ABC’s and Gibson’s disgraceful distortion of Palin’s answer
Looking at the unedited transcript of Charles Gibson’s interview with Gov. Palin, Frank Miele of the
Daily InterLake in Montana
shows how in the broadcast version of the interview ABC deleted the part of her answer that showed she was making a sensible point about the significance of Alaska’s proximity to Russia.
Here is the broadcast version of the segment:
Palin: [W]e’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…
GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.
PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there.
GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?
PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
Miele notes
This segment of the interview has provided comedians and commentators with endless gaglines about how Palin foolishly believes living next to another country provides foreign policy experience. But let’s look at what she really said.
Miele then quotes the unedited segment:
PALIN: [W]e’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…
GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.
PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals. That’s why we have to keep an eye on Russia.
And, Charlie, you’re in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They’re very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.
GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?
PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing in Georgia?
PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relations with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.
We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We’ve learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.
Miele continues:
Oh no, Gibson must have thought! She is actually answering my question in a coherent, comprehensive way! This won’t fit in with my plan to score career points by demonstrating to the public how dangerously incompetent she is. What shall I do?
Whether the answer eventually occurred to Gibson or to one of his producers is not known, but the answer was clear—just cut out all of the parts of the answer that show Palin to have a valid and valuable point of view.
And most importantly, where Palin was using her experience as Alaska’s governor to show that she and her constituents have an immediate, proximate interest in good relations with Russia, Gibson intentionally distorted her answer so that she looked like a naive New Age goofball who would peer across the Bering Strait and get a glimpse into the Russian soul.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 28, 2008 02:21 PM | Send