I have always believed that the right manufactures conspiracies. That they spin crazy byzantine theories about what their "lefty" president is doing. For the most part, I think they're lunatics.

But then came the IRS. The AP. Obama has given his enemies credence - a quality they did not possess before - and has forced all of us to look at him with nothing but skepticism. I was not a fan of this president, and I can tell you he is no liberal, but I didn't ascribe evil motives to him. Notice the past tense. Pity, he could have been a beacon of good.

Everyone who speaks in public misspeaks on occasion. Obama talking about 57 states. Biden letting the f-bomb slip out. Palin talking about our North Korean allies. Or being at war with Iraq and Iran. Those kinds of things are understandable.

But Sarah Palin elevates ignorance to another plane entirely. Listed below are direct quotes from her, along with the source for each one.

Make sure you read the last one, which is the reply to s reasonable question, not a "gotcha" question as she claimed. It's a doozie.

''They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.''
—Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, Oct. 21, 2008

''But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy.''
—Sarah Palin, explaining the $700 billion government bailout of Wall Street to Karie Couric, CBS News interview, Sept. 24, 2008

''If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?''
—Sarah Palin, in ''Going Rogue''

''It may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: 'Sit down and shut up,' but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out.''
—Sarah Palin, quitting her job as governor, July 3, 2009

'''Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!'''
—-a Tweet sent by Sarah Palin in response to being ridiculed for inventing the word ''refudiate,'' proudly mistaking her illiteracy for literary genius, July 18, 2010

''Our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.''
—Sarah Palin, on her foreign policy experience, CBS interview with Katie Couric, Sept. 25, 2008

''As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where— where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border.''
—Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008

''All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years.''
—Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008

''The perversion over these last years of what the media has done to conservatives, I think it's appalling and it violates our freedom of the press.''
—Sarah Palin, on negative media coverage of Republican congressional candidate Vaughn Ward, Boise, Idaho, May 21, 2010

''Perhaps so.''
—Sarah Palin, asked if America may need to go to war with Russia because of the Georgia crisis, ABC News interview, September 11, 2008

''Well, let's see. There's — of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but —''
—Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008

''As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?''
—Sarah Palin, interview with CNBC's 'Kudlow & Co', July 2008
''I want to help clean up the state that is so sorry today of journalism. And I have a communications degree.''
—Sarah Palin, Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Nov. 22, 2010

''So we discussed what was going on in Africa. And never, ever did I talk about, Well, gee, is it a country or is it a continent, I just don't know about this issue.''
—Sarah Palin, asked about the post-election revelation by McCain staffers that Palin thought Africa was a country, not a continent, Fox interview with Greta Van Susteren, Nov. 11, 2008

''I didn't really had a good answer, as so often — is me.''
—Sarah Palin, on writing notes on her hand during her Tea Party convention speech

''[Paul Revere] did warn the British. And in a shout-out, gotcha-type of question that was asked of me, I answered candidly. And I know my American history.''
—Sarah Palin, defending her botched Paul Revere history lesson by taking issue with the reporter, who simply asked her ''What have you seen so far today, and what are you going to take away from your visit?'' (Fox News Sunday interview, June 5, 2011)

''What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?''
—Sarah Palin, inquiring with Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Emmons about banning books right after taking office in 1996

''They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.''
—Sarah Palin, on her foreign policy insights into Russia, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008

''I don't know if I should Buenos Aires or Bonjour, or... this is such a melting pot. This is beautiful. I love the diversity. Yeah. There were a whole bunch of guys named Tony in the photo line, I know that.''
—Sarah Palin, addressing a Charity of Hope gathering, Hamilton, Ontario, April 15, 2010

''Extreme deep water drilling is not the preferred choice to meet our country's energy needs, but your protests and lawsuits and lies about onshore and shallow water drilling have locked up safer areas. It's catching up with you. The tragic, unprecedented deep water Gulf oil spill proves it.''
—Sarah Palin, blaming the Gulf oil spill disaster on ''extreme environmentalists,'' Facebook message, June 2, 2010

''The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel.'''
—Sarah Palin, in a message posted on Facebook about Obama's health care plan, Aug. 7, 2009

''I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.''
—Sarah Palin, as quoted by former City Council Member Nick Carney, after he raised objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without approval of the city council

''I think on a national level your Department of Law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out.''
—Sarah Palin, referring to a department that does not exist while attempting to explain why as president she wouldn't be subjected to the same ethics investigations that compelled her to resign as governor of Alaska, ABC News interview, July 7, 2009

''Only dead fish go with the flow.''
—Sarah Palin, quitting her job as governor, July 3, 2009


''I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.''
—Sarah Palin, asked by Katie Couric to cite specific examples of how John McCain has pushed for more regulation in his 26 years in the Senate, CBS News interview, Sept. 24, 2008

''The perversion over these last years of what the media has done to conservatives, I think it's appalling and it violates our freedom of the press.''
—Sarah Palin, on negative media coverage of Republican congressional candidate Vaughn Ward, Boise, Idaho, May 21, 2010


''He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.''
—Sarah Palin, botching the history of Paul Revere's midnight ride, June 3, 2011

What cave have you been living in for the last 5 years? Were you in another country without access to any information?

How about when she said she could see Russia from her house?

How about writing answers to questions on her hand?

How about not being able name a single Supreme Court case she disagreed with?

How about not being able to name a single magazine or newspaper that she read regularly?

The list is endless. She is a walking comedy of ignorance and buffoonery.