Global warming makes Tina Fey SNL Clinton-Palin parody

Funny and accurate

Accurate. So it's not as funny as you may think.

"Funny? Accurate? Or not funny?"
Neither: how about "pathetic and predictable left-wing crap"?

It is funny. So is the foreign policy statement of "I can see Russia from my house."

It is funny. They have lots of material here. Hope they keep it up since all ai can do between now and November is laugh to keep from crying.

It's hysterically funny and yes, it's realistic. It's unrealistic to think that 6 billion people couldn't possibly have an impact on the environment. Perhaps the jury is still out on the fact we have caused it, but how can anyone deny we haven't helped it along? Oh yeah, just those who run for high offices. Does anyone truly think that Sarah Palin will even be around after November, even if they win? I think she will be Cheney-esque absent, although, unlike him, she sure won't be pulling any strings.
How about this--like the movie "Dave," can we replace Palin with Fey? At least there is something in Fey's head, other than a drive to be noticed...

Funny? Insanely funny!

Accurate? Uh, Sarah Palin thinks she has foreign policy experience because she can "see Russia from Alaska" , she IS a Creationist and she doesn't think people have anything at all to do with Global Warming (despite what science says) so I would say,YES IT'S PRETTY ACCURATE!

Or a cheap SNL shot? Gimme a BREAK! I'm sure whiny Sarah and McCain will claim it's a cheap shot but parody is something ALL the candidates have to deal with.

CHeap shot? Never. SNL is comedy and parody. That take the stero types and public misconceptions and run with then.

Keep the disillusioned out of office. Sarah palin is scary and anyone who believes in the imaginary are dangerous. If we had some rational people in office then life wouldn't so carelessly be thrown away. Believers don't value life since they believe they go to a better place when they die. God is one of the biggest cause of death and the religious just use their belief to manipulate the sheep.

Why would that be considered a cheap shot? Doesn't SP dispute global warming?

Hysterical!! Funniest thing SNL has done in a long time

Funny and Sad. A perfect example of how we are divided. A perfect example of how scared we should be if this country is left in the hands of a person that shuns evolution, yet thinks an almighty being created us from a pile of dirt.

True-Funny- and Deadly Serious - Sarah Palin is an ignoramus. The planet may be doomed to pass the tipping point with only a wink and a nod from us if that ridiculous pair gets elected.

Unfortunately it is indicates the sad truth that a potential president has her head so far up in the clouds of goofydom. Send her back to the PTA, though they didn't care much for her either.

As a moderate - I'm not a big Palin fan, but just can't stomach SNL's ridiculous bias any longer. Everyone loves political satire, but we watch shows like SNL to get away from the pundits that are constantly pandering their political spin. Goodbye SNL and thanks for the memories.

So funny....and so true. I'm glad to be able to laugh at the absurd reality that is shaping up this election. I hope the electorate will come to it's senses, and avoid electing McBush/Palin.

Funny. And dead on.

I thought it was a wonderful skit. Heaven help us if Sarah Palen becomes Vice President and/or President.

The skit is funny to me. It points out a nearly extreme agenda or philosophy on both sides.
Personally, I prefer to believe the "God huggin' us closer" philosophy, with no agenda attached. I find the "Hillary" comment just as funny as the "Sara" comment .

Seems quite accurate. That's why we love her. Death to all gay wolves and endangered polar bears out there! Animals have no souls anyway. Her energy efficiency idea is great... drill in Alaska. Prayer will cure homosexuals of their disease. The war in Iraq is God's will. What is the Bush doctrine? I don't know. Yeah if Georgia joins NATO let's go attack Russia!

... no not far off at all. This person is crazy. What flavor does the McCain Palin kool-aid come in? It comes in Jesus hates fags flavor.

I have not seen anything this funny on SNL since the first years. This is freedom in the good old USA. With humor there is truth. Maybe if we viewed all politcians this way. We might be able to see the truth behind the lies.

Did Tina Fey just nail Sarah Palin to the cross? With Tina Fey looking over Sarah Palins shoulder, Palin will be reduced to saying Hello and Goodbye.

Well I think Tina Fey did an excellent job of portraying Sarah Palin but the writer was a bit predjudiced. What do you want to bet they are voting democrat? and Waselia is the meth capital of Alaska...there are not enough people there to be!!Really.

It's funny, the republicans talk so much about the free market. Well with the price of gas so high, people are driving less. Less accidents on the roads. Less carbon emissions, just less. No need to drill. Lets lay waste to all of our natural resources because I prefer to drive my Hummer on $2 gas through cement ville.
I urge congress to tell Bush to shove his whole presidency up his ass. That's about as good as it's ever gonna get for him. And up there, he will have a 100% approval rating

Same old one way attacks that the "entertainment" industry has always engaged in. This stuff really gets BORING !

Hillarious! If you don't see the humor you must be deaf, blind or republican. Nice job SNL.

Hahahahahaha so funny its scary, or, so scary its funny.

Of course it is funny. And of course it is not accurate. Fey and Poeller are not political pundits, they are comedians doing a PARODY. A parody is "an imitation or a version of something that falls far short of the real thing; a deliberate exaggeration for comic effect." Just laugh America. Save your political analyses for the debates!

THINK ABOUT IT

1. Obama would not pick Hilary for VP because he didnt want a woman

2. Obama is now incensed at McCain beause he chose to have an woman VP

If i were a woman i would be OUTRAGED that Obama Campaign is now trying to Belittle and smear Sarah Palin. It is perfectly clear Obama does not consider a woman compotent to serve as Vice President of this UNITED STATES. that is not a CHANGE Women want.

Shame on Obama

i think its great... only with obama do we have even a tiny chance to save this beautiful planet... let the jokes fly. besides , its healthy to laugh

Ohhh this was so razor sharp on the mark. Thank god for SNL, Daily Show, and Colbert Report. Once again these parodists do what the "real media" SHOULD be doing. Pointing out the lies, inaccuracies, and obvious absurdity of these people. Tina Fey and Amy Pohler ROCK!

Man likely has had some impact on our climate, but historically it is other forces that have driven climate change - I suspect this dynamic is still largely in place.

However, when you consider all the ways a six fold increase in our population in just over 100 years has impacted on our planet, this cumulative effect is indeed worrisome.

We may lose the polar bear one day but we lose hundreds / thousands of smaller speices every year to habitat destruction.

Not only have we made the planet difficult for other animals - we have made it a less hospitable place for ourselves.

Unlike the sometimes difficult to appraise cause and effect of global warmng, the impact of an ever increasing population is all around us, all the time and everyday.

Our foremost task must be to stabilize the population.

A child born today could one day live in a world with 13 billion people

Think about what that world might look like.

It seems to me global warming really is just the tip of the iceberg as regards the havoc that man has wrought to this planet in the last 100 years.

The chaos of adding another 6 or 7 billion people to the planet over the next 100 years is, for me, unthinkable.

And if man is the cause for global warming - it seems preventing further population growth would be a good start towards resolving this issue and countless others.

Tina was fantastic

Hillaryarious

funny as hell , very accurate .love that they mentioned the dino thing

Accurate.

of course it's accurate.

Funny.

Cheap Shot, more like dagger to the heart of the extremist evangelicals who gave Palin their seal of approval before pushing her on McCain.

It was fantastic!

funny AND accurate. Lord help us if Palin is ever president.

This was hilarious!!!
It is insane to not realize that CO2 released from combustion affects the environment and yet that is what one of our potential elected officials believes. Dead on impersonation.

You knew this was bound to happen. And who better to portray Sarah. I wonder if she can do Sen Obama as well.

FUNNEH!!! :D

It's satire so how could it be a cheap shot and it's funny because that's the vibe Palin is giving off. Like to hear her take on Global Warming but I doubt we will, it's an icky topic for those folks.

It's. Satire. And hilarious.

As a way to satirize Palin's substitution of religious doctrines for reason in many areas, it was a very weak shot. Sounds like she's just all cuddly and huggy, doesn't it?

Sarah Palin's only qualification for VP is to "energize the Republican ticket" because of her religion. We need to stop being disingenuous about this, and discuss it. She is a representative of the TV base built by Pat Robertson, which brought us 8 years of George Bush and which McCain once opposed. She is also a representative of the "New Wave" of apocalyptic Pentecostalism, a lunatic doomsday cult with a bizarre theocratic aganda.

Note to Hollywood: Obama has the far left/global warming bloc wrapped up.

He needs to appeal to the white middle class "bitter clingers" demo. This doesn't help. Neither does Matt Damon's pompous, elitist screed and/or rants from Pink and Pam Anderson.

Advice: Keep it up.

Dead on the money (very accurate, funny, but on the other hand scary to think Sarah Palin might actually have that much control over United States of America). McCain met with Palin once before offering her the VP ticket, and he thinks he knows her. Please! I don't know what the protocol is in the US, but in Canada most job positions (sexism aside) end up being a two or three interview process (even for a desk clerk position). We are talking about Sarah Palin (who can see Russia from her house) becoming VP and possibly President. Wake up people this is not a dream! Oh yah, and brace yourself because now that you as well as McCain are finally getting to know her, reports are beginning to surface as to what type of person she really is, and the morals and beliefs she stands for. Something McCain seemed to miss during their one and only meeting. Dah!

One persons opinion from Canada (who has been closely following the campaign
since January 2008).

Brenda

Brilliant.

Funny, though not accurate. Tiny Fey was spot on, perhaps as good a political impression as I've ever seen, but the material was predictable MSM-slanted anti-Republican twaddle. The attempt was to make Palin out to be an empty-headed, stupid female--which so very clearly she isn't.

SPOT ON!

Funny AND accurate... unfortunately.

This is soo funny! I love it. Tina Fey does a great job portraying Palin as the in-experienced right wing republican religious fanatic crazy look in her eye Alaskan!

way to go Tina

Hysterical.

SNL stopped being funny years ago

Duhhhh?..... Geee I wonder who Tina Fey is going to vote for this election?
But I have a sence of humor. And I did find it funny.
But come on people.... Why do we have to even ask if there is any negative Palin bias from the NObama lovers of SNL?!!

Since the Farmer's Almanac confirmed that global warming is a lie, it turns out SNL has missed the boat again.

It's COMEDY!!!! CHEAP SHOT??? HOW CAN YOU EVEN ASK THAT???

Hilarious on both sides! Well done indeed

This typical Hollywood/NY Lefty Crap just continues to galvanize the Right. Once again we haven't learned our lessons of the last 2 elections and we will lose again.

You must watch the clip......they really make fun of both of them. There might be more insensitivity with the Hillary impersonation, making her out to be a surly, vindictive power monger. Tina Fey's impression was spot on.....got a big chuckle out of the "I can see Russia from my house" comment. Anyone who is offended by either character needs to lighten up......it's comedy, not reality, and we all need to laugh a lot more.

This was a great skit. Palin is very scary. I was going to vote for McCain before he picked her. He should have picked Lieberman. Palin hired all her high school friends, fired anyone who got in her way and seems to have committed fraud in her recent “pregnancy”. Gee she didn’t look pregnant. After her water broke in her 44 year old high risk pregnancy, she decided to give a speech, fly from Texas to Seattle, change planes, fly back to Alaska, by pass two big hospitals to go to some tiny medical center where her Dr who is not on staff there delivers. She is back at work 3 days later and her Dr is given a state job after the birth is not recorded at the hospital records.

