3

I'd tap Sarah Palin too

4

Double digits. They should have a JD.

While I think Sarah Palin is unfit to be vice president, I don't really understand how this question would have come up. What did Katie Couric say? "Name as many Supreme Court cases as you can. Right now!" Anyone might have blanked in those circumstances. Palin sucks, but without more information, this seems silly to me.

"We'll have to wait an see if she gets a word in this Thursday, or if she just sits back while Biden threatens to kill Barack Obama."

We'll have to wait AN see if Elie ever learns how to edit his work properly.

Elie is a terrible writer. Why must we suffer through his atrocious prose?

Same old Republican playbook: lower expectations so much than anything short of a complete meltdown appears to be proof of competence.

You *know* they wanted that bit leaked and getting to feign outrage while blaming liberal media bias is just an extra bonus.

I had to double check to make sure I was not on a political commentary blog. WTF is this shit Elie? Abovethelaw.com is not your personal blog.

9 - wasn't the Couric interview a complete meltdown? Can it get worse?

There seems to be confusion about the term "nonplussed."

–verb (used with object) 1. to render utterly perplexed; puzzle completely.
–noun 2. a state of utter perplexity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Origin: 1575–85; (n.) < L nōn plūs lit., not more, no further, i.e., a state in which nothing more can be done]

—Synonyms 1. perplex, confuse, confound, disconcert.

The McCain-Palin campaign should be nonplussed, but they don't appear to be.

6,

They probably asked her what SCOTUS decisions she would change or disagrees with.

Agree with 10. Elie, take your politics and shove 'em.

Also, as an '05 law school grad and corporate lawyer who has passed two bar exams, including CA, I can semi-intelligently discuss maybe 3 Supreme Court cases (and one of them is only because I went to Michigan).

Wait. Why is political bias acceptable in this post? It is a seemingly legitimate topic, but I guess if the writer cannot edit or really contribute to the discussion of the topic, they can always make it up it in cutesy quips. Is there a word minimum on ATL posts, or something?

I get it, you're a liberal, and that's just great. However, it is inconsequential to the focus of the post.

This post could be more better sent through Microsoft Word, and minus the bullsh*t political posture.

Just a suggestion, MysTTTal.

Guys in my high school tapped Sarah Palin all the time and were nonplussed. It was no big deal.

Where is the link to Palin's comment on the Supreme Court cases she knows - NOT.

@16..ha

Elie, we like your mother...you sir are a different story.

Can't we all just agree that she's a retard and not fit to name a SC justice

She should at least know of some cases that deal with hot button issues that the GOP base strongly cares about, and that she allegedly cares about. It's bizarrely easy spin. For example, consider Casey, or the Michigan affirmative action cases (complain about race-based AA), or Lawrence v. Texas (complain about the expansion of gay rights), or the juvenile death penalty case (rant against using international law). It's pretty simple stuff. Take your pick, really.

"Saturday Night Live" is not spin, you idiot.
And what was the McCain campaign supposed to do about the interview? Emergency press conference? Kick Palin off the ticket?

I hate it when people who know nothing about politics talk about politics. You know how annoying it is when someone with an associate's degree tells you that he won't turn his music down because he has freedom of speech? That's how those of us who work in politics feel when those of you who don't weigh in with your brilliant insight.

that's fine, 14. especially since you're not in politics.

for someone with knows so much about energy, shouldn't she have at least heard of mass v. epa?

also there's this damning clip from earlier today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqITmC8fPS8&NR=1

0 cases. George Washington didn't know about any when he took office.

I'll agree with 14.

I wasted three years in law school, passed the CA Bar, and have been practicing corporate law for 2 years.

I'm pretty sure that Marbury v. Madison is about a woman on a train platform who is shot by a trap gun while carrying a box of international shoes.

I hate Elie like I hate visiting nursing homes, not like I hate Simon from American Idol.

This posTTT leaves me feeling nonplussed.

21- get laid much, thought not

So Elie, where are your posts on (1) Obama's "truth squads", (2) Biden's perjury at his undergraduate institution, (3) or any other matters ever so slightly tinged with legal relevancy as an unverified clip of Palin's supreme court trivia?

24,

George Washington is the one who tapped McCain for a deputy cabinet post, of course he knew his people.

Experience, the other white meat.

So Elie, where are your posts on (1) Obama's "truth squads", (2) Biden's plagarism at his undergraduate institution, (3) or any other matters ever so slightly tinged with legal relevancy as an unverified clip of Palin's supreme court trivia?

