Palin Says: "WTF-Sputnik Led to Collapse of Soviet Union" on CBS

[kpete]

Palin: Sputnik Led to Collapse of Soviet Union
CBS News

"Governor," said Van Susteren. "Last night, there was a lot of discussion about the 'Sputnik moment' that the president talked about. Do you agree with him? Do you feel, is this our moment?"

Palin responded, "That was another one of those WTF moments when so often repeated the 'Sputnik Moment' that he would aspire Americans to celebrate. He needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yeah, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it led to the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union."

(no, this is not a joke, she really did say WTF on CBS): http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20029742-503544.html

[DURHAM D]

1. oh dear...

[spanone]

2. hey greta, when you quit office you lose the 'governor' bullshit

[DrDan]

17. they do that all the time on fox - inSanity refers to newt as Mr. Speaker

Since newt is a Ph.D., I am truly surprised that sean does not refer to him as Dr. Speaker.

[11 Bravo]

78. While referring to the current President of the United States as "Obama".

[Imagevision]

44. Yo Greta, when you quit office you lose the 'governor' bullshit

[ehrnst]

60. What - do they assign the new FoxNews interns the job of writing her talking points now? (nt)

[Posteritatis]

66. I might be wrong...

But I think officials in the US who held top executive positions - governorships and the presidency - retain the right to be addressed as "Mr. President" or whatnot even if they obviously have none of the actual position anymore. I'm pretty certain that's the case for presidents, at least in formal dripping-with-protocol type situations, but have no idea if it holds true for governors.

Of course, neither of those suggests an obligation to use the title; I agree with you that calling Palin "governor" this long after she bailed on the position is more than a little silly.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iamthebandfanman]

4. lmao

lmao

[Maeve]

5. Beauty; she not only misunderstands the reference, she disses Reagan!

We need to repeat the rally around science that we had after Sputnik and I thought the Right believed Reagan was the downfall of the Soviet Union...and no, the space race was never the reason for the Soviet collapse. There were a lot of other factors. Stupid politicians like some we have being one...

[emulatorloo]

6. Hey Twitter Governor, you missed the POINT

The analogy was not about Russia, but about US innovation that ended up creating new industries and jobs.

[myrna minx]

7. Oh mercy, she is truly stupid. n/t

[Botany]

12. She has so little knowledge of history and the world it is scary

Around the time of Sputnik The USSR was at its peak powers
economically, politically, and militarily.

I kinda doubt she even knows what Sputnik was even if you
spotted her the sata _ _ ite and showed her these pictures.

[bulloney]

30. Good point. Someone should ask Palin if she knows what Sputnik was.

They should ask Palin if she knew the timeline of the Sputnik event.

This, coming from the woman who says she could see Russia from her state.

Again, I'll say it: There's a direct correlation between how conservative you are and how ignorant you are on history.

[Botany]

33. Sarah and the media never bothered to say ...

.... YOU CAN NOT SEE RUSSIA FROM ALASKA!

Except from 2 little islands in the Bering sea one which nobody lives on and
another Little Diomede Island, that she never set foot on. Now maybe if she
flying to Nome she might have seen Russian land from the plane but I kinda
doubt that she would have been bothered to look @ the window.

[jmowreader]

61. Even if you could, you couldn't see Russia from Wasilla

The claim was not that you could see Russia from Alaska--if you climb Denali and look west, or you go out to Little Diomede Island you can--but that SHE could see Alaska from her back porch. Go to your favorite mapping site and look up Wasilla; it is very far east of the coast that faces Russia.

[deutsey]

8. OMG. What an idiot, bless her little heart.

And I'm sure there are plenty of people who find nothing wrong with Palin's statement.

Hardly seems worth saying something so obvious, but America's "Sputnik moment" was when America woke up to the fact that the USSR was ahead of us in exploring space (the Russians had successfully launched the Sputnik satellite into earth orbit). It initiated huge investment in science programs/education in America so that we'd catch up to and surpass the USSR in what became the "space race."