This is just the tip. Can you imagine her dealing with Putin? The press is terrified to say anything about her, SNL also had a nice bit in their news about this as well.

Ohhhh. they are right on with Sarah Palin. Keep it coming SNL...and Sarah if you want to play with the big kids..then play with the big kids. What a joke she is!!!

Hilarious, and dead on - Palin IS a bimbo.

Which god was Sarah / Tina referring? Tao? Shinto? Buddha? Allah? Krishna? The 3-headed Jesus god?

Cheap shot? Only if your little tin god is also mighty thin-skinned.

perfect.

The skit was hilarious. Sarah Palin's nomination to become Vice Prez is absurd and the clip was spot on.

I thought it was funny. As far as a cheap shot, I don't believe it was....as this woman has made religion a big part of her public life. Her choice, and that's fine. But expect to lampooned, and you can't do an accurate lampooning if you leave out a center pillar of the person's attitude. Also, the SNL sketch wasn't saying that her religion was good or bad.

Ultimately, though, any comedy sketch requires a certain distortion of real eccentricities, and unfortunately, most of McCain's commercials have been distorting the truth more than any SNL sketch.

Fabulous comedy from two of the best actors and writers the show has ever had. Either of them is more qualified to be president than Palin, although neither of them would want to be - they'd want someone stronger and smarter than themselves to take that office.

Accurate indeed. In contrast to the overwhelming scientific data, Sarah Palin does not agree that man conclusively contributes to global warming. Because her state, Alaska, benefits significantly from oil profits and production, it is in her best interest to continue to raise doubt over the man made causes of global warming, which then further justifies continued drilling and prolonged use of fossil fuels.

Sarah, Sarah, oh where to begin? You are ripe for the late night show jokes. While they struggle for ways to joke about Obama, they are giddy with what you offer up. Too bad you don't offer the same in the way of being a credible candidate.

Right on Tina & Amy!! Hilarious!

On the nose!

Exactly right.

The gloves are coming off the hands of independent THINKING Democratic voters!
Hurrah. I want us to hit back and hard. This election is too important for fools like McCain/Palin at the helm. (or should I say Palin/McCain???

Oh, the left! So clever, so erudite. So self-satisfied and self-important. So out of touch w/the 75% of people in the country who, like me are centrists. I believe in gay marriage and a woman's rerpoductive rights. I am equally opposed to national health care and unfettered immigration. The latter, which is in opposition to the far left agenda somehow makes a raving right winger to the SNL crowd. Enjoy your jokes, your bumperstickers and another failed run at the White House

It's definitely accurate. Unfortunately, it's far from funny... Even though I laughed at the gallows humor. Climate crisis has us swamped by hurricanes. For a modern candidate to believe we bear no responsibility in climate crisis is unbelievable. It also makes it easier for them to say that we also bear no responsibility to do anything about it.

After all, what could we possibly do? It's the will of God. What could we possibly do about the Iraq war? It's the will of God. What could we possibly do about the needy? It's the will of God.

Accurate. Far from funny...

While I thought that Fey's portrayal of Palin was dead on - both physically and in her affect/dialect - I didn't find the sketch particularly funny. Once I stopped marveling over how much Fey resembled Palin, the text fell flat. Amy's Hillary wasn't good, and the writing wasn't particularly good. (In fact, the show in general was disappointing...I tuned in to watch Phelps and was really unimpressed.)

It seems to me like there's so much fodder in this election for humor, but network television isn't tapping into it. God jokes don't cut it . Smug humor just isn't funny.

Great job! NBC already took down the video from Youtube.

Palin is a ridiculous character. She still talks to imaginary friends.

Great job! NBC already took down the video from Youtube.

Palin is a ridiculous character. She still talks to imaginary friends.

This is the funniest skit I've seen in a long time. My sides were splitting. I loved it. He He, Ha ha!

Couple of things,
1. It was funny and Tina Fey was terrific as Palin
2. Palin actually agreed that there was man made contribution to Global Warming (Interview with Charles Gibson). But differed as to the appropriate response to it.
3. She never made any comment about dinosaurs, it was an internet hoax revealed by Newsweek and Factcheck.org
4. The Bush doctrine was misstated by Charles Gibson, he only focused on the idea of pre-emptive war, when the Bush doctrine included the expansion of democracy (freedom) throughout the world - which Palin correctly focused upon. Gibson should have made his question more exact i.e. "What is your thoughts on pre-emptive war, as outlined in the Bush doctrine?"
5. The SNL news with the Alaskan Lumberjack dude was totally not funny, it was not so much humour as it was class snobbery revealing itself by stereotypical insults. Totally disappointing.

Dead on accurate ,that is why it is funny.I didn't believe you could get any dumbmer than Bush but sadly I was mistaken.Palin has taken stupidity to a new low.She should stick to doing what she knows best , killing animals and gutting Bambi in front of her young daughter.Can we have a ticket with brain power this time?

The minute I saw Gov. Palin, I thought "Tina Fey is going to do a fierce impersonation" and she did. It was dead-on funny. Accurate? I don't know enough about Gov Palin to say that but my instinct tells me that is on point, and that is the scary part

I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!! All probably true as well!!!!!!!!!!!!

Much of the time our comedians are more in tune with current thoughts and actions of our politicians that the main strem media. Go SNL; go Stewart; go Colbert; go Leno!!

It was accurate, funny, and the truth! I'm so sick of Sarah Palin and so are most people - if they have a brain in their head! Why is the media so afraid of attacking her or any Republican for that matter? She is nothing but a puppet for McCain! I think they are both clueless, and God help us if those two end up running this country! They didn't have any problem going after Hillary - and that's a rotten shame! She deserved to be president and would have been a terrific one. I'm also waiting for Democrats to get some balls and go after Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rove, and the rest of the right-wing self-serving hypocrites!! Don't get me started. Palin is nothing but a PR tool. It's just a shame that so much of the public are fools and fall for it...

Hilarious! Evolution is plain fact. No VP should believe the world is a few thousand years old.

FUNNY AND ACCURATE!!!!THIS WOMEN IS AN AVERAGE NON-EDUCATED WOMEN, AND ITS SCARY TO THINK THE FACT OF HOW CLOSE SHE IS TO BEING IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Cheap shot

Hilarious. People, before a ton of you go on some sanctimonious tirade, remember, this is Saturday Night Live - it's suppose to by funny.

Hilarious and oh so accurate!

Way to go SNL, you have done it again! Please keep it up, the humor is delicious. :D

Waaahahahaha!

They should do one with her speaking in tongues.

Maybe next week.

cheap SNL shot. overall the skit was funny, but it's no secret that tina fey is liberal and she most likely jumped at the opportunity to try to help bring down palin's image, which seems to be the election landscape changer.

historically, SNL has attacked the intellect and job performance of republicans (ford, bush sr., george w., etc.) and the character of democrats (carter, clinton, hillary). this type of writing and performing subtly casts doubts on the abilities of some while trivializes the character flaws in others.

i'm moderate and undecided, so please no 'republican bashing'.

Alexandra

Let's tealk spelling.

It's womAn not womEn (plural)
also it's "It's - it is" not its

Thank god you're not close to the white house

Saw it on TV, and it hilarious and scary, but it seems unavailable to US computers on YouTube today.

The fact that our country has gotten to the point where someone as unqualified as Sarah Palin is on the ticket is bad enough. It's a sad day but no surprise after the last 8 years of someone as equally unqualified... and we all know where that's gotten us.

Spot on -- hoping Fey does more to help reveal the true character of Ms. Palin, a frighteningly uninformed and right-of-Bush/Cheney candidate who has no business eyeing the vice presidency. I'm all for QUALIFIED female candidates in either party. Ideology aside, if Mr. McCain wanted to bring a woman on the ticket he had a wide selection of experienced, qualified women to choose from. This, however, is a reckless and cynical choice that could well bring even greater ruin to our country and the world than the current administration has already wrought.

I'm a woman, and a Democrat. I would have respected, though not agreed with, a candidate like Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Elizabeth Dole, just to name two. They at least know what's going on in the world.

Ms. Palen, by contrast, is clueless and dangerous. She has a record of vindictiveness and cronyism, appointing people from her high school and church to high positions they are not qualifed for. She knows nothing but what she's been spoon-fed since her nomination in regards to international and lower 48 issues.

Mr. McCain is the person who has put winning the election over the good of the country and the world and he should be ashamed.

The skit may have been an attack, but it was funny.

The thing that makes me sad is how many people get a bulk of their political info (and thus, form their opinions) from SNL and the Daily Show.

If you read the "hilarious. . .and it's probably true as well!" comments, you'll see a glimpse of what I'm talking about.

Go to front page of www.hulu.com to see the video -- that is NBC's version of YouTube

Right to the point. Take it American Taliban.

I was thinking about the Palin convention speech and who it reminded me of. All of a sudden it came to me. Sarah Palin does not exist at all. She is really Sally Fields doing her stand up routine from Punchline. OMG. The whole thing is the greatest routine in modern history. There is no Sarah Palin. Only Sally Fields playing the original everywoman who doesn't aspire to political office, only to entertain. Wow, she is good.

Interesting that the wingers commenting here whine about bias, while ignoring the skewering of Clinton.

Didn't see the show, but it sounds entertaining from the transcript. Sounds like most of the barbs were directed at Palin though. Guess that means SNL is becoming part of the anti-Palin propaganda machine like the majority of the media. No surprise though.

Palin said the humans are part of the problem, but that humans are not the cause of it. How stupid can you be to believe that humans are the cause of global warming? Ten thousand years ago where New York is today was under over a 100 feet of Ice. Ever heard of the Ice Age? Our world goes through climate changes. Ever notice how no one is talking about Anarctica any more? It's because the ice is increasing their.

Too true to be really funny. Sarah Palin's beliefs are probably ever scarier.

Saturday Night Live is still on? Why, it stopped being funny over 20 years ago.

Absolutely hilarious! And, accurate. As for the folks like "walk alone" who thinks that Obama is incensed that McCain picked a woman - time to get your head out of Bush's rump. As if Obama is anti-woman. You've got to be kidding me. Sounds like just a bunch of Elisabeth Hasselbeck-like crap to me.

N. Galveston,

Please Google "Wasilia meth capital" and you will find 33 articles about Wasilia being the meth capital of Alaska.

"According to Alaska state troopers, Wasilia became the "meth capital of Alaska" while Palin was mayor. In 2003, there were nine meth labs discovered, by summer of 2006 over 42 labs were busted." Sorry.

Finally - some laughter and common sense! Palin is my governor and is absolutely a mega star for a week until you ask her a real question when she's not in front of a live audience. The assault on science will worsen under this woman unless we laugh her right off the podium. I think that's a more humane way to say goodbye to Sarah Palin than to throw tomatoes - which many Alaskans are tempted to do right now. I don't want her anywhere near the White House, but then I don't want her back in Alaska either. But since I live in the capitol city, she's never really here anyway so what the heck. Better than foisting her off on the world. Question everything you hear, talk to an Alaskan, get involved, vote and really really keep your sense of humor!

Very funny and unfortunately accurate, this wacka- doo Palin, thinks Adam and Eve were walking around with the dinosaurs...pathetic if it wasnt so sad

If you want a real laugh go to the Vanity Fair site and read the authoritative Trig Palin conspiracy time line.

