Sarah Palin:"War Has Got To Be A Last Option." "We Must Not Blink, Charlie."(Gibson/Palin interview)

mediabistro.com ^ | September 11, 2008 | Chris

[Free ThinkerNY]

First on TVNewser: Insiders tell us the first Charlie Gibson/Sarah Palin interview is complete. The first sit-down lasted 30 minutes and included questions about energy independence, foreign affairs and whether Gov. Palin is ready to be Vice President. "Absolutely," is her response. When asked if she is ready to step in and be president of the United States. Palin answers, "You bet."

We're told Gibson asked for two extra minutes and used it to ask Palin whether she agrees with the "Bush Doctrine." Among Palin's responses:

• "The top priority is to defend the United States of America. I know that John McCain would do that."

• "With new leadership comes opportunity to do things better."

• "War has got to be a last option."

• "If a strike is imminent we have every right to defend our country...and that's what a McCain/Palin administration would do."

• "In order to stop Islamic extremists we must do whatever it takes. We must not blink, Charlie."

[SuziQ]

LOL! Sarahnoia! I love it!

[Dinah Lord]

The fact that she is quoting LINCOLN....YEAH!! When have you heard OBAMA quote any of our fore fathers?

Obama hears Lincoln and thinks CONTINENTAL.

LOL

[Dinah Lord]

And push your glasses up!

[sidewinder009]

Oh i missed it! Could only catch excerpts. Anyway,she said war should be the last option.Diplomacy will only work when the other side knows that it's failure will result in a military response.So while dealing with countries like iran, making war a last option would at the very least result in a delay in progress during negotiations. Unless Iranians are made to believe that an attack against iran is around the corner, they won't be serious abt. talks.
Again she was asked about gerogia.She said these countries should be allowed to join NATO.When she was reminded that if a nato country was attacked,other nato members would be forced to defend that country and in this case it would have meant a war with russia, she seemed taken aback and responded "that may be so"!!!! It's clear from her response she just didn't think through what she was saying before she said it.In the past we have avoided going to war with russia on bigger issues! Russia is not north korea.We simply cannott go attack russia and then see oil prices skyrocket.Besides we might need russsia in the future to contain china.Besides any attack on russia would further cement relations between russia and china.
When pressed further,she kinda backtracks and says that if russia attacks neighboring democracies,we can work with other countries to impose sanctions.Nice idea but that won't work either.Forget russia,so far we haven't been able to impose sanctions even against iran! Russia is a major exporter of oil and no matter what happens europeans and chinese won't stop buying oil from them.
Instead she should have simply mentioned that america and nato would help modernize the armies of these small neighboring countries,encourage them to come together.She should have stressed the point that giving these countries nato membership wouldn't encourage a global war involving russia and america but on the contrary would likely discourage russia from taking military action against them in the future.

[kinsman redeemer]

"We must not blink, Charlie"

I like this response. I like it a lot. It says: I'm not going to turn tail. I'm not going to run from the enemy. I will engage the enemy. I am ready to defend the USA. I am strong - as strong as most men and stronger than any of the weak-wristed, pantywaist liberals.

She knows how to express herself in real terms, not jargon. This phrase says, "I am tough. Get used to it." It does not say she is reckless. It connotes steady determination.

I wonder: Did Charlie blink? I expect so.

[onedoug]

Stay Sarah!

[WestCoastGal]

IMO he came across as the phony in that interview.

Plus, the hatchet job they did in editing is a joke, but meant to hurt her.

I cannot see him sitting down with obama or McCain for that matter and speaking to them that way!

[gswilder]

My goodness, Palin is fantastic. What a great communicator. Able to think on her feet.

WOW.

[Chet 99]

There sure is a lot of people hyperventilating on here, but from the transcripts I’ve read, it looks like she did just fine. The key thing to avoid in these interviews is a gaffe that can be replayed over and over.

[o2bfree]

I liked her performance a lot. Sarah looked confident and her answers made a lot of sense. She came of as a very thoughtful realist, obviously a conservative who agrees with McCain on the issues.

Solid A

[HereInTheHeartland]

McCain/Palin have 3 kids (I think) in the military. Obama/Biden have how many in the military? Correct, 0.

That fact alone should be a large part of picking our next leader.

[darkmatter]

“I am in love with this woman!!!!”

Why dont I ever meet women like her?

She reminds me of Sarah Connor. :)

[Perdogg]

Biden’s son is in the military,

[maggief]

No one can accuse him of lobbing softballs, like he did for 0bama.

I hope Rush has a field day highlighting the contrasts.

[lmc12]

the media will spend days trying to punch holes in this interview denying Barry his chance to flash that big smile and reconnect with skeptical Dems and Indies, he’s losing his base brick by brick and concentrating on Sarah will only accelerate that decline. The Dims are running a ridiculously amateurish campaign, freezing the ball when behind is not a good strategery.

[redk]

This is all true. I also think people are getting sick of all of this and the way ABC is stretching it out is a farce.

[Bryan24]

I culdn’t even stomach all of that interview.

Charlie Gibson was a CONDESCENDING JERK! You could hear and feel the contempt that he had for Palin. His line of questioning was simply insulting. ‘But are you SURE you are qualified?’ “Are you REALLY sure you are qualified?’

After the 4th time, Palin should have asked him if he understood her answer the first time. He asked the same question FOUR TIMES.

[NavyCanDo]

Wow! I see that photo and I have to keep saying to myself, “I’m a married man, I’m a married man, I’m a married man”

[AFPhys]

I think she is going to absolutely transform American politics.

[Bryan24]

The few minutes I could stomach, she was doing great.

Gibson, on the other hand, was a total jerk. Treated her like she was a college freshman running for class president.