Oy, here we go with the whole “border” thing again…
Watching Sarah Palin’s interview is akin to rubber-necking a car accident on the freeway. It’s a horrific sight that you know you shouldn’t be watching, yet you cannot look away.
This latest segment from the interview is the best yet. How journalists have been able to keep themselves from just downright laughing in her face during interviews is beyond me. SNL’s skits, while tremendously funny, aren’t anywhere near as good as the real thing:
COURIC: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?
PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land– boundary that we have with– Canada. It– it’s funny that a comment like that was– kind of made to– cari– I don’t know, you know? Reporters–
COURIC: Mock?
PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.
COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.
PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our– our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia–
COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We– 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– 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– to our state.
Trade missions? Really? Well, if there have been any, they must have been complete failures. Russia doesn’t even make the list of Top 20 trade partners for the state of Alaska (PDF). In fact, Alaskan exports to Russia accounted for a mere $14 million in 2007. That’s less than 0.4% of the state’s total exports for that year. It’s also less than half the total exports sent to #20 on the list of top Alaskan trade partners, Norway, a country which, by the way, you CANNOT see from Alaska. Even more embarrassing for Palin is the fact that states not sharing “narrow maritime borders” with Russia, like Oklahoma and North Dakota, do more in trade with that country. 3 to 6 times more, to be exact.
Now, to be fair, Alaskan trade with Russia has increased since Palin took office, moving from about 0.3% of total exports to roughly 0.4% from 2006 to 2007. That amounts to a net increase of about $3 million dollars of total exports estimated at nearly $4 billion. So, as you can see, all those “trade missions” have been extremely effective…
If only Katie Couric had asked Palin for some details regarding those “trade missions”. One can only imagine the disaster that answer would have been. In fact, I’m pretty sure that, in my 30 or so minutes of online research, I now have a far deeper knowledge regarding Alaskan foreign trade than Governor Sarah Palin.
–Gordy
