Palin on Hamas
It’s a little hard to believe that there’s actually more bizarre stuff in Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric, but Jeffrey Goldberg rightly calls attention to this revealing exchange:
KATIE COURIC: “What happens if the goal of democracy doesn’t produce the desired outcome? In Gaza, the U.S. pushed hard for elections and Hamas won.”
SARAH PALIN: “Yeah, well especially in that region, though, we have to protect those who do seek democracy and support those who seek protections for the people who live there. What we’re seeing in the last couple of days here in New York is a President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and express such disdain for one of our closest allies and friends, Israel … and we’re hearing the evil that he speaks and if hearing him doesn’t allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, especially there in the Mideast, then nothing will.”
As Goldberg says, the issue here isn’t that she gave a bad answer, rather “the issue here is that she didn’t know the question.” Indeed. This is one of those hard questions where you don’t expect a thoughtful, well-informed person to have a quick and easy answer. But by the same token, you do expect a thoughtful, well-informed person to be aware of the basic contours of the situation — the U.S. told the Palestinians that there could be no peace deal with Israel unless they held free and fair elections, then free and fair elections were held, and Hamas won. This is especially interesting in light of the fact that Palin has an Israeli flag in her office. It ought to tell you something about Israel’s false friends in the Christian Zionist movement that they feel free to take strong positions on life-and-death issues of middle east policy without having even a vague familiarity with the situation.
45 Responses to “Palin on Hamas”
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September 29th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
As opposed to Israel’s false friends who do appear to know a vague something about the region, most resulting in a sadly-we-must-bomb-them attitude.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
To me, Palin doesn’t come across much different from any other GOP talking-point-repeating politcian.
It’s true that she doesn’t really speak in complete sentences, but “blah blah blah Israel blah blah blah evil blah democracy” sounds pretty much the same to my ear whether or not the keywords are held together by grammatically correct phrases.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Well Katie, Hamas may have won, but I simply do not see what the problem is? Hamas is delicious for dipping pita bread and a bit of moose meat.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Well, the Likudniks, and their American allies, don’t *want* a negotiated solution with the Palestinians. Thus, having Hamas rise to power pursuant to an election they “promoted”, so as to justify continuing to ostracize the Palestinians is a feature, not a bug.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
What McKingford said.
Also – Palin, ignorant as she is, did not “endorse” Hamas as trumpeted by that douchebag Goldberg. You’re really too easy on that guy, Matthew. Some sort of misguided professional code (”Don’t talk badly about your ex-colleagues”) holding you back?
September 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Technically, Ahmadinejad did not “express such disdain” “on our soil”, right? Isn’t the UN considered international territory?
September 29th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Re McKingsford
The election was forced on the Palestinians by our genius Secretary of State, Condi Rice over the reservations of Abbas and elements of the Israeli Government who warned what would happen.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Hey, here’s something for Mr. otto, Mr. Don Williams, Mr. Arnold Evans, Mr. McKingsford, and all the other Israel bashers on this blog. They are slow off the mark.
http://michiganmessenger.com/5247/is-a-pro-mccain-israeli-front-group-trying-to-influence-novembers-election-results-in-violation-of-campaign-law
September 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Well, I gotta hand to the Obamunist for keeping the focus on Palin. Keeps the press distracted from asking the most important questions of all: What has prepared Barry or given him ANY executive experience to be PRESIDENT? Of course those are questions that cannot be asked directly of him because it destroys the whole narrative.
Look, we all know what becomes of the VP after election. They become irrelevant. They are like the clipboard holding 2nd string QB. Looking at Palind resume there is nothing there that would indicate she is not prepare to cut ribbons, attend state funerals, give the random commencement speech, or cast the RARE deciding vote in the Senate. To paraphrase John Adams; it’s the most irrelevant and powerless position created by man.
So, get over yourselves.
(I’ll patienty await the “what if McCain dies” retort. One could just as easily ask; “What if Barry gets heart disease, has a stroke, or, according to Michelle, gets shot at a gas station?)
September 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Look, we all know what becomes of the VP after election. They become irrelevant. They are like the clipboard holding 2nd string QB.
Yeah, just look at Cheney. Completely irrelevant and has had no hand whatsoever in running the government, and particularly no hand in guiding and fomenting the Iraq War….
