TMZ: 'Katie Couric Swats Palin'

TMZ.com has posted video of a friendly impromptu interview with Katie Couric on the streets of New York, where Couric suggested her interview with Sarah Palin was really fair and that Palin had lied like everyone else when she says she reads the British news mag The Economist. The TMZ man asked Couric how she felt about Palin complaining about her: "I feel we did a really fair job and gave her a lot of opportunities."

He then asked "What magazines and newspapers do you read?" Couric gave a political answer: "All of them and any of them." The interviewer said: "Can you name one?" She kept smiling and said, "Of course, everyone lies about The Economist, but I actually read it. And I read a lot of magazines and newspapers. Luckily, I’m not running for vice president."

That's either a slap at Palin, or Katie trying to suggest humbly that she would be a terrible veep nominee. Why would Couric try to be a number two, when she's so consistently been number three out of three in the ratings?

The "what do you read" question to Palin was designed as a "gotcha" question to underline Palin's lack of worldly sophistication (hence the jokes about Palin lying about reading The Economist.)

Think of the pitfalls of the various answers. Say you read the New York Times and the Washington Post, and you disappoint the base. Say you read the Washington Times and watch Fox News, and the media treats you like a right-wing leper. Say you read the Anchorage Daily News, and they treat you like a hick.

There were several fun answers to consider, but they probably wouldn't help with the liberal media:

1. "I never miss your show, Katie. Apparently, everyone lies when they claim they watch CBS."

2. "When I want to know which terrorist-fighting program the media's going to sabotage next, I always consult The New York Times."

3. "Let me ask you, Katie, have you ever been any closer to Alaska than eating an Eskimo Pie?"

(TMZ Hat tip: Citizens Journal blog)