A well-prepared pair

It's becoming apparent why the Republicans kept Gov. Sarah Palin away from the probing questions while they tried to school her on what to say and how to say it. They let her out of class a tad bit early, it seems. She still doesn't know enough to answer a question. Last night someone asked her to dispel concerns that she lacked foreign policy experience. She responded by saying she expected critics to look for things to attack. “I think because I’m a Washington outsider that opponents are going to be looking for a whole lot of things that they can criticize,” she said. (Do you remember getting caught coming home at 3 in the morning when you were 17? How did it work when your best explanation was, "I knew you were going to look for something to pick on me for!" ? Also, mention that you're an outsider! It makes you seem like a maverick hockey mom.)

“As for foreign policy, you know, I think that I am prepared and I know that on Jan. 20, if we are so blessed as to be sworn into office as your president and vice president, certainly we’ll be ready,” Palin said.

“I’ll be ready, I have that confidence,” she continued. “If you want specifics with specific policy or countries, go ahead and you can ask me, you can even play ’stump the candidate’ if you want to, but we are ready to serve.”

There you have it. I am ready because I am ready. The official Palin family crest, under a field of crossed hockey sticks, bears the family slogan, "Ego Sum Paratus, Ergo Sum Paratus." ( I am prepared, therefore I am prepared.) When your history professor asked you for causes of the Peloponnesian War, when Professor Pomfritt asked for a chemical analysis of some mystery solution, when Mrs Mulligan in 4th grade wanted you to call out some timeses and guzinthas, you should have said, "I know this stuff. I am ready to answer, if you want specifics. I have confidence that I know the answer you seek."

She changed questioners and topics before the announced game of stump the candidate could begin. But that is a good way to answer a question. Tell you what, next time you're considering brain surgery and are choosing a surgeon, look for one who tells you they are sure that they know the medulla oblongata from the fusilli carbonara. No proof needed, as long as they tell you that they know stuff.

Last night, Sen. John McCain took a question as to whether he would invite the prime minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House if, God forbid, Americans elected him president.

"I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion," came the confused reply. He then mentioned Mexican President Calderon, who he said "is fighting a very tough fight against the drug cartels."

So when the reporter said again that the topic was Spain, McCain responded: "I know the issues, I know the leaders."

So the reporter asked again if he would invite Zapatero. Here is what old McCain said:

"All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not and that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

So that's your Republican ticket. The man on top confuses Spain and Mexico, placing Spain in the Western Hemisphere, and seems unsure about who governs where. The second banana answers questions by saying she knows the answers to questions. "I know this stuff!"

Somehow, in some undisclosed location, Dick Cheney is laughing his head off.