Does anyone know if there's an appropriate grade for this post that is below Low Pass?

holy heck.

does Lat even work here anymore???

for someone with knows so much about energy, shouldn't she have at least heard of mass v. epa?

also there's this damning clip from earlier today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqITmC8fPS8&NR=1

Couric: Well, explain to me why [the Supreme Court's proximity to the Nation's capitol] enhances your legal credentials.

Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are Supreme Court justices, there in the district that I request earmarks from.

She should have at least been able to name cases like Kelo and Casey, even if she wasn't prepared to discuss specifics of the cases.

FedSoc person

Palin = epic fail

Come on! She was a journalism major, she should at least be able to name New York Times v. Sullivan. But aside from that, what person with a high school education can't at least pretend to know something about Brown v. Board of Education, Bush v. Gore, Miranda v. Arizona, Texas v. Johnson, ANYTHING?!?!?! Not even one?!?!?

Politics aside, why is it acceptable that we have national leaders who know less about the civic history of our country than my 8th grade nephew on his school's trivia bowl team???!?

Come on! She was a journalism major, she should at least be able to name New York Times v. Sullivan. But aside from that, what person with a high school education can't at least pretend to know something about Brown v. Board of Education, Bush v. Gore, Miranda v. Arizona, Texas v. Johnson, ANYTHING?!?!?! Not even one?!?!?

Politics aside, why is it acceptable that we have national leaders who know less about the civic history of our country than my 8th grade nephew on his school's trivia bowl team???!?

I know a case that the Governor of Alaska should know...how about Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker? It was only decided in June and drastically cut (from $2.5b to $500m) the punitive damages that victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill will receive.

She should also have a general idea about separation of powers.

The more I listen to her the more I wonder whether the American public is aware of the 25th amendment.

This blog is a train wreck. Lat -- please fix the situation before the novelty of watching this guy make an ass of himself wears off and blog traffic reaches zero.

Memo to Politicos: most of America hates lawyers. Most of America can't name any SCOTUS cases. Most of America will not care about this. Only lawyers and the media.

The "but she's a mom so she understands what I'm going through" vote will certainly not care. And aren't those Couric's viewers anyway?

The real question is, how many GULC grads should a VP know?

Elie - I'm a democrat and I was pissed when Lat was posting the Obama tax hike stuff. I'm guessing that quite a few of the Republican commenters who are now complaining about political bias were vehemently defending those posts.

However, in the interest of consistency, I do think that you should tone down the political rhetoric a little bit. This is a legitimate topic, but can be done without so clearly imparting your political bias.

Ms. Palin is more fit to govern moose than men.

This is the key to Palin. If you ask her the stock questions other politicians get ("what kind of supreme court justices would you appoint?"), she has her pre-canned talking points ready to go. But if you peel back a few layers (like with this question), she's totally screwed because she just doesn't have the background. That's not a question of intelligence or "experience", by the way. It's a question of engagement, or even interest, in the major questions facing the country. You could do this with any topic. E.g., instead of asking pointed health care questions about the candidates' plans, just say "what is community rating and why do you support or oppose it?" There are points to be made on both sides of the debate, but she will be completely screwed by this because she's probably never spent even a minute thinking about it. Suffice to say, if McCain had picked Jindal or Romney, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Chuck Norris can name every Supreme Court case to date while bombarding you with roundhouse after roundhouse.

44 - Oh come on. Tax issues affecting lawyer salaries (politically charged or not) are a hell of a lot closer to what this blog is about than this kind of partisan attack. The tax thing was at least based on facts (arguably), while this crap is almost entirely opinion based.

I'm starting to notice that xoxo regularly scoops ATL on stories.

Lat displays his conservative bias, nothing wrong in Elie calling a spade a spade, especially when the issue is LAW and this is Abovethelaw

14 and 25 are the reason I don't automatically have respect for people just because they went to T14 law schools.

Boom.

48 - bullshit.

this is about the potential (albeit unlikely) veep not knowing anything about the supreme court. this blog is not limited to salaries by any means. bringing in that right-wing hack to do a hit-job on obama was much more of a partisan cheap shot than this is.

