Looks like purge time.

The problem of course is that those with access to the media right now may be in an extremely vulnerable position. On the flip side, it appears that the House Republicans may form up to be a very unified, very conservative voice; no longer bound to Bush and McCain's wishy-washy'ness.

From what I've seen, it looks to me like Palin's part of the ticket showed up, very strongly; so the few remaining moderates may be attacking her now hoping to head off a purge that will leave them jobless, waiting tables and temping at law firms.

If the Evangelical base takes offense; the moderates are toast, and no amount of press assistance will be able to save them.

It may be a lot more fun as the minority party in the coming years, so hold onto your hats, the ride's just getting started.

nb: someone fix the formatting of that URL in the OP.
Pretty Please?

How could you not know what countries are involved in NAFTA? Duh - North America????

If you don't know that, you have ZERO credibility. That really is elementary level knowledge. And even if you don't "know", you should be able to quickly figure it out.

Yikes. And to think if this info is true, she could have been one step away from being President? OMG. The GOP just sunk even lower in my book.

This is the funny thing; you assert that its such a simple thing to know (which it is); then treat the report as if it is, by default, credible.

I find it highly unlikely that Palin doesn't know that the US, Mexico and Canada make up NAFTA.

I find it much more likely that the report is false, and either arises from Urban Legend style propagation, or from deliberate insider misinformation from the moderates in McCain's campaign organization.

But hey, its understandable, people enjoy being part of a lynch mob; piling on, after the wounded prey; quite typical.

She looked like she was going to cry. I'm very impressed that she didn't, actually.

She was upset because they did not allow her to deliver her own speech which she had all written up.She could have cared less about Mccain.

Whither Palin? Here’s my take. Palin is political toast. She managed to embarrass Alaskans with her exposure to the world beyond Wasilla. Why would even the most extreme of evangelicals consider her as an asset within the Republican Party after such a display of ineptitude? In other words, for the future, she’s neither acceptable to the moderates nor to the right wing. In the sober assessment of the campaign, after all the hype has died down, she’ll be quietly phased out of future party insider maneuvering and left to wither. I doubt Alaska will even consider her for the next election there. Bye bye. Then she can truly be the hockey mom she claims she is.

Seriously, does anybody really believe she thinks Africa is just one big country?

Even grade school kids see the globe and come to realize pretty quick all the countries, even if they do not remember the names.

There is post campaign mud slinging going on here. I think Palin showed herself to be a sincere and critical thinknig person, even if she did not have a good knowledge of world affairs. I think she has a future, one thing may be her taking the Alaskan senate seat, and staying in the big arena of Washington, DC.

Why doesn't everyone get off on how stupid Palin is. She's not that stupid as you think she is. How come the same people that think she is stupid don't talk about how Obama thinks there are 57 States in the United States or how Biden thinks T.V. was here in 1929 and so on.

Two sides to the situation...

There are people that just like to pile on after the tackle; and this happens to be the show thats on the road.

There are people that know that if Palin gets a head of steam behind her, she'll ignite the conservative base and make a mess of the two parties, one policy thing going on now.

The first group are just normal humans, they'll get bored after a while and go find some other injured target to beat up on.

The second group is playing live or die hardball, and they've got just a bit less than two months to kill her politically before a purged and unified minority party comes back to Washington looking to pick a fight in the House. If she's still got fire in her come January; this second group is finished as a political subdivision within the Republican party.

I don't really pay much attention to the Democrats that chime in on Palin; they are no longer relevant to the debate; if they won't vote for McCain, the most lefty Republican known to the world; reaching to the middle is proven pointless.

Youtube Video of Sarah Palin

Watch this video and judge for yourself, how stupid she is.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran.

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.

GIBSON: Are you a parrot?

PALIN: Poly wants a cracker

----

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin paused, looked at Gibson, and correctly guessing that she had been tossed a question for which she did not know the answer, adroitly asked a question of her own:

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: Well... what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view,

GIBSON: As a parrot, do you know the meaning of the word Doctrine

PALIN: Poly wants a cracker

----

GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?

PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we’re going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.

GIBSON: But, Governor, I’m asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.

PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?

PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.

GIBSON: Are you a parrot?

PALIN: Poly wants a cracker

.

Absolutely, they're trying to take her out because she is/was so popular.

I think she killed any presidential bid with the crank call, I don't see how any person running for president could get over that.

There is some speculation by Palin's camp that the McCain handlers knew of her unauthorized call scheduled with the "president of france" and did nothing, said nothing about it for 3 days. Makes me wonder if it was an inside set-up. Palin didn't go out of her way to tell anyone about it either. If it was an inside set-up, I'm sure they think it's poetic justice for being so bold.

Palin says "I'm not stupid"

She particularly lashed out at the anonymous Republican campaign sources cited in a Fox News report who said she did not know Africa was a continent, not a country, and could not name the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Canada, the United States and Mexico.

"I consider it cowardly'' that they did not allow their names to be used, she said.

Palin said those allegations aren't true. She recalled discussing Africa and NAFTA with aides who prepared her for the vice presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

"If there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about NAFTA, and about the continent vs the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context,'' she said.

"That's cruel, It's mean-spirited. It's immature. It's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news. It's not fair, and it's not right.''

I was happy to see Obama apologized to Nancy Reagan after his thoughtless remarks at his press conference

Obama apologizes to Nancy Reagan

Now if only Obama would apologize to all the mutts out there!

