Palin interview on national security and energy credentials

144 Teaching Minds Palin: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend. I suppose it is not a crime to not know the doctrine of the sitting president from your own party when you are running for vice presi- dent, but it does seem odd. But what is worse, is that after being told what that doctrine is, Palin is content to ramble on incoherently. Why doesn’t this bother her? Clearly this is not a real issue because it doesn’t bother her supporters either. Here is some more from that interview: Gibson: But this is not just reforming a government. This is also running a government on the huge international stage in a very dangerous world. When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact that you have commanded the Alaskan National Guard and that Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials? Palin: But it is about reform of government and it’s about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues. Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20% of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States. Gibson: I know. I’m just saying that national security is a whole lot more than energy. Knowledge should matter for high government officials, but it doesn’t matter precisely because the people who are listening have no knowl- edge either. Is Sarah Palin intelligent? There are plenty who would say that she is not. These include those who rank coherent thinking and the ability to create coherent explanations high on their list of what constitutes intelligence. But, it should be clear, that is not what HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023890