Did Greta point any of this out to Palin or to the audience?

[asjr]

9. I have decided that members of the media

who give Palin air time have as much contempt for the public as Palin. How I wish that woman would just fade into the shadows and we never have to hear from her again.

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. LOL!

:spray: :wtf:

[Erose999]

11. So she's saying that the USSR was out-competed in the space race. Effectively proving Obama's point.

God damn, is Palin really that stupid? I mean its easy to write off most of what she does as just her giving it her partisan slant. But then there are moments like this that transcend partisanship and just show what a dumbass she is. Somebody from the GOOP is gonna have to put a muzzle on her...

[mzmolly]

24. She appears to think Russians landed on the moon first?

:shrug: Unless I'm reading her point the wrong way?

[slampoet]

47. The Soviets DID win the space race. There was even an article in a 1985 issue of Discover magazine

saying this just a few months before the challenger blew up. The Soviets had better rockets, better pilots, cosmonauts with 10,000 hours of flight time, and better space stations.

HOWEVER!! Gorbachev had already been implementing reforms and Lech Walesa was soon to be freeing Poland by then so the space program was definitely not a factor.

[mzmolly]

48. I think that you and Palin are going against common wisdom and re-defining

the space race to do so.

Even the BBC acknowledges that the US won the space race.

He choose as his motif America's new "Sputnik moment". The first was when the USA was jolted and jarred by the Soviet Union's success in becoming the first nation to put a satellite in orbit around the Earth. But America went on to land on the moon and win the space race. Some will read Obama's message as simple as some of his best lines: "We do big things" or "the future is ours to win". A vision of an America that can and will pull itself up and score another great victory. That may be how some hear it, and it will appeal to an American sense of mission, optimism and will to win.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2011/01/obamas_space_race_strategy_thr.html

The revisionism is in full swing! Apparently Palin and her ilk can't bring themselves to give a Democratic President credit for landing on the moon and launching NASA.

[nalnn]

36. LOL

So true. Russia lost that 'race' if I recall didn't they?

I do worry that we will spend ourselves into oblivion much like the USSR did however.

[mzmolly]

49. That is the common wisdom.

But wisdom and Palin don't generally mix.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. Sarah Palin is the Queen Of Codswallop.

Wars and buying military hardware are what broke the USSR. She never bitched about the two wars Bush started.

[JBoy]

14. Awesome. That fails on so many levels!

[marmar]

15. She is profoundly ignorant.

nt

[LeftinOH]

16. Sarah and Michelle Bachmann must have copied off each other in History class. n/t

[Major Hogwash]

71. Hahaha!! Good one! And then John Quincy Adams freed the slaves, and then Russia collapsed!

Twins, separated at birth.

Hahahahaha!!!!

[Raschel]

18. Palin says WTF, her son commits an act of terror (AFAIC) by cutting school bus lines,

Bristol says on national TV she wants to give people the finger

Willow caught in breaking and entering,

Tawd supposedly having an affair,

Even the youngest upon finding a gold nugget on Palin's Alaska proclaims, "I'm going to sell it on Ebay"

What a contribution to society they are.

[Raschel]

19. And p.s., her so-called Christian followers love it.

[Amonester]

80. The whole bunch is just like another stupid 'reality' show.

Yep. Just like another stupid AND boring 'reality' show.

[gulliver]

20. That's about the right speed for the Fox News audience. n/t

[cilla4progress]

21. Its' too bad that we and Dem political leaders

have to waste any time on this idiocy. Why do we, by the way? Train wreck politics (everyone stops to see a train wreck)?

[mzmolly]

22. Fascinating. This week we learned that slavery lasted about five years, and Russia

won the space race? :freak:

[Leithan]

23. Sarah probably thinks that

1) Sputnik is still in orbit, and
2) She can see it from her front porch.

[deutsey]

26. Well, she is a Space Cadet

so she should know.

:evilgrin:

[Fly by night]

25. Hey, Botox Barbie (Greta): Sarah Palin is an IQ test

If you support her (or continue to give her time on our airwaves) ...