Very funny and so Accurate that it is scary, that is if you are concerned about America and it's future. People who are insulted or dismiss this as inaccurate are simply people who either can't handel the truth or don't want to know the truth!!! After all some of these people still think Bush is ok, God only talks to them because the rest of the world is made of sinners, and the world is flat...

I have gone through contortions over this Rovian phenomena. Finally, we are hearing Palin speak or should I say 'spin and tarry'? Political hubris is evident behind the deftly coached politician and SNL portrays the situation with humor: The chief executive office is (still) an ideological tug of war. "It was never about the issues stupid". I can agree with one thing about Sarah Palin... I think Americans should all pray... (that Obama wins this election).

As an aside, I notice that the SNL spot has just been removed from YouTube for CBS copyright infringements. The real issues are ever present.

Folks, I hate to break it to you all. Man is *contributing* to global warming but scientists on the cutting edge of the issue have found significant global warming on Mars, Jupiter, and elsewhere in our Solar System. As far as I know, Mars doesn't have a problem with gas guzzling SUVs and Jupiter isn't having a debate on "clean energy" -there is something happening with the Sun and that's at the CORE of our problems. It may just be possible that without realizing it, Palin is actually more correct on the issue than anyone wants to give her credit. Don't believe me? Just Google "global warming on Jupiter" and read up.

After all these hurricanes hitting the U.S. over and over this season and what is happening to the ice caps and polar bears, I feel global warming cannot be denied. It is amazing that after Hummers and SUV's and their unbelievable consumption of gasoline had dominated the market and our highways this past decade that global warming has accelerated at an alarming rate. Even Big Oil Man, George Bush, no longer denies that it existed. Yes, I believe that global warming is caused by man is accurate!

Was the Tina Fey funny? Yes. I also thought God and Mother Nature (or Mother Earth) has a sense of humor too when they closed down the Republican 2008 Convention on their opening day reminding all of us of Katrina, "Brownie and FEMA" and that years later and after billions of dollars spent nothing has been done to improve the levies of Louisiana. I think this was a message from God and Mother Nature that they aren't happy or supporting the Republican Party in 2008 elections.

Was it a cheap shot? No. There can be no way the word "cheap" can ever be associated with the Republicans this century. The Republicans have been extremely costly to the USA.... financially, morally and our world image . For eight years the Republicans have been putting their "spin" on their selling out of America to huge corporations and their "good ole boy" political favors network. Their favorite "spin" is that we must go along with the Iraq War and assault weapons because of patriotism, the American way and Republicans are god's chosen (beware of false idols). Any criticism of the Republican policies is met with calling the "disbeliever" unpatriotic, unamerican, and the anti-christ. Then the Republicans "sic" the evangelicals, veterans, or gun owners on any critic and avoid discussing or accepting any fault for their debacles (even Dr. Phil says you have to admit your mistakes before you can "change"). Their other frequent spin is trickle down economy will build small businesses and bring jobs (since when it it in a corporation's bylaws to "share" with others and "spread the wealth"?). What it results in is record profits and absurb salaries to CEO's. Then when the corporations complain they can't make those those record profits, the Republicans recommend big bailouts for those corporations. Thus, after ripping off the middle class and sending U.S. jobs to foreign countries so corporations will have "slave" labor and decrease expenses by avoid pensions and healthcare, the Republicans think things can be fixed by bailing corporations out (it is a win-win situation for the corporation). Then the middle class gets screwed again by having to pay for the corporation's graft and corruption (aka bailout) from their retirement funds and increased taxes. These last eight years can never be called "cheap". They can be called demoralizing, recession, and frightening with half the world "snickering" and the other half "gunning" for us.

Ha!

Please don't vote McCain/Palin. She's a joke!

SNL should have a field day with Palin for the next 6 weeks (let's hope though, it isn't the next 4 years - Tina Fey has 30 Rock to focus on)! Her dead-on impersonation of Palin is great, but it also hits very close to home. SNL should continue to ratchet-up the heat on McCain/Palin in the coming weeks. Biting satire sometimes is a wake-up call to the masses. Folks need to remember that this election, and the outcome of this election, will shape our nation for years to come. There is much at risk. The conservative right DOES NOT represent the majority of American citizens (although, they think they do). All I know is that people need to watch the upcoming debates and they need to ask themselves this question: are you and I truly better off today, than we were over the past eight years of government's failure (on both sides of the aisle) to make our country a better place to live?

The parody funny? It is in the eye of the beholder. As far as global warming the 6 billion people might have something to do with it or not. It seams that North America at one time was covered with ice. Where is it now. It has melted along time before there were very many people if any at all. What caused it to melt then? This topic should be taken out of the emotional area and put back in the scientific area again so we don't make a mistake while thinking that we are doing good. If the 6 billion people is the problem why not reduce the number to 5 or 4 or 3 or something that the earth could sustain.

Sure global warming is caused by mankind; specifically the fact that there are too many of us. There's an easy solution. Any volunteers?

90% of the sketches on SNL are jaw-droppingly un-funny, and most of the guest hosts are "celebrities" only in the US magazine sense of the word. The show has been in terminal decline since the 1980s, when it began to pander to an audience that evidently considered the likes of Opera Man and Chris Farley funny. Now, just when you think SNL couldn't get any worse, it goes all out to pander to slackers who, if they weren't too lazy to haul their worthless asses to the voting booth, would vote for anyone but a Republican. If the witless bozos who write the show cannot think of anything nasty to say about Biden/Obama and their ilk, than they surely are not parodists.

It's a parody, for all you thin-skinned Palin supporters upset by this skit, and parodies exaggerate character and features to invoke comedy.

Does Sarah Palin really think that global warming is just God huggin' us closer? No. Are her views on science that limited? I hope not--weren't her parents science teachers?--but she's made statements about doubting that global warming is man-made and she apparently wants creationism taught in schools alongside evolutionary theory. The latter is based on evidence and hard science, the former is not.

Look, SNL is for comedy. If you want information about a candidate, read the newspapers.

We don't need a GILF!!! Please someone dig deeper and expose the real dirt on her. She wanted to use personal e-mail accounts because they cannot be subpoenaed? I am sure someone will make these public and it will be the end for her. Those two are crazy and I do not want them in office!!!

The funny thing is that most of you believe global warmimg is mainly caused by man just because of Al Gore's movie. I could put money on it that none of you has done any research as to whether or not the claims made in the movie are factual. I know liberals hate the truth, but facts don't lie. Most of those claims are not true and even the researcher he used in the movie has had a change of heart. Do your research people and stop relying on Hollywood and the main stream liberal media for your information. That is one fo the reasons why we are becoming a nation of idiots.
MOST SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE IN A COOLING TREND FOR THE NEXT TENS YEARS.
IT'S FUNNY HOW EVERYONE IS SO CRITICAL OF SARAH PALIN BUT NOT OBAMA. HE'S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND HAS NO EXPERIENCE WHAT SO EVER. HE'S A GREAT MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND AN EXPERT AT DOUBLE TALK. READ BETWEEN THE LINES AND LISTEN TO WHAT HE'S REALLY SAYING, YOU IDIOTS. HE'S THE SKILLED POLITICIAN. HE'S THE REAL EXTREMIST RUNNING FOR NATIONAL OFFICE, NOT PALIN.

@Kathy (107) -- If you spell Wasilla correctly (or accept Google's suggested correction) you will find over 14,000 articles for 'wasilla meth capital'.

It doesn't matter who you vote for.

Somebody tell Sarah Palin that God gave us free will to make good and bad choices. He will NOT stop us from bad choices. Jesus died for all sins so we are spared from God's wrath. She's clueless on religion too!

i didnt see snl last night but i can only imagine tina doing sarah! as for the content sarah strikes me as an extremist wolf in sheeps clothing. she is scary and i mean scary. in most other states hunting from a vehicle, much less an airplane is a jailing offense . as for her hunting skills id like that to be the test she passes. i know quite a few women who are marksmen and hunters and none would dare present themselves as she does. this woman is obviously something dick cheney created in his garage as a special project. lord help us all if she grips power in the lower 48. im almost to the conclusion this thing is an extraterrestrial in human skin and very robot like ,her answers sound like the digital operator in the telephone system. mccain still has time but i doubt he will change his mind on his running mate. ps i dont want the gambler (mccain gambling my social security or our nations well being.

What an amazing impersonation - and an great affirmation of Fey's brilliance as an actor (from capturing Palin's high-pitched squeak to the nuance of her body language) -- and hopefully effective enough to generate enough buzz with which to galvanize an apparently lazy symbolic-preferring electorate into taking a closer look at this (Times vetted; forensic if you will evidence)of the weak and vindictive Palin record.

With some major media pieces today finally chronicalling the real Palin (stripped of symbolism and hype) and using concrete records and those stubborn factual realities, we will indeed soon discover that this fur-fleeced empress never did have any clothes.

And that one can't fuse small town politics often rife with nepotism and retribution (and certainly in this case and in spite of the pending and cumulative expected efforts from any number of GOP handlers, their spiteful, subliminal wordsmiths and sad, vitriolic pundits) in the days to follow and expect it to hold up against the national glare.

Enjoy the (weak-levveed, if you will) mania Palin stepfords and fans, - as the spector of the original lack of vetting (even if said vetting was really nothing more than just shallow scratch and sniff playing second fiddle to the more pressing need to galvanize and shock a lethargic base into some financial committment) -- will now reveal and surrender to the gravitas of facts and realities from which records can't hide, regardless of how much homey spin you may try to wrap it in.

These GOP speeches to rabid consituents and McCain's (sad) tenancious, hand wringing, uncomfortable looking desperation and cling to me Sarah! rallies will soon yeild some harsh realities as he will have tweak or trash his mantra of a life-time of "straight talk" and instead surrender to posturing, mud-slinging mistruths, half-truths and contextual twisting.

So that actually means he as well is an now emperor with no clothes.

Kinda sad what a man will in defference to his ego (winning the white house at any cost) - including abandoning all shreds of his reputation of "maverick"
and disengenuously trying to co-opt the Blue Ticket mantra.

What irrationally goes up, must rationally come down.

Though on this last point it would have regardless of the growing seepage of evidence of Palin's "governance staffing by year book" and mayor by absentee.

80% approval rating? Or would it be more apt to say 60% fear rating of being branded one of Palin's haters if you don't approve and word leaks out? Sounds like if you like your job, you like your Sarah - or else.

Tina Fey rocks. A true thesbian - a great, aware artist!!

I got the impression they were parodying both sides; not so much the personalities involved, but the most extreme of the ideas involved. By this time, I think most people have made up their minds about it and are somewhere in the center. Yeah, there was a measurable increase for awhile, but it doesn't portend disaster, it just represented a "blip" that is a natural event in surgical-precise measurement of all living things. One of which the earth happens to be. It's living, and so all it's metrics will go up & down from time to time. To blame it on humans is silly. Even in Manhattan, people are tired of the rhetoric.

It's obvious that the liberal madia is doing Obama's dirty work for him. The only positive thing that has come out of this is that now people are starting to realize how biased the media really is and how INTOLERANT LIBERALS TRULY ARE.
Bloggers are creating false stories about Sarah Palin and the media is reporting them without confirming whether or not the story is true. But, true and confirmed stories about Obama remain unreported because of how damaging they could be. It's unfair and that should upset anyone.

