"not ready to lead"
Everyone has seen this by now:


You can watch more of the interview here. This segment by itself is interesting enough... but in context it's a little more telling, because it is that much more obvious that she is giving prepared answers and canned lines when they even slightly work for Charles Gibson's more pointed questions. In the first few seconds of the above video, you can see and hear her defeat in realizing she doesn't have a response for this one.

I have maintained for the past couple of weeks that Sarah Palin is clearly a smart woman and handles herself well. All of us know people who can bullshit with the best of them, and whether you like them or not, they are generally people who make things happen. Clearly this quality has already served her well in her career, and I have no doubt that she actually has a depth of knowledge and sincere interest in the day-to-day business of the state of Alaska. But Palin and other Republicans' efforts to try to compare that experience to the big leagues of possibly becoming President is simply comical to watch.

Even more to the point-- it's not that (in the above video) she was faced with a 'gotcha' question and wasn't ready for it. It's the fact that she clearly didn't recognize a term that she should have, unless she does not and has not had even a passing interest in the foreign policy decisions of this country for the last several years.

A well-written perspective on why this disconnect is so disturbing in a Vice Presidential candidate:

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.

In the context of such stunning incompetence, it is maddening and downright insulting that this woman was proffered to the American people as ready to pick up where Hillary Clinton left off.

Of all the hysterical hand-wringing the McCain campaign has been doing in the last couple of weeks, playing up an assumed undercurrent of sexism anytime Palin is criticized has been the most annoying.

Which is more sexist:

1) Holding Palin to the same standards as any man, and pointing out that she would never be in this position if we were talking about a Mr. Sam Palin, 20 months as governor of Alaska, immediately after serving as mayor of a town of 6,000.

2) Assuming that the women of America were excited about Hillary Clinton mostly because she has a vagina. Taking note of an accomplished and qualified woman's unprecedented march right up to the threshold of the highest office in the land... and then pretending that a bible-thumping hockey mom with a journalism degree might prove an acceptable surrogate.