badgerblog - Because only the elite READ, apparently....
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10:17 am
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Because only the elite READ, apparently....
From
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_on_el_pr/palin
Palin said she had been "annoyed" in her interviews with CBS News anchor Katie Couric and had been caught off guard when asked what newspapers and magazines she read and to name Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with — questions Palin appeared not to be able to answer.
Her responses, Palin said, were "an indication of being outside that Washington elite, outside of the media elite also."
I went looking for a transcript of the interview to see just how hard the "what do you read" question was, and found it here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/30/eveningnews/main4490618.shtml
Couric: And when it comes to establishing your worldview, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?
Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
Couric: What, specifically?
Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.
Couric: Can you name a few?
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, "Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.
C'mon. Name a newspaper or magazine that you read. You don't have to limit it to one. If you can't name one that you read regularly, then at best you had it in front of you flipping pages in good lighting but your brain was not engaged with the text enough to remember the name of the periodical you were pretending to read, and claiming that regular reading makes you part of an elite is frankly medieval.
EDIT: Apparently Palin didn't understand the question. According to the news article linked to by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jonquil over here, Palin reads "New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist". Okay then. I don't believe she reads _The Economist_ regularly.
Current Music: Legendary Pink Dots, _Plutonium Blonde_
Tags: politics, r.o.d.
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![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/81722309/95851) | | From: | ryeth |
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| Date: | October 4th, 2008 03:23 pm (UTC) |
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Oh my lord... I'm reposting this, I hope you don't mind. She tries very hard to "double speak", and it's very irritating. Perfect example, when she said "I may not answer the questions the way the moderator wants me to..." during the debate. Um, that's supposed to the be point!
| | From: | badger |
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| Date: | October 5th, 2008 03:22 pm (UTC) |
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In followup, found the following I added to this post: ####### EDIT: Apparently Palin misinterpreted the question. According to the news article linked to by jonquil over here, Palin reads "New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist". Okay then. I don't believe she reads _The Economist_ regularly. ##################### Also, answer the question that is asked, not the question you think is asked. Listening to the actual question rather than scanning for keywords to trigger your programmed talking points helps there.
Worse... she doesn't even have the general background knowledge to lie and say she reads the New York Times, which is what I would've done in her situation. That's scary.
(Best answer: Stratfor. Good answer: NY Times, WaPo, BBC. Mediocre answer: ANYTHING AT ALL.)
| | From: | badger |
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| Date: | October 5th, 2008 03:29 pm (UTC) |
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In followup, found the following I added to this post: ####### EDIT: Apparently Palin misinterpreted the question. According to the news article linked to by jonquil over here, Palin reads "New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist". Okay then. I don't believe she reads _The Economist_ regularly. ##################### Also, answer the question that is asked, not the question you think is asked. Listening to the actual question rather than scanning for keywords to trigger your programmed talking points helps there. I have seen other discussions that argue that she dodged the question because she didn't have a prepped answer and was afraid of sending the wrong message by naming media sources that would alienate her voting base. That's actually a plausible argument for me to consider accepting. Mediocre answer: ANYTHING AT ALL.Exactly. If she had answered something as minimal, safe and impossible to refute as "the Anchorage Daily News", you could easily nitpick that's not enough, but any answer at all rather than a clear decision to *not* answer the question makes this a point that is even worth talking about. As you say, not being glib enough to tell a convincing lie demonstrates lack of ability to improvise - similar to Tilda Swinton's character in the film _Michael Clayton_. Edited at 2008-10-05 03:29 pm (UTC)
Yeah. I've had to tell that lie myself, actually, which is why I immediately thought of it. Mostly to older people to whom I didn't feel like explaining what blogs were. |
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