Sarah Palin Might Not Know What a Platform Is
Yesterday Sarah Palin did a phone interview with James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Most of it went pretty well -- lucky, he's a creep who likes children, that's an important sign; lucky, she's an asshole with children, small world, isn't it? -- but there was one ugly gotcha question:
Dobson:
The Republican Platform is the strongest pro-life, pro-family document to come out of a political party, even more so than the platforms during the campaigns of Ronald Reagan. There are principles there that I've been fighting for for thirty, forty years and you are trying to articulate those same principles, aren't you?
Oh jeez.
See, the problem here, for most Republican politicians, is that the platform is horrifying. A catalogue of revenge dreams and power fantasies, impossible and illegal, most of them involving women and scourging. It's the portrait in the attic of what Republican rule would look like, if the zealot half took over and pushed out the half who are just in it for the money.
It's not what you'd call a moderate document. Bob Dole, famously, claimed he never even read it.
That's what makes it a gotcha question, for most candidates. How to get around it. For Sarah Palin, what makes it a gotcha question is that I'm pretty sure she doesn't know that her party has a platform, or what one is.
He might as well be asking her the atomic weight of unbinilium.
So she goes into Palin bluff mode. What words does she have to work with from the question? "Platform." Good. We know that word. It's like a deck. "Pro-life." We heard about that at church. "Reagan." He was sort of like a young John McCain. Got it. Go.
Palin:
Absolutely, and Dr. Dobson thank you so much for recognizing that. This is a strong platform around the planks in this platform that respect life and respect the entrepreneurial spirit of this great country and those things, back to the social issues that are what Republicans, at least in the past, had articulated and tried to stand on.
Pause. Did that do it? Wait for next question. Darn it, he's not saying anything. That's okay, we can do this. Deep breath.
Palin:
Now, finally, we have very solid planks in the platform that will allow us to build an even stronger foundation for our country. It's all good and it's encouraging. You would maybe have assumed that we would have gotten further away from those strong planks. But no, they're there, they're solid, we stand on them and again I believe that it is the right agenda for the country at this time. Very, very clear and contrasted tickets in this election November 4th. People are going to see the clear contrasts, you just go to the planks in our platforms and that's where you see them.
And... done. Teacher, is that clock slow?
But Dobson isn't finished. He has a follow up. This must be what hell feels like.
Dobson:
In your private conversations with Senator McCain, it is your impression that he also strongly supports those views? I know that he did not oppose that platform when it was written. Do you think he will implement it?
I just remembered, I have an early out for band. Gotta go! No? Okay. Could you repeat the question?
What are the new words? "McCain" and "implement." Implement means "do."
Palin:
I do, from the bottom of my heart. I am such a strong believer that McCain believes in those strong planks and we do have good conversations about some of the details of the different planks and what they represent. I'm very heartened that John McCain ... he doesn't want a Vice President who will check the opinions ... of me at the door and we talk about some of these and they're very important. It's most important though, as you're suggesting, that Americans know that John McCain is solidly there on those solid planks in our platform that build the right agenda for America.
Nailed it! Pencils down.
She's such a desperate doofus. I'm glad she has nice clothes.
I think we might actually miss Sarah Palin. But we won't know until she goes away.
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Plank = Platform = Pier...hmm
OMG! ROTFLMFAO! This seems too funny to be real. I still can't stop laughing just thinking about it. Is there anyone capable of tying their own shoes that would actually vote for this woman to be VP?
'Is there anyone capable of tying their own shoes that would actually vote for this woman to be VP?"
Unfortunately yes. That's why it's not so funny...it
I hear ya. She's going to Springfield, MO, this friday to talk to all the hillbillies in the red part of Missouri. They're lapping up what she says and begging for more. I just shake my head in wonder at all the stupidity in that region.
I did not attend 6 colleges. I did not major in journalism. In fact I only have 30 credits at a junior college.
I do believe I can form a complete sentence and finsh a thought.
Round and round she goes, and nobody knows when or where she will stop.
Obama 08
In all seriousness -- does anyone else literally get dizzy reading or listening to her comments, or is it just me? I'll try again:
"This is a strong platform around the planks in this platform that respect life and respect the entrepreneurial spirit of this great country and those things, back to the social issues that are what Republicans, at least in the past, had articulated and tried to stand on."
Nope, still dizzy and how the H-E-double hockey sticks did our "entrepreneurial spirit" get into this conversation?
But the biggest red flag of all: "this great country" -- she always gets uber-patriotic when she's cornered. Every single time!
