The Lion and Gun

Alaska Governor and former Republican Veep candidate Sarah Palin just moments ago completed her first -- first! -- press conference on the national stage. After much speculation it turned out to be (unsurprisingly) a let-down. The entire event lasted seven minutes from start to finish, with the first four taken up by a rambling impromptu digression on how awesome Republican governors are. Plain then took three questions, answered them vaguely, and tried her best to retreat. Texas Governor Rick Perry, who had introduced Palin, would have none of it, forcing the Alaska governor into answering a fourth question. It was dispatched in half a minute of disjointed meaningless words. The entire performance was like an army of vacuous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea.