And, as Robert Baird points out, she doesn’t even seem to know what a “doctrine” is, a la Monroe or Truman. When will people quit picking on the Republican vice presidential nominee for her complete lack of acquaintance with American history and current affairs? SHE WAS A MAYOR, YOU KNOW, WITH A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITIES. [digital emunction/YouTube]

Excerpts have leaked from Charlie Gibson’s first of three interviews with Sarah Palin, which will be aired in some form tonight on his ABC News show. We were expecting a puffy sort of chit-chat, and it mostly is, except for the part where they talk about WAR WITH FREAKING RUSSIA. Now, when you run around saying Georgia and Ukraine should be let into NATO — as both John McCain and Barack Obama do — as some reward for establishing a vaguely democratic government, that’s much more than a harmless platitude — there are actual, real-world implications! No one has really bothered to push McCain or Obama on this, which is why it’s so hilarious that Gibson pushed Palin on it during her first big interview. And she fucked up. MORE »

New York Times “lightning rod conservative” columnist Bill Kristol today continues his titular free fall from superficially respectable-sounding “foreign policy conservative” to “comically shameless Republican purveyor of cynical misinformation who does not actually believe in or fact-check anything.” We recommend you sit down before reading this snippet from today’s column: “Should voters be alarmed by a relatively young or inexperienced vice-presidential candidate? No.” He adds that Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman were both new to the scene when their bosses croaked in office, and they turned out just fine. This is the same Bill Kristol who has spent all summer deriding Barack Obama’s relative youth and inexperience. Why do we even bother… MORE »

• SARAH PALIN’S EXTENSIVE MILITARY EXPERIENCE: From a McCain statement about Sarah Palin: “As the head of Alaska’s National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Gov. Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.” And under Palin’s leadership, the Alaskan National Guard has pummeled northeastern Russia (our new Death Enemy) with some NUCLEAR WARBOMBS FROM SPACE, so we’re all set. [AP]

“Neoconservatism’s problem, and electoral advantage, is one and the same: By escalating international problems into monumental crises and impending threats, interventionists such as John McCain have been able to appear knowledgeable, ’serious,’ and presidentially tough, all at once. Any competitor preaching policy restraint and rhetorical prudence looks like a wuss in comparison.” This is why John McCain will win the presidency and we will be plunged into another decade of war and bankruptcy, concurrent with a precipitous decline into global irrelevance, loss of empire, roving zombie hordes, etc. [Reason]

Barack Obama’s had his big interview with Katie Couric, and we have excerpts! Somehow, he seems to let Katie Couric trap him, too, with regards to the Surge. She asks him, at one point, if, Given What We Know Now about declined violence in Iraq, he would’ve supported the Surge last year, hmm? Rather than offer his very logical strategic position on this, he tries to make it an economic issue, about how much these damn wars cost during a time when no one has a home in America. Move the debate back home, but let “The Surge Worked” live yet another day. FTW. MORE »

• OHHHH WALNUTS!: Foreign Policy expert John McCain told reporters at a press avail today that he was concerned about “a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days,” including “reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.” And this is why we must bomb Persia and its shifty-eyed Sultan. [Think Progress]

WHICH RICH ELITIST WILL BEST FIGHT THE UFOS? The space monsters will kill us all, but which candidate will make us feel better about it? [Political Machine]

In a controversial address at Columbia University School of Law on Tuesday, the controversial contrarian and former Obama advisor Samantha Power admitted she was sorry about calling Hillary Clinton a monster that one time. However, she did not request backsies on any of the other shocking garbage she uttered in her tenure as Barack Obama’s foreign policy wonk. MORE »

Our favorite dumb presidential candidate, John “WALNUTS!” McCain, delivered a “major foreign policy address” today, and it was about war and diplomacy, the latter of which he will never use. Since the media is distracted by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, McCain can say (and has said!) all sorts of raving dementia-babble and no one will care, because he is a Maverick. But just for kicks, what hilarious things did he say in his speech? MORE »

The story about Hillary Clinton’s harrowing 1996 trip to Bosnia with esteemed international dignitaries Chelsea Clinton, Sinbad and Sheryl Crow pops up occasionally in the news. To the untrained reader, that trip might seem like the sort of diplomacy-lite errand that First Ladies occasionally run for their husbands. But for Hillary Clinton, that experience makes her tested and ready to serve on Day One. And now another Obama advisor is cheating by bringing up this visit, again, with the press. MORE »