Sarah Palin continues to astonish. In the interview with Katie Couric aired this evening on CBS, it was evident that Roe is the only decision of the Supreme Court that she knows. I won't bother to link to the video, which is all over the Web. Couric asked her what other decisions, besides Roe, she disagreed with. There was a pause, then a short gush of vacuous nonsense before, helpless, she returned to Roe, stammering, "Going through the history of America, there would be others, but, um. . . ." Couric interrupted to ask, "Can you think of any?" She could not.
John McCain called the recent decision of the high court in the Boumediene case "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country." It did not however occur to Palin to name it. Suppose she wanted to avoid current controversies and appear reasonable. She might then have cited Dred Scott or Plessy. But these landmarks in our history are as unknown to her as--the Bush Doctrine. She appears to be as incurious as the current occupant. In another segment, when Couric asked what newspapers and magazines she read, Palin was either unwilling or unable to name one. She doesn't read and it is evident that she has not wasted her time "going through the history of America."
That Palin is on the Republican ticket is--laughable? pathetic? an outrage? I think it partakes of all three. People ask whether she's qualified to be president, as if there is something to be said on two sides of that question. The salient point is that McCain, by choosing her, showed that he is not qualified to be president.
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