# Ladies & gentlemen, your future vice president! (Palin interview by Katie Couric) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174 "2008-09-25T17:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/81 "2008-09-26T04:55:09Z")
I don’t want her to win sympathy or any other kind of votes, but I really am beginning to feel sorry for her. She gave birth just a few months ago, THEN learned she was going to be a grandmother, THEN learned her son was going to Iraq, THEN got tossed into the middle of a huge arena that was bigger than she imagined, THEN is made to look like a nincompoop on every interview (and again, I don’t think she’s stupid, just a disastrously really really really bad choice) and all while prepping to take on a man who’s been a senator since she was in grade-school in a debate all while having family scandals and professional ethics violations made household knowledge- she’s got to be just about ready to implode and walk back to Alaska. I feel sorry for her. But I still want Obama to whip her like the rented mule that killed his pa. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/82 "2008-09-26T05:11:23Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I don’t understand why Biden gets a pass. If I use my own intellectual capacity, foreign affairs knowledge, and public speaking skills as a baseline, I’d probably do worse than Palin, but I sure as hell know that Roosevelt didn’t appear on television or was in office during the stockmarket crash. That’s a no-brainer. You’d think with Biden’s experience he’d know better, but I’m beginning to wonder if he has Alzheimer’s. Have you ever actually _heard_ Joe Biden being interviewed on foreign and domestic policy? [Compare and contrast](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj0bEzW7v1E). He is going to Wipe. The. Floor. with Caribou Barbie. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/83 "2008-09-26T05:14:18Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I don’t want her to win sympathy or any other kind of votes, but I really am beginning to feel sorry for her. She gave birth just a few months ago, THEN learned she was going to be a grandmother, THEN learned her son was going to Iraq, THEN got tossed into the middle of a huge arena that was bigger than she imagined, THEN is made to look like a nincompoop on every interview (and again, I don’t think she’s stupid, just a disastrously really really really bad choice) and all while prepping to take on a man who’s been a senator since she was in grade-school in a debate all while having family scandals and professional ethics violations made household knowledge- she’s got to be just about ready to implode and walk back to Alaska. > > I feel sorry for her… I don’t understand the sentiment. Some of you guys (and gals) keep saying she’s “smart” but I just don’t see where you’re getting it from. If, for instance, I am offered a position that I know I’m completely and utterly unqualified for, I should think that instead of making an ass out of myself I’d be _smart_ enough not to say this: [Palin said she never “blinked” when asked to join the ticket.](http://news.google.com/news?q=Never%20blinked%20%2B%20Palin&ie=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wn) Like Detective nonpareil Harry Harry Callaghan used to say “_A man’s gotta know his limitations._” Well guess what, so does Caribou Barbie – is she was smart that is. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/84 "2008-09-26T05:20:59Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > …Like Detective nonpareil Harry Harry Callaghan used to say "_A man’s gotta know his limitations._… “Dirty Harry”, **Red**. Good wine? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/85 "2008-09-26T05:34:27Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Oh wow, is that painful to watch. Worse than the Couric interview, I’d say. How did I miss that? > > I agree that she doesn’t seem like a dunce (a la Dubya Bush or Quayle), but she is waaaaay over her head, and doesn’t have the sense to admit it. In raw IQ as measured on a test she might pass those two up, but I have never heard either W. or Quayle sound so vapid and clueless in the public arena. GWB and Quayle are not the brightest bulbs in the marquee by any means, but at least something rubbed off on them just by growing up in political families, and in W.'s case, being a two-term governor of a large and populous state. Even W. at his worst doesn’t come close to being as bad as this Palin disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/86 "2008-09-26T05:34:28Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The G.O.P. should bring back that Kenyan guy who saved Palin from the menace of witchcraft, only this time he could pray for her not to be so colossally dumb. I know I’m going to regret this, but cite? **mack** , but you’re not a politician, who is running for the second highest office in our nation. If she doesn’t have the experience to deal with interviews and such situations, well, that frightens me. And last time I checked, Putin is no longer President of Russia. He’s Prime Minister, but the President is [_Dmitry Medvedev_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Medvedev). Yeesh, for all her going on about how close she is to Russia, she can’t even get the nation’s leaders right! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/87 "2008-09-26T05:38:03Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Dirty Harry”, **Red**. Good wine? Nope. Good memories, great times. Unlike now. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/88 "2008-09-26T05:41:04Z")
