Is Africa a continent or a country? Discuss

Here is Sarah Palin defending herself in today's Times:

'I remember having a discussion with a couple of debate preppers,' she said. 'So if it came from one of those debate preppers, you know, that’s curious. But having a discussion about Nafta — not, "Oh my goodness, I don’t know who is a part of Nafta."'

'So, no, I think that if there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about Nafta, and about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context,' Ms. Palin said. 'And that’s cruel and it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional, and those guys are jerks, if they came away with it taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news. It is not fair and not right.'

If our culture, even our political culture, were not so celebrity obsessed, no one would even be discussing whether Palin might be able to "rehabilitate herself" or whether seh might someday be ready for national office. Any adult who needs a debate prepper to discuss "the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there" would otherwise be ruled out.

Whether or not she asked for the clothes or kept the clothes, whether or not she was a diva, Palin's idea that she, despite her ignorance, might be somehow qualified for high office bepeaks a sense of entitlement that's off the charts.

Fortunately, Palin seems to be cementing her status as a national joke. Her real goal, not actually denied, seems to be a talk show gig. But she may even be too dumb for that.

The Idiot from Wasilla is Graded on a Curve

The punditocracy has declared (here, here and here) that Sarah Palin “passed” her big test in her debate with Joe Biden. By that they mean she didn’t sound like a blithering idiot the way she did talking to Katie Couric. True, she was not that bad.

But when the school dumbs the test down enough, anyone can pass, but there’s a catch. People know the standards are low so at the end of the day they don’t give much credit for meeting them. Besides, there were a few moron moments, such as when Gov. Palin was discussing the Constitution as it applies to the vice presidency, the office she seeks:

MODERATOR GWEN IFILL: Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?

PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also. [See full transcript.]

Those founding fathers—God bless ‘em.

It’s the soft bigotry of low expectations applied to candidates for national office.

The Third Best Palin

I know as much about these others as I know about Sarah Palin, which is to say next to nothing. But if John McCain was looking for a woman governor to run with, there are two others who seem superior to Palin. Jodi Rell of Connecticut has been governor for four years and was lieutenant governor before that. She is even married to a former navy pilot. She's popular and has been re-elected. Problem is: she's considered a liberal Republican.

Or McCain could have gone to the other extra-continental state, Hawaii, and picked Linda Lingle. Lingle was elected in a very Democratic state, unlike Alaska. Lingle served as Maui County mayor, councilmember, and chaired the Hawaii GOP. As of November 20, 2006, her approval rating stood at 71% with only 24% disapproval, according to Answers.com. But Lingle is jewish. So picking either Lingle or Rell would, in a way, have been a slap at McCain BFFL Joe Lieberman.