Proximity: Palin on Alaska and Russia!

[Joanne98]

Proximity: nearness, the quality or state of being close

Where to start with Palin’s interview last night w. Charlie Gibson? Others have commented long and eloquently on her utter ignorance, capacity for unblinking bull-shit, lack of preparation for a national role, etc etc etc.

My new daily read is Mudflats, from an Alaskan blogger. Today he lands on the absurdity of her claim that she’s qualified to deal with Russia because they’re neighbors. From the ABC interview:

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.

Mudflats says:

This one had me laughing out loud. Ready for a lesson in Alaska geography/International Affairs? Off the coast of Nome, 532 miles northwest of Anchorage (the closest city) is an island called Little Diomede. Little Diomede is 2.4 miles east of the island called Big Diomede, which is in Russia.

Little Diomede, Alaska has a population of 146. It is 2.5 square miles in area. There are 42 children in the school. Nobody drives to work. Big Diomede is a whopping 26 square miles. On a clear day you can see the Island of Big Diomede from the western shore of Little Diomede. Therefore Sarah Palin is capable of negotiating with Putin and Sakashvili to peacefully settle the violent conflict that has been burgeoning in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia.

http://365pwords.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/proximity-palin-on-alaska-russia/

[hvn_nbr_2]

1. I had just started thinking about that this morning.

I wondered, just how far from Anchorage are the spots in Alaska that are close to Russia? Has she ever even been within 500 miles of Russia? So I was going to look at maps and try to figure out how far it was, but now you saved me the trouble.