[QUOTE=Guin] … she can’t even get the nation’s leaders right. [/QUOTE] Well, everybody knows its really Putin, so no biggy. GW could look into the soul of a KGB officer, and not run screaming from the room. Sarah can look and if she doesn’t like what she sees, she can have him _smote_. You know that’s gonna give him pause. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/89 "2008-09-26T05:41:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I know I’m going to regret this, but cite? Oh, no, you’re going to _love_ [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN7hJDS26rI)! ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/90 "2008-09-26T05:44:15Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I know I’m going to regret this, but cite? You will, but you did ask. [Sarah Palin -New Church Video with Witchhunter Blessing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkViRp6W5oE&feature=related) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/91 "2008-09-26T05:49:09Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Have you ever actually _heard_ Joe Biden being interviewed on foreign and domestic policy? > > [Compare and contrast](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj0bEzW7v1E). > > He is going to Wipe. The. Floor. with Caribou Barbie. Jesus. Merciful. Fuck. It’s going to be like Chuck Norris jumping off of Kitt in _Super Pursuit Mode_ and sidekicking Mother fucking Teresa at 200 miles per hour. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/92 "2008-09-26T05:49:31Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > You will, but you did ask. > > [Sarah Palin -New Church Video with Witchhunter Blessing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkViRp6W5oE&feature=related) :eek: Yours is more thorough, but mine is funnier. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/93 "2008-09-26T05:50:41Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Most politicians either don’t understand the question or dodge it. Her performance here was not as bad as is being made out, and I’m not inclined to cut pubbies any slack. It’s a bit weak, but not barf in the prime minister’s lap weak. A bit weak? It was embarrassingly weak. It’s a thousand times weaker than barfing in the PM’s lap, or getting savaged by an amphibious lagomorph, or bumping one’s head on the airplane door. Being clumsy or unable to keep down a banquet’s worth of exotic food isn’t the equivalent of stupidity or incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/94 "2008-09-26T05:51:06Z")
Not possible. I checked a couple days ago, and the batshit crazy ratio was at .99, whereas the theoretical limit is 1.0. Therefore, any increase in batshit crazy is impossible. It follows, then, that this shit did not happen. So don’t show me any more of these lying-ass videotapes! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/95 "2008-09-26T05:55:46Z")
Interesting thing: anagrams of her name include Nasal Harpi and Las Piranha. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/96 "2008-09-26T05:55:58Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Not possible. I checked a couple days ago, and the batshit crazy ratio was at .99, whereas the theoretical limit is 1.0. Therefore, any increase in batshit crazy is impossible. It follows, then, that this shit did not happen. So don’t show me any more of these lying-ass videotapes! The newest work in _Batshit Physics_ suggests that ratios higher than 1.0 are possible by saturating dimensions past the fourth. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/97 "2008-09-26T05:59:06Z")
I’m supposed to be going to sleep. You guys are killing me here! ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/98 "2008-09-26T06:07:04Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Yours is more thorough, but mine is funnier. 😃 Yep, right you are. I was rockin’ while getting exorcised. Or is that circumcised? Whatever you call getting the witches beat out of ya! ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/99 "2008-09-26T06:08:59Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > The newest work in _Batshit Physics_ suggests that ratios higher than 1.0 are possible by saturating dimensions past the fourth. See?, the LHC is paying off already, and it hasn’t even assploded the universe yet! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/100 "2008-09-26T07:19:54Z")
Joe Biden makes mistakes by slipping up on a single word in a sentence. More likely than not, he substituted _television_ for _radio_. Even though Roosevelt wasn’t the President during the crash of 1929, he still may have done what Biden described once he became President. Biden has a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth and for having slips of the tongue. He doesn’t have a reputation for being stupid or ignorant. > [@](#): > > **mack** : I imagine Palin is struggling with what she really wants to say vs. what she’s been briefed to say vs. ‘no that’s not what I said Oh Fuck!!’ while the lights are on and the cameras are rolling. I really can’t second guess Palin, but I don’t think she’s learned yet how _not_ to answer a question. Instead, she gives fairly straight answers, but they are born of ignorance. But, as I said, I can’t second guess her. I can’t help but wonder how No Child Left Behind has faired in Alaska when I read sentences such as this: "“Our next door neighbors are foreign countries — they’re in the state that I am the executive of.” … That is not a good thing. Russia and Canada are most definitely _not_\*\* in the state where she is the chief executive. I hate to second guess her, but that sounds a bit delerious. Four times during my lifetime, a Vice President has taken over for the President. I really don’t like the odds of that happening with Senator McCain and Sarah. BTW, she wasn’t that good a mayor. She left that small town of five or six thousand people over twenty million dollars in debt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174.md?page=6)