Gov. Sarah Palin will meet with former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia during the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, an aide to Senator John McCain's presidential campaign said.
Ms. Palin is to meet on the same day with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
The sessions are part of an effort to demonstrate that Ms. Palin is prepared to function in the world of foreign policy and national security at a time when she is under criticism for a lack of experience. Ms. Palin, who has been governor of Alaska for 20 months, got her first passport last year.
There are a number of weaknesses I've noted in my own personal and professional background. In order to rectify this, I plan to meet shortly with Warren Buffett, whose financial acuity I expect to absorb from his handshake alone. Shortly after I anticipate becoming a billionaire. Following that, I plan to meet with Dr. Robert Gallo so I might make my own scientific contribution to solving the AIDS epidemic. I've always wanted to complete my PhD, so I've scheduled a meet and greet with Dr. Lee Bollinger, president of my undergraduate alma mater; after which I expect my qualifications for the degree (even an honorary doctorate would suffice) should be apparent to everyone. I've always wanted to see a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I was hoping for a handshake with Ariel Sharon. But since he's unavailable I figure one with Jimmy Carter should do the trick. Since I'm a writer, my "staff" has set up a meeting with Stephen King, after which I plan to write my first mystery novel. I think it's a 'can't miss' bestseller considering how much I'll learn from Stephen just in our first meeting. Sarah Palin asked to get on my list as well, but I couldn't figure out a single thing I could learn from her, so I passed.
If you consider that Palin recently announced that it was fine and dandy with her if Israel attacked Iran, the following passage is also deliciously ironic, though perhaps unintentionally so:
Mr. Kissinger, a close outside adviser to Mr. McCain's campaign, is likely to give her a broad overview of international affairs, focusing particularly on Russia, China and the Middle East. Mr. Kissinger, who was national security adviser and secretary of state in the Nixon and Ford administrations, is regularly called on by Mr. McCain for impromptu advice on foreign affairs.
Considering that Henry Kissinger last week signed on with four other former secretaries of state to ardently oppose the Bush-McCain rejectionist approach to Iran, the irony of such a meeting is all too clear. McCain may call Kissinger, but he's not listening to what the latter is telling him. McCain would have a lot more credible Iran policy if he did listen to him.