# Help Me Demonstrate Sarah Palin Is a Moron **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 26, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551 "2010-08-26T16:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/61 "2010-08-26T20:01:17Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > > I have to admit, I had to check wikipedia to find out _why_ the Korean peninsula had been divided, though I never had a problem understanding the differences between the two republics. IME, most Americans’ knowledge of history tends to end about WWII. Why? Because that’s how far most history classes get in their book before the end of the school year. Seriously. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/62 "2010-08-26T20:39:54Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > > IME, most Americans’ knowledge of history tends to end about WWII. Why? Because that’s how far most history classes get in their book before the end of the school year. Mine repeatedly only got halfway through the Civil War. _sigh_ My only formal education on the World Wars came in Japanese history class. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/63 "2010-08-26T22:25:47Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > **Bricker** , are you seriously suggesting that Palin had your nuanced interpretation of “in charge of” in mind when she made the statement? If I had to guess, I’d say she was just talking about what she wanted to do as VP, without nearly enough knowledge to have a credible opinion. So, no, I doubt she had that in mind. > [@](#): > > Furthermore, what impact does LBJ’s _attempts_ to effect that change in the structure of the body have to do with the accuracy of her statement? Are you seriously suggesting that Palin knew of LBJ’s machinations and was referencing the political dynamic that stemmed from it? No. I am simply pointing out that LBJ tried to do almost exactly what Palin described, and he was a seasoned politician with extraordinary knowledge of the Senate. > [@](#): > > Or was she a broken clock who was right in a technical sense but had no idea what she was talking about? Yes. I hestitate over the term “right in a tecnnical sense,” though. She was not wrong, and her view was shared by a very smart and very experienced politician. In my view, the proper thing to do is drop this from the list. There are dozens of highly foolish statements she’s made. Insisting that this one, which on its face os NOT foolish, belongs on the list is pushing it. > [@](#): > > Look closely enough and you’ll find gaffes and misspoken thoughts from anyone. Look from a good distance and still see more mistakes than clarity, and you’d be hard pressed to maintain the benefit of the doubt that someone _that one time_ had a sophisticated thought behind an otherwise ignorant statement. > > Again: either extremely partisan or extremely disingenuous. Can’t agree. The statement is not itself ignorant, unless you’re willing to call LBJ, after his time as Majority Leader, ignorant of how the Senate works. I’m reminded of a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin is in school, daydreaming about being Spaceman Spiff pursued by bug-eyed aliens. His ship fires explosive lasers at the aliens. Then Miss Wormwood, his teacher, says, “Calvin - what was the capital of Poland until 1600?” “Krakow!” replies Calvin. “Very good,” she says. “I didn’t think you were paying attention!” And then we see that Calvin’s still in his own little world, saying to himself, “Krakow! Krakow! Two direct hits!” He wasn’t wrong. And this isn’t the best example to prove to someone that he was, because the only way we, the reader, know is because we see inside Calvin’s head. I think Palin got lucky, in that her answer, born mostly of ignorance, was right. But if the purpose of this thraed is to compile foolish answers Palin has given, this isn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/64 "2010-08-26T22:29:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > [@Bricker](#): > > > > First, it’s well to remember that her audience (“Brandon”) was a child. Secondly, no less a personage than Lyndon Johnson, former Senate Majority Leader (and thus someone who presumably knew how the system worked) tried to engage in precisely that kind of role as VP. > > No, the person who originally asked the question was a child. Her _audience_ was the global media. Bah. An appropriate answer for the global media might have begun, “The duties of the Vice-President are defined in Art. I of the Constitution…” She was asked a question by a child, and answered appropriately. It amazes me that, when there’s a small novel’s worth of actual wrong shit she’s said, that so many people need this one to be wrong, too. It’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/65 "2010-08-26T22:51:12Z")
Yeah, it’s a pretty piss-ant thing to dwell on when much meatier examples are numerous. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/66 "2010-08-26T23:02:14Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > > [@Merijeek](#): > > > > IME, most Americans’ knowledge of history tends to end about WWII. Why? Because that’s how far most history classes get in their book before the end of the school year. > > Mine repeatedly only got halfway through the Civil War. _sigh_ > > My only formal education on the World Wars came in Japanese history class. 😃 Really? We always made to V E day. That’s it, though. My dad fought in the Korean War and I frankly know a hell of a lot more about, oh, say, the Punic ones. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/67 "2010-08-26T23:26:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I think Palin got lucky, in that her answer, born mostly of ignorance, was right. But if the purpose of this thraed is to compile foolish answers Palin has given, this isn’t one. I thought the purpose of the thread was to compile answers that show she was foolish. It doesn’t have to be _wrong_ for it be evidence that she didn’t know what she was talking about, because the comment doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We know she was _totally_ ignorant of the VP’s duties before (from other sources), and the fact she said the comment in question when she did demonstrates with a high degree of certainty that not only was she ignorant before, she also can’t be taught. Unless one posits that when teaching her the role of the VP the instructors focused on LBJ…which I find kind of doubtful. I mean, if we _really_ wanted to keep it on the list and all. Just because you have a thousand dollars in your wallet doesn’t mean you can’t want to pick up that penny too. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/68 "2010-08-26T23:56:22Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > > If you wish to dispel my reasoned, evidence-based conclusion that Sarah Palin is an **ignoramus** , I invite you to do so now. > > That’s just stupid. Sarah Palin is not a lawyer. nor, apparently an agnostic. (old philosophy/philology joke) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/69 "2010-08-27T00:01:12Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > IME, most Americans’ knowledge of history tends to end about WWII. Why? Because that’s how far most history classes get in their book before the end of the school year. My high school history teacher was a Civil War buff. So I don’t remember much from 1870-1900 about US history. Learned about the Twentieth Century outside of class. Wait, the whole Twentieth Century? Just about. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/70 "2010-08-27T00:05:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Can’t agree. The statement is not itself ignorant, unless you’re willing to call LBJ, after his time as Majority Leader, ignorant of how the Senate works. Sorry, Brick, I’m going to have to say it was formed in ignorance. What she described is not really the VP’s duty, which is what was asked. More ignorant than wrong, if you like. Oh, and all this noise, & you all have missed the biggest lie of all. \*\*Sarah Palin sold America on the death panels hysteria. \*\*For that she should be banned from public office until she repents. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/71 "2010-08-27T00:14:06Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Oh, and all this noise, & you all have missed the biggest lie of all. \*\*Sarah Palin sold America on the death panels hysteria. \*\*For that she should be banned from public office until she repents. Only if she believes it. Lots of Republic spin/lies are deliberately crafted by people who consciously know better, of that I am _quite_ certain. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/72 "2010-08-27T00:25:00Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > > [@Bricker](#): > > > > Can’t agree. The statement is not itself ignorant, unless you’re willing to call LBJ, after his time as Majority Leader, ignorant of how the Senate works. > > Sorry, Brick, I’m going to have to say it was formed in ignorance. What she described is not really the VP’s duty, which is what was asked. More ignorant than wrong, if you like. She wasn’t asked the VP’s duty. She was asked what the VP does: > [@](#): > > Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?” > PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me!..[T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And what she described is exactly what LBJ tried to accomplish. And no one could call LBJ uninformed about the US Senate. Now, when you say, “More ignorant than wrong,” you’re asking me to agree that even though she said the same thing that a former Senate Majority Leader obviously thought was possible, her answer is worthy of derision simply because of who she is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/73 "2010-08-27T00:30:06Z")
> [@](#): > > No. I am simply pointing out that LBJ tried to do almost exactly what Palin described, and he was a seasoned politician with extraordinary knowledge of the Senate. And if even he failed at it, doesn’t that provide some pretty good evidence that that is _not_, in fact, what the VP does? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/74 "2010-08-27T00:34:09Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > > [@foolsguinea](#): > > > > Oh, and all this noise, & you all have missed the biggest lie of all. \*\*Sarah Palin sold America on the death panels hysteria. \*\*For that she should be banned from public office until she repents. > > Only if she believes it. Lots of Republic spin/lies are deliberately crafted by people who consciously know better, of that I am _quite_ certain. How is lying to the American people to torpedo Medicare reform not also disqualifying? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/75 "2010-08-27T00:50:15Z")
Mr. Dooley wrote the definitive description of the office of [Vice President](http://books.google.com/books?id=ddBKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=Dooley+Dunne+vice+president&source=bl&ots=S7PIQ48uPA&sig=9tPC7eMaS2tcGKxkyfHiRKkVIuE&hl=en&ei=ewp3TK33NYWmsQOWu9SgDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false) I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Gruntled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/34f0e0/32.png) [@Gruntled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gruntled)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/76 "2010-08-27T01:09:44Z")
> [@Livardo](#): > > I > Doesn’t think abortion killers are terrorists What is an abortion killer? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Facts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@The\_Facts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Facts)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/77 "2010-08-27T02:44:02Z")
Every time I see that bitch on TV, I realize how stupid half of America is. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/78 "2010-08-27T02:44:21Z")
Rants belong in The BBQ Pit. Have a good time, there. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/79 "2010-08-27T03:50:39Z")
The most egregious thing that hasn’t been brought up is her distasteful repeated habit of implying the man she’s arguing with is a pedophile. Though I guess that’s more her being dishonest than stupid. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551/80 "2010-08-27T08:42:04Z")
Another thing about Palin: being governor of Alaska was exposing her to too much hostile media attention. So she slyly goes off the radar by quitting and limiting her appearances and interviews to those who will be friendly to her. She just forgot one thing: if she ever does run for any kind of office again, it’s on. Troopergate, the clothing scandal, her rambling resignation speech… all comes flying out of the closet for glorious lampooning by The Daily Show, etc. The media will be asking her the tough questions again and folksy charm isn’t going to pass muster. Maybe she’s training like Rocky Balboa, getting hit with books until the ignorance is pounded out of her and she can hold forth on any current events topic. But one can only fake being smart for so long, especially in the era of 24-hour news networks and Youtube on every cell phone. Go on Sarah, jump in that shark pit. Go ahead, the water’s fine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-demonstrate-sarah-palin-is-a-moron/551551.md?page=5)