A SNEAK PEEK AT PT. 2 OF THE GIBSON/PALIN INTERROGATION
jimtreacher.com
September 11, 2008
weeklystandard.com
Gibson: What do you think of the Constitution?
Palin: ...Could you be more specific?
Gibson: [stares over glasses]
Kos: OMG SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE CONSTITUTION IS!!!!
Posted by Jim Treacher at 07:32 PM | Category: Palination
THE INTERVIEW
That thing was chopped up like a Cobb salad. They literally cut off the last word of her sentence at least twice. And I need to check eBay to see if they're selling the tack they put on Charlie Gibson's chair. But she didn't fall for his gotchas, and she didn't let him misquote her. All in all, she did pretty well for her first major media interview, particularly with a sour old man radiating hostility and a burning desire for schadenfreude into her face.
<b?So: Now somebody's going to ask Obama those questions, in that tone, right? Or at least Biden?
You can watch Gibson's Nov. '07 take-no-prisoners interview with Obama here. Sample question: "What... flipped?" Exit question: "Why is it so awesome that you're multiracial?" [bats eyes coquettishly]
P.S. I almost forgot. At the beginning of the interview, did you catch that he tried to get her to look directly into the camera and say she was ready to be president? You could see him jabbing his thumb at the camera behind him as he said, "Can you look the country in the eye and say that?" It was like he wanted her to cut a WWE promo or something. I don't know what that was supposed to be about, but she didn't take the bait. She stayed focused on his face as she gave the answer he obviously fears most in the world: Absolutely. Which couldn't have been easy for her, because his face is very yucky.
P.P.S. The Bourne Imbecility.
P.P.P.S. Oh, and Gibson's "Bush Doctrine" gotcha: Did you know it was called that? I'm familiar with the concept -- or at least what some claim the concept to be -- but I had not heard it called that until tonight. At least Charlie didn't tip his hand by calling it the "Chimperor Doctrine."
Posted by Jim Treacher at 04:02 PM | Category: Obamanation ~ | Category: Palination
UH-OH, SARAH PALIN HAS NEVER BROKERED A PEACE DEAL BETWEEN ANYBODY BUT A BUNCH OF ESKIMOS!
Oh gosh. Well, here's an interesting Google search to try:
"john edwards" "national security experience"
He was in the running to be a heartbeat away from the presidency back in '04, after all. And here's a good one from a December 30, 2006 story in the Washington Post, back before Edwards became a not-so-proud papa once again, and he was still running for president:
Edwards knows he will continue to get questions from reporters about his foreign policy expertise, as he did on Thursday when he launched his candidacy. Though he believes most Americans think someone who has been on a national ticket is qualified to be president, he knows that even minor mistakes on his part -- a slip of the tongue, the inability to answer an obscure question -- will be potentially damaging.
But he had a ready answer this week to the question of national security experience: Bush had the most experienced team in history, and still the United States ended up in a mess in Iraq. Experience, he said, is not a guarantee of good judgment.
Somehow I don't think we'll be hearing any of that again anytime soon.
Posted by Jim Treacher at 01:16 PM | Category: Palination
A PLEA FOR UNDERSTANDING
We have seen, are seeing, and will continue to see all kinds of stupid, outrageous, hateful things being said about the Republican ticket and their families. We should catalog and critique these outbursts, yes. But don't take it personally: Everyone grieves in his own way.
BTW, has anybody in the evil right-wing blogosphere retaliated against the attacks on Palin's children by going after Obama's children, instead of criticizing the man's utterances and behavior? I'm asking because I don't know. I haven't seen anything like that, and I've been following this whole thing fairly closely. To be honest, I know he's got two or three daughters, but I couldn't name them if you paid me. Which is as it should be.
Well, if not, it's probably part of a Rovian plot to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Devious!
Posted by Jim Treacher at 10:28 AM | Category: Obamanation ~ | Category: Palination
IT'S REALLY STARTING TO GET GOOD, ISN'T IT?
• Remember that Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that didn't bark? How about the Sharpton who didn't race-bait? Here we've got all these white folks criticizing the behavior of the most famous black person in the world (sorry, Urkel), and yet Rev. Al is not in front of a television camera, yammering. Did he even say anything about the "community organizer" business? His absence is glaring.
• Not that I'm complaining! (Sounds like Al's busy anyway.)
• The best analysis of Palin's humor I've seen yet comes from Barbara Kay in the National Post:
Humour [silly Canada] is permitted entry to dark cavities closed to straight criticism, so Palin used steady-handed wit as her probe. As every comedian and experienced public speaker knows, failed on-stage humour is first cousin to death. Factor in the supreme importance of the occasion, an audience of 39 million voters, the greedy gaze of slavering media hyenas and the enormous additional risk of "dissing" an African-American saint: What we witnessed on that Minnesota stage, my friends, was an awesome demonstration of raw courage.
No kidding. A few months ago, even Jon Stewart couldn't get laughs with Obama material. You could almost hear the audience thinking: "Is this okay? Will people think I'm a racist?" Now it is okay. It's okay to make fun of a guy who could be president, even though inevitably some idiots will call you a bigot. So thanks for breaking that glass ceiling, Sarah.
• More and more it's becoming apparent that Palin's speech, although sent out to the world, had a target audience of one. The One! And boy, did she ever set up camp inside his head. No wonder his only response that night was, "Well, er, um... she didn't write it all by herself?" No wonder Olbermann swept aside his entire television career and criticized her for being sarcastic. No wonder we're still talking about her speech a week later. (Quote me something from Obama's acceptance speech, AKA The Best Thing in the History of Talking. Go ahead, it was only two weeks ago. No Googling.)
• Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC: "This makes me so mad, because it's so untrue. Somebody is spreading rumors. It's wrong. It's getting into the echo chamber." And no, of course he isn't talking about his network's treatment of Sarah Palin. (And guess who the real victims in that story are? So much for "History is written by the victors.")
• I've run exactly as many successful presidential campaigns as Joe Trippi. Can I have some money?
• Roger Ebert got his start working with Russ Meyer. Now he has a big problem with an attractive woman who's smarter and more powerful than he is. I'm sure the two things are completely unrelated. Update: Whoops, now that column has disappeared quicker than Ebert's lunch. Well, you can still find the money quote here. And thanks to Saint Kansas for pointing out some sweet, sweet irony.
• Move over, Sarah Silverman: He's f***ing Obama.
Posted by Jim Treacher at 12:40 AM | Category: Obamanation ~ | Category: Palination |