Or just look at other former vice presidents such as, say, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, George Bush the Elder or Al Gore. Historical footnotes all, their names known only to the most erudite of presidential scholars.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
One could just as easily ask;
True, because we know that the mortality rates of (i) healthy 47 year old men who exercise regularly and (ii) cancer-riddled 72 year old men who are so frail that they cannot use a computer keyboard are completely identical. That’s why its so easy for 72 year old men with a history of cancer to get life insurance…..
September 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
elements of the Israeli Government who warned what would happen.
“Please don’t fling me into the briar patch”, said Br’er Rabbit…
September 29th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Stefan,
Barack Obama is a 47-year old cigarette smoker, who acknowledged doing unspecified psychotropic substances at some unspecified point in the past. You forgot to put that in your actuarial analysis.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Re Hector
I seem to recall that Senator Obama quit smoking some time ago, under pressure from his wife, just like Dubya quit drinking under pressure from his wife.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Re McKingford
I may be old and I may be slow but Mr. McKingfords’ last comment don’t make no sense to me.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
As Goldberg points out in his next post, in reply to a McCain spokesman, that he was mocking Palin for appearing to endorse Hamas due to the confused nonsense of her answer.
I think he was being too kind. The real reason Palin was not actually endorsing Hamas is that you can’t endorse somebody if you have no idea who they are.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Words fail; how Goldberg, a former Israeli reservist, who still corresponds with his former detainees now in Hamas, and
tried to understand why they martyr themselves; how about they’re psychotic Salafis for a thousand Alex. Hamas came to power, mostly because of a flawed parliamentary vote allocation scheme, and because the Fatah faction was more
corrupt. Also because the Israeli withdrawal from the territories was seen as a victory of their part of the intifada. Does this mean that Nazi Germany was more authentic
because they were able to challenge the Social Democrats and
the Catholic Party; you didn’t really mean that.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Re SLC
How does that link you point to make what you call “israel-bashing” less likely?
September 30th, 2008 at 1:54 am
@10
Ah, yes! What’s a conversation with a “progressive” without bringing up Darth Vader. You provided me with exceptions, not common occurrences. In fact, only two of your examples were the result of the situation you fear the most. Ford rose to it not from death but resignation. And the country at the time felt the same about Ford as they do Palin. Same goes for Truman. Read a history book once.
NONE of the VP’s you list did ANYTHING noteworthy DURING their time serving as VP. They all became relevant AFTER leaving the VP office. See my point? Quick, who what Nixon’s first VP and what did he accomplish. Name ONE impactful thing Quayle accomplished while VP. Yea, I didn’t think so. Quick, without looking it up, who was Eisenhower’s VP. Who was Nixon’s running mate in 1960. Who was Johnson’s VP while serving out Kennedy’s term, then who was his VP during his first full term and what did he accomplish? Yea, I didn’t think so either. I rest my case. VP’s are more often than not, irrelevant to the running of the country.
So, still working on that list of Executive experiences that qualify Barry to be President? I’ll eat my waffle while I wait, sweetie.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:53 am
@11
Let me see if I understand your rebuttal. It’s okay to ignore actuarial tables for mullatos or blacks because Barry is a unique individual that may not fall into ANY of the risks blacks do.
But we must use actuarial data to apply to McCain. Despite the fact that his heredity may indeed help him fall outside they actuarial tables for men of his age. Do I have that right?
You can’t have it both ways. Either the respective risk factors apply to BOTH candidates, or they don’t. Care to reconsider your defense? You can’t apply one standard to one candidate and a different one to another. Hell, we have NO IDEA what Barry’s potential risk factors are, because he hasn’t released any medical records. On the other hand, we know PLENTY about McCain’s health. When is Barry going to clear up any doubts about his health, and what impact smoking may have had on him?
McCain is not “cancer-riddled”. Good God!, do you do ANY kind of research before spouting off? He had melanoma and since having his last melanoma removed in 2002, he’s been diagnosed as CANCER FREE by doctors. Try reading a newspaper once, too.
