Palin gains some foreign policy experience

[WilliamK]

Audio: http://www.tindeck.com/audio/filestore/w/wwdo-SarahPalin.mp3

[Guest Paul]

Listening to this, I just assumed someone was imitating Palin's voice, but it's not! Palin actually stayed on the phone with this prankster for more than five minutes, and didn't figure out he was goofing on her --- not even after he said how hot his wife was in bed! He was saying ridiculous things that were completely unprofessional, and she completely bought it.

Listen to this recording. It's nearly beyond belief that a VP candidate could be so completely snowed. This isn't funny. Any competent candidate would have figured this out.

What's she going to do if some other clown calls in and tells her that nuclear missiles are headed toward the US? A potential president has to have more smarts than that.

[WilliamK]

Listening to this, I just assumed someone was imitating Palin's voice, but it's not! Palin actually stayed on the phone with this prankster for more than five minutes, and didn't figure out he was goofing on her --- not even after he said how hot his wife was in bed! He was saying ridiculous things that were completely unprofessional, and she completely bought it.

Listen to this recording. It's nearly beyond belief that a VP candidate could be so completely snowed. This isn't funny. Any competent candidate would have figured this out.

What's she going to do if some other clown calls in and tells her that nuclear missiles are headed toward the US? A potential president has to have more smarts than that.

I thought it must be a Palin impersonator at first too. But the McCain campaign's own statement about it confirms that it was genuine:

Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie.

To be fair, it did seem that she didn't understand some of the more absurd bits through the thick accent, or if she did, may have thought she misheard, so just responded politely without being quite sure what she was responding to. Not that that's entirely good, but it's not as bad as if she had fully understood everything the caller had said but still didn't catch on to the prank. For example, I seriously doubt she would have responded to the "Nailin Pailin" comment the way she did if she had really understood what had been said, even if it really had been Sarkozy saying it. In addition to the thick accent, it's also worth considering that the recording we have all heard is recorded from the pranksters' end of the call. The audio quality of the pranksters' voices is almost certainly better in the recording than what Palin actually heard on the phone.

On the other hand, it was pretty obvious that she well understood the part about hunting, and that in itself should have been absurd enough to clue her in. I can cut her some slack for not understanding some things, but that is only a partial excuse. She really did display a serious lack of healthy skepticism and critical thinking ability. Those are characteristics that I believe are critically important for the position she's applying for.

What also strikes me as significant is that she seemed to be starstruck. She was like a 1960's school girl who just met Elvis. I can understand that speaking with someone as important as Sarkozy would be pretty awe inspiring, but someone who's aspiring to be a major world leader herself should be respectful, but above that kind of celebrity swooning. That may well be what crippled her reasoning enough to not catch on to the prank. That doesn't bode any better for her ability to deal with real foreign leaders than for fake ones.

[Guest Guest]

I thought it must be a Palin impersonator at first too. But the McCain campaign's own statement about it confirms that it was genuine:

To be fair, it did seem that she didn't understand some of the more absurd bits through the thick accent, or if she did, may have thought she misheard, so just responded politely without being quite sure what she was responding to. Not that that's entirely good, but it's not as bad as if she had fully understood everything the caller had said but still didn't catch on to the prank. For example, I seriously doubt she would have responded to the "Nailin Pailin" comment the way she did if she had really understood what had been said, even if it really had been Sarkozy saying it. In addition to the thick accent, it's also worth considering that the recording we have all heard is recorded from the pranksters' end of the call. The audio quality of the pranksters' voices is almost certainly better in the recording than what Palin actually heard on the phone.

On the other hand, it was pretty obvious that she well understood the part about hunting, and that in itself should have been absurd enough to clue her in. I can cut her some slack for not understanding some things, but that is only a partial excuse. She really did display a serious lack of healthy skepticism and critical thinking ability. Those are characteristics that I believe are critically important for the position she's applying for.

What also strikes me as significant is that she seemed to be starstruck. She was like a 1960's school girl who just met Elvis. I can understand that speaking with someone as important as Sarkozy would be pretty awe inspiring, but someone who's aspiring to be a major world leader herself should be respectful, but above that kind of celebrity swooning. That may well be what crippled her reasoning enough to not catch on to the prank. That doesn't bode any better for her ability to deal with real foreign leaders than for fake ones.

You're right, she's starstruck. A candidate who was ready for national office would at least have been suspicious and would have asked a few questions to see if it was really Sarkozy. She's gullible. We can't have that in a VP.

[Guest Guest]

Listening to this, I just assumed someone was imitating Palin's voice, but it's not! Palin actually stayed on the phone with this prankster for more than five minutes, and didn't figure out he was goofing on her --- not even after he said how hot his wife was in bed! He was saying ridiculous things that were completely unprofessional, and she completely bought it.

Listen to this recording. It's nearly beyond belief that a VP candidate could be so completely snowed. This isn't funny. Any competent candidate would have figured this out.

What's she going to do if some other clown calls in and tells her that nuclear missiles are headed toward the US? A potential president has to have more smarts than that.

For someone who has made a career out of listening to recordings, extracting his own opinions from them and then passed along those skills to his son, you certainly must have received a kick out of it. So you believe that Palin is a potential president candidate? Good for you. I cannot wait for the phone scam to happen to you. It's just that they don’t dig that low in the pond scum to bother with calling someone as insignificant as you.

[Bern]

Listening to this, I just assumed someone was imitating Palin's voice, but it's not! Palin actually stayed on the phone with this prankster for more than five minutes, and didn't figure out he was goofing on her --- not even after he said how hot his wife was in bed! He was saying ridiculous things that were completely unprofessional, and she completely bought it.

Listen to this recording. It's nearly beyond belief that a VP candidate could be so completely snowed. This isn't funny. Any competent candidate would have figured this out.

What's she going to do if some other clown calls in and tells her that nuclear missiles are headed toward the US? A potential president has to have more smarts than that.

After listening to the whole call, it was obvious he was an impersonator. It seems, by Palin's tone of voice (excited drooling), she was completely overwhelmed because she was privileged to get a phone call from the "President of France". She really sounded like some backwoods hick visiting the big city.

That doesn't bode well if she meets real leaders in conference.

[Bern]

What also strikes me as significant is that she seemed to be starstruck. She was like a 1960's school girl who just met Elvis. I can understand that speaking with someone as important as Sarkozy would be pretty awe inspiring, but someone who's aspiring to be a major world leader herself should be respectful, but above that kind of celebrity swooning. That may well be what crippled her reasoning enough to not catch on to the prank. That doesn't bode any better for her ability to deal with real foreign leaders than for fake ones.

Funny.

I replied before I read your post and you basically said the same thing I did.