Tremendously funny. Thank God for Sarah Palin -- she is so adorable. Doesn't she remind you of President Bush -- she makes ignorance into a virtue. Anyone with a briefcase of credentials like Joe Biden doesn't know how to do anything. He's just a windbag of hot air and a big smile. Ha Ha. Any hockey dad or mom from a small town can run circles around those Washington insiders and bureacrats. Hockey dads and moms are real people. They're genuine and hard working -- not stupid city slickers. Ha Ha. Let's go and invade Georgia and kick butt in Russia. Ha Ha. We'll fire those who are against us and staff government with our fellow cronies! We'll silence those Haters! Ha Ha. We're going to bring change to Washington just like we did over the last 8 years. Ha Ha!

Thank you Sarah Palin!

Caps lock isn't cool, buddy.

I liked it for what it was: comedy.

Wow! A little one-sided on the postings.

Look, SNL hasn't been funny in years. A lot of that has to do with the cheap shot comedy of Tina Fey and a weak cast. SNL has always done political comedy, but it tended to poke fun at politicians in general. I can remember the sketch with Bill Clinton jogging and visiting a McDonalds to eat the customer’s food while trying to talk politics. Dana Carvey used to impersonate Bush Sr. but typically exaggerated mannerisms. Not intelligence or character.

The last few years of SNL have featured lame writing. They just use cast members to dress up as politicians/celebrities so they can show them saying demeaning things about themselves. For example, "Hi. I am Barack Obama. I am qualified to be President since I visited Pakistan during a college trip. That makes me an expert on the Sunni-Shiite conflict. My community organizer skills will scale to the level of commander-in-chief.” Now that’s funny!

Out of the 4 people involved with the election, Barack Obama is the least qualified. Palin is a tad ahead of him. People indirectly vote for Palin while voting for McCain. When people vote for Obama they are directly voting for the least qualified person in the race. Scary.

As far as the pregnancy rumors and the questions about Trigs birth, there is talk on Vanity Fair that the baby does not have Down syndrome but either Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or has problems as a result of Meth use. That the baby was to be adopted but when the developmental problems were discovered, the adoptive parents backed out and that’s why Palin suddenly announced she was pregnant at 7 months. Palin gave the Dr who covered it up, Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, a state job after wards. If true, this could be one of the biggest crash and burns in US political history. I just hope it is cleared up before the election. Palin can just release her medical records etc.. to have this put to bed. I wonder why she won't?

Thanks David. Love your post. Most liberals all just listen to media. I for one will never watch SNL its totally one sided but I do like Tina Fey...Very funny

What an amazing impersonation - and an great affirmation of Fey's brilliance as an actor (from capturing Palin's high-pitched squeak to the nuance of her body language) -- and hopefully effective enough to generate enough buzz with which to galvanize an apparently lazy symbolic-preferring electorate into taking a closer look at this (Times vetted; forensic if you will evidence)of the weak and vindictive Palin record.

With some major media pieces today finally chronicalling the real Palin (stripped of symbolism and hype) and using concrete records and those stubborn factual realities, we will indeed soon discover that this fur-fleeced empress never did have any clothes.

And that one can't fuse small town politics often rife with nepotism and retribution (and certainly in this case and in spite of the pending and cumulative expected efforts from any number of GOP handlers, their spiteful, subliminal wordsmiths and sad, vitriolic pundits) in the days to follow and expect it to hold up against the national glare.

Enjoy the (weak-levveed, if you will) mania Palin stepfords and fans, - as the spector of the original lack of vetting (even if said vetting was really nothing more than just shallow scratch and sniff playing second fiddle to the more pressing need to galvanize and shock a lethargic base into some financial committment) -- will now reveal and surrender to the gravitas of facts and realities from which records can't hide, regardless of how much homey spin you may try to wrap it in.

These GOP speeches to rabid consituents and McCain's (sad) tenancious, hand wringing, uncomfortable looking desperation and cling to me Sarah! rallies will soon yeild some harsh realities as he will have tweak or trash his mantra of a life-time of "straight talk" and instead surrender to posturing, mud-slinging mistruths, half-truths and contextual twisting.

So that actually means he as well is an now emperor with no clothes.

Kinda sad what a man will in defference to his ego (winning the white house at any cost) - including abandoning all shreds of his reputation of "maverick"
and disengenuously trying to co-opt the Blue Ticket mantra.

What irrationally goes up, must rationally come down.

Though on this last point it would have regardless of the growing seepage of evidence of Palin's "governance staffing by year book" and mayor by absentee.

80% approval rating? Or would it be more apt to say 60% fear rating of being branded one of Palin's haters if you don't approve and word leaks out? Sounds like if you like your job, you like your Sarah - or else.

Tina Fey rocks. A true thesbian - a great, aware artist!!

It's shocking to even ponder the thought of a person with such a lack of credentials could be one heartattack from the red button. As in all politics, there is always hypocracy in everything splattered from the mouths of candidates. Where's the 'experience' cry from the GOP now? Where's the 'ready to lead' cry from the GOP? The DNC better crash this galmour bus soon with real issues, as it's been proven in 2000 and 2004 that the general public is too stupid to understand they are being duped. Where was the outrage in 2003? has 4 trillion dollars and almost 5,000 soldiers' deaths gotten us closer to Bin Laden?? Hey America!!!! WAKE UP!!!! The GOP had NO clue how to win, so they picked a cute girl from a state with slightly more residents than Samoa, and plastered her pretty face all over the TV. No sexism there? Eh? Herr Karl Rove??? HEY MEDIA WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE ON PALIN'S SHORT, CORRUPT, STINT IN ALASKA? WHY HAVEN'T WE SEEN ANYTHING NEGATIVE ON HER? SCARED? SNL was correct -get a set!!!

Someone mentioned above that this kind of stuff galvanizes the Right, and it surely does. It also illuminates the egregious disconnect between a mostly leftist media and the majority of American voters. If you were to imbibe a week's worth of network news (other than Fox), op-ed bilge and shows like SNL, you might come away believing that McCain/Palin didn't have a prayer of capturing the White House. My guess is that it will be a very close election and that it will end like the last two elections -- i.e., with the silenced majority of the red states victorious.

LOVED IT! Nothing but SNL could have cheered me up after a terrible Ohio State Buckeye loss to USC!! Thank you Tina Fey =) This helps spread the word about Palin's crazy views and beliefs!!

Whats sad is I rather have Tina Fey as president

water vapor!

You know what's scary? All of you anti-religion liberal freaks in Boston. You people disgust me. Obviously she doesn't believe that global warming is God hugging us closer. For you to suggest that she believes that proves you are clearly ignorant. SNL jokes about everyone and I don't have a problem with them, in fact it is humorous to watch them joke about everyone.

This is a fact: There is no such thing as global warming. The temperatures are COLDER than they were 50 years ago. FACT.

VOTE NO-BAMA IN 2008!!!!!!!

Biting humor. Funny skit. Better than listening to a skit on Obama's hesitations in his speech pattern. Let's see some Biden skits. Oh, that's right, America voted Biden out of the Presidential race (i.e. he's unpopular), yet he' could be "a heartbeat" away from the Presidency as VP. Bidens' popularity vs. Palins' popularity in Alaska (80%)? Whether Biden makes it to the VP or not, he cares a lot about America, and will provide good advice for America in foreign affairs for whoever becomes President.

As an independent, what I've seen from the media over the last two weeks has been astounding.

As the liberal echo chamber that is the major media has gotten louder, their credibility has plummeted.

What they don't seem to realize is their obvious bias has essentially immunized Palin from any legitimate criticism because the country just assumes that their "news reports" are agenda driven. On the flip side, the public has rightfully begun to think that Obama has been given a free pass from the media and now they are becoming highly skeptical about his candidacy.

Very funny, and the proof is that all the Nazi lunatics are out calling it "left-wing crap", meaning they disagree and would rather open concentration camps for anyone, but I mean anyone, disagreeing with them.

It doesn't really matter, it's just late night television that nobody really watches.
Regardless, a lot of idiots will vote McCain/Palin and a lot of idiots will vote Obama/Biden despite what a weakly written sketch comedy show passes off as political satire.

Talk and vote, you guilty white sheep, talk and vote.

I really could care less that she says she does not believe in global warming. It's her other thoughts that scare the hell out of me. Guns, abortion rights, religion, foreign affairs...

I loved it! Funny that 'The View' and 'SN' are the only shows on TV that are telling the people what they need to know? WAKE UP MSNBC and CNN!!!!!

I was thinking about the Palin convention speech and who it reminded me of. All of a sudden it came to me. Sarah Palin does not exist at all. She is really Sally Fields doing her stand up routine from Punchline. OMG. The whole thing is the greatest routine in modern history. There is no Sarah Palin. Only Sally Fields playing the original everywoman who doesn't aspire to political office, only to entertain. Wow, she is good.

Funny and accurate. Why is it all of a sudden a cheap shot to question a public official? Should she get special treatment because she is an attractive female or the fact that she is a mother? Thinking she should get special treatment is the real sexism.

I do like the suggestion, made by "Hillary", to the media: "Grow a Pair!"

The candidacy of McCain/Palin = Bush/Cheney

If you really think Bush/Cheney is how to run things, then this duo is for you.

On the other hand, Obama and Biden DO represent a REAL change.

Accurate, funny, and extremely terrifying.

Funny and not far from the truth! That Sarah Palin is as scary as Dick Cheney! Only difference is the lipstick !!!!! ppffffttttt

Very FUNNY!

Hillary gave a great speech at the convention. Her non-selection as VEEP was the result of a man who I think blew his chance to win. I think her comment was directed at the Messiah. Palin also gave a great speech at the convention and she and the whole world knows that the GOP needs the support of the " religious right" . She is getting it with off-hand references to God that shouldn't offend the non-believers. She knows how to play the game.
If you put that skit into a cartoon that goes on the OPED page it would be a smash hit. The tight asses of the world should loosen up and enjoy the political process as displayed in the SNL skit.

I am an Alaskan resident of 29 years. I must comment again because once again, I am struck by the fact that Palin cheerleaders are also becoming mean. Why mean? If you believe in the Palin phenomenon, then just go with that and put down the knives. Everyone is trashing the media ONLY if it is not on their side at the moment - shouldn't we instead be focusing on & enjoying the fact that this weird election is getting more people to respond to the election and burning questions on all levels? People need to find out for themselves and there is TONS of information out there to do just that. Enjoy and embrace the idea that we might have the highest number of voting US citizens in a very long time. This is what we are all about! Question, dig for the truth, get involved, and most of all go vote!

Tina Fey would make a better President than Obama. Obama has done whhhaaatttt?

Cmon, dems, are YOU ALL SHEEP??

Liberals love the idea of global warming. Too bad it's just a myth. It's called a Climatic Cycle. Hahahahahahaha.

It's so funny to make fun of stoopid liberals / socialists.

Funny, too funny.

Funny how all the right-wing neo-idiots need to write in Caps to try and get their point across, too.

What is the effect of removing oil from the earth. Could it possibly cause the axis of the earth to shift ever so slightly that weather patterns are affected? who knows???
Not to mention that burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric CO2 in a time we are cutting down the Amazon forests that convert CO2 to O2...you know ...oxygen the stuff we all need to breath to LIVE!!!! Folks ...our biosphere is only a thin skin around the planet but it is essential for life on this planet. How can we treat it so carelessly?
Tina Fey and Amy were right on the money FUNNY!!!!! Since I threw up listening to Sarah Palin at the republican convention I have waited for SNL. Way to much material to let go to waste. Thank you SNL for the reprieve from Republican BS

It pretty much proves the point that politicians are stars instead of concerned citizens. This particular bit was however hillarious and on point.

