NYT, Bob Herbert: "The press has an OBLIGATION to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications."

[DeepModem Mom]

Palin’s Words Raise Red Flags
By BOB HERBERT
Published: September 26, 2008

The country is understandably focused on the financial crisis. But there is another serious issue in front of us that is not getting nearly enough attention, and that’s whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president — or, if the situation were to arise, president of the United States.

History has shown again and again that a vice president must be ready to assume command of the ship of state on a moment’s notice. But Ms. Palin has given no indication yet that she is capable of handling the monumental responsibilities of the presidency if she were called upon to do so.

In fact, the opposite is the case. We know that there are some parts of Alaska from which, if the day is clear and your eyesight is good, you can actually see Russia. But the infantile repetition of this bit of trivia as some kind of foreign policy bona fide for a vice presidential candidate should give us pause.

The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews. But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling.

The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing....

***

The press has an obligation to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications. If it turns out that she has just had a few bad interviews because she was nervous or whatever, additional scrutiny will serve her well. If, on the other hand, it becomes clear that her performance, so far, is an accurate reflection of her qualifications, it would behoove John McCain and the Republican Party to put the country first — as Mr. McCain loves to say — and find a replacement for Ms. Palin on the ticket.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/opinion/27herbert.html?hp

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Absolutely

The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews. But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling. The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing.... <...> The press has an obligation to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications.

Absolutely.

[Jim__]

2. 100% agreed.

The problem for our idiotic press is that they beleive if they point out that Sarah Palin is completely lacking in qualifications, then they have to point out something equivalent about Joe Biden. Otherwise they may be accused of bias. And they cringe at the thought.

[izquierdista]

3. "seeing Russia"

You can't see the Russian mainland from Alaska!! :mad: :rant: There are only two islands in the Bering Sea within sight of each other, and the Russian one is uninhabited.

[gordianot]

4. She was given a script which is now defunct.

At this point they must be writing a new script for her.

Maybe Mittens is looking better or even Joe.

[Olney Blue]

5. Exactly. This is not a church social. It's serious business.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. There they go again. The elite liberal media keeps attacking "real people."

Sorry. I was just channeling a Freeper for a second.

But you know that's what the Kool-aid drinkers must be saying. Luckily, an increasing number of credientialed conservatives (including the National Review's Kathleen Parker, who I admit I'd never heard of) are sounding the alarm as well about Palin's incompetence. I would expect they carry more weight than Herbert. I don't think New York Times readers need to be convinced that the Palin nomination is troubling. By virtue of reading the Times, they have in effect already passed a kind of non-Palin test.

In sum, it's good to have people like Bob Herbert remind us that Palin is in way over her head and that the press should push harder. But that's only slightly bigger news than a column that says the sun is hot.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

7. Wow - even tells McCain to replace her with someone else on the ticket!

That's tellin' it like it is.