"Life Begins at Conception"?

That is a utterly worn out red herring, one I addressed dispositively in my blog. Click my name.

Her answer to the gay question was a bit odd as well. She claims one of her best friends is a lesbian, but then she says that her friend made a "different choice" than she would have. I wish Katie has followed up and asked her if she really thought being gay was a choice.

The first set of interviews have saved your career, asked good questions, demanded answers without grandstanding. Thank you.

But now you're being used.

You've done a great job, but the more she appears with you and does this crazy stuff, the more the right will claim its you using gotcha questions.

what the "morning after" pill was. At first she seemed in favor of it but then seemed to sense that her base would object to her approval of the pill and so she became vague.

She also didn't seem to know the names of any news/political magazines or publications and was very defensive about Alaska.

My boyfriend left a stiff sock beneath the covers. I tried for hours to resuscitate those sperm. I failed. I buried them in half coffins and grieved for half a day. Oh, the half horror, the half horror!

If Palin had been honest regarding what she's read, she would have said, "I watch Fox. They tell me all I need to know. U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"

Regarding the gay answer, my follow-up question would be, "So, when did you choose to ignore your attraction to women?"

I think not! And if she does have a friend (for 30 years no less) who is a lesbian, she would have told Palin a long time ago that it's not a choice. I don't believe Palin. It's the same old saw used whenever you want to prove a biased/hateful point -- I have friends who are [insert prejudice here]...

She only reads the Washington Times and various small white supremacist publications.

The abortion answers aren't Sarah Palin being dumb or ignorant. These are Sarah Palin being politically savvy. She doesn't want to have the soundbite where she agrees that abortion should be outlawed even in the case of rape or incest (actually, rape and incest in this particular example), so she sticks with the "counsel" language. That allows her to say things that will appeal to the base without acknowledging her actual position on the issue.

This suggests what I've thought for a while - she's a good politician who happens to be out of her depth on the national stage because she doesn't have fluency on the national issues. The Couric interviews, in particular, show that it's hard to get that fluency through a crash course. That's really what she's up against on Thursday night - whether she'll get the questions she understands how to answer or the questions that depend on her picking the right options among the ones that are being stuffed into her head even now.

If Katie asks her how she's feeling this morning, it's a 'gotcha question.' But we should all refer back to Palin arrogantly suggesting that Hillary Clinton shouldn't whine.

From the Simpsons episode entitled "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk“

Horst: You have been safety inspector for two years. What initiatives have you spearheaded in that time?

Homer: Uh… All of them?

Horst: I see. Then you must have some good ideas for the future as well?

Homer: I sure do!

Hans: [long pause]……such as?

Homer: Well I wish the candy machine wasn’t so picky when taking beat up $1 bills. Because a lot of workers really like candy

Horst: We understand, Homer. After all, we are from the land of chocolate…

Bring on more interviews like this. Palin is showing how much of a true pitbull with bad makeup (thank you for calling yourself that Sarah! Think of how many jokes and sarcastic stuff everyone can make up)puppy she is. Clearly, she is very house trained by her masters and when left to roam free, she doesn't know what to say or bark. She just keeps digging holes for herself. She might just be her own worst enemy.

Than we've seen so far. She was able to "answer the question she wished [Couric] had asked" and still come off saccharine. Even I liked her for that one. Who DOESN'T want to make adoption easier.

Don't be surprise if she exceeds expectations Thursday night. Expectations are low, but don't be surprised if she exceeds them.

(I'm not a Palin supporter, for the record.)

If she reads so many newspapers or other publications she really should have been able to toss off the name of one specific one.

She reads them all. What kind of answer is that, she can't even say well I read the NY Times, Wall St Journal, USA Today, The Economist, Time? I'm sure Alaska has access to periodicals and newspapers, but come on you don't just go um, I read em all and Alaska is a microcosm of the USA.

As for her abortion stance, well it is what it is. At least that answer sounded coherant. As for adoption being made easier, is it really hard to be a woman and give the baby away?

Her gay answer, I would really like if it someone would ask her, so when you did you choose to be straight since you think you could have become a lesbian if you wanted to?

When your favorite reading material is C.S. Lewis and Runner's World (!?!?!) it's understandable that you might want to evade Couric's question. See Palin's interview with Charlie Rose if you don't believe me, the relevant section comes near the end at the 3:12 mark. Just click on my name below to watch Sarah field Charlie's questions.

Re. the morning after pill question, I got the impression that Couric thinks it's an abortifacient like RU-486, which it is not. (Read Broadsheet to keep up with this.) But - not being able to even name a newspaper! Surely Palin could have tossed out the name of the Anchorage daily.