Trainwreck

Een kort fragment uit een interview dat Sarah Palin, de Republikeinse kandidaat vice - president, had met Katie Couric (de lokale Martine Tanghe) van CBS Evening News. Palin is sinds 1,5 jaar gouverneur van Alaska, een staat met evenveel inwoners als de provincie Limburg. Daarvoor was ze slechts een zestal jaren burgemeester van een dorp met 8000 inwoners. Het fragment gaat over het feit dat Palin, wanneer men haar vroeg of ze wel genoeg ervaring had met het buitenlands beleid, verwees naar het feit dat Alaska een grens had met Rusland. Dat dit de overkant van de ijzige Beringstraat is, met Siberië aan de overkant, deed haar sérieux geen goed.

COURIC: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land-- boundary that we have with-- Canada. It-- it's funny that a comment like that was-- kind of made to-- cari-- I don't know, you know? Reporters--

COURIC: Mock?

PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.

COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.

PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our-- our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They're in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia--

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We-- we do-- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where-- where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is-- from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to-- to our state.