What Sarah Palin revealed is that she has not been interested enough in world affairs to become minimally conversant with the issues. Many people in our great land might have difficulty defining the "Bush Doctrine" exactly. But not to recognize the name, as obviously was the case for Palin, indicates not a failure of last-minute cramming but a lack of attention to any foreign-policy discussion whatsoever in the last seven years.

The other spine-chilling moment came when Gibson asked about her recent comment, in a speech at her church, that the war in Iraq is "a task that is from God." (ABC then showed a YouTube clip of the speech.) Palin tried to finesse the question, saying that her remarks were only "a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words" that we should pray not that God is on our side but that we are on God's side. Gibson didn't back down, noting that she had in fact gone on to say, "There is a plan, and it is God's plan." To this, Palin replied: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that these are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That in my worldview is a grand—the grand plan. Two things came to mind upon hearing her say these words. First, they sound like the earnest answer given by a contestant in a beauty pageant when the M.C. asks her about world peace. (Sorry to seem sexist, but it's true; read it again.) Second, and more to the point, do we want someone a heartbeat away from the presidency—and a 72-year-old cancer survivor's heartbeat, at that—to possess both impetuousness ("You can't blink") and holy certitude? Isn't that what we've had, actually in the Oval Office, the past eight years?

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels said the show is talking with Tina Fey about playing Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin at some point this season, possibly as soon as this Saturday's season premiere.

Having been raised to believe that “it’s not nature, it’s nurture”, she was not prepared for the strength of her feelings for her baby. “I adore him,” she says. “He’s really into running and jumping and he’s very attached to me. It’s all, ‘Mommy, Mommy, Mommy’, and it’s very difficult to leave him.”

People she meets constantly express surprise at what’s happened — surely having a child should have brought her closer to her mother, rather than splitting them asunder? She agrees.

“People don’t really understand how strong ideology can be,” she says. “I think sometimes of that group and that feminism as being close to a cult. I feel I had to de-programme myself in order to have independent thought. It’s been an ongoing struggle. When you have a cult, you have a cult leader who demands a certain conformity . . . And when you have a celebrity who has cultural-icon status, economic power beyond what you can imagine, you can’t resist that person — if you want to stay in their realm. Because once you start challenging them, they kick you out.”

The New York City Council, which drew national headlines when it passed a symbolic citywide ban earlier this year on the use of the so-called n-word, has turned its linguistic (and legislative) lance toward a different slur: bitch. The term is hateful and deeply sexist, said Councilwoman Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn, who has introduced a measure against the word, saying it creates “a paradigm of shame and indignity” for all women.

What Sarah Palin revealed is that she has not been interested enough in world affairs to become minimally conversant with the issues. Many people in our great land might have difficulty defining the "Bush Doctrine" exactly. But not to recognize the name, as obviously was the case for Palin, indicates not a failure of last-minute cramming but a lack of attention to any foreign-policy discussion whatsoever in the last seven years.

The other spine-chilling moment came when Gibson asked about her recent comment, in a speech at her church, that the war in Iraq is "a task that is from God." (ABC then showed a YouTube clip of the speech.) Palin tried to finesse the question, saying that her remarks were only "a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words" that we should pray not that God is on our side but that we are on God's side. Gibson didn't back down, noting that she had in fact gone on to say, "There is a plan, and it is God's plan." To this, Palin replied: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that these are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That in my worldview is a grand—the grand plan. Two things came to mind upon hearing her say these words. First, they sound like the earnest answer given by a contestant in a beauty pageant when the M.C. asks her about world peace. (Sorry to seem sexist, but it's true; read it again.) Second, and more to the point, do we want someone a heartbeat away from the presidency—and a 72-year-old cancer survivor's heartbeat, at that—to possess both impetuousness ("You can't blink") and holy certitude? Isn't that what we've had, actually in the Oval Office, the past eight years?

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels said the show is talking with Tina Fey about playing Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin at some point this season, possibly as soon as this Saturday's season premiere.