I have to admit that whilst I am no fan of the Gov’nor from Alaska, I find her endlessly fascinating. Must be all her 7K. Or perhaps I just find Obama and McCain just really boring. Or maybe this whole 2008 Race to the White House is just really boring (between a Gui 癸 and Ji 己 , what do you expect?)

Newsweek ran an article by Fareed Zakaria ‘Palin Is Ready? Please‘ that is a rather entertaining read.  I pull edout one particular excerpt that rather amused me and prompted the above question.

Couric asked her a smart question about the proposed $700 billion bailout of the American financial sector. It was designed to see if Palin understood that the problem in this crisis is that credit and liquidity in the financial system has dried up, and that that’s why, in the estimation of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the government needs to step in to buy up Wall Street’s most toxic liabilities. Here’s the entire exchange:

COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that

Fareed Zakaria  goes on to describe her answer as follows: “This is nonsense – a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head.”

Which I suppose is a very PC way of saying calling her stupid without really saying she is stupid.

But is she really stupid? Let’s take a look at her BaZi again.

Sarah Palin's BaZi

Intelligence is governed by several possible features in a chart. Water of course is an essential element for wisdom and the ability to reason and think, but the other obvious indication of intelligence  is the Hurting Officer star and the Direct Resource star. These are the stars that govern both the ability to generate ideas and learn, and the stars that govern the ability to express your thoughts in a proper fashion.

Now her chart clearly has Water, albeit hidden inside the Dragon, and she has the Hurting Officer star as well, again, hidden inside the Dragon. So that means she has the ability to express her thoughts. However, the Gui Water is deep down inside the roots of the Dragon and does not appear on Stem. Seasonally also, this Gui Water would not be considered strong. So all this contributes to a situation where it’s not a case of not being smart, so much as it is not easy SHOWING you are smart. And frankly, it’s not EASY either to reach down into that side of your personality, when it’s hidden so deep inside an Earthly Branch.

Geng is also ill-suited to producing and using Water. Production is not really the strong suit of Geng Metal – Geng prefers Control to Production. It’s also the nature of Geng that they are better in leadership-action type situations, than they are in thinking situations. There is no contemplation when you swing an axe, or drive it through an opponent. You just do.

Another obvious problem to her lackluster policy performance is that her chart does not have any Direct Resource stars, and only contains Indirect Resource stars. The tendency of people with Indirect Resource is to attempt to fudge their way through conversations, or intuit their way through something. They also usually tend to be lazy thinkers, who look for short-cuts or easy answers. Frequently they will appear to be knowledgeable, especially to those who know less than them as they appear to have broad knowledge. However, in the face of intellectually superior individuals, people who rely on Indirect Resource frequently get found out quickly to have superficial knowledge, and their tendency to attempt to bluff/feel their way through the conversation quickly becomes apparent. But, people with good Indirect Resource tend to be street smart.

Now, you could get away with just having Indirect Resource if you also happen to have a Rob Wealth star to help you along. She doesn’t have a single Rob Wealth star in her chart, which means she lacks eloquence and the persuasive skills. These factors combined together explain why she’s absolutely WILTED under the onslaught of the media grilling.

(note to McCain campaign managers, and Mr Rove – lock her in the room and practice-grill her. Give her Cliff Notes on the economy. Instant improvement is guaranteed).

Palin’s problem isn’t that she’s dumb, but that she’s not cut out to cough out information or ideas quickly, and she’s essentially someone who isn’t detail orientated, and who has no interest in anything beyond a shallow understanding of the subject (might explain why she ’emptied every catchphrase on economics in her head’) A not-so-polite way of putting it would be that her brain turns a little slower than it should for someone who is a politician. But then, Geng has never been particularly good at using Resource.

It is also clear that Palin’s dominant ability is drawn from the 7 Killings star. She’s a Do-Er, not a Think-Er. She’s an executor, not a strategist. Send her in to the kill (moose anyone?) and she’s perfect. Aggressive, reactive situations? Perfect. But ask her to THINK about how to achieve something? Wrong person

It is also important to look at the fact that her personality is heavily Indirect Wealth propelled. This means that she’s not too fussed about the little details, and she’s all about big picture. You can’t be a policy wonk and be all about the big picture. You can’t be an action person and spend time pondering what to do next. And you can’t be a guesser, and attempt to develop policy by ‘feeling your way through it’.

The reality is that Palin doesn’t care what the bailout is all about or the nitty-gritty of it. All she cares about is that it achieves an end, which is that Americans feel good about their country and feel confident about themselves, and are happy. (yeah, it’s that simple in her mind). So it could be a bailout, or it could simply be doling out the money in the streets. As long as it achieves the goal, it’s fine.

When you combine it together with all the factors (and the human factor as well – although she went to university, her major was communications-journalism, and she was briefly a sports journalist), it’s not stupidity that’s making her give dumb answers.

She’s just not a thinker. She’s a Do-Er. She’s not stupid, she’s just not intellectual. Whether or not that’s what the Americans need at this point of time, or good for Americans, is open to debate.