I'm a lifetime conservative and hate SNL, but that was pretty funny and from what I can tell fair satire/ commentary. Palin is a joke and an embarassment of the republican party and conservative movement.

Tina and Amy nailed it perfectly.

I did enjoy Tina's impersonation. After all that's been published in peer reviewed journals completely smashing the claims of anthropmorphic global warming, it's really the new merit badge of uninformed "group think" to throw one's support behind it - the equivalent of bragging, "I don't read much". So, that segment of the skit was more of a digg against Clinton. I thought Tina's (Palin's) suggestion that it was God hugging us closer was cute unless you have a hostile secular mindset in which case you likely interpreted it as highlighting the ignorance of Christians.

SNL's parody of Sarah Palin was amazing. America needs to wake up. This woman is not qualified to be vice president. Her creationist beliefs alone should be enough to scare any rational person away.

This is not a beauty contest, or a popularity contest. It's an election for the most important job in the world. Let's not make a huge mistake again. Pick the most intelligent, worthy candidate, not one you'd like to have a beer with or go on date with.

I'm voting for McCain/Palin, but I thought Tina Fey's take on Palin was great and hilarious. I must be the only Republican with a sense of humor.

I do think they gave Hillary a pass, though Amy Pohler does a good impersonation.

I did hower, find the lumberjack character on weekend update offensive just from the standpoint of perpetuating the rural redneck stereotype. SNL would never do a black ghetto gangsta on welfare singing the praises of Obama, which woud be on par with the lumberjack skit.

"pompous, elitist screed" - oh you're not pompous at all. "Screed." classic.

people on here are so funny. it's freaking SNL, folks - they skewer politics, both left and right. They've been doing it for 30 plus years. Why was this even posted by the Globe. People must not have enough to do (me included)...

Besides - why would that be a "cheap shot" - she doesn't believe in man made global warming, right? (seriously, not trying to be wise).

Hilarious skit.McCain picked Palin to get disenchanted hilary voters and not because of her qualifications.What is there to enjoy about someone who says we should go to war with Russia over Georgia. Let's be serious for a moment. Three cheers for SNL.

Well.... I can understand why there are some who will find this funny while many others will find it offensive; America is still over 70% Christian as of polling data from 2006.

Funny though, Obama claims to be Christian.. as does Biden... Oh my.... Clinton as well. Makes you wonder why only Palin is being blasted.

I refuse to listen to this left-wing garbage - no matter how real, accurate, important, and blatantly satirical it may be. Nope, not going to watching anything that is going to make me wonder why nothing that the right wing says (bridge to no where, the title of maverick....) is true. Lalalalalalal can't hear you. My side is all about Change. Change from the way that we've been voting for 90% of the time over the last 8 years. Change from how we've been acting to the world. Change in every since of the word expect where we actually change.

I'm an absolute Palin FAN and I loved the SNL skit. It was really funny. I don't think it trashed Sarah at all. It made fun of some of the trash talk that is making its way across the blogosphere and the media (left and right). All in good fun, as it should be. Don't get your cackles up over this, sit back and enjoy the show. Without Palin, it would have been a done deal, now we have a reason to vote, whether you like her or otherwise.

Disappointing...but not a shocker considering it's Fey pulling the strings. She is a well known liberal activist and I find it greatly amusing that SNL continues to claim it is unbiased. Ms. Fey certainly knows her SNL history and she will try to do to Palin what Chevy Chase did to Ford. Don't object to good ole' political satire such as the various Bush impersonations by Farell and Carvey etc. but Fey is so clearly using her position for charachter assassination...well, not watching SNL this season.

Shot in the arm with truth
The skit was extremely funny.

This was HYSTERICAL and obviously accurate.

You people - both sides - all need to get a life. It was a SNL skit. Get over it and get the chip off your shoulder.

SNL of Today:

A has-been show whose main viewership is tweenies and HS kids sneaking beers, joints and cigarettes thinking they're sooo coool. That's exactly why Tina & Amy pump out so much toilet humor.

Also love all the Obama campaign blogsphere trolls out here too. Over 170 non-stop "funny" ratings. Couldn't be MORE OBVIOUS

This is very accurate and very funny. I wish the "Walmart Moms", "Hockey Moms", "Nascar Dads" (at least this is what the republicans like to refer to their core supporters - How disrespectful is that?) and the like would get their heads out of the dirt and vote with the rest of America and get rid of this McCain-Palin - Bush-Cheney ticket from hell! Before we end up living in hell when McCain or Palin decide they want to have a world war III.

Just good entertainment

The Palin/Hillary cold-open will be an SNL classic. It was laugh-out-loud funny! Tina and Amy were brilliant. Gals - can't wait until next week! More please!

It was funny - hysterically so - gotta have some humor in all the dirt being thrown around. Casey, perhaps you don't understand the true intention of SNL - but to make fun of life. Ms Fey is a ringer for Palin and I can only hope to see more of her returning during this political season. Keep it up SNL!!

McCain/Fey for America!

Every morning I read "This Date in History" on this very web site. Earlier in the Summer there was an entry regarding the hottest temperature ever recorded in the USA was over 130 degrees in 1913. Just a few days ago I read where the hottest temperature on Earth was recorded in Libya also over 130 degrees close to 140 degrees that was in 1923. Where was Al gore then? What mischief was mankind up to to have caused such heat???? Weather is cyclical. The latest Farmers Almanac says we're in for a decade of "Global cooling". I think it's an ego problem. Mankind thinks he such a Hot S%%T that we're responsible for everything then along comes Mother Nature and throws the blizzard of '78 at us or a massive hurricane. It's called "Junk Science" folks.

Funny and closer to the truth than the Republicalns would care you to think!

The libs, including Steinem's libbers, can't handle their guilt, so they condescend, flaunting intellectual, but not moral, superiortiy. Palin is their guilt writ large.

It's hard to believe that 90% of the neo-cons who are littering the blogsphere, comment sections, message boards, and fox news ever even heard of Sarah Palin prior to the RNC selecting her for McCain. Now, anything remotely negative targeted towards the Governor is met with the standard "liberal crap" and "liberal bias", and all the other tired, old, unoriginal thoughts that permeate from their master.

The reality is that Palin is a plant. She's there to deflect criticism from McCain...to get him elected. She's a puppet, controlled from behind the scenes.

I'm sure the neo-cons will find a way to rig this election as well. God help us. More wasteful spending, fiscal stupidity, and cowboy diplomacy.

Someone get a dictionary to the Governor so she won't have to ask people to use the word "doctrine" in a sentence, like it's a spelling bee....and a copy of "Politics for Dummies" - she'll need probably need a tutor as well.

SNL was funny and the real Palin is presiding over the most famous shotgun wedding ever!

Tina and Sarah are SO hot. I hope to see more of both of them in the future. Obama is an empty suit !

I commented before I'd actually viewed the sketch, but now, having seen it, I must concede that I, an unapologetic, NRA card-carrying, Clarence Thomas-loving right-winger, found it inoffensive and even mildly funny. Unfortunately, and as most Baby Boomers will have long since concluded, "mildly funny" is about as good as it will get for SNL this entire season. You wonder how a team of comedy writers could be so bad as to fail to make us laugh at even one skit in ten -- going back more than 20 years! What passes for wit on SNL should be a source of embarrassment not only to those involved in producing it, but to the slackers who watch it week after week and actually think SNL is funny.

The Farmer's Almanac is a bunch of bologna. It is not based on anything scientific, and there is no verifyable evidence to back up any forecast it makes. It is wrong as often as it is right, proving that it is based on guesses that some morons accept as fact. Why don't you just start referencing water witching techniques and alchemy?

I saw some clips of TIna Fey on the news. She was spot on in her imitation of Palin. But the content quickly moved to ridiculous as they regurgitated leftwing smears. To be fair some of that is what comedians do to be funny, but this went a litlle over the top.

I have not watched SNL lately as it has gone from bad to worse to outright boring and Fey as a writer has to be to blame for some of that.

Since I haven't watched it regularly I am wondering if they have had similar skits that pick on Obama. Allah knows there is plenty of material....57 states...um,I,I,I,I, and similar Mumbles Menino type gaffes.....China infrastructure better than the US....Somehow I doubt it. When you tell the truth about a liberal balck person that is racism, when you smear a black conservative or conservative woman that is social justice.

Even Democrat political operatives know that Palin is benefitting from the blatant bias in coverage.

The only people more reviled than Bush are the Democrat Congress and so-called journalists.

I love all of you who are worried about SNL being one-sided. The difference, friends, is that SNL is a skit show. It is not meant to be, nor should it be, objective or fair. The news, however, should be. That is the difference between Fox News and the rest of the media. While some respectable publications and stations have a natural tendency to lean one or the other direction (WSJ and Washington Post lean to the right and NYTimes and the Boston Globe lean to the left.) But when you have talk shows like Bill O'Reilly that are virulently and intentionally right-wing posing as news, that's the real problem in American media today. Mildly slanted news organizations whose employees' opinions seep through is one thing, but institutionally slanted organizations who blatantly advocate one side versus the other is a completely different animal. And, once again, comedy shows are NOT even part of this discussion.

Oh, and yes, funny and accurate. The Bush Doctrine line is actually the funniest bit - Palin: "I don't even know what that is." This is from her interview last week on ABC - she didn't have a CLUE. Is that someone who should be in the White House?

Brilliant, just bloody brilliant! SNL is at it's best during a presidential campaign, and they do an equally good job lampooning both major parties. There's no denying though, that it's always easier to make fun of the GOP, because they ask for it! I'm sorry, but any semi-intelligent person cannot deny that it's a very strong possibility that global warming is caused by people, and "God" has nothing to do with it. If there is a God, I like to think he/she is pissed off at us for f*&&%^ing up the environment so much the past 100 years or so, yet these right wing nutjobs keep convincing some people (not me) that God is on their side, what a bunch of bull. For anybody considering voting for the McCain/Palin ticket, you should consider their platform an insult to your intelligence!

Global warming is a joke. Average temperatures are down over the last several years, and we just saw a remarkably low level of sunspot activity in August. We're about to begin a trend of global cooling; indeed that trend may have already started. I guess regardless of what the temp. is, it's all because of humans.

Boston is a seacoast city - how many of you think it'll be underwater in the next 50 years? Put another way - I'll give you 10 to 1 odds that temperatures 20 years from now won't be warmer by as much as 2 degrees. So if you bet me $10, I'll have to pay you $100, and only pay me $10 if yer right. Who will take that bet?

Freakin' hilarious, dead-on and Amy Poehler did her usual grand job of nailing the Hilary imitation. Thank goodness for comedians and their ability to make us laugh while the world around us crumbles!
Now, Hilary and Sarah in a debate ... that'd be a huge PPV money-maker!!

Tina Fey for President!

galvanize the extreme-right to do what??? the extreme right is useless, poor and duped into voting for millionaires. why worry about them?

To be honest, this country has lost it's ability to laugh when it should. Extremely funny! We all need a good laugh. Keep the laughs coming!

