Sep 06 2008
Place Your Bets: Which obscure history reference will stump Sarah Palin?
Ready, set, go! At this very moment our nation’s political reporters are crafting the questions they will challenge Sarah Palin with this week as she heads out on the campaign trail. Perhaps someone will ask her to define appeasement à la Chris Matthews and Kevin James. Perhaps she’ll be asked to name the current president of Russia like Hillary Clinton was last winter—at least Clinton covered for herself by saying it didn’t matter who he is because Putin is still really in charge. A brave soul might ask her to explain the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, but then again is there an American journalist who understands the difference themselves?
As a history teacher I can’t wait to see what they come up with…and as a history teacher I really hope she answers correctly. As the year progresses and you, my students, learn world history you will come to find out that there are many things we Americans do not understand about foreign cultures. Obama’s July trip to Europe and the Middle East actually resuscitated McCain’s lifeless campaign. Certainly the secrets to our success as a country have been to “do our own thing,” and “think outside of the box” instead of relying on rote memorization of facts the way they do in countries where students score highly on standardized tests. We don’t dwell on the past and we don’t look around to see what everyone else is doing. We look straight ahead to the future and that is a terrific quality…up to a point.
On the campaign front I fear the questioning Palin faces in the weeks ahead will be less about vetting a candidate’s views on an international issue and more about trying to get her to make a mistake. Will it be “Can you pronounce the name of the current president of Georgia?” or “How should America respond to the growing alliance between Russia and Venezuela?” Please let it be the latter.
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So I guess ABC News scored the BIG interview…I will keep you posted on when it will air. Charles Gibson was not at the press conference announcement…he was too busy “preparing for the interview” which is the grown-up version of homework. Your teachers are not lying when they tell you all this homework and studying prepares you for your future!
I hope Gibson asks her some “real” questions….I am dismayed at how the focus so far has been on what kind of mother she is—and basically what a bad mother she is to volunteer to spend so much time away from her kids.
you know how we are starting a new section. latin america. i looked up latin america and the revolutions and found a video expressing the feelings of the people there. http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=revolutions%20in%20latin%20america&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
Yah
my guess is she wont be asked any tough questions because I mean if she were to accept the interview her representatives would have probably set rules for what is acceptable to ask and whats not.
Sarah Palin is and never will be fit to be Vice President of the United states of america although the McCain/Palin ticket went down in flames, carrying the repubican party down with them
John McCains poltical future may be looking grimm but Sarah palin’s looks a little brighter. Sarah Palin Could indeed win the Gop Republican nomination in 2012. She is popular among the conservative branch of the republican party but she can NOT beat President Barack Obama in the general election without lets say some help. Sarah Palin made history by becoming the republican parties first woman nommine for Vice President.
But now Governor palin sit inthe governor office in juneu alaska pondering her future. The help I mentioned earlier would be a very strong running mate like Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland security secretary Tom ridge, Texas Governor Rick Perry or maybe Former massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. But for Palin to win she and her campaign would have to turn the public against Obama and make them think that Sarah Palin is some sort of Messiah. But some news networks Cough, Fox news, cough will help Palin if she is the republican candidate just like they attacked John kerry in 2004. When asked if Palin can win the election in 2012 I want to say no but I know that she can. But when I am asked if I would want to see the 45th president of the united states be Sarah Palin I say absolutley NOT
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………..my computer didnt send my message so this is me retyping it soo its not as good, but anyways….. i dont really get why people care soo much about hillary. i mean i completaely disagree with heffys accusations of the hillarry-ness.. i dont like hillary at all. soo honestly the campaign is over soo lets not talk about her. what we need to taalk about is the fate of our government in 2-3 years. now that we have a new president we need to look into the future and think, did we make the right choice. i disagree with having barrack as president, but watever. i feel that for the first year or maybe two years he is going too keep everything the same, but after everybody likes him and starts trusting him i think he is goin to raise taxes which is bad for americans(not me) but any ways…….. if you have any leads on my missing pencil please cantact me at 1-800-got-lead. again the number is 1-800-got-lead.dimensions: .width: .4 mm height: 6.3 inches.
honestly im notwhy people care soo much about hillary clinton. honetly she like isnt the president soooo like lets just put all that stuff behind us. soo ya. and by the way if you have any leads on the case of the missing pencil please contact 1-800-got-lead. Again the number is 1-800-got-lead.
Josh Hillary clinton is the new secretary of state under President Obama. She is now the most powerful diplomat in the world. If you think that simply because the campaign has ended shes fsimply goig to slip into the darkness of poltical oblivion. Of course her vision to see woman obtain the highest office in the land was dashed to pieces after obama became the democratic parties nommine and Clinton could have been Vice President right now had Obama not offered it to biden.