More Agreement From Palin and Obama

Oy, Palin stepped in it again last night, when she gave essentially the same answer Obama did to a question about Pakistan.

This isn't the first time she's done this. She did it before with her comments on putting the government's checkbook online:

"We're going to do a few new things also," she said at a rally in Cedar Rapids. "For instance, as Alaska's governor, I put the government’s checkbook online so that people can see where their money’s going. We'll bring that kind of transparency, that responsibility, and accountability back. We’re going to bring that back to D.C."

There's just one problem with proposing to put the federal checkbook online – somebody's already done it. His name is Barack Obama.

Check out this clip of Obama talking about his efforts to create the (poorly named) Google for Government:

You can check the site out here.

A few observations about the video, the site and the concept:

• One of the two Senators who tried to block this initiative was Ted Stevens - how perfect?
• Obama's explanation as to why the Senators blocked the bill was remarkably generous, yet firm. It seemed to me to be the same approach he took to dealing with McCain in the most recent debate
• This approach was all about adding accountability to the system - something we desperately need more of. I'm a bit surprised I haven't heard the Obama campaign pushing this contribution more. As in: "McCain promises to let you know who's wasting the country's money - Obama's already done this" sort of thing.
• This tool allows the general public to police the government, which is just too cool (gotta love it, only in America!). I'm a bit surprised I haven't heard of it being used in more cases. Perhaps it is, and I'm not paying close enough attention.
• Holy Cow! The site has an API - it's just crying out for a clever mashup.

Personally, I think it would be a bit smarter to give Palin a little more media time. That way, every little comment she mentions won't be scrutinized like some sort of precious gem. But, again, nobody's asking my opinion on this either.