Just remember every time a volcano erupts it does more "harm" than you can imagine! Whose fault is that? Man - I think not! Yes we can do more to be cleaner and safer but please people chill out.

The media is feeding the leftist rants and trying to elect "their candidate, Sen. Barack Obama - aka the chosen one! Funny, the left usually denounces religious conviction but yet they have ordained Obama as the messiah!

The lefties are scared because a "little old hockey mom" from Wasilla, Alaska is taking our country by storm. Go ahead and laugh!

Question: Is the comedy piece Funny? Scary or cheap shot?

Answer from #28: Shame on Obama.

My Answer: Republicans are funny-scary/scary-funny people.

Fey & Poehler nailed both politicians beautifully. Brava ladies! Brava!

May I request more over the next several weeks?

Dead on and very funny!

Dead on and very funny!

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were BRILLIANT!!!!

God help America if McCain-Palin are successful in fooling a lot of the people a lot of the time...

With all of the institutions of higher learning in this state, the profound ignorance is nearly unforgivable.

Well said, claiuy...people - have some fun with it. They rip Hilary too. People get so angry over stuff. C'mon - it gives you conservatives a bad name :) - lighten up and relax.

I'm an Obama guy, but hell, if they rip him on some stuff, i'll laugh. Some people get so caught up in their party they can't see the forest for the trees. Vote the man (or woman) - not the party.

"Her creationist beliefs alone should be enough to scare any rational person away."
"No VP should believe the world is a few thousand years old"

Hmm - Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't Obama go to church? And isn't it a CHRISTIAN church? Doesn't that mean Obama is a CHRISTIAN? And don't CHRISTIANS believe in creationism?

So why is Sarah Palin being attacked for believing in Creationism, and not Obama? Is he just pretending to be a Christian when he goes to church?

It was hysterical. Tina was dead on. And, unfortunately, accurate. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? Palin and McCain want to overturn Roe v Wade, teach our kids creationism and abstinence only (that worked well, didn't it??), and her husband belonged to a party that wants to have Alaska secede from the union. Now that's scary.

"Please, ask this one about dinosaurs."

Exactly.

Palin is the only smart one that isn't falling for this manmade global warming scam, and that includes McCain! Psychologists define cognitive dissonance as the angst caused by possessing two conflicting thoughts at the same time.

According to prominent climate realist Philip Stott, this is the condition global warming obsessed media members are currently experiencing as a ten-year cooling trend -- clearly visible to all that can read a thermometer! -- refutes Nobel Laureate Al Gores's junk science concerning increased CO2 emissions causing rising temperatures.

As Stott wrote Tuesday:

I must ask a very serious and urgent question of our media. Why do you continue to talk glibly about current climate ‘warming’ when it is now widely acknowledged that there has been no ‘global warming’ for the last ten years, a cooling trend that many think may continue for at least another ten years? How can you talk of the climate ‘warming’ when, on the key measures, it isn’t? And now a leading Mexican scientist is even predicting that we may enter another ‘Little Ice Age’ - a ‘pequeña era de hielo’.

Such media behaviour exhibits a classic condition known as ‘cognitive dissonance’. This is experienced when belief in a grand narrative persists blindly even when the facts in the real world begin to contradict what the narrative is saying. Sadly, our media have come to have a vested interest in ‘global warming’, as have so many politicians and activists. They are terrified that the public may begin to question everything if climate is acknowledged, on air and in the press, not to be playing ball with their pet trope.

After discussing the cooling that has occurred since 1998, and some of the possible reasons, Stott continued to point to media's psychological malady:

So, why are newspapers, magazines, radio, and television not telling us all this? Because they have invested so much effort over the last ten years in hyping up the exact opposite. Moreover, it is especially pathetic sophistry to claim, as dedicated ‘global warmers’ are wont to do, that ‘natural forces’ are having the temerity to “suppress” ‘global warming’. The fundamental point has always been this: climate change is governed by hundreds of factors, or variables, and the very idea that we can manage climate change predictably by understanding and manipulating at the margins one politically-selected factor is as misguided as it gets. [...]

If this cooling phase really does persist, it will be illuminating to observe how long our media can maintain its befuddled state of ‘cognitive dissonance’.

To best exemplify the problem media are facing, one must go back to 1957 when cognitive dissonance was first proposed as a psychological affectation (forgive the Wiki citation, but it sums it up best):

Social psychologist Leon Festinger first proposed the theory in 1957 after the publication of his book When Prophecy Fails, observing the counterintuitive belief persistence of members of a UFO doomsday cult and their increased proselytization after the leader's prophecy failed. The failed message of Earth's destruction, purportedly sent by aliens to a woman in 1956, became a disconfirmed expectancy that increased dissonance between cognitions, thereby causing most members of the impromptu cult to lessen the dissonance by accepting a new prophecy: that the aliens had instead spared the planet for their sake.

Does that mean climate alarmists like Gore are going to continue to push this myth even if global temperatures continue to decline in the coming decades?

Well, if you had all of your money invested in this canard, wouldn't YOU do everything within your power to perpetuate the hysteria?

Yes, that's a rhetorical question, because most people reading this have scruples, unlike those that certainly know they're lying to the public for their own financial gain.

She is the most qualified of ALL the candidates including McCain. She is the ONLY one with executive experience. A transcript of the unedited interview of Sarah Palin by Charles Gibson clearly shows that ABC News edited out crucial portions of the interview that showed Palin as knowledgeable or presented her answers out of context. This unedited transcript of the first of the Gibson interviews with Palin is available on radio host Mark Levin's website. The sections edited out by ABC News are in bold. The first edit shows Palin responding about meeting with foreign leaders but this was actually in response to a question Gibson asked several questions earlier:

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

Next we see that Palin was not nearly as hostile towards Russia as was presented in the edited interview:

GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.

PALIN: Sure.

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.

And, Charlie, you’re in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They’re very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

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.

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.

We also see from Palin's following remark, which was also edited out, that she is far from some sort of latter day Cold Warrior which the edited interview made her seem to be:

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.

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.

Palin's extended remarks about defending our NATO allies were edited out to make it seem that she was ready to go to war with Russia.

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

That answer presented Palin as a bit too knowledgeable for the purposes of ABC News and was, of course, edited out. Palin's answers about a nuclear Iran were carefully edited to the point where she was even edited out in mid-sentence to make it seem that Palin favored unilateral action against that country:

GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?

PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran? John McCain said the only thing worse than a war with Iran would be a nuclear Iran. John Abizaid said we may have to live with a nuclear Iran. Who’s right?

PALIN: No, no. I agree with John McCain that nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would seek to destroy our allies, in this case, we’re talking about Israel, we’re talking about Ahmadinejad’s comment about Israel being the “stinking corpse, should be wiped off the face of the earth,” that’s atrocious. That’s unacceptable.

GIBSON: So what do you do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran and we have got to count on our allies to help us, diplomatic pressure.

GIBSON: But, Governor, we’ve threatened greater sanctions against Iran for a long time. It hasn’t done any good. It hasn’t stemmed their nuclear program.

PALIN: We need to pursue those and we need to implement those. We cannot back off. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they’re going to have nuclear weapons, what can we do about it. No way, not Americans. We do not have to stand for that.

Laughably, a remark by Gibson that indicated he agreed with Palin was edited out:

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.

That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It’s an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln’s words, but you went on and said, “There is a plan and it is God’s plan.”

Gibson took her point about Lincoln's words but we wouldn't know that by watching the interview since it was left on the cutting room floor. I urge everybody to see just how the unedited version of the first interview compared to what we saw on television by checking out the full transcript. It is a fascinating look into media manipulation via skillful editing.

EXCERPTS: Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin (September 11, 2008)

THE BOLDED & UNDERLINED PARTS WERE EDITED OUT OF THE INTERVIEW

GIBSON: Governor, let me start by asking you a question that I asked John McCain about you, and it is really the central question. Can you look the country in the eye and say “I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president, but perhaps president of the United States of America?”

PALIN: I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country, will be ready. I’m ready.

GIBSON: And you didn’t say to yourself, “Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I — will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?”

PALIN: I didn’t hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn’t that take some hubris?

PALIN: I — I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

GIBSON: But this is not just reforming a government. This is also running a government on the huge international stage in a very dangerous world. When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact that you have commanded the Alaskan National Guard and that Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials?

PALIN: But it is about reform of government and it’s about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

GIBSON: I know. I’m just saying that national security is a whole lot more than energy.

PALIN: It is, but I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security. It’s that important. It’s that significant.

GIBSON: Did you ever travel outside the country prior to your trip to Kuwait and Germany last year?

PALIN: Canada, Mexico, and then, yes, that trip, that was the trip of a lifetime to visit our troops in Kuwait and stop and visit our injured soldiers in Germany. That was the trip of a lifetime and it changed my life.

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.

PALIN: Sure.

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.

And, Charlie, you’re in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They’re very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

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.

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.

Sarah Palin on Russia:

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.

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.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but…

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Sarah Palin on Iran and Israel:

GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?

PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran? John McCain said the only thing worse than a war with Iran would be a nuclear Iran. John Abizaid said we may have to live with a nuclear Iran. Who’s right?

PALIN: No, no. I agree with John McCain that nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would seek to destroy our allies, in this case, we’re talking about Israel, we’re talking about Ahmadinejad’s comment about Israel being the “stinking corpse, should be wiped off the face of the earth,” that’s atrocious. That’s unacceptable.

GIBSON: So what do you do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran and we have got to count on our allies to help us, diplomatic pressure.

GIBSON: But, Governor, we’ve threatened greater sanctions against Iran for a long time. It hasn’t done any good. It hasn’t stemmed their nuclear program.

PALIN: We need to pursue those and we need to implement those. We cannot back off. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they’re going to have nuclear weapons, what can we do about it. No way, not Americans. We do not have to stand for that.

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don’t think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn’t second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don’t think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.

GIBSON: We talk on the anniversary of 9/11. Why do you think those hijackers attacked? Why did they want to hurt us?

PALIN: You know, there is a very small percentage of Islamic believers who are extreme and they are violent and they do not believe in American ideals, and they attacked us and now we are at a point here seven years later, on the anniversary, in this post-9/11 world, where we’re able to commit to never again. They see that the only option for them is to become a suicide bomber, to get caught up in this evil, in this terror. They need to be provided the hope that all Americans have instilled in us, because we’re a democratic, we are a free, and we are a free-thinking society.

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: The Bush — well, what do you — what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view.

GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that’s the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president’s job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

GIBSON: Do we have a right to anticipatory self-defense? Do we have a right to make a preemptive strike again another country if we feel that country might strike us?

PALIN: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?

PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we’re going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.

GIBSON: But, Governor, I’m asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.

PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?

PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.

Sarah Palin on God:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.

That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It’s an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln’s words, but you went on and said, “There is a plan and it is God’s plan.”

PALIN: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That, in my world view, is a grand — the grand plan.

GIBSON: But then are you sending your son on a task that is from God?

PALIN: I don’t know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer.

