[Vision2020] Palin Falters on Policy in First TV Interview

[g. crabtree]

Another opinion piece presented as news. Boring, Tommy but hardly 
unexpected. Cut and paste is all well and good but, perhaps you could try a 
change up and offer something in your own words. Something other than 
insulting invective and "nuff said" that is. Most of us already know how to 
read the newspaper.

g
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 6:46 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Palin Falters on Policy in First TV Interview


>" ... What President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic
> extremism, terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our nation."
>
> Gov. Sarah Palin, GOP Candidate for vice president
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
>>From today's (September 12, 2008) Spokesman Review -
>
> ----------------
>
> Palin falters on policy in first TV interview
>
> FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - John McCain running mate Sarah Palin sought
> Thursday to defend her qualifications but struggled with foreign policy,
> unable to describe President Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive strikes
> against threatening nations and acknowledging she's never met a foreign
> head of state.
>
> The Republican vice presidential nominee told Charles Gibson, of ABC News,
> in her first televised interview since being named to the GOP ticket
> that "I'm ready" to be president if called upon. She sidestepped on
> whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander
> in chief.
>
> Palin, 44, has been Alaska's governor for less than two years and before
> that was a small-town mayor. McCain has defended her qualifications,
> citing her command of the Alaska National Guard and Alaska's proximity to
> Russia.
>
> Asked whether those were sufficient credentials, Palin said: "It is about
> reform of government, and it's about putting government back on the side
> of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national
> security issues." She said she brings expertise in making the country
> energy independent as a former chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas
> Conservation Commission. "I want you to not lose sight of the fact that
> energy is a foundation of national security," she said.
>
> Palin said other than a trip to visit soldiers in Kuwait and Germany last
> year - "a trip of a lifetime" that "changed my life" - her only other
> foreign travel was to Mexico and Canada. She also said she had never met a
> head of state and added: "If you go back in history and if you ask that
> question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I
> just gave you."
>
> Pressed about what insights into recent Russian actions she gained by
> living in Alaska, Palin answered: "They're our next-door neighbors, and
> you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in
> Alaska."
>
> Foreign policy questions dominated the first of three interviews Palin was
> giving Gibson over two days.
>
> In the interview Thursday, Palin:
>
> .Appeared unsure of the Bush doctrine - essentially that the United States
> must help spread democracy to stop terrorism and that the nation will act
> pre-emptively to stop potential foes.
>
> Asked whether she agreed with that, Palin said: "In what respect,
> Charlie?" Gibson pressed her for an interpretation of it. She said: "His
> world view." That prompted Gibson to say "no, the Bush doctrine,
> enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war" and described it to
> her. "I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this
> world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our
> nation," Palin said, adding "there have been mistakes made."
>
> Pressed on whether the United States could attack terrorist hideouts in
> Pakistan without the country's permission, she said: "If there is
> legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent
> against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In
> fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend."
>
> .Said nuclear weapons in Iran's hands are dangerous, and said "we've got
> to put the pressure on Iran." Asked three times what her position would be
> if Israel felt threatened enough to attack Iranian nuclear facilities,
> Palin repeatedly said the United States shouldn't "second-guess" Israel's
> steps to secure itself.
>
> .Called for Georgia and the Ukraine to be included in NATO, a treaty that
> requires the U.S. to defend them militarily. She also said Russia's attack
> into Georgia last month was "unprovoked." Asked to clarify that she'd
> support going to war over Georgia, she said: "Perhaps so."
>
> "I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another
> country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and
> help," she said.
>
> .Said she "didn't hesitate" when McCain asked her to be his running
> mate. "I answered him 'yes' because I have the confidence in that
> readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way
> of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of
> this country and victory in the war, you can't blink. So I didn't blink
> then ,even when asked to run as his running mate."
>
> Later Thursday, after her return to Alaska, Palin indirectly linked the
> war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound
> brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the
> innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the
> death of thousands of Americans."
>
> "America can never go back to that false sense of security that came
> before Sept. 11, 2001," Palin said.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> "Jesus was a community organizer and Poncius Pilate was a governor."
>
> - Marilyn Trail, sister of Representative Tom trail (September 8, 2008)
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> This message was sent by First Step Internet.
>           http://www.fsr.com/
>
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================