Does Palin Know What a Precondition Is?

Doesn't sound like it according to this exchange with Brian Williams.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Gov. Palin, yesterday, you tied this notion of an early test to the president with this notion of preconditions, that you both have been hammering the Obama campaign on. First of all what in your mind is a pre-condition?

PALIN: You have to have some diplomatic strategy going into a meeting with someone like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il, or one of these dictators that would seek to destroy America or our allies. It is so naive and so dangerous for a presidential candidate to just proclaim that they would be willing to sit down with a leader like Ahmadinejad, and just talk about the problems, the issues that are facing them, that's some ill-preparedness right there.

Ummm..  What Palin is describing is what would be called preparation not precondition.  Just to be clear.  Not negotiating until preconditions are met means not starting your negotiatins until the other side has met some kind of condition you imposed.  In the case of Iran, McCain insists that the Iranians suspend their uranium enrichment program before we can even begin to negotiate.  Obama opposes this precondition.  The basic argument against preconditions is that you can't ask your adversary to give up a big negotiating point in exchange for absolutely nothing and expect them to actually sit down at the table.  Doesn't happen.  Didn't happen when we dealt with the Soviets or the Chinese.  And so then you have no exchange of information whatsoever and can't find points of common interest or negotiate.   You end up in a total stalemate.

Anyway, this is not very complicated.  It also happens to be the crux of one of the most important foreign policy issues being debated between Obama and McCain.  You'd think Sarah Palin would understand this.  But at least its comforting to know that she is against sitting down for a major international summit without first doing some preparation.  I guess that qualifies her to be President.

Comments

[jameshki]

John, I'll give you a "B" for Bad judgement and your campaign a big B for BALONEY!!!

[hortonhearsawho]

Goes on before the shampoo....

[IbDA1]

I wonder what precondition her condition is in???

[UrbanInterloper]

Excellent point. Another one: Palin calling Ahmadinejad a "dictator" is factually incorrect. He's a president who is far less powerful that the religious leaders who actually run the country. He's also up for reelection very soon, and it is very possible that he will lose to a more moderate candidate. Iran's electoral process is flawed, but it does have one. It also has a parliament. Just because a person holds abhorent views and a public office simultaneously, doesn't make that person a dictator.

[CubanVoice]

I think she does - she's gone through a "precondition" 5 times - right before each pregnancy.

[Soundofthunder]

One would think, as a precondition to garnering the GOP's VP slot, that Sarah Palin could pass the civics test we require 13 year-olds to pass in the 8th grade.

Unlikely.

She's been upstaged by a 3rd grader, upstaged by every interviewer, upstaged by the podium at the debate.

What happen to America's precondition that our leaders exercise a sliver of brainpower before seeking high office? Gone with the Alaskan winds!

SOT

[kavan]

Of course she does...something to do with abstinence.

[Otaku1031]

Palin should know what a "pre-condition" is; McCain had one as a requirement for him to keep his promise of a civil and issue-focussed campaign. All Obama had to do was to agree to the stacked deck of "town hall" debates/meetings with McCain and he wouldn't have turned his campaign into a lying smear-fest. Obama wouldn't agree to this pre-condition, so McCain threw a tantrum. Now, imagine what could happen if, say, Putin doesn't agree to McCain's pre-conditions. As a candidate, all he can do is call people names and lie to get even; his resources and options are limited. As POTUS, he would be CiC and would do far worse damage.

The time for U.S. arrogance in international relations has passed; McCain hasn't realized this yet and likely never will. Obama's position is that nothing happens until communication begins, so let's start talking. Without communication, all you have to go on is speculation and guesswork. McCain's position is that he won't talk to anyone without first being bribed.

[GeorgeWRumscroft]

Excellent comment!

[8IZENUF]

It's obvious she does not know much. I wish she would pronounce the name correctly. There is no K or CH in Ahmadinajad. I know it's trivial, but the sound grates on my ears. As well as how she says nuclear. If she is relying on other interpretations, go to the pronunciation dictionary, learn something useful. Even if what you say is stupid and makes no sense, at least one could sound smart.

[mderum]

Maybe Gov. Palin should look-up "Precondition" on Wikipedia. Here is the very first line:

In logic a precondition is a condition that has to be met before a main argument can have any value.

If she had done this simple task of PREPARATION, that of which she spews about, she might have had an inkling of how to answer the question from Brian Williams.

But then again, I am assuming she might know what "logic" means or is somehow going to be a logical person....My bad.

Can you imagine if she were to become president... God Help Us!

Have a nice day!

Obama/Biden '08

[Diplomacy]

NO. She doesn't know what a 'precondition' is.

Nor, does she know the what the responsibilities of a Vice President are. She's had 3 months to get that straight, and she still DOESN'T GET IT.

[JoeBlough]

She's not the boss of the Senate?

[KillgoreTrout43]

What's the difference between a strategy and a pre-condition? Don't ask Palin, because she hasn't a clue. A hockey mom in the oval office?????? What was McSame thinking???

[ironguy]

That was third grade.

[ironguy]

I hope the "lower 48" has an extradition treaty with Alaska.

[Zelda01]

Cleary, one of the preconditions of sitting down for this interview is that Brian was not allowed to ask any follow-ups.

[8IZENUF]

Brian spoke about the requirements for this interview, and that it was 55 long days before he was able to get this interview since she was nominated.

"She had to be seated next to McCain, only certain types of questions could be asked.
And Brian said he had months worth of questions, but was not able to ask many."

What is McCain trying to hide. And his petty correction of 5 not 4 secretary's of state back him, who are they?

[Zelda01]

McCain is trying to hide the fact that Palin doesn't know anything that would qualify her to be VP of the United States. It didn't work.

[GoCards1978]

Kissinger, Haig, Baker, and Condi Rice are the only ones I can think of.

[Bitsko]

Good points made, but you're asking a lot of a person who doesn't seem to have a ninth grader's grasp of the U.S. Constitution.

[forthepeople1]

Harvard does not compare with Palin's education.