"Perhaps he should have chosen words with fewer syllables."

[babylonsister]

CONTEXT AND SUPERPOWERS.... I really had every intention of ignoring this, but since the Associated Press has decided to make it one of the leading political stories of the day, it's probably worth taking a moment to highlight reality.

Sarah Palin criticized President Barack Obama on Saturday for saying America is a military superpower "whether we like it or not," saying she was taken aback by his comment.

"I would hope that our leaders in Washington, D.C., understand we like to be a dominant superpower," the former Alaska governor said. "I don't understand a world view where we have to question whether we like it or not that America is powerful."

Reading comprehension isn't one of the former half-term governor's strengths, so perhaps it's not surprising that Palin is badly misquoting, and deliberately misunderstanding, what the president said. Here's Obama's actual quote:

"{W}hat we can make sure of is, is that we are constantly present, constantly engaged, and setting out very clearly to both sides our belief that not only is it in the interests of each party to resolve these conflicts but it's also in the interest of the United States. It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."

Palin, who is painfully, conspicuously unintelligent, wasn't quite sharp enough to understand the president's remarks. Perhaps he should have chosen words with fewer syllables.

He didn't say there's a potential problem with the U.S. being a superpower; he said it's important for Americans to appreciate the global responsibilities that come with that power when conflicts arise, and the sweeping effects of these conflicts on the country's global interests.

As Greg Sargent explained the other day, "Palin and her team of ghostwriters plucked Obama's remark out of context to quote him saying 'whether we like it or not,' we are a superpower. In reality, he was saying that 'whether we like it or not,' we get pulled into international conflicts that cost us American lives -- so it's in our security interests to resolve them."

It's really not that hard to understand, so long as you read the words and recognize the scope of the United States' global influence.

—Steve Benen

[geckosfeet]

1. "Read the words and recognize" - not part of the tea-klans 5 year plan.

[pinto]

2. LOL. Or sentences with fewer (no) clauses.

i.e. Something that would fit in the palm of one's hand...

We are a superpower.
Conflicts break out.
We get pulled into them.
Reduce conflicts.
Make America safer.

[derby378]

3. You can't make silk panties out of a pig's ass no matter how hard you try

Sarah Palin is a shining example of this immutable fact.

[activa8tr]

4. I find the AP more and more looking like Fox News, every day.

I'm so sick of their agenda-pushing.

[saltpoint]

5. It could be that Sarah Palin is even dumber than we thought she was.

Evidence is mounting...


:hi:

[babylonsister]

7. Morning, saltpoint.

Dumber than we thought? That wouldn't surprise me at all, but she seems to be pretty good at raising her profile and bank account thanks to that librul media.

I do notice no one asks her anything important; I guess no parties want to be embarrassed by her lack of knowledge.

[saltpoint]

16. Agree. She's almost gotten a free ride to date.

Let's see how she does in the GOP debates in Iowa next year...

:hi:

[Bad Thoughts]

6. Steve Benen has been on fire

He's always been good at getting to the heart of a story--a great analyst (rather than a researcher)--but since taking over Political Animal/Washington Monthly, he has been sharp, really showing the problems with rhetoric in the news. There should be a Steve Benen appreciation day.

[vixengrl]

8. The first sentence contains the real depressing thing:

"I really had every intention of ignoring this, but since the Associated Press has decided to make it one of the leading political stories of the day,"


Would it really be too much for someone in the MSM to point out that Sarah Palin truly doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, or that she doesn't seem to be able to understand what a sentence means? Or, better yet, realize that since she's a former half-term governor of limited intelligence and political viability--she really doesn't deserve the attention she gets.

[LiberalFighter]

9. What is her boy in Iraq doing? Is she not concerned that he might not come back?

[Cha]

10. palin and the corporategNOpmediawhore press

are just ignorant..willfully and otherwise so they will never understand President Obama.. no what words he uses or if he talks slower just for them.

[Zynx]

11. Most Americans I know do not like the fact that we seem to get drawn into every mess.

Maybe Sarah does, but almost no one else does.

[emulatorloo]

12. Palin's standard operating procedure. Take it out of context, twist it, and over-react

Her fans like it, most people see through it. Media likes promoting her for some reason.

[Dr Morbius]

13. Not that it matters, but I thought it might be cool to know what this is.

Ambiguity is confusing the meaning of words. Amphiboly is confusing the meaning of a sentence because of grammatical structure. Since Ms. Palin (I hope she HATES "Ms"!) took a small piece of the President's statement and introduced confusion about his overall meaning, this is an example of amphiboly.

[peekaloo]

25. I'm sure during one of her many college terms she studied amphibology.

but it was like so gross when they dissected those amphibians!

:dunce:

[kestrel91316]

14. When I was in 3rd grade my reading comprehension tested at 12th grade levels.

So it really pains me to see someone who allegedly earned a college degree and who aspires to the highest office in the land so obviously unable to read and comprehend as well as I did at age 8.

I think we have somebody more stupid than Bush here, sportsfans.

[Clyde39]

15. Who are the "team of ghostwriters" mentioned?

Are they as dense as she is?

[bvar22]

17. "one way or another we get pulled into them"

See?
Its not really our fault...
we get "pulled into them".


Maybe we need to re-vamp our Foreign Policy,
Reduce (slash) our Military Spending,
Make all "interventions" PAYGO,
Require EVERY American citizen to serve,
Elect a government that isn't a pawn to Global Corporate Interests,
And treat every "intervention" as a Failure of Policy with attendant public Hearings and Accountability.

Then it wouldn't be so easy to get "pulled" into these "conflicts".


"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone

[mstinamotorcity]

18. Well you know we

can expect ms palin to give it to us like a maverick:sarcasm:

[Clio the Leo]

19. I suggested that she MIGHT want to re-read Isaiah Ch. 2....

which is that famous passage that reads...

He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

Granted, Obama's still working on the "not train for war anymore" part ... but beating swords into plowshares is LITERALLY what the President did last week with the Uranium ... turned it into fuel rods for local power plants to buy.

My Twitter account is awaiting that Palin woman's reply. ;)

[handmade34]

20. just got back from eating out

...I am working in South Carolina and people at an adjacent table started in on how Barack Obama is now making excuses and saying it is unfortunate that we are a superpower... I was about to confront them when my partner started in on how President Obama should choose words more carefully and talk down to the lowest common denomenator... I walked out not knowing who to be the more disgusted with :banghead:

[LoZoccolo]

21. All our Dems need to be congniscent of how they say things because whether we like it or not...

...there are a lot of stupid people out there.

[treestar]

22. That ilk are pathetic. They think that because the US is "powerful" they are

The half governor embarrasses us all yet again.

[Pharlo]

23. I don't think the amount of syllables in a word are as relevant to her

understanding as her inability to grasp sentence structure. I think it's a definite possiblitiy that she reads like she speaks. Grammar and sentence structure eludes her - both verbal and written.

She sees words. She says words. Context and meaning are either irrelevant or incomprehensible to her. I am beginning to think that the 'word salad' speeches she gives are just one half of the equation. It's possible that she reads 'word salad' as well. I wonder if she ever had any type of analysis done for reading/speaking disorders. Something some really good opposition research should look into. After all, if it happened while she was in school, it's probably on her 'permanent record'.

[tomp]

24. palin is stupid, no doubt....

....but obama is being disingenuous and relying on the general american mass stupidity by saying we get "pulled in" to international conflicts. imperialism CREATES conflicts, it does not resolve them.