You just listed off a bunch of GOP policy positions and ascribed them to Palin. They aren't her views - they're the views that were forced upon her. And repeating information--poorly, I may add--is now considered an indicator of intelligence?

She was considered to have done "well" in her debate with Biden because she didn't pass out or vomit on herself. If you'll recall, the expectations set for her were hovering around zero. That she barely exceeded them was considered a wild success. The depth of understanding she so obviously lacked was only outshined by her ridiculous put-on folksiness.

Couric was not mocking her as a person for never having traveled abroad. She was incredulous that someone running for VICE FREAKING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES had never really traveled abroad and showed no understanding or interest in the world at-large. She wasn't some random person Couric was grilling. The people deserved to know how isolated her experience has been.

Look, Sarah Palin is not stupid. She's extremely charismatic and calculatingly ambitious. She has some skills at getting what she wants. But she is ignorant, and strangely proud of it. She represents the bottom-dwellers of the GOP, the people who want to hold on to the past because they're intimidated by the future. Our nation's problems demand a visionary to lead us, not a chunderheaded blunderbuss. We've just had 8 years of that. And most people get that.

It's not like there were fans pouring onto the field ripping down the goalposts, or any other kind of pandemonium that would cause the refs to call "game over" and get the heck outta there.

They took the time to review the play and determined that LT's handoff was an illegal forward pass, which appears to be correct. So they just messed up the application of the rule, which is penalty but no dead ball. Why can't they fix it now? It's not like the outcome of the game is affected, but the outcome of plenty of LEGAL gambling is, as well as a potential tiebreaker for the playoffs (granted, it's like the 84th tiebreaker, so it's not likely to have any impact).

Far more likely than a bad snap or muffed hold is a false start penalty, which would result in a 10-second runoff that would end the game if you didn't leave over 10 seconds on the clock. This was, in fact, a fantastically savvy coaching move by Tomlin, especially considering how the Steelers had been penalized in that game, combined with the nerves and jumpiness of a potentially game-winning play.

I agree with your analysis that the "what if something goes wrong with the snap or the hold" chestnut is as stale as it is statistically irrelevant. But the 10 second runoff is a very real concern, and the real reason coaches kick with more than 10 seconds left in these situations.

I read the rule, but there is some confusing language about situations in which the clock was stopped and the offense had come set, so I don't know if a runoff was possible in last night's game. But if it was possible, then it's a great call by Tomlin.

And thinking about it more, kicking on 3rd down could have more of a psychological impact than anything. By relieving some pressure on the long snapper and holder because they know they have another shot at it, kicking on 3rd down could have had an effect that we'll never know about - how many bad snaps and holds were saved by not letting it all ride on 4th down? There's no way to measure that, but percentage of successful third-down game-winning kicks made compared to fourth-down game-winning kicks made would be an interesting stat. A statistically significant difference in favor of 3rd downers would possibly buttress the "less pressure" argument, and when you have a new long snapper, it seems an even better move.

and Hannity = the Harlem Globetrotters of paranoid, obnoxious, ignorant drivel. From wiki:

"The Washington Generals are an American exhibition basketball team, best known for their spectacular losing streak in staged exhibition games against the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Generals provided deliberately ineffective opposition as a foil for the Globetrotters' comedy routines. The Globetrotters' acts often featured incredible coordination and skillful handling of one or more basketballs, such as passing or juggling balls between players, balancing or spinning balls on their fingertips, and making unusual, difficult shots. The Generals on the other hand would try to play a game of "serious" basketball in return.

From 1953 until 1995, the Generals played exhibitions against the Globetrotters, winning only six games, the last in 1971, and losing more than 13,000."

come on koppelman, this is the kind of twisted logic we all had to suffer through during the election, and the kind to which repubs will glom onto trying to link obama to this. obama said he had no contact with the governor regarding FAVORS FOR THE SEAT. of course he's talked to him about who would be a good replacement - that's what blago even admits in his wiretapped call, when he calls obama a motherfucker for daring to suggest replacements without offering anything to sweeten the deal. so far it looks like rahmbo blew the whistle and obama was unwilling to play reindeer games with his own state and party ... this is all a very good harbinger of things to come.