40 is right, but it clear that Palin did in fact know about Exxon v. Baker -- her administration filed an amicus brief in the case, which she announced: http://gov.state.ak.us/archive-12273.html

She later criticized the opinion:
http://conservationreport.com/2008/09/05/exxon-shipping-co-v-baker-sarah-palin-was-critical-of-supreme-courts-exxon-decision/

It's amazing how left-wing-nuts rant in a tourette-like manner about how unqualified Palin is to be VP, yet kneel down and wash the feet of Barry the Community Organizer.

54, do you think Obama would have answered this question differently? Nuff said.

42 - You can't take the issue out of context. Many may not care about this instance, but keep piling on instances where she looks like a deer in the headlights and they will. Sure there are a lot of stupid voters out there, but there are plenty of likely McCain voters who are starting to see and care about Palin's utter lack of knowledge on avast range of fundamental federal issues.

And obviously, the audience is not just moms. When the VP candidate does so few interviews, and they're available on line and on constant cable repeat, the whole nation watches or hears about it. Thus, lawyers discussing it here ...

50/52: Uh...that's not change, that's more of the same?

57: agreed. that's why elie should tone it down.

- 44/52

54: there's a difference between inexperience (which they arguably both are) and being grossly unqualified (which only Palin is)

I'm not sure we want more simpletons in the White House after these past 8 years.

You are completely determined to ruin this blog, aren't you? You are alienating and disaffecting a substantial segment of loyal readers to your own detriment. We do not come here to be preached to in such a heavy handed fashion by the likes of you. Please Sir, for the love of God, stop this charade or resign now.

Actually, she was a communications-journalism major -- not journalism. Classes on TV sportscasting at 5 different colleges do not a journalist make.

I am really impressed that she managed to remember Exxon v Baker for at least six weeks, but saddened that she subsequently forgot all about it.

Anyway, it's not like the question was supposed to be about landmark SCOTUS cases, or anything.

I just dig the fact that every time libs take shots at the inexperienced bottom (Hi Kash - wink wink, you sexy minx) of the R ticket, they can't help but bring up, in peoples' minds, the biggest weakness at the top of the D ticket.

The best part is, they can't help themselves. Tee hee hee.

You know Ellie, just when I think you couldn't get any dumber you go and do something like this...

It's amazing how left-wing-nuts rant in a tourette-like manner about how unqualified Palin is to be VP, yet kneel down and wash the feet of Barry the Community Organizer.

Elie you need to either create another blog for your political commentary or post on moveon.org. Yeah we get it....you LOOOOOOOVE Obama. If he was single, you would pounce on him like a fudge brownie. But the readers are getting sick of the politics: democrat or republican. There are thousands of blogs we can go to to read about politics. You are obviously digging for anything remotely related to the law when it comes to trashing the republicans. Have you ever posted anything about Obama in a negative light? Every post where there is even the slightest amount of criticism about the democrats includes some comment about how republicans still suck.

Hmm, yeah, Barry the community organizer. I could swear I remember him doing one or two other things worthy of note or indicative of a high level of intelligence.

But, I'm sure these things just made him an elitist – not fit to oppose two candidates who, taken together, have the combined education of Biden.

Amazing. The woman cannot form a complete sentence. She makes Dubya look like William F. Buckley. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Palins_contrast.html

"Hmm, yeah, Barry the community organizer. I could swear I remember him doing one or two other things worthy of note or indicative of a high level of intelligence."

The same can be said for Steven Hawking, but I'm not sure if the country is ready for a president in a wheel chair.

I'd settle for just one that qualifies Barry to be pesident.

Don't you mean Barry the Constitutional law professor? Maybe Barry the state senator? Barry the U.S. Senator? It's not like we're calling her Sarah the college switcher (although taking 5 colleges to get a bachelor's degree is pretty interesting). We give her "credit" for being mayor of a town of 5000 and running up $20M in debt in two years. And for being governor of Alaska, which has a smaller population than some Chicago boroughs.

People seem to like me because I'm polite and rarely late. I like to eat ice-cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks! Years later, a doctor will tell me I have an I.Q of 48 and that's what some people call mentally retarded.

40 is right, but it clear that Palin did in fact know about Exxon v. Baker -- her administration filed an amicus brief in the case, which she announced: http://gov.state.ak.us/archive-12273.html

She later criticized the opinion:
http://conservationreport.com/2008/09/05/exxon-shipping-co-v-baker-sarah-palin-was-critical-of-supreme-courts-exxon-decision/

Given her bikini + assault rifle pics, one would think she'd have been able to mention the District of Columbia v. Heller case.

Elie, your a charming and thoughtful contributor to this blog. Keep it up.

