When did the Russians cease testing our Alaskan borders with aircraft?
It was not revealed until much later about the depth of Reagan’s thought. At the time the criticism of Reagan indicated that the bulk of our “intellectuals” thought he was a very shallow thinker, a cowboy movie star who could hardly match wits with their like. One rock idiot called him “Ronald Raygun” and many of that idiotic ilk picked up on it and there were many other epithets. When he made Norman Mailer look like what he was they were completely caught by surprise.
We really don’t know much about Sarah Palin but it is easy to tell that she is neither stupid nor unlearned as one would expect from a descendent of Baltic Jews, who were among the most intelligent and accomplished peoples in history.
As for Alaska: strategically it has been since World War Ii extremely important and its vast resources have made it a major player with our allies in the Far East as well as with the Russians who have never ceased their attempts to encroach upon it and us. Nor is it an easy state to govern because of its size and the diversity of its population and ecology. I don’t recall that there was any long term foe continually seeking to encroach upon California much less take over some of its land.
More illegal Mexicans Invade California on a daily basis than have Russians ever entered Alaska.