Zakaria: Selection of Palin “Fundamentally Irresponsible”
Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek, ripped Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) in the latest issue for selecting Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) as his running mate and called the decision “fundamentally irresponsible.”
Citing the CBS News interview with Katie Couric as evidence, Zakaria latched onto her explanation for the “Alaskan proximity to Russia is foreign policy experience” argument the governor and others made:
There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) But even beyond that, read the rest of her response. “It is from Alaska that we send out those …” What does this mean? This is not an isolated example. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. (”We mustn’t blink.”) But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish.
And on her answer about the economy, the financial crisis and the bailout legislation:
This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN’s Campbell Brown, have argued that it’s sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that’s causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.
Zakaria further blasted Palin as the vice presidential candidate on CNN:
