The Most Dangerous Woman In The World?

By Cernig

Yes, if she gets into office.

HuffPo has video clips of Sarah Palin's dismal performance on ABC tonight.

Short version - she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was, but once Charlie Gibson explained it was about invading other countries before they'd done anything to deserve it she was just fine with it, and she's willing to go to all-out war with Russia over Georgia.

In this, by the way, she's perfectly in accord with McCain's stated policies.

Ilan Goldenberg, the Policy Director of the National Security Network, has essential commentary:

No sane American or European leader would ever ever ever give an answer like that.  You do not get into hypotheticals about nuclear war.  You just don't.  Palin references the Cold War.  The only reason the Cold War stayed cold is because our leaders understood the stakes of getting things wrong and saying things that could lead to catastrophic nuclear war.

...And yet there is a nominee for the vice presidency of the United States who may one day have her hand on the button and she is casually talking about potential catastrophic nuclear war. 

Barack Obama would never give that answer.  Joe Biden would never give that answer.  They would say that we don't discuss those types of hypotheticals.  That might sound like a cop out, but think of the Palin alternative and what kind of alarm bells that sets off in Moscow.  Prescisely the type of alarm bells that could one day lead to mushroom clouds.

Saber rattling matters.  Words matter.  We've learned that from the past eight years.  When George Bush said "With us or against us" it mattered.  When he referred to a "crusade" it mattered.  When McCain jokes about war with Iran, calls our allies "vaccous and posturing",  says that Iraq is building a weapons assembly line for al Qaeda, it matters. 

And when Sarah Palin, a first term Governor with no national security experience or expertise, talks about hypothetical nuclear war it really matters.  It reflects badly on her and her readiness.  It reflects even worse on John McCain who thought that she was qualified to be Commander in Chief.

There's far more at memeorandum, where everyone's talking about it.

Comments

[Ed Chainey]

Sarah Palin plays Russian Roulette with nuclear weapons. Heaven hep the world if she gets elected.

[Robert Young]

Couple of comments on your article 'The Most Dangerous Women in the World.'
Palin didn't say she would go to all out war with Russia. Go look again.
The Bush Doctrine. I bet until Charley told the country what it was, neither Obama, Biden and Hillary could have answered that, Plus it was a dumb question. Unless McCain declares it's his doctrine
it's irrelevant as of January 2009. Just a stupid dumb gotcha question Charley. I've noticed with these
'News' anchor's that they hate it when someone put's them in the hot seat by asking a question. Charley you came accross as a wimp.Remember she was a trained TV Interviewer. Have Fun

[Robert Young]

Hey what's up with you Pussies.
Taken my comments down already.
Grow some balls guy's.
You obviously never grew up in the slums of a mayor
city. When confronted by a Bully you get a big stick
otherwise you will become his 'Nancy Boy.'
Have a good day 'Ladies.'

[MVKen]

Ed Chainey, what kind of analysis is that? Her implication was all about chest thumping and war monging. There's no ambiguity about it.

And when you say Clinton, Biden, Obama wouldn't know the answer as well, you are wrong. Not only would they know it, they'd say the act of preventive - not preemptive - war (what the Bush Doctrine really is) is morally and legally wrong. Bush sold America and the world a pack of lies. That Iraq posed an eminent threat to the national security of the United States. That was the rational to invade Iraq. The truth was, the US was in no way in eminent danger from Iraq. And EVERY ONE OF OUR SECURITY divsions knew it, and presented to the president. He chose to ignore their advice.

Please know what you're talking about before you post.

Robert, resorting to name calling? Didn't your mother love you?
~Ken

[spacemodulator]

Ed Chainey is projecting his own ignorance onto very learned men. Hell, I have no education and I instantly knew what the Bush Doctrine is.
As a point, Bush is the first president ever to use preemption as a policy. The only one.
Preemption is Un-American.
Your ignorance is very American these days ,Ed, I'm truly sad to point out.
Read up on PNAC if you want to know the real score, Ed.
I doubt you actually do want to know anything. Just a guess.

[Diane]

Did you notice how Palin never answered a DIRECT QUESTION????

