Section 9

Said award extended for “defining moment in the '08 campaign.”

As in: slapping a defining label on your interview subject whether they like it or not, whether it fits or not, and making it stick.

As in: SARAH PALIN, LARGE-BREASTED PALEOCONSERVATIVE SOCK PUPPET OF THE EVIL CAPITALISTS WHO CREATED THIS ECONOMIC TRAIN WRECK.

Be afraid, America. Be very, very afraid.

Yes, it was predictable. Yes, it was a hideously bad interview on Palin's part. Yes, she should have known better and she shouldn't have done it. Palin, more than anyone else, understands that she screwed up and gave the impression that she wasn't ready for prime time. Hell, she wasn't.

The Palin/Couric interview was emblematic of the galactic cluelessness of the McCain Campaign until now - their handling of Palin has been atrocious, and it showed tonight.

The lesson? Republicans need to only do live interviews. They need to do so on their own turf and their own terms. Had Palin been able to communicate by talking to Rush, Hannity, and Fox first, that would have allowed her to get ready for far more partisan and hostile interviewers.

Republicans must always assume that the Mainstream Press is in the Enemy Camp.

Here's a prediction. Sarah Palin won't make that mistake again.

McCain, if he has any sense, won't either. If he trusts those locusts, he'll be out on his ass. He won't. Well, I hope not.

I'd like to predict that, too.