Sarah Louise Heath Palin (bornFebruary 11,1964) is anAmerican politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninthGovernor of Alaska, from 2006 to her resignation in 2009. As theRepublican Party nominee forVice President in the2008 Presidential election, alongsideArizonaSenatorJohn McCain, she was the firstAlaskan on the national ticket of a major political party, and the first Republican woman nominated for the Vice Presidency. Her bookGoing Rogue has sold more than two million copies.
Sarah Palin: That's why I say, I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the tax payers looking to bail out, but ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping tho— uh, oh, it's got to be all about job creation too, shoring upour economy, and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as— competitive, um, scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.
Sarah 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 withCanada. It—it's funny that a comment like that was kind of made to—chara[cterized]—I don't know. You know, reporters—
Couric: Mocked?
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, there 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 evennational-security issues with RussiaasPutin 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.
Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
Couric: What, specifically?
Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.
Couric: Can you name a few?
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, "Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.
Sarah Palin: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
Sarah Palin: That'd be Caribou Barbie.
But a lot of us would beg to differ. For example, there are questions we would've liked this foreign terrorist to answer before he lawyered up and invokedourUS constitutional right to remain silence[sic].Our USconstitutional rights.Our rights that you, sir[addressing veteran in audience], fought and were willing to die for to protect in our Constitution. The rights that my son, as an infantryman in the United States Army, is willing to die for. The protections provided — thanks to you, sir! — we're gonnabestow them on a terrorist whohates our Constitution?! And tries to destroy our Constitution and our country. This makes no sense because we have achoice in how we're going to deal with a terrorist — we don't have to go down that road.
There are questions that we would have liked answered before he lawyered up, like, "Where exactly were you trained and by whom? You—you're braggin' about all these other terrorists just like you — uh, who are they?When andwhere will they try to strike next?" The events surrounding the Christmas Day plot reflect the kind of thinking that led toSeptember 11th. That threat — the threat, then, asthe U.S.S. Cole was attacked, our embassies were attacked, it was treated like an international crime spree, not like an act ofwar. We're seeing that mindset again settle into Washington. That scares me, for my children and for your children. Treating this like a mere law enforcement matter places our country at grave risk. Because that's not how radical Islamic extremists are looking at this. Theyknow we're at war. And to win that war,we need a commander-in-chief, not aperfesser of law standing at the lectern!
Sarah Palin: Well, North Korea, this is stemming from a greater problem, when we're all sitting around asking, "Oh no, what are we going to do" and we're not having a lot of faith that the White House is going to come out with a strong enough policy tosanction what it is that North Korea's gonna do. So this speaks to a bigger picture that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policy. But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies. We're bound to by treaty. We're also bound to by—
Steve Burguiere:South Korean.
Palin: Yes, and we're also bound byprudence to stand with our South Korean allies, yes.