News Flash 69 - Barry is not running against Palin.

Palin is paired against Biden the Cheater, who hails from a state smaller than most chicago boroughs.

but we do give him credit for watching FDR on tv in 1929, and encouraging cripples to walk

I said that I was "happy" with her interview which, while snarky, is something I thought most people would agree with. Were Republicans "unhappy"? I posed a legitimate question: do lawyers think Palin should know more about the Court? The bar I set was the current Republican President, whom I quoted accurately. And I kicked the whole piece with an extremely dumb thing that the Democratic VP nominee said.

If lawyers do not think that a candidate's views on SCOTUS are relevant, that's fine. But it's not biased to ask the question.

The minute Obama or BIden stares blankly into the camera when somebody asks them a question most attorneys know a lot about, I'll post that too.

How about we wait until this mystery clip is released before we jump all over this? If this supposed clip is so damning, why is it not available yet? So far, we have a supposed leak from CBS, and the word of an unnamed aide--why don't we wait to see if the clip actually exists before passing judgment on it.

Ellie. This is terible. You are worse. Now, if you haven't already, go pounce on that fudge brownie #65 was talking about.

Elie:

Overall, you're doing a fine job. But seriously, you have no right to get defensive over this criticism. This is the second time you've responded to criticism by essentially saying, 'What? What did I do?'
You can either post without attempts at snarkiness/humor, and without making partisan comments, or you can continue to do so, and do so proudly. But don't insult the intelligence of the readers by making partisan jokes and then acting like you don't know what you did. Own up to it like a man and stand behind your words, or tone your language down. You can't have it both ways.

75=Fail

Elie --

You forgot a comma between "interview" and "which", so the entire post was reTTTarded.

Kirk out

The media elite are going to try this whole gotcha journalism, but we’re not gonna blink, because the economy is too important to leave in the hands of the elite.. you know.. people in those elite... that opposed the surge and think that we can play defense in the war on terror. This is why john mccain is a maverick, and that’s what he will do as president.

-Sarah Palin

This blog is dead to me and Elie is the hitman. Thanks, you have hi-jacked and ruined what used to be a very entertaining blog. The poor writing, terrible choice of topics and in-your-face Obama support has drained all life out of this site. Again, thanks for nothing.

Posting in an epic thread

75 (a.k.a. MysTTTal/Sophist/NotLat) -- If you have to explain a joke, it's not funny. Similarly, if you feel the need to write three paragraphs explaining (apologizing for?) how an ATL post is related to ATL's purported mission, it's a bad post.

21 - I agree that ordinary citizens shouldn't talk about politics. It infuriates me too! How dare they?

Despite what the liberal elitists and gotcha journalists say, this latest CBSinterview just proves that we have nothing to worry about as long as McCain is around to stick up for Palin. Therefore, we have nothing to worry about.

/flunks LSAT

Palin is painfully ignorant, and is so bad, she doesn't know how to hide her ignorance at all. In the last interview, even if she didn't have an example of John McCain pushing for regulation, she could've discussed how serious this issue is and that McCain was willing to try new things... anything would've sounded better than, "I'll get back to ya."

On the new Supreme Court Case question, even if she didn't know the specific names of cases, she could have spoken generally about religion in school cases, or terrorism cases, or civil rights cases.

And #14 can really only talk about 3 SC cases?? What's that say about Michigan?

Elie, I agree with 78. I have given you a hard time about editing (which you deserve) but you are doing a good job in a difficult position. Lawyers are douchebags, we all know it. And you must deal with them on a daily basis. Not an easy task.

But own up to the tone of the post. I believe Lat had less political overtones in his posts later in his ATL career, but because of early 'snarkiness' he never shook his alleged conservative dogma. So, if you are going to throw it in there, go in head first and understand you are going to be 'labeled' forever.

Don't apologize...

"We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, 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 our state."

- Sarah Palin

How about in her convention speech when she clowned Obama for wanting to "read terrorists their rights." It was a jab at habeas corpus and probably Miranda v. Arizona.

Of course she wasn't able to write her own speech, but you'd think she'd care to actually understand what the words she was reading meant.

89/81- One comment is real, and one is fake.

Can anyone tell which one is real?

-81

“Oil and coal? Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It’s got to flow into our domestic markets first.”

– Sarah Palin

Nice try 91...but unfortunately I heard the quote in 89. As a former Republican, I was shocked. And when I say former, I mean once hearing this quote, I immediately renounced my affiliation.

