Dead to Rights

Not knowing any Supreme Court decision she opposes except for Roe v. Wade ain't great. Frankly, though, for the Christian right, that's really the only Supreme Court jurisprudence they want you to know. But there was a bigger goof in this latest segment from the Couric interview that I don't think got picked up in the various previews. Immediately after saying what a terrible decision Roe was, Palin got a follow-up question from Couric about whether she believes there's a constitutional 'right to privacy'.

And Palin said, yes.

Now, narrowly speaking, you can believe in a constitutional right to privacy and also oppose Roe. But the right to privacy, as Couric says in the interview, is one of the cornerstones of Roe. And in the public debate yes or no on the right to privacy is something pretty close to a proxy for your position on abortion rights.

The bottom line is that among conservatives opposition to a constitutional 'right to privacy' is a straight-up litmus test issue. Palin not only didn't have the right answer on the right to privacy. It was pretty clear she'd never even heard of it before.

See the video in the post immediately below.