# They say Sarah Palin isn't smart enough to be POTUS **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 18, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063 "2009-11-18T20:15:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/81 "2009-11-19T19:16:55Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > What’s worse is that Conan had a nice old Polish woman who’d saved Jewish children from the Nazis waiting in the green room all night, with no real intention of giving her air time. You know who else mistreated Polish people who were charitable to Jews? I’m just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/82 "2009-11-19T19:20:24Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > Actually, a trillion is a thousand billion. I am revealed as a liar. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/83 "2009-11-19T19:29:14Z")
It depends on where you live, if I remember right. Over here in the UK, at least, a billion and a trillion are different numbers to the U.S… There isn’t a wordlwide standard figure. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/84 "2009-11-19T19:34:46Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > It depends on where you live, if I remember right. Over here in the UK, at least, a billion and a trillion are different numbers to the U.S.. There isn’t a wordlwide standard figure. I am revealed as a liar in the United States, then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/85 "2009-11-19T19:38:15Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > MSM: Here are some more examples. Palin’s stupidity and dishonestly make it clear that she is not qualified - she has no foreign policy experience. > > Everyone else: Does Obama? > > MSM: Did we mention how stupid and dishonest Sarah Palin is? > > :rolleyes: > > Regards, > Shodan Except of course, and you know this already because you’re not a complete moron, people were not lambasting her for her lack of foreign experience. As you say, Obama lacked that too. And it wasn’t that big a deal - if Dubya taught the world anything, it’s that in the modern global paradigm, you can essentially say “Fuck ALL OF Y’ALL !” and still have friends with buck teeth and a tongue that feels like velvet on your balls. -ahem- Rather, people were falling on their asses laughing at Palin because, apparently, and not once but twice in the same interview, she reckoned “well, you can see Russia from some point of the Alaskan coast, I think” was a good, or at least a cogent answer to the question “So, what’s that experience in foreign matters you claim you have ?”. And the second time the question was asked was really the offer of a chance to make a saving throw on the first, really. A simple “Weeeeell… I don’t have any, not as such, no” would have been much less ridiculous. Hell, many people would even have given her points for honesty. But again, you knew that already, you disingenuous you. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/86 "2009-11-19T19:41:24Z")
> [@bup](#): > > But it’s true. **Paleface** fucks his mother. Like, literally. Puts-his-raging-small-cock-in-her-welcoming-pussy literally. [Moderating] **bup** , the restriction on calling other posters motherfuckers applies to you as much as it does **Naybob**. No warning issued yet, but I’d recommend strongly against anyone else continuing on in this vein. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/87 "2009-11-19T19:41:42Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > It depends on where you live, if I remember right. Over here in the UK, at least, a billion and a trillion are different numbers to the U.S.. There isn’t a wordlwide standard figure. > [@Bricker](#): > > I am revealed as a liar in the United States, then. 😃 A UK billion is a US trillion - 12 zeroes - though I hear the US usage is pushing out the old one. I have no idea how much a UK trillion is. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/88 "2009-11-19T19:54:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > A UK billion is a US trillion - 12 zeroes - though I hear the US usage is pushing out the old one. I have no idea how much a UK trillion is. It’s a million billion. Or, at least it was; no longer, though, in common parlance. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/89 "2009-11-19T19:58:01Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > It’s a million billion. Or, at least it was; no longer, though, in common parlance. Interestingly, this works in Gore’s favor (though not mine, obviously). He could claim he was referring to the British trillion. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/90 "2009-11-19T20:26:11Z")
Forget Al Gore, what about that guy we had before him…his name was something like "Quake, or “Quay”…sounded like some bird. He was REALLY stupid! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/91 "2009-11-19T20:28:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I am revealed as a liar in the United States, then. 😃 Narrowing it down. that is some kind of progress. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/92 "2009-11-19T20:35:37Z")
Hannity asked (Palin) what can be done to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. In her response, Palin seemed to be confused between Iraq and Iran: "We have allies who are as concerned about Ahmadinejad’s actions as we are. We need to be working closer with France, and with Britain, and start, not just considering, but seriously taking steps towards the sanctions that we hear all about but we never see any actions towards, though. "Cutting off the imports into Iraq, of their refined petroleum products. They’re reliant – 40 to 45 percent of their energy supply is reliant on those imports. We have some control over there. “And some of the beneficial international monetary deals that Iraq benefits from – we can start implementing some sanctions there and start really shaking things up, and telling Ahmadinejad, nobody is going to stand for this.” Of course, Ahmadinejad is President of Iraq, not Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/93 "2009-11-19T20:37:36Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Of course, Ahmadinejad is President of Iraq, not Iran. Are you offering this as an example of a lie, or a mistake? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/94 "2009-11-19T20:42:22Z")
Hopefully, as an example of a joke. Ahmedinejad is President of Iran. Although the “imports into Iraq” bit does sound as though Palin was confused too. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/95 "2009-11-19T20:45:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are you offering this as an example of a lie, or a mistake? Obviously neither of those, but of _ignorance_. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/96 "2009-11-19T20:49:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hopefully, as an example of a joke. Ahmedinejad is President of Iran. Although the “imports into Iraq” bit does sound as though Palin was confused too. I think she was calling them imports because we have some measure of control there, and none at all in Iran. We would act to cut off imports, which from Iran’s point of view would be exports. And I wish you could have let the string play out a bit – I was hoping to get a clearer picture of whether **Ca3799** ’s last line was ironic error or deliberate humor. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/97 "2009-11-19T20:51:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Interestingly, this works in Gore’s favor (though not mine, obviously). He could claim he was referring to the British trillion. Pfft. The only thing worse than being enviro-friendly is being European. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/98 "2009-11-19T21:06:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I think she was calling them imports because we have some measure of control there, and none at all in Iran. We would act to cut off imports, which from Iran’s point of view would be exports. > > And I wish you could have let the string play out a bit – I was hoping to get a clearer picture of whether **Ca3799** ’s last line was ironic error or deliberate humor. Iraq exports 2 million barrels of oil a day. I doubt they’re importing much, from Iran or anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/99 "2009-11-19T21:08:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I think she was calling them imports because we have some measure of control there, and none at all in Iran. We would act to cut off imports, which from Iran’s point of view would be exports. I think she was calling them “imports” because she once heard someone say something that had the words “Iran,” “Iraq” and “imports” in it. That, and she pronounces Achmedinininiwhatever really well, so she loves to trot it out for people. Smart enough to be POTUS? I’m skeptical that she’s smart enough to know what “POTUS” stands for. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063/100 "2009-11-19T21:47:41Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Come on - Sarah Palin gets ripped to shreds because her state is next door to Russia and she said so. Al Gore claims to be an expert on Wisconsin dairy farming because he spent the night on one once. Actually, he said he was **familiar** with Wisconsin dairy farming because he spent a night on the farm. You may be familiar with the word familiar, but you are certainly no expert on its meaning. > [@](#): > > You are verging on the fallacy of selective perception. Palin said that the government was creating death panels, and Al Gore was caught calling Yellowstone the home of the longpole pine. Gore’s a liar! It’s a LODGEpole pine! Palin says she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere, but Al Gore said “Machismo gracias!” to a group of New Mexicans. Al Gore, you liar, you just said “manliness thanks!” I could go on, but you have proven your point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-say-sarah-palin-isnt-smart-enough-to-be-potus/518063.md?page=6)