Palin says it the same way Bush does. I love it.
Anyway, two quick videos that maybe I’m the last to see.
Palin said that US soldiers are going to Iraq on a task from God. Asked about that, she tried her best to backtrack, hem and haw, and pretend that it’s similar to Lincoln’s powerful quote about hoping that we’re on God’s side.
Eventually, she just said that she doesn’t know whether it was a task from God.
In a longer clip from the same interview, she says that when asked to run as VP, she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t blink, because you can’t blink in the war on terror and Iraq. [Oh, come on, lady. A little self-doubt about whether you’re the best person for the job isn’t the same as blinking about terrorism.]
She also didn’t blink when asked if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Although she didn’t know what that was, rather than bother asking, she went ahead and talked for awhile, hoping that maybe she’d get something right. Better to be incorrect than to appear uninformed.
Now, I should be clear. I hate her answers. I hate the way she handled them. I hate her obvious dissembling.
But I don’t blame her for them, because that’s what politics is all about. 99% of all politicians in her situation would be doing more or less the same thing.
She’s gonna have a microphone in her face all the time and she’s gonna say stupid stuff (because she’s human) and the pressure to backtrack is going to be enormous.
She’s going to say things that can feel true personally without being a political doctrine. But then she can’t just explain that in an interview. Or, rather, it would take a remarkable person to do so. Which she isn’t, but then… who is?
Update: Kevin points out in the comments that the quote about “task from God” really is something like Lincoln’s, when you hear the whole thing.
I must disagree on the second point where you accuse Mrs. Palin of backtracking and trying to make her statement sound like Lincoln’s. Her statement was like Lincoln’s but you wouldn’t know that if you rely on the AP because they left out the entire first part of her sentence. Here’s the full quote (which Mr. Gibson also left out):
“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”
Regarding “nukular”, Cathy brought this up before her convention speech, that she had heard her in an interview and she said “nukular”. During the speech itself, she said “nuclear”, so I was encouraged, but then during the interview she slipped back to “nukular”. I don’t like it.
Thinking over the second question, the one on the Bush Doctrine, I have to admit I was confused by that question, too. I thought the Bush Doctrine he was talking about was that whole “if you’re not with us you’re against us” thing. Obviously, I was wrong, and I agree, she also didn’t know what he was asking. I disagree that she just went ahead and talked about something without asking, though, as she did ask: “In what respect, Charlie”, but he obviously wasn’t going to throw her any lifelines, and that’s fine. It was supposed to be a confrontational interview.
To your first comment about the Lincoln thing, I agree with you, now that I see the whole quote. I wasn’t relying on AP, but on the interview.
To second, about the Bush doctrine, I disagree that she didn’t go ahead and talk.
But I don’t mean when he first asked her. When he first asked her, sure, she said, “in what respect,” and then something like – you mean his worldview? In other words, she didn’t know what he meant by Bush Doctrine, so she asked what he meant.
He said that he meant a specific doctrine that Bush outlined in 2002. At that point, she decided not to admit that she had no idea what the Bush doctrine was.
Instead, she just went off talking. I would have said, “I don’t know which doctrine you mean.”
Also, Kevin, you didn’t provide a link for your version of the quote, but I think that wherever you got it has the punctuation wrong.
It’s not: “Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,”
It’s “Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right also for this country. That our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God.”
I still think that you’re probably right about the meaning, because of the second line about “that’s what we have to be sure we’re praying for….”
Link.
You might also be interested in reading the whole interview. ABC did some editing, of course, but some of their editorial choices are interesting, as they left out most of her non-belicose statements.
http://marklevinshow.com/gibson-interview/