so saying "that one" isn't a slip up? he also seemed to misunderstand the question about health care, naming it a responsibility when he seemed to actually feel it was a right. Answering a question posed by an African American town hall attendee, Oliver, to tell him that his plan would keep men like Allen in his home--implying that black men didn't have homes or something--also not a slip up?

and continuing to straight up lie, in front of obama, literally to his face, about obama's own tax plans and stances on nuclear energy, and say things like "obama thinks nuclear energy should be clean or something"--that's not a slip up?

my friends, what then would it take for mccain to slip up? would have have to like drool on himself or piss his pants or something?

i was born and raised in california, and my own accent and regional folksy expressions ("totally", "like", "that is so not even ok", etc) appear and disappear depending on my audience.

...but i can't help but think she sounds so much more competent, believable, and intelligent when she drops that stupid folksy accent. maybe because it sounds manufactured, or because i loathe the "you betchas" and "doggone its", but when she was being interviewed from what appeared to be her office in Alaska, or about her policies in Alaska, she sounded like someone who i wouldn't necessarily agree with, but wasn't a complete dummy.

remember that palin may be very versed in issues pertaining to alaska and to the mat su valley, but she is not familiar with domestic and international issues. being poised and confident, and knowing how to turn an answer quickly into a talking point, is easy (or easier) when you are familiar with the issues addressed by the question.

but it was clear from the couric interview that she couldn't do this with some of the questions because she just didn't know what the hell teh questions were talking about. see: the question about gaza. she had no idea, clearly, what gaza was, or what happened there, and how it related to challenges in democracy building. she just knew that it was somehow related to israel, so tried to tack it on to a talking point she was given about iran. but she was nervous, because she didn't know if the talking point even matched the question, and it showed.

remember, even if she is really bright, it is obvious that she has had little, if any exposure to international issues before her VP selection. she has admitted it herself. this means that in five weeks or so, she has had to learn a massive amount of information. think about it. she has had to learn stuff like what the SEC is, who is in charge of it, what short selling is, what Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac are and how they work(ed), who the presidents/pm of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Spain, the UK, Georgia, Russia, and Afghanistan are and what our relationships with those countries are, a history of our involvement in the middle east, the difference between a sunni and a shia, the different terrorist groups and who supports whom, the differene between the UN, the league of nations, NATO, and the G8, etc etc etc etc. not to mention what McCains policies are, what Obama's policies are, and how McCains are better.

That is a lot to learn in five weeks. i don't think she's "dumb." but i don't think she knew anything about any of that stuff before she was selected. and even for a very bright student, it's an awful lot to learn.

it is absolutely clear from watching the video that palin had no idea what couric was talking about, except that gaza had something to do with israel, which has something to do with iran somehow. hence: israel: good! iran: bad!

i fear for our nation and the world if mccain gets in--this is 72 year old survivor of cancer and this is what he has come up with?

kind of off topic but as an FYI:

he did not say "wipe israel off the map" as that idiom does not exist in persian. his words were that the regime occupying Jerusalem:

بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود

literally:

must from page of time cause to vanish.

then he went on to say:

...we cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front. This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world

ha!!

i love the way iran's development of nuclear weapons is setting off an arms race in the middle east, even though Israel has a nuclear weapon. They didn't set off the arms race though. nope! cause they are allowed to have nuclear weapons for some reason, and no one else is.

do these Little BIlly and the bracelet stories work? what is he talking about? what does this have to do with anything? does Amurica (you know--real Amurica, not those of us who live in Sodom and Gomorrah like cities such as LA and NY) go for this?

do people know that that would mean? no social security checks, medicare...no maintenance for national parks...no funding for interstate highways, or other interstate bridges...

i mean talk about reckless.