Palin on Russia (OMG, you can see it from Alaska!)

A few excerpts from Charlie Gibson’s interview with Sarah Palin:

GIBSON: Let’s start, because we are near Russia, let’s start with Russia and Georgia.
The administration has said we’ve got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we’re going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain’s running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals.That’s why we have to keep an eye on Russia.

Wow, notice how she completely avoided answering the question of whether the U.S. should assist Georgia in restoring its sovereignty over the breakaway regions? Way to go name dropping Saak, though! That would be much more impressive, however, if Saak wasn’t waiting by his phone 24 hours a day, hoping that any U.S. government employee above the paygrade of janitor would be calling him.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

BRILLIANT answer, Palin! Completely disregard the actual question and merely point out, again, that Russia and Alaska are like, totally geographically close, which therefore gives you some sort of special insight into US-Russian relations. Dude, start eating borscht and blini, maybe drink a bit of Russki Standart, and you’ll be an expert on Russia in no time!

Alas, Charlie is not swayed by this non-answer, so poses the question again.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

WHAT?! Again, total non-answer. Can Palin even find Georgia on a map?

PALIN: We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We’ve learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

I’ve already addressed the Reagan victory syndrome a few years ago, so won’t get into that again. I do find her assertion that we won the Cold War without firing a shot to be quite interesting, however. I suppose you could make that case if you completely disregard all of the proxy wars fought during the Cold War. You know, wars like Korea and Vietnam, in which thousands of U.S. service members gave their lives to halt the advance of communism. But props to her for knowing that Russia is no longer the Soviet Union!
I find it incredibly disconcerting that such an intellectual lightweight could actually assume the Vice-Presidency. Then again, that’s par for the course out here in DC.

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