Stop the bailout.
http://www.stopthehousingbailout.com/

Well Katie, John and I would like to see Marbury v. Madison revisited, we'd like to finish what President Bush started.

Well Katie, John and I would like to see Marbury v. Madison revisited, we'd like to finish what President Bush started in trampling over separation of powers.

I sympathize with Elie's political beliefs, so that may make me biased. But I didn't see this post as particularly partisan. Sure it mocks Palin (among others) but that's par for the course at ATL and it's definitely law related.

97 -- you're an idiot. please don't breed.

COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

SARAH PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the--it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care 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 a competitive, 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.

I agree with 97 my guess is we don't need to ask 98 not to breed. My guess is they will not have this option.

Change we can believe in:

Couric: You made a funny comment, you've said you have been listening to Joe Biden's speeches since you were in second grade.

Palin: It's been since like '72, yah.

Couric: You have a 72-year-old running mate, is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden's been around awhile?

Palin: Oh no, it's nothing negative at all. He's got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we've been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years.

92- I agree the answer is rambling and seems to make no sense, but what the hell was she asked? That might help a lot in giving her remarks some meaning.

IL Bar results are out any minute!

87 - It says that I can do jack shat for 3 years and ride my gentleman's B's all the way to V20, where I can be a pretty good mid-level corporate attorney without knowing a damn thing about Supreme Court cases. You may or may not believe it, but law school doesn't really matter when you're negotiating a provision, pitching in on due diligence, or dealing with a client.

- 14

Wow, 14, that's pretty sad.

Of course, one doesn't HAVE to be informed to be a corporate lawyer, but it is nice when one chooses to be, which helps prevents one from sounding as stupid as you do.

I enjoyed your line of argument: "I don't know anything about the Supreme Court, so I don't expect the president and vice president to, either." Yes, because if a corporate lawyer doesn't know something, then no one should have to know it. Must be nice to have such low standards.

I think an entirely fair question in the debate would be to ask Palin whether or not she agrees with the principle of stare decisis. It's not a "gotcha" question - anyone who has paid any attention to SCOTUS confirmation hearings over the past 20 years would be familiar with the term. Also, I'm pretty confident that Obama and Biden could come up with a decent answer on it.

Well, thank goodness she isn't running for president!!

Because if someone with no experience and no plans were running for preside----- oh wait, nevermind.

68: "The same can be said for Steven Hawking, but I'm not sure if the country is ready for a president in a wheel chair. "

Please, PLEASE, tell me you're joking.

105 - That wasn't my line of argument, but thanks for reading into what I said. My argument was that even though one goes to law school (and a T14--ooooh--one at that) doesn't mean that one automatically knows about Supreme Court cases.

I know lots about lots; I've just never been interested in Supreme Court stuff. I went to law school wanting to do corporate work. I spend and spent time concentrating on developing the skills to make me better at what I do, not wasting time memorizing cases.

For me, law school was largely a job queue. A few romanticize it, but that's what it is for many (most?) of us.

- 14/104

I think an entirely fair question in the debate would be to ask Palin whether or not she agrees with the principle of stare decisis. It's not a "gotcha" question - anyone who has paid any attention to SCOTUS confirmation hearings over the past 20 years would be familiar with the term. Also, I'm pretty confident that Obama and Biden could come up with a decent answer on it.

14 / 104

can you name 3 DE / NY court decisions that are relevant to your pracTTTice?

14 / 104 keeps his Revlon duties in his purse

I think an entirely fair question in the debate would be to ask Palin whether or not she agrees with the principle of stare decisis. It's not a "gotcha" question - anyone who has paid any attention to SCOTUS confirmation hearings over the past 20 years would be familiar with the term. Also, I'm pretty confident that Obama and Biden could come up with a decent answer on it.

45, the moose don't want her representing them.

Polar Bears for Obama!

111 - Yes, those come up from time to time (though admittedly not as often as M&A class made me think they would). I work on the deal side, and don't really get into corporate governance matters where knowledge of the holdings of those cases would be more useful.

Keeping law school texts in your office = TTT. :)

- 14/104/109

But 14/104/109: I think the point is that you are a corporate-side deal attorney. You are not running for VP. We therefore expect you to know corporate law. You presumably do.

Sarah Palin is presenting herself to us as someone who deserves to be one 72 year old heartbeat away from the presidency. We therefore reasonably expect Sarah Palin to know something--anything--about Supreme Court precedent so we can evaluate how she might view SCOTUS appointments. That she knows nothing is only one of the many reasons prominent conservative commentators are calling for her to step down.