It seriously hurts my brain. I feel so stupid after she answers (or chases) a question. I have this imaginary wall that I smack my head against because her words sting so bad. I'm waiting for someone to say "what the he l l did you just say?" But no takers yet.
not only do i get dizzy reading her answers but i can't stand to listen to or watch her actually giving them. if they should happen to steal the election i don't know what i'll do for the next four years other than hope that for some reason--troopergate or any other breach of ethics--she has to step down. i could not listen to or look at her for four years. i would go completely insane...i just know it.
You are actually listening to what she says and trying to understand it? I thought her role was to stand in front of pro-Americans and look good. Silly anti-Americans and your endless questioning :P
Now there is a plank to nowhere!
Please, someone, please tell me this didn't really happen. No way is anyone this unintelligent. I mean nobody can be this bad. It's a joke, right?
Boy! That 15 question test for Governor of Alaska must be really easy...rep
That was hilarious. I wish I could have seen Dobson's reaction to her platform dance.
This whole thread is so misguided. A "plank" is "one of the articles of a political program," as any dictionary will reveal. Sarah Palin's use of the word plank in this context is perfectly correct.
Palin is truly ignorant and inarticulate. But her use of plank is one of the few things she has gotten right in any interview! So let's criticize her for all the stupid, vicious, small-minded things she says, and not waste our time on what she got right. It only reveals our own ignorance. Okay?
That she used "plank" in context is purely a coincidence. She did the old "if I repeat the key words often enough, they'll never be able to tell that I don't know what I'm talking about" trick that many of us tried to pull in high school. It's called BLUFFING your way through an answer! Surely you recognize B.S. when you hear it?
It would seem if that were the case, she would have gotten off the planks and onto actual discussion about the ******ARTI
I will make a prediction: sometime in the next few days, palin will give a little interview about what she reeeeeeally meant by all these planks, and miraculously she will suddenly understand Dobson's "platform" in great specifics, with examples, Supreme Court rulings to back it up, and the names of a few newspaper references thrown in for good measure.
I am also wondering if this Dobson interview was a set up test from the religious right wing.
Barack Obama wants to blow up the platforms that Reagan built to buck up the fundamentals of our economy because he is a terrorist Muslim. Man, this is almost as bad as her asinine ramblings about the VP being "in charge of the Senate." Chris Matthews, where are you?
See, the problem here, for most Republican politicians, is that the platform is horrifying. A catalogue of revenge dreams and power fantasies, impossible and illegal, most of them involving women and scourging. It's the portrait in the attic of what Republican rule would look like, if the zealot half took over and pushed out the half who are just in it for the money
After how Obama shills have trashed women in this campaign, they are hardly in a position to speak up about Repubs' positions on women...th
Funny. I'm a woman and I don't feel that way. Could you, perhaps, be mistaken?
NTO08 makes about as much sense as Sarah Palin, without a plank to stand on.
Who ARE you? And why are you ALWAYS on this blog?
Now she's a Maverick carpenter, who woulda thunk?.
OK- I'm convinced there's no way this lady could have convincingly been elected mayor and governor based on intellect, gift of persuasion, or merit. This leads me to two hypotheses: 1)Either Wasilla and Alaska are extremely superficial and voted her in because of her above average looks or 2) The AIP with their huge influence in the state did some serious campaigning to ensure her the seat. My guess? The latter. AIP definately has vested interests in this unknowledgeable woman. If she gets into the White House, watch out- Alaska will separate from the United States- she'll make sure of it. Who do you think hired the PR crew to get her noticed nationally last year? Surely not this woman who doesn't even know the job description of the job she's vying for. Laughable, absolutely laughable.
Did you see the interview with the new mayor of Wasilla? I can't remember where I saw it.
After seeing that I have no doubt that she was capable of filling that role. The new mayor was able to tick off two things she does: Weekly staff meetings and signing checks to pay the city bills.
Colbert Report- Jason Jones.
Weekly staff meetings? No, still not convinced. Job description seems a bit too advanced for Ms. Palin, unless, the staff meetings were scripted. LOL
The interview was part of a "Daily Show" segment this week -- Tuesday I think. That was just one of several telling moments in the piece, which used Wasilla to destroy the notion that small town America is more wholesome, hard-working or community-oriented than urban America.
The best part was the guy who said small towns are better because people help each other in a crisis, unlike big cities, "and the best example of that was after 9/11." When it was pointed out that 9/11 occurred in NYC and DC, the guy was nonplussed.
nonsense
I've seen her on her platform..
Thick as two short planks or is that platforms?
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