cognitive dissident

Sarah Palin apparently took a swipe at Obama as a "charismatic guy with a TelePrompTer" during her Teabagger keynote address last night, which was rather ironic considering her use of a sixth-grade palm-of-the-hand cheat-sheet during the Q&A that followed. Her notes read as follows:

Energy
Budget Tax cuts
Lift American Spirits

Here's a photo of Palin's palm:

As Steve Benen wrote at Washington Monthly:

First, if Palin is going mock the president for using a teleprompter while giving speeches, it's probably not a good idea to act like an unprepared 14-year-old, scribbling answers to easy questions on her hand. It doesn't exactly scream "presidential material."

Second, that she wrote notes at all suggests Palin was aware of the questions in advance. She obviously couldn't prepare answers unless she knew what she'd be asked. If so, think about what that tells us about her readiness -- Sarah Palin was afraid questions from Tea Party activists might be too difficult.

It's pretty pathetic when a politician can't even remember her own bumpersticker slogans.