Eagleburger Tries To Walk Back "Stupid" Palin Criticism

Appearing on Fox News on Friday, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger awkwardly fell on his sword, entirely taking back his previously critical assessment of Sarah Palin's readiness to serve as president, which was given to NPR on Thursday night.

As the Huffington Post noted earlier, Eagleburger's endorsement of McCain is frequently cited by the Republican nominee. But clearly, the opinions of President George H.W. Bush's Secretary of State were less welcome on the subject of Palin, whom Eagleburger had said was "of course" not "prepared to take over the reins of the presidency." Later, in his NPR interview, Eagleburger said, "Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate."

By Friday afternoon, however, Eagleburger was more eager to chastise himself than Palin.

"You are witnessing something quite unique: a man who is about to talk to you while he has his foot in his mouth," Eagleburger said when asked if his NPR quotes had been taken out of context.

"I made a serious mistake yesterday. I was quoted correctly," Eagleburger said. "I wasn't thinking when i said it -- in fact, I was discussing foreign policy, and this was in that context, and I was just plain stupid, and if I had given the flim-flam artist Barack Obama some success with this I am deeply apologetic."

It was a fine performance, but the Fox News host proceeded to take Eagleburger's retraction too far, resulting in another moment in which Eagleburger belittled Palin. Host Stuart Varney asked, "You do feel that she's a quick learner and would be good as vice president given a few days?"

To which Eagleburger paused and said, "A few days? No." Later, however, he did argue that Palin has "made it clear she's a quick learner," despite the fact that "she didn't know anything about foreign affairs, nor should she have on the basis of what she had done."

Winding up his extended apology, Eagleburger made clear, "I have done my best and I apologized to the McCain people."

Watch:

Also of interest is the fact that Eagleburger wasn't the only conservative to call Palin unprepared on Thursday. As Think Progress noted, Nevada Sen. John Ensign told a local reporter: "Well, I do not think that Barack Obama or her are experienced enough to be President of the United States -- neither one of them, and Hillary Clinton was much more qualified to be President than Barack Obama was, but that who the nominee is. John McCain is much more qualified than Barack Obama and certainly Joe Biden is much more qualified than Sarah Palin is. I'd rather have the most qualified person at the top of the ticket, not number two."

Comments

[TKFraz]

Damage done.

[Indie2008]

You can't walk back that far Larry!

[KATANGA]

You're such a "Stupid" coward!

[ctman47]

In a pathetic way he did Palin a favor by showing that he was not ready to be Secretary of State.
How do people like this get in senior government positions?

[PitbullCatcher]

Tapout Eagleburge­r....TAPOU­T!

[livingstonlake]

2 canadian comedians pranked Palin...she really thought she was speaking to Sarkozy. Embarrassing performance. Reveals her ignorance and unpreparedness for VP / 1 heartbeat away from presidency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcEiR01QK7o

[honestpolitician]

"In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope. In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.....In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo. In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That’s what’s at stake. That’s what we’re fighting for." Obama Closing argument Speech - Oct 28th 2008

http://politicaladattacks.blogspot.com/

[didleijoe]

Nice. that's almost like some MLK type of talk man!

[honestpolitician]

GO VOTE NOW! Make History! Obama is need of all the votes necessary to create a landslide. Let's make sure that our state turns blue! Bring your friends and family - make it a group thing! Wouldn't you want to say 1 year from now, 5 years from now, or even 20 years from now that you contributed to the most highlighted election in US history? Wouldn't you be proud to tell your kids/grandkids years from now that you voted for this election? It will be the most talked about election for centuries. Voting is a right and a privilege. Let's all make history together!

http://politicaladattacks.blogspot.com/

[dwillisno1]

And he's not even the Secretary of State McMemory forgot the name of the other day.

[HansB]

When Eagleburger was working for Reagan, I remember a hillarious session of the Dutch parliament in which the prime minister lectured rebellious MPs that the Secretary of State was not a "nitwit" and should certainly not be called so during his coming visit.

[planetjeffy]

Just as the coverup is always worse than the deed, the retraction is worse than the comment. Way to keep the story in the news Larry. Why don't you retract the retraction to give it another day's legs.

[philosopherkingtomas]

Lawrence Eagleburger should really think about modeling!
NOT

[wideawakenow]

What is up with the fingerless gloves? Did he ride his bike there?

[rayinprague]

I think he is trying to look like Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove.

[dwillisno1]

Thats funny.

[radnip]

Where is the integrity? I wouldn't touch this guy with a 20-foot pole. What're these people doing, holding a gun to his head? He needs to remember he's an American and what that means. He needs to remember he is (supposedly) serving American, and what THAT means.

[littlepuffycloud]

hahahahaha