... you don't have one.

[onehandle]

27. Actually it was getting rid of the Tzar that was the downfall of the Soviet Union.

If they had never ended the Tzarist system, then the Soviet Union would not have been created, and if would not had fallen. We need to create a royal class to rule over America to sustain our number oneness.

Yes, I do get my history off of children's cereal boxes and my political opinion from our dog. Why do you ask?

[JoePhilly]

28. Michelle Bachmann must have told her that.

[Jester Messiah]

29. Facepalm Incarnate. [nt]

[Earth_First]

31. Well after all, she IS a Space Cadet...

Why wouldn't she be qualified to make such claims...

:rofl:

[Johonny]

32. I think she thinks Sputnik is a country in Asia?

[mzmolly]

34. Can she see Sputnik from her house?

;)

[yellowcanine]

43. Actually I saw Sputnik from my house in 1957. And I didn't even live in Alaska.

[Fumesucker]

57. A town in the country of Africa no doubt..

[kenny blankenship]

35. Exactly! Jamestown was the downfall of the British Empire.

Campoformido was Napoleon's Waterloo.

[niyad]

37. hey, sarah, you don't "aspire people to. . ) geez, 5 colleges, a degree in journalism, and you STILL

cannot speak properly, let alone coherently and with facts. please do us all a favour and keep your ignorant, illiterate, ungrammatical mouth SHUT

[Blue_Tires]

38. at least she didn't say it was "The Miracle on Ice" in 1980

[DirkGently]

39. Wow. Nothing argues so forcefully against Palin as a leader -- of anything -- as hearing her speak.

[Imagevision]

40. Dollar to a dime jeb Bush steps out of the woodwork and throws his hat in the ring for 2012...

[DirkGently]

42. You know he wants to. He was supposed to be the next Bush Pres., not screwup Georgie.

I had the distinct impression that Poppy was hugely disappointed that W. screwed up the family name (to a greater degree) and potentially blew it for Jeb.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

77. Poppy burst into tears when talking about when Jeb lost the governor's race in '94.

Had Jeb won, he would have been the nominee in 2000 for sure. Instead, Dubya won in 94 and Jeb lost, delaying his gubernatorial hopes until 1998.

I get the feeling had the situation been reversed, Senior wouldn't have been so emotional when talking about it. Jeb was his boy. Dubya was a mommy's boy.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

75. I hope as hell not. Probably not. But....

....I think chances are 50/50 that he'll challenge Bill Nelson for Senate. I don't think his ego can stand just being Marco Rubio's puppet master for much longer.

[yellowcanine]

41. Never underestimate Palin's ability to rise to new heights of sheer ignorance.

Sputnik was in 1957. The Soviet Union collapsed in what - 1989 - 1991? One can argue about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union but nobody that I know of cites debt incurred because of the space race. And Sarah's fellow right wingers give credit to the Soviet attempt to match Reagan's arms buildup. Did Van Susteren point that out?

And anyway, Obama's point wasn't that the Soviets won the space race - they didn't. Most would agree that the U.S. accomplished far more in space than the Soviets did. Obama's point was that Sputnik woke the U.S. up and triggered a major effort which lead to an economic boom.

[lonestarnot]

45. Oh fucking A. Does this bitch claim American citizenship? WAFI!

[Enrique]

46. didn't she think we're still fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan

didn't she recently say we need to "finish the job" there against the Soviets?

[Brother Buzz]

50. Christine O'Donnell said it but Palin gets partial credit

After all, it was Palin's 'worthy' advisers who prepped Christine O'Donnell for debate where she dropped that nugget.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

51. Well, then it wasn't Ronald Reagan after all, huh Sarah.

You mean to tell me that the fall of the USSR was predetermined decades in advance, and didn't occur when Ronald Reagan stood up and said, "Tear down this wall."

Hmm. You might actually be right without even knowing it. Thanks for playing the useful idiot game. Goodbye!

[fishwax]

52. ha!

nice turn :)

[sufrommich]

53. I thought it was Reagan who single handedly punched out

the lights of the red menace. Do your homework,Sarah!

