So Sarah Palin is going to visit the United Nations. Yipee! The good news for her is that she doesn't need a passport to visit all the countries in the world.
According to the WSJ, Palin is to meet foreign leaders,
a move to boost her foreign-policy credentials, a Republican strategist said.
That is just taking the piss. I'm sure they all realise that she will none the wiser, but the McCain campaign is probably hoping for a little video footage that they can insert into ads showing her mingling with the great and the good.
There must be a flaw in this plan, though, I suspect . . .
Given the utter transparency of a move like this, I suspect that most foreign dignitaries will be willing to meet with her in private at best, away from the cameras. Hockey Mom might play well at home, but trust me that when these people come home to their own electorates (or subjects), they will certainly not want to be seen with someone who, quite frankly, is an embarrasment to the United States. Furthermore, it is such a calculated move that smart politicians will avoid any such meeting because they would not want to be seen as interfering (or being manipulated by) in another country's elections.
"The meetings will give her some exposure and experience with foreign leaders," the strategist said. "It’s a great idea."
Uh-huh. How does a quick hand shake give you experience? How do these people even manage to keep a straight face when coming out with this kind of drivel?
In all seriousness however, although I don't want to dwell on Sarah Palin because she is a distraction, this really is an embarassment. She's like the kid in a rags-to-riches, Pretty-Woman type story who's now allowed to press the flesh with the famous and infamous.
That said, I would love to be a fly on the wall in any potential encounter between Ms. Palin and her neighbour, Vladimir. "Encounter" is a carefully chosen word, because I imagine he would prefer to avoid her at all if possible. Expect therefore Georgia's president, Saakashvili, to be gladhanding her in front of the cameras. Silvio Berlusconi will come along for the ride, if only to check out her legs and flash his famous smile at her.
Once again the networks will be all over this with fawning coverage, detracting from real news, and I suspect it still won't put a dent in the opinions of those who are completely taken with her. (Don't think that you'll see SP meet Dubya, things will be carefully orchestrated to avoid any site of the two of them together).
UPDATED: Wayward Windhit upon an important note below in the comments:
Where in the hell do they come with campaign advisers who think up these kinds of things?
This whole thing reveals a worrying flaw in any future McCain administration. For career civil servants at the State Department, this kind of attitude to foreign affairs is exactly what will result in ideologically-driven political appointees to occupy key posts. In a nutshell, what we catch here is a glimpse of how things will be run at State: a photo-op here, a meet and greet there, without even any serious attempt at "seriousness".
If the McCain campaign wanted to send a clear signal of how his administration will treat the rest of the world, they couldn't have done a better job: sending a novice in to meet experienced and serious leaders, calling countries with whom the US disagrees "bad guys" (ok, so that was Cindy McCain but she'll have the ear of any President McCain), etc. etc. No doubt they'll be falling over each other to meet her.