She's a red-neck piece of trailer trash trying to support an old geezer who should bow out, and just spend time visiting the 'homes' he has....if he can only figure out how many he actually owns, and how many his wife owns!

[Tristan]

I see Democrats have decided to smear and lie their way into the White House. Palin said that if Ukraine and Georgia were NATO members and were attacked, then we as NATO members would have an obligation to defend them. If you don't like NATO, fine, but as it stands now, that's how NATO works.

This is right up there with the "McCain said we'd be in Iraq for 100 years" or "McCain says anyone with less than $5m is middle class". It insults the intelligence of anyone who saw the actual speech or interview. I guess Obama thinks we're stupid.

[Steve Hynd]

I'm guessing from the odd line breaks in Robert's comments that he's cutting and pasting everywhere he can. That and the fact we didn't delete a single comment from him.

In search of McCain points, Robert?

Tristan, Palin lied when she said Russia invaded Georgia "unprovoked". They were in South Ossetia as peacekeepers in a deal georgia had signed up to and Georgia attacked Russian peacekeepers first.

And you're missing the point. It's feud with Russia is the primary reason Georgia should *not* be a NATO member and US/Russian leaders don't *ever* say they'd willingly put their nation into a position of war with the other - because unlike all other countries both have thousands of nukes and a war between them would ruin the world. Even Cheney has respected that bit of foreign policy sense.

Regards, C

[DoubleD]

Damn it, hypothetical is an adjective, NOT a noun or a substantive.

[Denjudge]

This woman scares the hell out of me. When she first was announced as McCain's VP pick, the first thing I thought of was Cheney. What kind of international experience does this "soccer mom" have?

As much as I despise Cheney, he has had the international experience to go head to head with foreign leaders. I didn't see the ABC interview, but I was kind of hoping Charlie would ask Palin about the role Azerbaijan would play in this whole Russia/Georgia and even Iran thing. Hell, she probably hadn't even heard of Azerbaijan before her pick, but Cheney was there a week or so ago, planning the next war.

McCain will have Neocons in his administration, like John Bolton, and they will recommend bombing and attacking anything they don't like. Palin will surely agree with them and make catastrophic decisions. This just scares the hell out of me.

[babbs]

My 10-year-old son knows what the Bush Doctrine is. Amazing that they didn't cover that in her briefings, where she reportedly is good at spouting back what she's told but doesn't ask questions. Scary that she was willing to agree with it without wanting more information. Given how similar McCain's foreign policy is to Bush's, it does matter what she thinks about this.

[manuel Martinez]

DIANE does the same thing all rethug nitwits do: she makes a bunch of statements that can be seen as attacks and attributes them to "obama supporters," and then says that obama made those statements. laura, you're a liar. the rethugs are liars. that's all they do. smear and lie and distract. they have no new ideas at all. just the same failed, criminally stupid policies of the chimp in charge. if you voted for W, and you probably did, in my book, you've lost your mouthing off privileges. you're as responsible as he is for torture and war crimes, and murder, and mayhem, and for bankrupting this country. no way in hell, do you get to foist that senile geezer and his half-wit guvner of alaska in the white house. you should love your country a little more than you do, because putting that idiot palin one step from the presidency is tantamount to treason.

[Casey]

ROBERT YOUNG Said:
"The Bush Doctrine. I bet until Charley told the country what it was, neither Obama, Biden and Hillary could have answered that, Plus it was a dumb question. Unless McCain declares it's his doctrine it's irrelevant as of January 2009. Just a stupid dumb gotcha question Charley."

Are you kidding me? If she had paid any attention at all to the debate leading up to the Iraq war you would be familiar with the "Bush Doctrine". It just goes to show that she is clueless on international affairs. Her other scripted regurgitations remind me of a student trying desperately to B.S. her way through an essay exam that she clearly wasn't prepared for. She failed the exam and needs to be sent back to Alaska to repeat the course. We can't afford to graduate another uninformed zealot to the Whitehouse.

[Molly]

My husband and I saw a bit of the interview on GMA this morning. He thought she "presented herself well" which got me to thinking that an apt campaign slogan for Palin would be:
I'm Sarah Palin and no, I won't show you my boobs.

