trying with hilarious results to defend Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as someone not entirely unpracticed on the international stage:Foreign policy experience? Well, Alaska is the only state with a border with Russia. And it is the only state with territory, in the Aleutian Islands, occupied by the enemy in World War II.Let’s see if I have this straight. Barone is suggesting that Palin deserves foreign policy creds because, as the governor, she is technically commander in chief of the Alaskan National Guard? A weak argument, at best, and one seriously undercut over this last weekend by Major General Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, who told the Associated Press that “he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.”
Furthermore, as Steve Benen points out in his Washington Monthly blog, Political Animal, “Palin has never been to Russia. She’s never demonstrated any expertise on U.S. policy towards Russia. She doesn’t have any background in international relations at any level. But for Republicans, the fact that she’s lived in a state near Russia is somehow a qualification for national office.”
READ MORE: “Call Her General Palin,” by John Aravosis (AMERICAblog).
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