It is important to get a good insight into things...
one of them more. Frankly, there are things that we should know, even if
they don't look newsworthy or glamour-based.
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Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to
ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in
American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed
in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's
Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It
didn't help. When asked how living in the state closest to Russia gave
her foreign-policy experience, Palin responded thus:
"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—where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just
right over the border. 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. They are right next to—to our state."
There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I
flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert
on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) But even beyond that, read the
rest of her response. "It is from Alaska that we send out those …" What
does this mean? This is not an isolated example. Palin has been given a
set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras
that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.")
But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often,
quite frankly, gibberish.
Couric asked her a smart question about the proposed $700 billion
bailout of the American financial sector. It was designed to see if
Palin understood that the problem in this crisis is that credit and
liquidity in the financial system has dried up, and that that's why, in
the estimation of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben
Bernanke, the government needs to step in to buy up Wall Street's most
toxic liabilities. Here's the entire exchange:
COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion
helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care,
housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money
into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions
that played a role in creating this mess?
PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were
ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the
taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is
help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed
to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job
creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right
track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending
has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And
trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive,
scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector
today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things
under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.
This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about
economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's
Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under
wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright
lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see
that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain
campaign to treat her like a time bomb.
Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be
vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done
some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about
any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a
time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of
challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military
operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against
the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is
not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic
challenges.
Domestically, the bailout and reform of the financial industry will take
years and hundreds of billions of dollars. Health-care costs, unless
curtailed, will bankrupt the federal government. Social Security,
immigration, collapsing infrastructure and education are all going to
get much worse if they are not handled soon.
And the American government is stretched to the limit. Between the Bush
tax cuts, homeland-security needs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the bailout,
the budget is looking bleak. Plus, within a few years, the retirement of
the baby boomers begins with its massive and rising costs (in the
trillions).
Obviously these are very serious challenges and constraints. In these
times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate
is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country
first. In this important case, it is simply not true.
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tnn
