When we look back at this time in American history 50 years from now people will think America lost its collective mind in large part because of the idiocy of Sarah Palin. In response to President Obama’s use of the term “Sputnik moment” in last night’s State of the Union address, Palin asserted that Sputnik bankrupted the Soviet Union and was therefor an inappropriate motivator. She, of course, completely misses the point and manages to get Soviet history completely wrong too.
Palin responded, "That was another one of those WTF moments when [Mr. Obama] so often repeated the 'Sputnik Moment' that he would aspire Americans to celebrate. He needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yeah, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it led to the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union."
D’oh – historians, please be nice. Many of us understand that she is not smart enough to lead us. We are just waiting for the rest of America to come to the same realization.
I was waiting for Greta Van Susteren to ask the million dollar question: Sarah Palin, what was Sputnik?