Yes, she is Governor of Alaska. No, she’s not the Lieutenant Governor. No, she’s not currently Mayor of Wasilla. Yes, she was Mayor of Wasilla, some years ago.
Yes, as Governor of Alaska, she’s the Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard. And yes, her professional military subordinate is quite impressed with her in that role.
And yes, the New York Times says the job of Governor of Alaska is one of the harder, and more powerful, jobs in state government.
Yes, there are people in Alaska who think she’s too liberal.
Yes, she did giggle when someone called Lyda Green a “bitch.” Yes, Lyda Green is a cancer survivor. Yes, it was the same Lyda Green who tried to force a scheduling conflict that would make Palin miss her son’s high school graduation. Yes, this would also be the Lyda Green who complained no one had asked her about Palin during the vetting process.
Yes, she did push for and approve the Wasilla Sports Center. Yes, it did cost a lot of money. (People keep saying $20 million, that article says $14.5 million, but then they also added a $1.2 million dollar food service/kitchen piece. This year, after Palin was out of office as Mayor.) Yes, the city went into debt to do it (how did you buy your house, bunkie?) and raised the city sales tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent to pay for it. Yes, the city is paying it off early. Yes, there is an ongoing dispute about title (following a struggle with the Nature Conservancy and another buyer. And yes, at the time it was built, Wasilla had a Federal judge’s decision that they had title to the land.
Yes, she did want authority to have wolves culled from the air, because they were taking too many moose and caribou. Which people hunt for food in the back country in Alaska. No, she isn’t shooting them herself. I mean, not that she couldn’t, but I’m sure she doesn’t have time. (Thanks to bluemerlin in the comments.)
No, the Downs baby (Trig) isn’t Bristol’s kid, and no, the kid wasn’t born with Downs because (a) Palin flew on an airplane (b) went home to have the baby after an amniotic leak (c) because he was the result of incest between Todd Palin and Bristol.
No, Track (the kid who is leaving for Iraq) didn’t join the NG because he was a drug addict. He may have joined the NG because he was tired of people saying his Mom was getting him into the good hockey leagues. (Yes, that one was original reporting. I’ve got sources in Wasilla.)
No, Willow and Piper aren’t named for witches on TV. Among other things, Willow was born before Buffy came on TV, and Piper was born before Charmed.
Yes, Trig’s name may be misspelled. Isn’t it usually “Tryg” as in “Trygve”? In any case, I doubt he’s named for the Secretary General of the UN (1948-1952), either. But at least that was before he was born, unlike the others.(Thanks to Chris, via his blog
Yes, it appears that she has a Big Dipper tattooed on her ankle. She lost a bet.
No, she’s never been in any porn as far as anyone can find (and God knows I get enough google hits on those very topics.) I would think the Big Dipper tattoo would be a giveaway.
No, no one seems to be able to even find swimsuit pictures of her from her beauty queen days; God knows I looked. The bikini pictures that are around are photoshopped, just like the Vogue cover I have up.
No she wasn’t a member of the (wild-eyed libertarian) Alaska independence Party, although her husband once was
No, neither the (Canadian) National Post, nor Marc Armbinder at the Atlantic have troubled themselves to issue a correction. Yes, the New York Times did finally correct their story of September 1 — on September 5. And on page 14. This was after Elizabeth Bumiller was quoted by Howard Kurtz as saying she was “completely confident about the story.” Yes, that was after the New York Times’s source retracted the story. Yes, this should embarrass the Times, Bumiller, and Howard Kurtz. No, there have been no signs of embarrassment.
No, she was never a Pat Buchanan supporter; even when Buchanan claims she was, she was on the board of Steve Forbes’a campaign in Alaska. Yes, Palin was a Steve Forbes supporter in 2000.
No, she’s not anti-semitic. In fact, she has an Israeli flag in her office. (Contrary to popular belief, the usual Evangelical thinks Israel has a right to exist, granted by God.)
No, I don’t think she’s being “indoctrinated by Lieberman and AIPAC as we speak”; I don’t get the feeling that being indoctrinated is something that Palin does well.
Yes, it seems unlikely that she’s going to be in hiding for the next two weeks seeing as she’s been in rallies twice in the last two days. Or at least it’s going to be real rough, given that she has three media interviews scheduled today (6 September) alone.
Yes, it does appear that Palin’s local pastor preached about an end time when God will judge everyone, even Wasilla, Alaska, and the United States. Duh. This is called the Book of Revelations, and while I don’t believe it personally, I don’t see it as a disqualifier for the hundred million or so Baptists, Methodists, Evangelicals, Episcopalians, Catholics, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Lutherans (traditional and Missouri Synod), African Methodist, and so on Christians in the US.
Yes, I do sometimes wonder about the state of Andrew’s health.
No, she’s doesn’t believe that the Iraq War was directed by God. Yes, she did pray that proceeding with the war was God’s will: “they should pray ‘that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.’” (Ever hear the phrase “Not my will, but Thine, be done”?) Yes, this apparently freaks some people right out.
No, Buchanan doesn’t support her now; in fact he’s supporting Obama. (Buchanan did think her speech was amazing, but then so do 80 percent of the people who saw it.) Or maybe not. Buchanan sure doesn’t like McCain though.
Yes, she was apparently pregnant when she got married
No, so far there’s no confirmation she had an affair while she was married, and they’ve denied it pretty strongly. No, she wouldn’t be the first Christian woman who got a little on the side, if it were true.
No, she wasn’t named as a co-respondent in a divorce; there’s no evidence she had an affair with her husbands’ business partner. The partner tried to have his divorce records sealed because he was being harrassed by journalists who used them to get his phone number.
Yes, barring immaculate conception virgin birth (whatever), Bristol appears to have had sex with her fiancee. No, Bristol didn’t receive only “abstinence-only” sex ed.
Yes, I have it on reliable report that Sarah Levi’s mom has been heard screaming “Way to go Levi!” at her future son-in-law son. No, it doesn’t appear to have been when Bristol broke the news to her family.
Note: I originally understood this story to be about Sarah, not Levi’s mom, in the context of hockey games. As such, it’s shouldn’t be in a Sarah Palin Rumors story, but I like the story too much to delete it.
yes, her 17 year old daughter is pregnant; no, the baby’s father is not an eighth grader; no, having sex at 16 is not statutory rape in Alaska. And no, there’s no way that a 17 year old can be 5 months pregnant as a result of having sex before she was 16. Learn to count for God’s sakes.
yes, she did fire the public safety guy — but he said in the Anchorage paper that, for the record, she never, and no one else in her administration ever, tried to make him fire her ex-brother-in-law
and yes, the state trooper (her sister’s ex-husband) she was worried about did: tase her 10 year old nephew; drive his state patrol car while drinking or drunk; did threaten to “bring her down”; and did threaten to murder her father and sister if they dared to get an attorney to help with the divorce.
yes, the state trooper was suspended when he was put under a court protective order
no, the trooper wasn’t fired
yes, she did fire the Wasilla Chief of Police as Mayor; yes, it was because he was lying to the City Council.
Yes, she did try to cut her own salary as Mayor by $4000 a year; yes, she had voted against the $4000 a year raise while on the City Council.
No, she didn’t cut funding for unwed mothers; yes, she did increase it by “only” 354 percent instead of 454 percent, as part of a multi-year capital expenditures program. No, the Washington Post doesn’t appear to have corrected their story. Even after this was pointed out in the comments on the story.
No, she didn’t cut special needs student funding; yes, she did raise it by “only” 175 percent.
yes, she did try, clearly unsuccessfully, to get Bristol married off to her fiancee before the story came out
yes, she did ask the librarian if some books could be withdrawn because of being offensive; no, they couldn’t; yes, it was “rhetorical”, at least as was reported contemporaneously in 1996[1] ; yes she did threaten to fire the librarian a month later; no, that wasn’t over the books thing but instead over administrative issues; no, the librarian wasn’t fired either; yes, the librarian was a big supporter of one of her political opponents; yes, the librarian was also the girlfriend of the Chief of police mentioned above; no, this is not the first time in the history of civilization that someone has been threatened with being fired over a political dispute
No the list of books she wanted to ban that’s being passed around isn’t real; among other things, it includes a number of books published after her time in office there.
No, that hasn’t actually deterred people from claiming it really is true even if the list isn’t correct. For example:
“This list might not in fact reflect the books Sarah Palin wanted banned. As more than one person in Comments has pointed out, some of them were not published when Palin was in office. It is my hope that the mainstream media will not let this story drop and that at some point an actual list will surface. The very thought of having someone who once advocated book-banning possibly occupying one of the highest offices of our land fills me with profound dread. It should fill you with dread too.”
No, I don’t understand why a fake list is supposed to fill me with dread, either.
no, it wasn’t won’t be [bad tense, hasn't happened yet] a shotgun wedding; Bristol and Levi been engaged for a good while according to Levi’s mother. It was either an accident or just an unconventional order.
yes, she’s an was an Assembly of God Holy Roller. No, she doesn’t attend an AoG church now. Yes, she did leave the AoG because they were getting too weird for her.
No, she’s not anti-Mormon. No, not all AoG churches are anti-Mormon. (AoG is even more hard-core about allowing each pastor and congregation to make their own decisions than the Baptists are.) (Thanks to AnonAmom in the comments.)
No, she’s not from another planet. No, I haven’t actually heard that one yet, but you wait. Okay, I have now heard it.
yes, she apparently believes in some variant of Intelligent Design
no, she didn’t try to force the schools to teach it; she said if someone brought it up, it was an appropriate subject for debate.
No, she doesn’t believe in “abstinence only” education. Yes, she thinks abstinence is an effective way of preventing pregnancy. Duh. Yes, she believes kids should learn about condom use in schools.
Yes, she did smoke marijuana, when it was legal in Alaska. Yes, she apparently did inhale.
yes, she kills animals and eats them, and wears their skins
yes, she was a beauty contest contestant
yes, she was once a sportscaster
yes, she has a college degree in Journalism, but I won’t hold that against her, as she seems to have found honest work as well
yes, she sometimes wears her hair up; no that’s not a “beehive”
yes, her husband is Not A White Person (he’s a Yup’ik; an Eskimo but not an Inuit as my Inuit cousins have taken some pains to explain)
yes, she has on occasion, as Mayor, tried to get money from the federal government.
yes, she did finally turn down the money for the bridge. Yes, that meant changing her mind about it.
yes, she was vetted extensively, not just in three days — I’ve got links to press reports about people coming to Wassila on 29 May, and we had her on our Veepstakes at PJM from the first day we ran it.
yes, she want to a bunch of colleges before getting a degree. No, that’s not illegal. Yes, she seems to have made something of herself anyway.
no, they didn’t talk to a lot of the R’s power structure during the vetting; that probably has to do with the fact that she beat them in elections and sent a bunch of them to jail.
Yes, Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech was written by a speechwriter. Duh. No, none of Obama’s, McCain’s, nor Biden’s speeches were impromptu off the cuff things either.
Yes, she did put the Governors plane on eBay. No, that’s not how it was finally sold. Yes, McCain did say it wrong. Bad McCain.
No, Sarah Palin doesn’t have such control of Alaskans that people are afraid to say bad things about her. (What, are you nuts? Look at this list.) No, I don’t think it’s likely that she called Obama “Sambo”. (Good God, man, I’m ten years older than she and I barely remember “Little Black Sambo.”) Yes, it seems unlikely to me that she’s be real racist and marry a Yup’ik (or a part Yup’ik.) But yes, people are capable of amazing things. Yes, I’m sure there are people who don’t like her — I’ve talked with some myself. And no, I don’t think this waitress would have been thrilled to be called an “aboriginal”. And yes, if she called Hillary a “bitch”, I’m pretty confident is wasn’t the first time anyone in politics has said that.
No, she’s not a “global warming denier”, and when the crush dies down remind me to explain why the very phrasing “global warming denier” is anti-scientific, anti-intellectual, and a clear sign of a desire to impose your beliefs by coercion. But in the mean time, while I do believe that she has expressed some skepticism that warming is wholly human-caused, the existence of the Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet and the Alaska Climate Change Strategy work demonstrate that she’s considering the problem and has brought together people more expert than she to advise her.
Yes, Todd Palin did have a DUI. Twenty-two years ago. Get a grip.
No, Sarah Palin’s brother isn’t in jail. No matter what the commenter at Anderson Cooper’s page says.
Yes, Sarah Palin’s pastor apparently does believe that gays can “repent” and be cured of homosexuality. No, believe it or not, even fundamentalist Christians don’t have to believe every litle thing their pastor believes. Yes, Palin seems to be more libertarian about this.
Yes, contrary to press reports, Sarah Palin’s mother-in-law plans to vote for her and the R ticket (on Inside Edition this evening.)
No, the fact that some 17 year old was arrested for malicious mischief at the right time doens’t mean Track Palin was. Goddamn, Josh, have you no shame at all?