[bluestate10]

54. Is Sarah Palin making impossibly stupid comments a surprise to you? nt.

[joeunderdog]

55. No way, silly. It was because the moon was made of cheese.

:crazy:

[NuclearDem]

56. Sputnik spurred America to get into the space race and succeed

China's technological advancements are the things being equated to the launch of Sputnik--something that needs to spur American innovation and progress.

She missed the ENTIRE point.

[ehrnst]

58. Here I thought it was Ronnie and McCarthy. Lawd a mercy. (nt)

[NICO9000]

59. Palin: Narcissist-in-chief

I've posted this many times:

The GOP and their deluded followers are always wrong, but never in doubt. And once again, Palin has to make it all about herself. Guess she's staring to get nervous that Bachmann may start stealing her role as leader of the uniformed masses.

Here's my response to Palin on the SOTU: STFU!

[ThoughtCriminal]

62. She just had to think of something "Contrary"

History, reality, observation and logic have no application. If a Democrat says that the Earth orbits the Sun, then she will have to take the opposite position.

[Swamp Rat]

63. and she heard Putin pooting from her back yard.

toot toot!

[underpants]

64. The camera loves Srah and Sarah loves the camera but cameras have microphones...

and that is where the trouble starts

[IDemo]

65. Everyone knows the founders built Sputnik

and gave slaves free rides on it.

[deutsey]

76. And Benjamin Franklin invented electricity with it.

:evilgrin:

[malaise]

67. She's a semi-literate, ignorant

Ahole of a Grifter. Seriously the woman is bat shit crazy and getting worse.

[quaker bill]

68. BTW, Sarah

The Soviets actually lost the space race and their downfall had little to do with debt. It had far more to do with invading Afghanistan, the place where empires fail, and have been failing for 1000 years.

The people got the notion that the Red Army was not "all that", after Afghanistan and decided to stand up to it and see what happened. The empire was just too large to maintain with military force, so it fell.

She apparently had a hard time in history classes.

[JHB]

69. It gets even weirder when she goes "Spudnuts"...

PALIN: So I listen to that Sputnik moment talk over and over again and I think, 'No, you don't need one of those. You know what we need is a Spudnut moment. And here's where I'm going with this -- and you're a good one, because you're one of those reporters who actually gets out there in the communities, find these hard-working people and find solutions to the problems that Americans face.

Well, the Spudnut shop, in Richland, Washington -- it's a bakery, it's a little coffee shop that's so successful -- 60 some years, generation to generation, a family-owned business. It's not looking for government to bail them out and to make their decisions for them. It's just hard-working, patriotic Americans in this shop -- we need more Spudnut moments in America!

And I wish that President Obama would understand -- in that heartland of America, what it is that really results in the solutions that we need to get this economy back on the right track, it's a shop like that!

Wait for iiiittt........

For 60 some years a (sometimes "the") major employer in Richland was the Hanford nuclear facility. Not to detract from the hard work and entrepreneurship of the Spudnut owners, but it's a lot easier to run a successful coffee shop when there is a large, steady, well-paid work force in the area that was not subject to the whims of the market.

Spudnuts didn't have to receive a single government check to greatly benefit from government spending.

via Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/speaking-wtf-moments-palin-launches-

[Raine]

70. "WTF"? Oh grow up Sarah! What's next "OMG"?

"Unfriend"? Justin Beiber? What is she in middle school! :silly:

[mzmolly]

79. I almost replied OMG

you're funny. ;)

[Hutzpa]

72. She is so fixated with Russia

why don't she swim over there?

[eilen]

73. Just when I thought it was impossible

Sarah Palin out-stupids Bachmann within 24 hours. Sarah Palin, always blazing new trails.

[chrisa]

74. Sputnik was launched by our North Korean allies.

[Amonester]

81. No, stupid sarah.

It was The Beatles (then The Doors, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and all.. and last but not least, The Scorpions).

[sakabatou]

82. *facebludgeon*