This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award
This week, CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Obama, “Some Republican critics say you don’t have the experience to handle a situation like this [Hurricane Gustav]. They’ve in fact said that Governor Palin has more executive experience as mayor of a small town and as governor of a big state like Alaska. What’s your response?”
Obama replied, “Well, you know, my understanding is that, uh, Governor Palin’s town of Wasilly [sic] has, uh, 50 employees, uh, uh, we’ve got 2,500, uh, in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. Uh, uh, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. Uh, so I think that, uh, our ability to manage large systems, uh, and to, uh, execute, uh, I think has been made clear over the last couple of years. Uh, and certainly, in terms of, uh, the legislation that I’ve passed just dealing with this issue post-Katrina, uh, of how we handle emergency management. The fact that, uh, many of my recommendations were adopted and are being put in place, uh, as we speak, indicates the extent to which we can provide the kinds of support and good service that the American people expect.”
Memo to former “community organizer” Obama: Palin is, in fact, governor of Alaska, which has annual budget of approximately $11 billion and more than 20,000 employees. She manages far more than a campaign and has done far more than co-sponsor non-controversial legislation.
And if Obama were in charge of Wasilla, the town of 9,000 would no doubt employ 2,500 on a budget of $36 million a month.
