What's up with Sarah Palin's cone of silence?

Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin met her very first world leaders Tuesday, embarking on a crash course on foreign policy.

ABC News reports that she met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and that she sat down with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for insights on Georgia, Russia, China and Iran.

No doubt there will be a pop quiz if John McCain wins and she becomes vice president.

McCain's camp has put a force field around the Alaska governor in recent weeks, and some in the media speculate that this is to keep her from dealing with unscripted questions from voters and reporters.

And it was even worse during these diplomacy sessions. Reporters were actually banned from the start of the meetings to stop them from asking questions of Palin.

Before Palin's first meeting with Karzai, campaign aides told the pool reporters that followed her they could not go into meetings but that photographers and a video camera crew would be let in for pictures.

President Bush and members of Congress routinely allow reporters to attend photo ops, and the reporters often ask questions at the beginning of private meetings before they're ushered out.

Not this time. Two or more news organizations, including the Associated Press, objected to their reporters' exclusion and were told that the decision was not subject to discussion. When aides backed down, campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said the reporter ban was a "miscommunication."

Finally, one reporter was let in.

Why so secret?  Are you suspicious? Is the media just being nosy? Wouldn’t you like to know what Sarah Palin says to foreign leaders?

The closest we may come to knowing what their conversations were like is in another "Saturday Night Live" skit.

Photo: WireImage

Comments

[bill]

I want to hear her answer hard, complex questions, real time.

[Lance Newell]

Well,heck,kinda like the bail out and the Iraq war,how dare you ask questions...just do as we say,...no thanks,we have been down this road...

[Everyman]

It is an insult to the American public that the McCain campaign can nominate someone with scant experience for the second most powerful job in the US government and not allow the press to scrutinize her qualifications. This can only allow us -- the public -- to conclude that she is infact unqualified for the job. As with any scandal, it is not the crime that does in the politician but the cover-up.

[Omidal]

There we go again.

[Archie haase]

I thought Rice was a weak choice in her job. but this Eliza Doolittle shows just how stupid the GOP thinks the American voter is.

[Don'tVoteCommy]

Of course not. Would we want to see her talk about " no clue discussions " ?

Repu blicans are keeping her under tight wraps. God forbid we find out who she really is and stands for.

[lil]

Maybe she thinks that some dimwitted Hollywood type will feel compelled to comment...

[Dave M]

Why didn't the press cry and stomp their feet when Obama was overseas having closed door meetings with heads of states?

[Arbiter]

So we have a VP candidate that needs to chaperoned. What does that say about how the country would fare if she were to suddenly become president, Compared to Palin - with apologies to the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen -- Dan Quayle looks like JFK.

[Linda E.]

What are we supposed to think but they are afraid of what she might say? The press should continue to object, vociferously. She's held incommunicado - what VP nominee has been so protected after having been so new to politics? This is absurd. If she can't be trusted to talk with the press, she can't be trusted to be VP, or, God forbid, president.

[Philip]

Wow. I just can't believe the McCain camp has the arrogance to do this. Even Fox News is calling it "unprecedented." How in heavens name can people just EXCUSE this??? I'll bet those world leaders go back to their hotel rooms and laugh their arses off after meeting with her.

[Whit]

So she has the potential to be President of our country, but the McCain campaign does not trust enough to allow her to answer questions???

McCain has lost all credibility.

[Debra Nalder]

If Ms Palin isn't up to dealing with the American press, I have no confidence that she is anything more than 'eye candy' on the Republican ticket.

[Lana]

You guys bashed the crap out of her and now you expect her to sit down to a civil interview??? Don't make me LAUGH!!!

Most REAL working moms (not the fake Seven Sister kind) see through the viciousness of the press. That's EXACTLY one of the many reason's we're going to vote for her ticket.

[Robert]

the cloud of secrecy only further isolate Sarah palin from effectively being introduced to the American people: if she can't face the media, or worse if her campaign handlers won't let her, how will we know how she will handle herself as the publicly paid and represented vice president of the united states of America. My suggestion is for her to stop being reclusive and to be a public candidate; after all she is running for public office after all.

[Deeva]

That's not a cone of silence; it's her dunce cap!

[Bernard]

Her supporters decrie that she hasn't been invited on Oprah. Why doesn't she go on Meet the Press, This Week, or Face the Nation?
Senator Obama appeared in very unfriendly Fox turf, doing interviews with Chris Wallace and Bill O'Reilly.

[dormilona]

i want to know what she was wearing for stealth visit...maybe a burka?

[Michael Aston]

Demand ANSWERSand if they continue to manipulate events, ignore them entirely. Cut them off... They'll come round and the Fundamentalist Christian, anti-woman, will be exposed... The media has the ball,...

[Gary]

I agree 100% with Lance ... We have been down this road before and look where it has gotten us.

If the Republican Party thinks that Sarah Palin is the best person in the country to be the next VP and that she is ready to step right in as they and she say she is, then what are they hiding?

[ibidlow]

if she cant answer questions from the press then what is she doing being vp candidate? whats the big deal? If this flys with the voters then? then I dont know- just like the candidates on the bailout , they dont know either!

[Pete Vuyk]

If they do not let the press ask her questions then stop covering her and providing paparazzi type of coverage. The serious press should boycott Palin until she puts herself out there

[twiggy]

a vice president nominee can't be asked unscripted questions and we allow that? the press allows it. if it were barak's vp the entire media would be in an uproar. how bias.

[dON]

Sounds like the media is having a cry session. The need to get over it and besides, why bother to ask Palin questions when you wont ask Obama? He speaks for hours and says nothing and the media cheers. Did we forget her first interview was with ABC and not FOX? She can and will tear the media up, they better be careful what they ask for.

[TJ]

So, why do you think? Isn't it obvious that she was not selected for her newsworthy accomplishments or her solid record of health care advocacy, foreign relations, or even intelligent, informed opinions? She is meant to be a "draw" and she has been successful, so far, but not much longer, not to thinking people. She is the celebrity McCain envied and criticized. She certainly has energized her base since they never had a woman to look up to before, smart or stupid. She is NOT VP material and her partner is NOT material for President. This is a horrible decision for Country First. Photo ops won't do it and her campaign "speeches" won't do it, either. Why does the press insist on obsessing with her? No news is No news; stop following her around; stop creating stories about her every day goings and comings. Just plaster all the rumors and records of her past since that is all we really have.