Bryan D. Brown

For those of you, like myself, who muscled through the vice-presidential debate last Thursday thinking you understood the purposes of punditry and political discourse only to find the post-debate analysis to contain headlines like “For Palin, A Tie is a Win” and “Palin avoids questions, wins debate“, I am just as frustrated. Frankly, she did not exceed my expectations, although I, unlike everyone else, did not expect her to consume a live puppy during Thursday’s festivities. Nor did a expect a repeat of horrific Katie Couric interview, which, of course, was all Katie Couric’s fault. How dare she ask direct and relevant questions?

During the debate, Sarah Palin did exactly what I thought she’d do - she avoided answering direct questions, proved that the vice-presidency is way out of her league, and demonstrated an amazing strength and personality - a strength and personally that allows her to be completely ignorant of important issues without causing her the slightest bit of concern. After all, a wink and a smile solves everything - kind of like Jedi Mind Trick from Star Wars, without all of that “who’s your daddy” baggage. Well… almost.

And for those of you, like myself, who had an impossible time making sense of Palin’s responses (I wouldn’t go so far as to call them answers), I pass along to you the Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart. If only we would have had it Thursday…