And what newpapers and magazines does she regularly read?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkWebP2Q0Y

And what newpapers and magazines does she regularly read?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkWebP2Q0Y

116 - I'm not arguing that I'm qaulified to be VP (or that Palin is) on that basis, just that I've been to law school, consider myself reasonably successful relative to my level, and would have given Couric a similar answer.

Personally, I'm love/hate with Palin. I was excited about her at first, but now wish that the campaign folks would let her run free instead of over-preparing her and then throwing her into hostile environments. Anyway, who are the prominent conservatives calling for her to step down? None of the ones I read are, but maybe I'm missing something. I know that Kathleen Parker has and that much has been made of it, but I thought that Brooks, Will and Frum all stopped short of explicitly asking her to step down. I would guess that much of this talk of "prominent conservatives" asking her to step down is the media trying to make something out of nothing, naturally in an attempt to make McCain look like a disaster.

And can you imagine if she did? I think it would be far worse than McCain running with her. The press would be ruthless about McCain's poor judgment, etc.; lefty bloggers would be worse.

- 14/104/109/115

"Personally, I'm love/hate with Palin. I was excited about her at first, but now wish that the campaign folks would let her run free instead of over-preparing her and then throwing her into hostile environments."
- 14/104/109/115

I agree. I know that's what comes to my mind when I think of Sarah Palin: "over-prepared."

And you have a point about "hostile environments," too! I mean, come on, folks. Sarah Palin is running for Vice President; you're putting way too much pressure on her!!!! And she's on TV, too!!!!!!! Not all of us can be champion Jeopardy debaters.

117/118,

Did you not watch the video? She reads ANY AND ALL of the newspapers and magazines, and does so with great appreciation for the media!

For Christ's sake, ALASKA IS NOT A FOREIGN COUNTRY! IT'S A MICROCOSM OF AMERICA! SHE READS ALL THE NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES THAT THE REST OF US READ...

...whatever they might be called, I'll have to look that up and get back to you...

Is she actually going to say "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" at some point? Because so far she's almost indistinguishable from Tina Fey in the things she says.

Wow, supposed conservative running for office and she can't get the words "Wall Street Journal" to come out of her mouth? Or even the NY Post?

Epic, epic fail.. get this woman hooked on phonics ASAP

Elie, WILL YOU MARRY ME? i. just. love. your. posts.

If she would take a shotgun to www.ibaby.org -- I'd vote for her.

I know how to run a law firm. I can see WILDMAN HARROLD from my house.

Elie, I think that you're wonderful!

i as well read ALL the newspapers and magazines of the united states.

i've read so many they've all become jumbled in my head and it has become too difficult to name one in particular.

All jokes aside, Palin will probably do well during the debate. She can be very "regular folk--non-washington-esque" when she's not over thinking answers to questions. That's probably what her team has been working on all week. getting her to stop over-thinking questions

Definitely true, as long as she's not expected to respond to anything, she'll be golden.

Anyone know whether there will be microphones and periods during which the candidates are expected to speak?

she'll give memorized answers that will only be tangentially related to the questions asked. biden will try to get her off script, but she'll retort with platitudes. given the low expectations, people will call it a huge success and mccain will get a 1 point jump in the polls. he'll go on to lose by 50 electoral votes.

NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR POLITICS MYSTAL. ACTUALLY, I DO CARE, AND IT IS PISSING ME OFF. STOP. JUST STOP.

Please, quit whining. This isn't even political. The issue is that she's a flaming idiot. You don't have to be an Obamacrat to see that.

I'm not a lawyer and have never studied law, but I can name 18 off the top of my head. I don't expect that much from Sarah "Brain Trust" Palin, but she could have gotten at least Brown v Board or Bush v Gore.

Those of us with triple-digit IQs continue to be unimpressed with McCain's pick.

Why would Palin disagree with Bush v. Gore?

Asshat.

I wish Elie would at least TRY to be unbiased. As 36 points out, look at the photos Elie is using between Biden and Palin.

Hell, look at the photos Elie uses when he talks about McCain and Obama. Obama has a professional headshot; McCain looks like he is imitating Popeye.

McCain:
http://abovethelaw.com/2008/09/northwestern_isnt_the_only_law.php

Obama:
http://abovethelaw.com/2008/09/birds_that_look_like_law_profe.php