleter

    September 25, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    I think Huckabee will be the nominee next time.

    I used to coach high school debaters, and judge at high school debate tournaments, and there was a phrase for things like the Palin performance:

    word salad

    I totally agree with Larsmacomb. At the end of debate rounds, the judge writes a ballot explaining what the reasons were for the decision, and for a performance that ghastly and cringeworthy, I would usually write a nice long, detailed ballot full of gentle constructive criticism. Cuz they were fragile-egoed students. But, damn, Palin is a grown-ass adult. She should not suck that badly.

  171. 171.

    Greg D

    September 25, 2008 at 7:32 pm

    Sorry, but I felt bad for Couric, she obviously just wanted to reach over there and grab her by the hair and say “WTF are you saying, Beeeeotch!?” I would guess that that was the most painful interview she has ever done. Sarah Palin is not a moron, she is just way in over her head…way, way, waaayy in over her head!

  172. 172.

    jenniebee

    September 25, 2008 at 7:39 pm

    ”amps that go up to volume eleven”

    For those who haven’t watched Spinal Tap with the commentary track on, you’re really missing out. Palin’s responses put me in mind of something from the commentary, when David St. Hubbins complains that the interviewer was going from notes – “it wasn’t fair – he already knew what he was going to ask ahead of time!”

  173. 173.

    from oz

    September 25, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    Hi all, I’m from Australia & a keen observer of this election campaign.

    It amazed me when Bush was voted in for the second time.

    And it really amazes me that the Republicans still have a reasonable chance of winning this election.

    If conservative America is too afraid of change and would rather stay conservative, then good luck to you all – and good luck to the rest of the world.

    I hope that you all embrace your right to vote – and vote against the Republicans.

  174. 174.

    L. Ron Obamanov

    September 25, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Rick, I read an except on a thread here last night from her Katie Couric interview where she’s showing off some …”amps that go up to volume eleven” that I SWEAR nearly duplicate the dialogue from a scene in “Spinal Tap”.

    Comrade Tax Analyst, I think maybe this election has addled you just a bit. So it has for all of us.

  175. 175.

    zuzu's petals

    September 25, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    Oh, snap:

    Ms. Couric asked her questions firmly but gently, careful not to seem flippant or condescending. But she ended on a “gotcha” moment. After Ms. Palin attacked Senator Barack Obama for saying he would meet with leaders of Syria and Iran without preconditions, Ms. Couric reminded the governor that she recently met with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who supports direct diplomacy with both countries. “Are you saying Henry Kissinger is naïve?” Ms. Couric asked. Ms. Palin replied, “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’ ”

    After the interview, Ms. Couric faced the camera and added a postscript. “Incidentally, we confirmed Henry Kissinger’s position following our interview,” she said, explaining that Mr. Kissinger supports talks “without preconditions.”

    NY Times

  176. 176.

    zuzu's petals

    September 26, 2008 at 2:35 am

    Winner.

    Putin Rears His Head

  177. 177.

    Nikolita

    September 26, 2008 at 10:12 am

    >> “Because whatever Huckabee’s other problems are—and they are legion, from a progressive perspective—he has one killer for the Republican money side. Huckabee actually gives a shit about poor people, and the real base can’t abide that. It’s just as well, too, because Huckabee would have been a handful and a half compared to either Palin or McCain.”

    I always thought it was because Huckabee was so religious and talked about amending the constitution “to be in line with God’s views” or whatever (including amending it to make gay marriage illegal).

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. PoliBlog (TM): A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » Another Clip of Palin with Couric says:
    September 25, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    […] I have to admit, that I agree with John Cole’s take: This is like one of those awkward moments in school when a student is giving a presentation they are completely unprepared for, and the teacher knows it, the student knows it, and everyone watching knows it, yet you sit there and go through the charade. […]

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