Since it’s apparent you’ve either been educated by the US public school system, and/or never read a history book, it might interest you to know that Harry S. Truman was 64 at the time of his election in 1948. And this at a time when the life expectancy was far less than it is today. His picked VP was Alben Barkley who was 71 at the time of the 1948 election. (and I would also ask what Barkley accomplished WHILE VP).
You do also realize, do you not?, that Biden is 67 years old and his brain is “riddled with aneurysms”. How long would he last were something to happen to Barry?
Who knows what Barry’s health is like. His Mom died at 50. McCain’s Mom is STILL ALIVE at 95 years old. Quick, what’s one of the first thing a doctor asks when doing a physical. That’s right! Family history. There’s this thing called heredity that one can’t do much about.
And finally, we had no problem electing a 43 year old that was perhaps in worse health than any president in the last 50 years–JFK. He had: colitis– The treating being steroids which made his health even worse. Addisons disease. He took a medicine cabinet full of drugs, many of which would affect his thinking: cortisone, lomotil,paregoric, phenobarbital (a “downer”), testosterone, Tiunal, amphetamines.
So, I’ll take my chances with McCain.
But we do know this: Obama is a smoker and that places him in a high risk category for developing lung cancer which is generally fatal. From the CDC:”The Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health documented that, compared with whites, blacks experience substantial excess mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infant death. All of these conditions are substantially affected by smoking; therefore, this excess mortality makes cigarette smoking a major health issue for blacks.”
September 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Dave,
Obama isn’t “black” in the American sense, he’s of East African Nilotic orgin, who are quite different genetically from African Americans (who are mainly of Bantu origin). Unless you can find some actuarial tables for Nilotic Americans, it strikes me as somewhat irrelevant.
McCain, of course, comes from a long-lived family and it would seem that his heredity gives him a good chance of surviving out his term.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Re Sid
I was hoping to give the Israel bashers some grist for their mill. I just like to stir up controversy.
Re Dave
1. As I stated previously, it is my information that Senator Obama has stopped smoking.
2. Eisenhowers’ vice-president was Richard Nixon
3. Johnson had no vice-president as he completed Kennedys’ term. His vice-president during his full term was Hubert Humphrey.
4. It is my understanding that Obamas’ biological father is still alive. His maternal grandmother is also still alive.
5. Furthermore, the vice-presidential role has increased in importance since those far off halcyon days. George H. W. Bush was an important part of the Reagan administration. Al Gore was an important part of the Clinton administration. Dick Cheney is an important part of the G. W. Bush administration.
6. Senator McCain has refused to release his medical records. What is he hiding? I would also point out that he appears seriously overweight, which, in somebody of his age bracket is a significant risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
7. The notion that 46 year old Senator Obama is more likely to croak within the next 4 years then 72 year old Senator McCain is ludicrous in the extreme. Mr. Dave is grasping at straws. Come up with something better.
8. Incidentally, one should be careful about making medical assertions about individuals. James Earl Carter who is now in his late seventies, comes from a family with a serious history of cancer. Both his father and mother died of cancer. His brother and sister died of cancer at relatively young ages. Yet Jimbo lives on!
September 30th, 2008 at 10:33 am
SLC,
Obama’s father is dead, as far as I know. He died in a drunken car accident, as the racist peanut gallery is fond of telling us. Obama’s maternal grandmother is alive (85 y/o) which makes it somewhat disturbing that Obama would call her out for racism on national TV.
I see no evidence that Senator McCain has a weight problem.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hector,
Fair point. Although even if his African ancestors were of Bantu origin, Barry wouldn’t be “black” in the American sense. His mother was a whitey, who died at 50. I was being deliberately pedantic in using the CDC info to point out how ridiculous it is to apply actuarial data to one specific person. These guys aren’t applying for health insurance. Now, if Barry planned to have his whole administration made up of smokers and ex-drug users that were mulatto whose respective mothers died at 50 from lung cancer, then we could start apply the actuarial statistics. Same goes for McCain if he were to plan to staff his cabinet with male, 72 year old, ex-smokers with a history of melanoma. This whole argument is silly. However, we do know probably more about McCain’s health than any other Presidential candidate in history. And every doctor that was part of supplying that information has said McCain should easily be able to serve out his term based on his medical condition and history. Curiously we have no such detailed information on Barry. But “progessives” don’t seem to want to question that fact.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:04 am
SLC, thank you for proving my argument with point #8 on your list. I’m glad you agree.
