Couric, Palin, and Those Shifty Russian Neighbors

So we've all heard that Sarah Palin lives right next door to Russia, therefore giving her all the foreign policy experience she could possibly need. There was no way Katie Couric could not bring this up during her recent interview with Palin.

I think my favorite part was when Couric tried so hard not to smirk about the whole Russia thing:

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In case you missed the facial expressions, here they are for you:


Palin defended herself by re-iterating the importance of Alaska's proximity to Russia, but it left me thinking... isn't Siberia kind of the Alaska of Russia? (Sorry Alaskans, we still love you).

First, I pulled up a map of Alaska and Russia on Google Maps:


But then I zoomed out, and put a little marker on Moscow (represented by the letter "A"), because I think if Palin is going to talk about foreign policy experience with Russia, she must be referring to the Russian government, right?


Not so close, really. Actually, the distance from Palin's office in Juneau, Alaska to Moscow, Russia is approximately 4,470 miles (data from Google Earth). So this got me wondering, what else is Palin 4,470 miles away from (and therefore completely knowledgeable of)?

Well, according to Google Earth, the list would include both Panama and London, so perhaps Palin should add those to her foreign policy résumé, as well.