Thought Theater

Ambition is an interesting thing...and it can easily lead to embarrassing moments. It appears that Sarah Palin, John McCain's upstart sidekick, has found herself the victim of a prank phone call from a Canadian comedy duo with a history of "punking" well-known figures.

In the following audio clip, the Alaska governor sounds thrilled to be speaking with a man she believes to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy. From the outset, the off-color comments and questions should have been a clue that she might not be actually be talking with him...but it appears that her naive sense of self-importance gets the best of her.

It only gets better (or worse) from there...especially in the final moments when she is told the call is a prank. Note how she initially tries to roll with the gag...asking for the radio station call letters. Before the answer can be given, we hear other voices in the background while the phone is being shuffled and muzzled.

In short order, it sounds like Sarah and her handlers realize the magnitude of the moment...scrambling to decide what to do next. In a matter of seconds, we hear a staff member announce that the call is over...while it sounds like someone in the background is saying, "hang up...hang up". Ouch! But hey, vetting doesn't seem to be a priority in the McCain campaign...they're far to "mavericky" for that!

I could be wrong, but for me, the fact that a candidate for the vice presidency of the United States can be so easily duped doesn't engender an abundance of confidence. One would think that at some point she would have caught on and questioned the validity of the call...but she didn't. So much for good judgment and all of that "executive" experience, eh?