If you read my post, you will see that I said "And to think if this info is true..."

I find it highly unlikely also, but you never know. If you asked the average American on the street, I'm confident you could find plenty who have no clue even what NAFTA stands for. And if you told them, they would still not be able to figure out the countries involved.

I think that these reports are suspect given their post-election, anonymous status. But if you have a three-time convicted felon and he's a suspect in a robbery, it's hard to say he's innocent, even if the "witness" is crack-smoker. When you add up everything that Palin's said, is "Africa's a country" really that far off? I mean, it's horribly dumb, but is it much more unbelievable than "The VP runs the Senate"?

However, what she's said has hurt me deeply within my intellectual soul. Not as a Republican or an intelligent person. It hurts as an American. That we could even have the chance to elect someone so unintelligent and willfully ignorant of basic facts like the Bush Doctrine is a disgrace for what people have bled for and what our founders laid as a foundation for this nation. Our founders were the most intellectual and knowing men of their time yet this person, and the man who picked her, had the gall to run for high office, the same office held by men like Washington, Jefferson and Jackson? That is what I view as un-American if there is such a thing. America is the only nation on Earth founded based on an idea, and idea founded in European liberalism. An idea founded out of liberated ourselves not just from oppressive government, but ignorance and the Dark Ages. What Palin represents is not an ultra-conservative, evangelical Republican, but a window into the Europe of old whence our forefathers fled.

Regardless of anyone's political views, what I find important in a person who holds any type of view is how they arrived at said view. If the person held the best of intentions and was thoroughly knowledgeable and intelligent when they made their decisions about their views, then they will always be able to adapt their views to the changing tides. But if someone is so ignorant that they can't even explain how they arrived at their views in an intelligent and clear manner to others, then they are stuck in their beliefs forever like quicksand. I personally find anyone with such stubbornness and ignorance to be repulsive, whether or not their views agree with mine. However, if someone is thoughtful about their views, then I can develop a great deal of respect for them.

There's a common saying: "What would Jesus (AS) do?". When I vote, I ask myself, "For whom would our founders vote?". While her views may be more in line with the views of Adams, Jefferson, etc., I don't think for a second that these men would ever consider a person such as Palin.

With that said:

THANK GOD SHE DIDN'T WIN.



I'd never seen that entire interview before, but I wonder: is it really just and fair to go after her on the experience issue so hard, like how Gibson did? I don't recall Obama under that pressure from Day One. But maybe because that as 500 days ago...





That's what an eighteen year old - someone who should be a senior in HS if not in college - had said.

Have you been to the US HS system? I have. I recently graduated four years ago from one of the "best" in my state. I likely ran into people who do think that Africa is one nation, that Arab is a religion, that China is next to Canada and that Europe is a country inside the UK. I was probably so traumatized by listening to said assertions that I pushed it out of my brain, lest I have a seizure or stroke. There is a great deal of un-education within the US school system. It thoroughly explains why people like Palin can be applauded by people who say they are patriots, yet can't explain the significance of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Our system does crap out people as dumb as she is. Being as she's in politics, and local politics at that, it's not a stretch of the imagination that it's certainly possible for her to be this dumb.



I enjoy your sincerity. But don't you find it, as an American, even the least bit stressful that you still think it's at least POSSIBLE that she didn't know this information? You say it's "highly unlikely", thus expressing at least a possibility. To me, ANY possibility that someone could be so vapid is disgraceful to this nation and to its history.



Exactly. Even if it is true, they showed their true colors by bringing this information out AFTER the election so as to deflect the news cycle away from the McCain loss and instead embarrass Palin.

What I find odd is that if this does knock Palin out of the '12 race, it greatly benefits Mitt Romney, McCain's arch nemesis from the primaries.

I find it unbelievable that most Americans are so horribly dumb they don't know that under the U.S. Constitution the Vice President serves as President of the Senate.

It is like Sarah has got her second wind, and she is on every news show it seems. She's like the Engergizer bunny. But, if the Anchorage News is any indicator, her fellow Alaskans are feeling embarrassed about her.

See the reader comments to this story, Palin on CNN

Out of two pages, just one positive response, but its a bit unfocused on any particular issue, just "It's good to have politicians who put their lives at the hands of God, like Gov. Sarah Palin. God bless you, Sarah!"


Having said that, though I am noit impressede with her knowledge and am a repelled by her overreaching ambition, I still find something mesmerizing about her, she is very magnetic. Maybe its a sexual thing as my wife does not like her at all. But, my wife doesn't seem to like any hot looking women.

I've spent too many hours in math and logic courses to apply anything more strongly worded than "highly unlikely" to a statement about what another human being knows or does not know at any given point in time.

I could state with equal conviction, "I find it highly unlikely that President Elect Obama does not know that Illinois is a state." In other words, I have as much confidence that Governor Palin knows a substantial amount about NAFTA as I do that President Elect Obama knows that Illinois is a state.



Can't know anything until the congress reconvenes. The shape of the Republican minority in the House will have an enormous impact on any future results. I wouldn't list Romney, or any moderate, as a top ten at this point; moderates have a history of either losing or governing in a way contrary to the policy objectives of the vast majority of remaining, sitting Republicans.

Could also be that '12 will be a "put-up" spot like Dole, with only nominal support. I think the real fight will be in 2016; with a strong lefty successor to President Elect Obama matched against a strong righty contender; could be a seasoned Palin, could be someone we don't even know yet.