I'll believe they are only interested in entertainment when they start making fun of Obama.

Co-Workers: Obama Inflated His Resume
It has been noted by Charles Krauthammer and others that very few people have stepped forward to vouch for Barack Obama.

Indeed, there would seem to be an especially conspicuous absence of witnesses to the years after graduated from Columbia and before he moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer.

Well, it turns out that one of his co-workers, Dan Armstrong, has in fact written about Mr. Obama during those days. And while he is an admitted fan of Obama’s, he claims that he has inflated his resume considerably.

Others who worked with Obama at Business International have subsequently chimed in.

First, Mr. Obama’s version as presented in from Dreams From My Father, pp 55-6:

CHAPTER SEVEN

… And so, in the months leading up to graduation, I wrote to every civil rights organization I could think of, to any black elected official in the country with a progressive agenda, to neighborhood councils and tenant rights groups. When no one wrote back, I wasn’t discouraged. I decided to find more conventional work for a year, to pay off my student loans and maybe even save a little bit. I would need the money later, I told myself. Organizers didn’t make any money; their poverty was proof of their integrity.

Eventually a consulting house to multinational corporations agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal, checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages from across the globe. As far as I could tell I was the only black man in the company, a source of shame for me but a source of considerable pride for the company’s secretarial pool. They treated me like a son, those black ladies; they told me how they expected me to run the company one day…

Nevertheless, as the months passed, I felt the idea of becoming an organizer slipping away from me. The company promoted me to the position of financial writer. I had my own office, my own secretary, money in the bank. Sometimes, coming out of an interview with Japanese financiers or German bond traders, I would catch my reflection in the elevator doors-see myself in a suit and tie, a briefcase in my hand-and for a split second I would imagine myself as a captain of industry, barking out orders, closing the deal, before I remembered who it was that I had told myself I wanted to be and felt pangs of guilt for my lack of resolve.

Then one day, as I sat down at my computer to write an article on interest-rate swaps, something unexpected happened. Auma called. I had never met this half sister; we had written only intermittently…

[A] few months after Auma called, I turned in my resignation at the consulting firm and began looking in earnest for an organizing job…

We are supposed to believe that “something happened” and the rest is history.

Here, however, is a somewhat different perspective on Obama’s halcyon days as a “spy behind enemy lines,” from a site called Analyze This:

Barack Obama Embellishes His Resume
July 9th, 2005

[by Dan Armstrong]

Don’t get me wrong - I’m a big fan of Barack Obama, the Illinois freshman senator and hot young Democratic Party star. But after reading his autobiography, I have to say that Barack engages in some serious exaggeration when he describes a job that he held in the mid-1980s. I know because I sat down the hall from him, in the same department, and worked closely with his boss. I can’t say I was particularly close to Barack - he was reserved and distant towards all of his co-workers - but I was probably as close to him as anyone. I certainly know what he did there, and it bears only a loose resemblance to what he wrote in his book.

Here’s Barack’s account:

Eventually a consulting house to multinational corporations agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal, checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages from across the globe. As far as I could tell I was the only black man in the company, a source of shame for me but a source of considerable pride for the company’s secretarial pool.

First, it wasn’t a consulting house; it was a small company that published newsletters on international business. Like most newsletter publishers, it was a bit of a sweatshop. I’m sure we all wished that we were high-priced consultants to multinational corporations. But we also enjoyed coming in at ten, wearing jeans to work, flirting with our co-workers, partying when we stayed late, and bonding over the low salaries and heavy workload.

Barack worked on one of the company’s reference publications. Each month customers got a new set of pages on business conditions in a particular country, punched to fit into a three-ring binder. Barack’s job was to get copy from the country correspondents and edit it so that it fit into a standard outline. There was probably some research involved as well, since correspondents usually don’t send exactly what you ask for, and you can’t always decipher their copy. But essentially the job was copyediting.

It’s also not true that Barack was the only black man in the company. He was the only black professional man. Fred was an African-American who worked in the mailroom with his son. My boss and I used to join them on Friday afternoons to drink beer behind the stacks of office supplies. That’s not the kind of thing that Barack would do. Like I said, he was somewhat aloof.

… as the months passed, I felt the idea of becoming an organizer slipping away from me. The company promoted me to the position of financial writer. I had my own office, my own secretary; money in the bank. Sometimes, coming out of an interview with Japanese financiers or German bond traders, I would catch my reflection in the elevator doors—see myself in a suit and tie, a briefcase in my hand—and for a split second I would imagine myself as a captain of industry, barking out orders, closing the deal, before I remembered who it was that I had told myself I wanted to be and felt pangs of guilt for my lack of resolve.

If Barack was promoted, his new job responsibilities were more of the same - rewriting other people’s copy. As far as I know, he always had a small office, and the idea that he had a secretary is laughable. Only the company president had a secretary. Barack never left the office, never wore a tie, and had neither reason nor opportunity to interview Japanese financiers or German bond traders.

Then one day, as I sat down at my computer to write an article on interest-rate swaps, something unexpected happened…. I had never met this half sister; we had written only intermittently. …[several pages on his suffering half-sister] …a few months after Auma called, I turned in my resignation at the consulting firm and began looking in earnest for an organizing job.

What Barack means here is that he got copy from a correspondent who didn’t understand interest rate swaps, and he was trying to make sense out of it.

All of Barack’s embellishment serves a larger narrative purpose: to retell the story of the Christ’s temptation. The young, idealistic, would-be community organizer gets a nice suit, joins a consulting house, starts hanging out with investment bankers, and barely escapes moving into the big mansion with the white folks. Luckily, an angel calls, awakens his conscience, and helps him choose instead to fight for the people.

Like I said, I’m a fan. His famous keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention moved me to tears. The Democrats - not to mention America - need a mixed-race spokesperson who can connect to both urban blacks and rural whites, who has the credibility to challenge the status quo on issues ranging from misogynistic rap to unfair school funding.

And yet I’m disappointed. Barack’s story may be true, but many of the facts are not. His larger narrative purpose requires him to embellish his role. I don’t buy it. Just as I can’t be inspired by Steve Jobs now that I know how dishonest he is, I can’t listen uncritically to Barack Obama now that I know he’s willing to bend the facts to his purpose.

Once, when I applied for a marketing job at a big accounting firm, my then-supervisor called HR to say that I had exaggerated something on my resume. I didn’t agree, but I also didn’t get the job. But when Barack Obama invents facts in a book ranked No. 8 on the NY Times nonfiction list, it not only fails to be noticed but it helps elevate him into the national political pantheon.

As Mr. Armstrong suggests, if Obama would exaggerate about such things as this, what else has he exaggerated or made up out of whole cloth?

The comments to this post are also quite intriguing, such as:

Comment from Bill Millar
Time: October 30, 2007, 8:17 am

Cathy Lazere [another commentor] calls Barack self-assured? That’s putting a nice spin on it. I found him arrogant and condescending.

The thing is, I worked next to Barack nearly every day he was at Business International –- on many days angling for possession of the best Wang word processing terminal.

I had MANY discussions with Barack.

I can tell you this: even though I was an assistant editor (big doings at this “consulting firm”) and he was, well, he was doing something there, he certainly treated me like something less than an equal.

Funny thing… A journalism/political science major… Writing about finance… Pretending in his book to be an expert on interest rate swaps.

I remember trying to explain the nuance of these instruments to him in the cramped three Wang terminal space we called the bull pen. In contrast to his his liberal arts background, I had a degree in finance and Wall Street experience, so I knew what I was talking about.

But rather than learn from a City College kid, the Ivy Leaguer just sort of rolled his eyes. Condescendingly. I’ll never forget it. God forbid he leave the impression that a mere editor like myself knew more about something than did Barack.

He was like that…

But know what? I can forgive him for being immature–which is probably all that was at the time. Don’t we all believe we know everything at just around that age?

That said…he was a lot older when he wrote his book. Mature enough by this time to realize that his account of his time at Business International could be described as embellishment…

By the way, there should be no doubt as to Mr. Armstrong’s bona fides on this subject. Even the New York Times has cited him as an authority for an article on this period of Mr. Obama’s storied life.

Is there anything about this Obama that he has not totally lied about? I agree with Sarah Palin he has never ran anything but his mouth. I am beginning to think that the only ones who are voting for him are very gullible people who do not have a clue, young college age kids who have been totally brainwashed by the far left wing college establishment. Blacks who are voting for him for being black and those who really know what he is all about but want to further spread Marxist principles and policies in our government to destroy the middle class so they can achieve the one world Utopian society they so much want to shove down our throats, by force if necessary. So that is why they want our guns so bad huh?

Hey, number 208....the question was: Was the SNL skit funny, not funny or a cheap shot? I think you must have wanted to post to another discussion.

Weird, no one ever answered my question as to why Obama's creationist beliefs have not been criticized as Sarah Palin's have.
And Obama must believe in creationism, because he goes to a Christian church, and creationism is a basic Christian belief. It's the first line of the Bible!!!
So if Obama believes in creationism, but does not stand for his beliefs, what does that say about him? That he will compromise his faith for votes? That he's afraid to stand up for what he believes in?
And if Obama does NOT believe in creationism, why does he go to a Christian church? Just for appearances?

Well put, Rick. The difference between a religious democrat and a religious conservative is that you think the democrat is an atheist! They only refer to God when they have to and usually they mention something about separation of church and state - which by the way has been misconstrued since the term was first used by Jefferson.

It doesn't mean you cannot have religion and government together (quite frankly democracy is impossible with God) but rather there shall be no official religion.

Anyway, the messiah Obama will say whatever he has to say to get elected!

SNL Bias? Predictable insults from the left wing? Calling out Fey as a, gulp, Democrat? All irrelevant. It's a comedy show!!!! The best satire is always based on something close to the truth, and everyone is taking a hit. Palin just provides so much more comedic material. So did both Clintons. And Bush. Obama just isn't funny. The real Palin is a hilarious impersonation of a raving right winger. Fey doesn't need to work too hard to make us laugh. If you can't handle the truth, then get off the global stage. Blaming "elitist" media while embracing "Joe Sixpack" makes narrow-mindedness a political strategy. Now THAT is a sad truth.