You say VP’s have taken on a “increased importance”, yet you provide no specific examples to enforce your argument. What, specifically, did each one of those VP’s do WHILE serving as VP that shows that the role has “increased importance”? And why did you leave Quayle off your list? What did he do while VP? Now, I do remember Algore holding illegal campaign fund raising coffee klatches in the White House and the VP’s residence while in office. For which we will forever remember the phrase “no controlling legal authority”. Is that the kind of “increased importance” you are referring to?
September 30th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Re Dave
I don’t give a flying fuck what the doctors say about Senator McCains’ health. As Mr. Dave points out, the doctors who treated President Kennedy lied through their teeth and covered up his Addisons’ disease and the drugs they administered to alleviate his back pain. I would also point out that President Roosevelts’ doctors lied through their teeth about his condition in 1944 and Wilsons’ doctors lied about the seriousness of his stroke. Release his medical records. Period, end of story.
If Mr. Dave doesn’t think that vice president Cheney hasn’t played an important role in the Bush administration, he is either ignorant, stupid, insane, or a fucking liar.
SLC, thank you for proving my argument with point #8 on your list. I’m glad you agree.
Mr. Dave is full of shit. Unlike Senator McCain, there is no evidence that Carter has ever suffered from cancer, aside from which he was some 15 years younger then McCain during his presidency. Mr. Dave also continues to claim that Senator Obama is a smoker, ignoring the fact that he quit several months.
Re Hector.
Au contraire, Senator McCain looks pretty overweight to me.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Re Dave
By the way, Mr. Dave doesn’t seem too concerned about the health of the current incumbent in the White House who is not only an alcoholic but a former pot smoker and coke snorter. I can testify from comments made to me by personnel at the bike shop where Bush has purchased his two off-road bikes that, like Senator Obama, he is in excellent physical shape for a man of his age. Sounds like if one quits unhealthy life styles early enough, they need not cause permanent health damage.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
@26. One’s ignorance always shows through when they resort to name calling and swearing when trying to make their point. Alas, it fails.
Please show me where I ever said I didn’t think Cheney plays an important role in Bush’s administration. There are always exceptions. I asked you for specific examples of VP’s becoming “more important”. Rather than provide any data to prove your point, you resort to name calling. I’d expect nothing less from an Obama supporter.
You couldn’t be more ignorant if you tried. Roosevelt nor Kennedy were ever asked to release their medical records. Moreover, it was a different time back then. The press showed more respect for the President’s personal life than they do today. Your counter arguments are beyond silly. I’m guessing you never studied logic, because your counterpoints are plainly illogical to the argument.
You have McCain’s medical records, you don’t have to rely on the doctors. Moreover, the fact that you choose not to believe the doctors doesn’t make McCain’s health better or worse.
As for Barry–okay, recent smoker. Is that better? Are you suggesting the affects of smoking are completely cleared up in two months time?
We don’t know the current state of Mr. Traitor..er..I mean Carter’s health. The point you made is that Carter is bucking that actuarial tables. There’s no reason to believe McCain can’t live at least as long as Carter, if not longer. McCain if FREE of cancer. The fact that you choose not to believe the medical evidence doesn’t disprove that fact. Again, an illogical argument.
@27 WTF? What does that have to do with ANYTHING? We aren’t talking about Bush. So, while I’m sure if felt good to get that off your chest. So Bush and Obama have drug abuse in common. One had admitted it, the other is based on innuendo. But, for the sake of your silly argument, I’ll grant you that. Now, did you have a point? Why are you talking about Bush? And please show me where I indicated I wasn’t concerned about Bush’s health. Although for the sake of this argument I don’t know why I would be, or what relevance it has.
I must conclude that you failed on two points: you are unable to support your argument that VP’s have taken on a more significant role in Presidential administrations. You do provide an apparent exception to the rule.
You do not provide any evidence that there are specific health issues that the doctors have not made public that suggests McCain will not live out his term if elected. I will grant you that both McCain and Barry can drop dead at any moment. But, you’ve not proven McCain’s age or current health precludes him from serving out his term.
I hope the name calling and swearing made you feel better. I would suggest, however, doing some research before making a point.
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