Below The Beltway

CBS aired the final portion of Katie Couric’s interview with Sarah Palin tonight and, as had been rumored, it included one last cringe-enducing gaffe.

Here’s the video of the Couric/Palin portion:

And here’s the full segment as aired, which includes Joe Biden’s discussion of Supreme Court-related issues and additional material with Palin:

COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

PALIN: Well, let’s see. There’s –of course –in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that’s never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are–those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know–going through the history of America, there would be others but–

COURIC: Can you think of any?

PALIN: Well, I could think of–of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I’m so privileged to serve, wouldn’t be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.

This came after Couric had asked Palin what she thought of Roe v. Wade and whether she believed their was a Constitutional right to privacy:

COURIC: Why, in your view, is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?

PALIN: I think it should be a states issue not a federal government-mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue. I’m, in that sense, a federalist, where I believe that states should have more say in the laws of their lands and individual areas. Now, foundationally, also, though, it’s no secret that I’m pro-life that I believe in a culture of life is very important for this country. Personally that’s what I would like to see, um, further embraced by America.

COURIC: Do you think there’s an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

PALIN: I do. Yeah, I do.

COURIC: The cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.

PALIN: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that.

Let me see if I get this.

Palin says she believes that there is an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution (which happens to be something that most conservative critics of Roe v. Wade disagree with vehemently), and then she says that this Constitutional right is something best handled by the states ?

If you’re shaking your head at that one, I’m right there with you.

Of course, Palin’s seeming endorsement of a right to privacy will probably end up being dismissed as another example of “gotcha” journalism, just like her endorsement of unrestricted warfare inside Pakistan.

The other extraordinary part to me is that Palin couldn’t name a single Supreme Court decision other than Roe that she thought was wrongly decided. Is she serious ? Heck, I can name six such decisions off the top of my head without even thinking about it.

She can’t name one ? And even when she does she claims to support the very idea that made it possible, only to suggest that a Constitutional right is subject to interpretation by the states ?

This is either the sign of someone who hasn’t given much thought to the issues of our time or someone who can’t handle the “pressure” of an interview with Katie Couric. In either case, it’s not the sign of someone who should be sitting a heartbeat away from the Presidency.