Sarah Palin isn’t ready, but I can’t say why I feel that way

*Updated

That’s a summary of what I read on a political blog earlier this morning.

At First Door on the Left, Len posted a clip of Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson and stated:

Talk about a deer in the headlights. The McCain people clearly have a lot more work to do here before they turn this lady loose in public. She clearly is not ready. Perhaps in another twelve years or so, but not now. Let her run for Congress and spend a little time learning and gaining a bit of national and international experience. She just got her first passport a year ago. Give the lady some time.

I chose to ignore the glaring inconsistency that if one subscribes to this thinking, then Obama would certainly need several more years experience in Congress as well.  Instead, I asked one question–a rather simple one, in my opinion.

Airtightnoodleon 12 Sep 2008 at 09:23

I’m seeing a lot of insults to Palin in the post, but nothing to really back them up. Can you possbily explain why you think she’s not ready?

Len’s next response didn’t really answer the question at all:

For my right wing friends who are now pleading ignorance, the Bush Doctrine, first stated by George W. Bush in October of 2002, states that the United States has the right to preemptively wage war against any country which it believes may be plotting against it. It has also been called “The Right of First Strike.” And, no, Sarah Palin is not ready for either the vice presidency or (gods forbid) the presidency. Sorry.

So we have a reiteration of the earlier opinion–Sarah Palin is not ready for either position.  Again…why?

So naturally I had to reply again.

Still not seeing WHY she isn’t ready.

Actually, at first the phrase “Bush doctrine” was used to describe the policy that the U.S. had the right to treat countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups as terrorists themselves. Later people started using it to refer to preventive war. It’s a phrase that’s been used to apply to a lot of things Bush has said in relation to the war and terrorism.

Len’s brilliant response came quickly (notice there is no mention of what I stated about the Bush Doctrine and still no explanation for WHY Palin isn’t ready):

When it comes right down to it, that is a decision each of us is going to have to make for ourselves. All I can say is… Listen to her, hope the media has the cajones to ask her the tough questions, study her positions and policies. Do the same for the other candidates. Then, if you believe that she and John McCain are the leaders you want for our country and that they will take it in the direction you think it needs to go (basically the direction in which it has been going for the past eight years), by all means vote for her and Johnny.

My mission here is just to have a bit fun, present the facts as I see them, and if along the way I help one or two people to see the light… well, so much the better.

I thought to myself–How are you going to help people see the light if you can’t answer a simple question: why do you feel Sarah Palin isn’t ready for this position?

So, of course, that’s what I posted next.

I don’t really know why I keep posting to the thread.  If you have to keep asking the same question over and over again and the person can’t answer, at some point you just have to chalk it up to incompetence, right?

*Update:

I received a humorous reply from Len:

For heaven’s sake, Airtightnoodle, that’s practically all I’ve been talking about since Senior Citizen McCain announced she had been picked for him. Go back and read in the archives a bit. You’ll forgive me if I don’t really feel like repeating it all here. (You might also read the post on which you have been commenting. Also, watch the video embedded in the post.)

Thank you.

So I replied:

1. I’ve read the post.
2. I’ve watched the video.
3. It took you several replies to finally say something somewhat useful (go back and read the archives).
4. You can expect people to comment and ask questions on something you have already talked about in previous blog posts since often posters find your blog through one particular post.  Don’t be surprised when people don’t want to read all your previous entries to get a quick answer–which, in reality, you still haven’t given.

And…now I’m done with that blog, I suppose.  🙂

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