Before I dive into the Sarah Palin's incompetence (if you haven't heard the wanna-be Veep pranked by two Montreal comedians, listen here), first, let's review this Syria attack one more time.

 

H/t to Crooks and Liars for putting this in front of me. So Foreign Policy magazine interviewed Syrian diplomat Imad Moustapha. Moustapha says he talked with Joe Lieberman, who promised McCain would talk with Syria.

Foreign Policy: The United States claims its Sunday night raid was undertaken to stem the flow of militants into Iraq. Why do you think this raid happened?

Imad Moustapha: Do we know why? Of course not. The only analysis we have is that they are doing this for pure domestic political reasons that have everything to do with the elections and the electoral campaign. They want to come out with a story.

But we are still waiting for the U.S. administration to come out and tell the American people: “We killed [Abu Ghadiya], and here is the proof that we killed him.” We have presented our side of the story. We have published the photos of the eight people that were killed, their names, and what they were doing. This is our side of the story. Let the United States come with its side.

... Suddenly, after everybody has recognized that the situation has improved dramatically in Iraq, [the United States] comes and they attack a village in Syria. They coldbloodedly murder eight Syrian civilians, villagers who are totally defenseless, totally innocent. This is a terrorist, criminal act.

Moustapha talks about how he met with Condi Rice about a month ago, and he surmises that the attack on Syria was an attempt to undermine the conversation with Rice, which was Syria's first communication with a Cabinet-level official in ages.

 

Don't miss Moustapha's blog, either.

 

Okay, now for Sarah Palin getting pranked hard by two Montreal comedians, the Masked Avengers. A few thoughts:

 

Is it the responsibility of the vice president's campaign to tell the president's campaign that a foreign head of state wants to talk with them? The Avengers called Palin's people a week in advance to set up the hoax.

 

So did the Palin people tell McCain's people that Sarkozy wanted to talk to her? And wouldn't the foreign policy genius that is McCain have an idea through diplomatic channels that this meeting was happening? Or not.

 

If Palin's people didn't talk to McCain about it, the naivete they demonstrate in automatically assuming that a foreign head of state would talk to them first is stunning. How exciting, some staffer thought, Sarkozy wants to talk to us. We are important, we have arrived.

 

Or, has experience led them to believe this is the way things are done, and if that is the case, how many other foreign leaders has she talked to? Shouldn't we know these conversations if that is true?

 

We seem to know all the leaders that Obama has talked to (based on his trip overseas, Brandenburg Gate, etc). Can we imagine Palin talking with Syria about this bombing after listening to this conversation.

 

As absurd as this is, Joe Lieberman has the authority to tell the Syrian government on behalf of the McCain campaign that McCain would open talks with Syria. Lieberman, as much of a jackass as he is, at least knows how to handle himself with foreign leaders.

 

I guarantee Lieberman's people would not have fallen for this prank. The worst part of the call is that the fake Sarkozy is outright rude, and Palin doesn't seem to catch it, and if she does reaize it, she doesn't even defend herself.

 

When "Sarkozy" brings up Hustler's porno "Nailin' Palin," she giggles nervously and thanks him, as if it is a compliment. She has to know about the porno, which a - explains why her staff keeps her from looking at the news and b - is the biggest insult to a politician imaginable.

 

To be fair, Larry Flynt's contribution to the election has allegedly included cameos of lookalikes of Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice. So he isn't just satirizing Palin. But the biggest disrespect seems reserved for the governor from Alaska.

 

Why wouldn't Palin say to Sarkozy, "Excuse me sir, I think you misunderstand," or politely interject an objection? She has no idea what to do in the situation, and should leave no doubt that she is not to be trusted with the keys to a nuclear state.

 

Especially when she laughs after Sarkozy says killing is good, it is fun to take a life.

 

P.S. - I took a public speaking class last week with Steven D. Stark, and he showed a video of Morton Kondracke moderating the 1988 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen.

 

Kondracke asks Quayle what books he's been reading recently. Stark includes Quayle's response in his presentation as an example of terrible public speaking. Kondracke calls Palin the current Quayle.

 

Yet Quayle's response, aside from the fact that he said Nixon was President in 1999, had real books, and Quayle actually offered detailed summaries about them. Compare that to Palin's inability to name a newspaper to Katie Couric's media quiz.

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