Katie Couric does it again

She manages to get Palin to say the wackiest things. Like, for example, the response Palin - who has a degree in journalism - gave when asked, repeatedly, to specifically say what newspapers or periodicals she reads regularly to stay current.

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 source where we get our news. 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.

She reads all of them? Just US periodicals, or anything in English? Maybe she could have scored some points by saying something like, "Well, you know, Katie, I watch the CBS Evening News as often as I can." At a minimum, she should have been able to name an Alaskan newspaper. Besides, looking at the pretty pictures isn't considered reading.

I tell ya, I'm getting a newfound appreciation for Katie Couric. The third time she had to ask Palin for her view on the "morning after" pill, she looks like she's beginning to get annoyed at constantly having to repeat her questions. Palin's voice alone would have me shoving pencils in my ears, but Couric is much too professional for that.

I wish, though, she had pressed Palin on her belief that humans and dinosaurs were on the earth at the same time. Here's how I envision that exchange:

Couric: When you were first elected mayor of Wasilla, you said that you believed humans and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. Do you still believe that?
Palin: Well, you know, the question was yelled from across a crowded room and it was hard to hear, so my response may have been taken out of context.
Couric: You used that excuse for the Pakistan question.
Palin: Gotcha! Ha-ha! But that's ok.
Couric: Again, to go back to my question, do you still believe that?
Palin: You know, I read and watch everything put in front of me. I recall seeing a documentary when I was a child about a man and his wife and baby, and they had a dinosaur for a pet.
Couric: You mean...The Flintstones?
Palin: That's not an official McCain-Palin official position.

On the whole, though, Palin came off much better in this interview, which scares the crap out of me. Not so much this election (I'm feeling good about Obama's chances - I can be a gracious loser at times). No, four years from now she could be running for president. The idea seems laughable now, but just remember that people laughed when Reagan ran in 1976. Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate this woman. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I hope she gets indicted for her role in the troopergate scandal. I think it's going to take something like that to save us from having President Palin in our future.