I think with the picture gone, people have a better perspective of this candidate. I hope so.

[Aghast]

Anyone who continues to support the McCain/Palin ticket after a performance like this is simply beyond all hope. The Presidential race for the Republicans has become like a reality TV show - "Let's take an average, low-intellect hockey mom from someplace that nobody knows anything about and make her President!" (I know she's running for VP, but McCain IS pretty old...)

If all this stuff weren't so scary, it would be funny. Look at the Republican record, look at the low-quality candidates they've decided to run, look at their total lack of policies, look at their admission that "issues" aren't what will decide this election...

Can anyone believe that this woman is applying to run the most powerful country in the world? Good Lord, what has become of America?

[anderson]

Robert Young: You're in the wrong forum here, sir. Everyone here knows what the Bush Doctrine is, and so do Obama, Biden and McCain.

Projection?

[Jcruz]

She is in no way capable to run America. NO WAY.

[James M. Martin]

If you ask me, Sarah Palin is a useful idiot for the Dems. The more we hear, the more insane she sounds. In keeping with her gullible religious beliefs (she is a Dominionist, you know), she shows an incredible naivety about science, foreign relations, history, and a whole slew of other subjects. In short, she is an ignoramus. Given McShame's age and his increasingly stiff, wooden appearance, it would seem to me we have the perfect case of a proverbial blind person leading a blind person, though no less scary.

[Tristan]

Cernig, I understand the principle of strategic ambiguity, but it doesn't apply to NATO. The whole objective of NATO was to make it crystal clear to the Soviets that there are countries that are off limits to keep them from picking the west off one by one.

But sure, the inflammatory headline "Most Dangerous Woman in the World" and the phrase "perfectly willing to go to war with Russia" isn't hyperbole at all. If you can't win except by lying and distorting your opponents record, then you don't deserve to lead.

[Steve Hynd]

Tristan, Georgia isn't a NATO member and may never be. France and Germany have made it clear they intend to veto as long as it is feuding with Russia. The plan that's extant is a sop to Bush's embarassment at getting told "non" and "nein" at the last NATO summit, nothing more. And yes, the principle of strategic ambiguity still applies to NATO - that's why NATO leaders have never said straight out that its purpose was to hem alleged Russian expansionism, even if we all know it. It's a simple demural, but it serves a real purpose.

Also, do you recall America once promising that it would never station troops in former Soviet republics?

Regards, C

[annie]

The whole objective of NATO was to make it crystal clear to the Soviets that there are countries that are off limits to keep them from picking the west off one by one.

in that case we might as well just roll the whole thing up because there is no more soviet union.

I understand the principle of strategic ambiguity, but it doesn't apply to NATO.

nato is not interested in including countries as members w/disputed territories within their borders. besides , had south ossetia invaded georgia proper georgia could be said to be 'protecting itself' but since that didn't happen and georgia plummeted south ossetia all night long, had russia not invaded (even tho they were the legally recognized by UN 'peacekeepers' as per the '92 sochi agreement) what exactly do you think nato is going to do? involve itself in a countries civil war? US/IS had already been training the military and supplying weapons to 'capture' their disputed territory for the purpose of joining nato even tho the eurpopean members of nato didn't want georgia as part of their coalition.

meanwhile i can absolutely see how palin is the perfect candidate for mcCain (as exampled on this thread) because she doesn't have to be smart because most people who vote on that ticket aren't smart. that is why they aren't running an 'issues' campaign. these people are depended apon to vote against their best interests. most of then couldn't point out georgia(or pakistan) on a map so to them it doesn't matter if she can, just like it doesn't matter if she even knows what pre emptive war means in the context of our history or international policy.

they are idiots. all that matters is she looks good and can pack a punch.

[annie]

we were crossposting there cernig

do you recall America once promising that it would never station troops in former Soviet republics?

yes, wasn't this some deal w/gorbi that if the soviet union broke up we wouldn't amass on their borders? there was some 'line' i forget the name. but it didn't include any ex soviet states. what do you think the US would do if the russian were planting bases in cuba?

[George]

Sarah Palin represents a direct threat to the safety and security of the United States and its Constitution and must be treated as such. Period.