Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Sarah Palin and Katie Couric



On the question of what newspapers you read someone on Free Republic found this pithy comment from Thomas Jefferson:

I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Of interest are Palin's views on abortion where she also opposes the Morning After Pill. She makes NO EXCEPTIONS for abortion and states that life begins at conception.

Notice when Katie badgers her by prosecutorially repeating the same question trying to rattle Palin, I remember this tactic from being on the stand and Palin handles it masterfully. And remember these are clips, edited quotes that are designed to make Palin look bad. I think Katie failed.

Bring on the debate Baby- we're ready!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Mary, I agree with you that this section was much better than the others. It definitely showed Governor Palin in a better light. But it was still profoundly disappointing.

In the first place, Couric wasn't badgering Palin in the least. I would have done exactly the same thing, probably even more forcefully. Governor Palin never answered those particular questions. That just drives me crazy.

And these weren't tough questions, either. Both you and I would have answered a simple "yes" to the question about believing that abortion should be illegal, and a simple "I condemn it" to the question about the morning after pill. What's so hard about that? She basically said that that life begins at conception, but that there should be no legal consequences for taking that life, and no restrictions on abortifacients, which makes no sense whatsoever. No wonder the liberals think pro-lifers are nuts.

Furthermore, she has basically admitted that she has no will to resist the homosexualist agenda now storming the country, and will lead with a phony "do not judge" attitude that translates only to "surrender".

Exasperating.

M. Alexander said...

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments and I understand your frustration. What I found interesting was that I cannot remember a candidate who did not allow for exceptions for abortion. The Bushes made the old exceptions excuse and I think this is a push to the right which I welcome.

I was just listening to Lou Dobbs on the Imus show and he thinks Sarah Palin is great especially given the fact that she is driving the left crazy. He attributes her stumbling to being overhandled and spooked and said she needs to tell her handlers and maybe McCain to go to h*ll.

Leila said...

Well, Mary, since you provided this clip and I had said I was amazed at how bad Palin was in the ones I watched, I viewed it with an open mind.

All I can say is that I am once again dismayed that she cannot answer a simple question. She can't name one book or magazine that has influenced her views?

And let's not be naive. I'm sure abortion will come up in the debate, but it will mostly be about foreign policy and economics. What does she have to say? Apparently, nothing.

I'm not even happy that she is taking each question as an opportunity for a "talking point" or a gambit to trap her. Her unthinking wariness is debilitating to the need we have to find out how she thinks. Couric had to repeat her questions because Palin wasn't hearing her -- either because she was searching her own mind for the canned answer, or because she really has nothing to say in response.

Not only could she not answer that she believes abortion should or should not be illegal in the cases put to her, she used the dreaded word "personally" at least twice. This is fatal! Mario Cuomo, call your office.

It's not a question of allowing exceptions. It's a question of knowing how to frame answers to "hard cases" questions (which anyone who has debated on this topic knows are practically the only kind). It's knowing how to bring the topic back to saving babies and moms. And it's knowing not to get into who is going to jail.

And are we happy that she is "absolutely" in favor of contraception? Yay Sarah. Again, this doesn't separate her from the majority of Americans, but it does make me wonder how she can argue with a pro-abort who pushes these buttons.

Considering her as a foil for McCain in this election, she injects undeniable energy. Thinking of her in 2012, running for President (if not put in that office sooner by the hand of fate), she's a disaster.

Anonymous said...

Hate to say I told ya so, but...

In the matter of contraception especially. It is indelibly and directly linked to abortion. YOU CANNOT HAVE THE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER.
As I said before, she can be against abortion all she wants, but the acceptance of contraception is her "escape" hatch.
It's a very subtle yet very effective ploy for self-enslavement without knowing that by its tackling one is destroying society; a trick of thinking which could only originate from an intellect FAR superior and cunning than any human bearing without the aid of grace.
Say, the intellect of a cherub, perhaps?
Any ideas?
Hmmmmm.

-Edward

Leila said...

All right. We'll see about it tonight. Maybe the problem is that the McCain people have been messing with her brain.

Today my 11-year-old said to me, "Mom, if George Washington were alive today who do you think he'd vote for?"

My answer: "If George Washington were alive today he'd be spinning in his grave."

Dust I Am said...

I agree with Jeff, leila, and anonymous--she shouldn't avoid giving a straight answer about her moral viewpoints. Palin needs to remember that she will be lambasted regardless of what she says.

Does anyone know who has been "assigned" as her personal handlers? I'd feel much more comfortable if she insisted on her own team of advisors, but perhaps McCain said "no" to that.