and if so, did she think it was a compliment?

It turns out, that while being interviewed recently on some or another Fox "news" program by good old Sean Hannity, SP decided to share some foreign policy thoughts with us.  Possibly not the best move on her part, as FP pronouncements often tend to be more difficult to ad-lib than domestic policy, and it turns out the former half-term governor of the 49th state may have misspoken  and seemed to have confused Iran with Iraq.

Well, I say "So what?"  Anyone can make a mistake, and it is hard to keep the two places distinct in one's mind.  Let look at the hurdles Sarah had to surmount before we rush to judgement:

1. she had to speak extemporaneously, never an easy thing for most folks, in a notoriously friendly arena with a fawning intervier lobbing fat, slow softballs her way.  And she didn't even have Obama's teleprompter!

2. Iran and Iraq are both 4-letter words, easy to confuse.

3. Iran and Iraq both begin with "i-r-a."  the two names are 75% percent similar, making a simple honest error even more likely and even more understandable.

4. Iran and Iraq both have lot of dry, arid desert-like terrotory.

5. both are in the middle east.

6. they share a border.

7. both are heavily populated by Moslems, all of whom violently hate the US and dream of establishing an Islamic Caliphate on the smoldering, blackened ruins of the vanquished American republic.

8. both are on Israel's shit list.  Hence, both are on America's shit list.

9. both are oil-producing countries.

10. both have experienced non-democratic rule.

11. both have had tumultuous relations with the US.

12. US foreign policy toward each country has been a chronic political bone of contention between the two major political parties in the US.

13. they fought an 8-year long war between 1980-88.

14. both support terrorism.

15. both have shown an unhealthy interest in WMD.

16. both are members of OPEC.

17. both have a coastline on the Persian Gulf [Iraq's is quite small].

18. both have experience revolutions and violent overthrows of previous gov't regimes.

19. Iraq has fought two wars with the US, Iran's in the running for one soon enough it seems.


You know, those nitpickers at the Huffington Post, a notriously unreliable source of liberal bias, seem to have made entirely too much of this.  The whole thing looks like it boils down to SP making an honest mistake and confusing imports with exports.  Well, it's again easy to see how that coiuld happen.

1. both are 7-lettter words.

2. both end in "p-o-r-t-s."

3. both are advanced concepts in int'l economic exchange.

4. and both are actually the same thing.
something is an import and an export at the same time, it just depends where you're located in relation to the good or service at any specific moment. And you have to know where you are in relation to that good or service. When the Cali cartel ships to me some of it's finest Colombian agricultural trade goods, they export it while I import it.  It's as simple as that. [I'd rather Shakira got sent my way, but that's a different post].  SP has simply suggested that the US use it's influence to get Iraq to use it's economic leverage over Iran in ways consistent with Israel's goals, er, excuse me please, consistent with America;s goals in the middle east. See, it's just a momemtary attack of tongue-twisting.

Hey, she did get Ahmadinejad's name right, and from the content in which she used it, it's clear that SP knows that he is the head of Iranian gov't.  Metternich, Castlereagh, Talleyrand and Cardinal Richeleau move the fuck over - there's a new foreign policy realpolitikian in town.  And her name is Sarah.

Really, how can anyone doubt SP's foreign policy chops?

Clearly, it's more anti-feminist, liberal media bias sucking up to Obama and his Affirmative Action presidency.


You know, you're really got to tip your hat to William Kristol for the tireless work he's done with SP, keeping her non-existent appeal to the US electorate as fresh and new as the first day Senator McCain announced that she would be his running mate, keeping her on the straight-and-narrow neo-con, Likudist, Israel-first message, schooling her in all the arcane knowledge of national politics necessary to be an effective, first-rste political leader, flogging her accomplishments and qualifications to any and all willing to listen.  Quite a job, WK.  Dare we say "mission accomplished"?

It really must be quite humbling to WK to realize how much of Sarah's success he has contributed to.  I wonder, what does he get from it? does william get his Kristol balls polished?  Seems the least he should be getting in return for his tireless work on Sarah's behalf.






-- Modified on 11/19/2009 10:05:22 PM