Did anyone here watch her debut? I couldn't as I have a medical condition - severe allergy to Foxes.

[url=http://]http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31436.html[/url]

Sarah Palin on Fox says she thought Iraq was behind 9/11

By ANDY BARR | 1/12/10 9:31 PM EST

In her debut as a contributor to Fox News, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin admitted Tuesday that leading up to her 2008 vice presidential debate she thought Iraq may have been behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Interviewed by Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on his show "The O'Reilly Factor," Palin trashed many of the critical accounts of her candidacy in the new book "Game Change." But one story from the book that Palin did not say was "made up" or "a lie" was the description of her uncertainty as to whether Iraq had a hand in the planning of the September 11 attacks.

"I did talk a lot to [campaign strategist] Steve Schmidt about the history of the war and where the attackers could have come from," Palin said of her debate prep during the fall of 2008 - more than five years after the start of the war in Iraq and seven years after the terrorist attacks that hit New York and Washington.

"I do admit to asking questions about that," she said.

Palin appeared for the first time as a paid contributor on the network, smiling and eagerly answering each of O'Reilly's questions. "I'm grinning today and I'm so appreciative to be here with you today and the team at Fox News for the fair and balanced news that voters of America deserve," she said.

Overall, Palin had a very negative take on the book written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

"These reporters were not any part of what I was doing there as the VP candidate," she said. "I don't know who they are. I haven't met these guys."

Asked about the book's assertion that she did not know that the Korean peninsula was separated into two vastly different countries, Palin responded: "That's a lie."

"It's pretty made up," Palin said of the book, which she said she has not read. Palin said she did not watch interviews with the two reporters or Schmidt on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday because she was warned it was "bull."

During the "60 Minutes" interview, Schmidt relayed a story about how he was told Palin's debate performance would be a "debacle of historic and epic proportions."

Palin disputed Schmidt's account, saying that the story "was not true. And Steve Schmidt told us how overjoyed he was by the debate."

"I felt good about it," she said of the debate. "Steve Schmidt felt great about it"

Palin said she was not worried by what Schmidt or the reporters said on the program because "the American people are immediately neutralizing programs like '60 Minutes.'"

But while Palin had issues with her depiction, she had no problem seizing on quotes within the book from Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who credited President Barack Obama's attractiveness as a candidate to his lighter skin color and lack of a "Negro dialect."

"You can't defend those comments," she said. "His thinking and articulation of that thought are quite perplexing."

When O'Reilly pointed out to Palin that Reid was not standing by the remark, the former Republican governor responded: "He says he's sorry."

Sarah Palin on Fox says she thought Iraq was behind 9/11

Bullcrap. Sarah Palin can't think. She's as "dumb as a stump".

Which is an insult to stumps everywhere.

If in 2008, this celebrity thought Iraq may be behind 9/11, it provides without a shadow of a doubt that she shouldn't hold any elected position in the US.

Calling apologist gopqed - Still good enough? Natural leader my foot. She's a celebrity, and she has fans. Fans with a vote. Dumbing down of the US at it's most repulsive.

Palin said she was not worried by what Schmidt or the reporters said on the program because "the American people are immediately neutralizing programs like '60 Minutes.'"

can somebody please explain to me what she means here?

That the popular opinion of ignorant mobs can neutralize the power of the truth.

I hope she's wrong.

i had to read it three times before i got that. and i have to say, i find it incredibly upsetting.

anti-intellectualism is alive and well.

that is an exceedingly apt comparison.

so, i am wondering where her disabled infant is while she is gallavanting around FOX studio.

so, i am wondering where her disabled infant is while she is gallavanting around FOX studio.


Back in storage with the other political props.

If you want to get into a name-calling contest, let me know, Bitter Spice.

But if you want to discuss issues, I'm willing to do that. I didn't see the interview, so I don't know the context of what she said. But if it was as presented, that certainly reflects poorly on her. It doesn't change the fact that she's a natural leader, though. People can say less-than-stellar things and still be leaders.

Managers of failed campaigns are famous for looking for other places to put the blame for the loss. Steve Schmidt is working to protect his own brand for future campaign seasons. It's a pretty common tactic, as a campaign consultant who gains a reputation for running campaigns into the ground and making bad strategic decisions quickly finds themselves running campaigns for dogcatcher, if they are running campaigns at all. They will find blame everywhere but in themselves. They have everything to gain by doing it.

Schmidt is even being very self-serving about it, at he criticizes her on some levels, and then says that McCain would have lost by a bigger margin if Palin had not been on the ticket. So he ends up patting himself on the back for selecting her, while trashing her as an excuse and damaging her reputation so he will have an easier target in the future if he's working on a campaign where she's an opponent.

It's frightening when I think that such a person was litterally one failed heartbeat away from one of the most powerful offices in the world.


Who are you talking about?

Palin... if McCain had won the election.

Hey, I think it's about 3 hours earlier here, so remember that I haven't had my coffee yet, either.

There are a few problems with all of this breathless anxiety you all have over Sarah Palin.

1) She's most likely never going to hold public office again - She very well may never even run for public office again.
2) The US survived a lot of inexperienced and questionable people in the VP spot - Just go back over the last 50 years and you see Joe Biden, Al Gore, Dan Quayle, Walter Mondale, Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford, Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon, Alben Barkley and Harry Truman. We even survived Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford as President.

You're exaggerating what she has said to an extreme, and interpreting it to suit your own political viewpoint, Sid. Show me a quote from her where she said being educated is bad.

It doesn't change the fact that she's a natural leader, though.

Gimme a freaking break. She's the product of Madison Avenue hype. Of course, one could say Brittany Spears is a "natural leader" in much the same way. Only dumbasses would consider that twit some kind of "leader"... well, maybe lemmings would follow her.

gop - It's not bitter, and it is impressive to see that you've stooped to shera's level so maybe she's a natural leader too.