Editor's note. Please send your thoughts to daveandrusko@hotmail.com

I was working last night when ABC's Charlie Gibson interviewed Republican Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin. But, to be honest, since I had assumed part one of Palin's first "big media" appearance would be carried later in the evening, I would have missed it anyway. I mention this only because by the time I was driving home around 9:30, the interview had already been through a couple of news cycles.

Opinions seemed to divide along the usual partisan lines. But the real question is what impressions would someone with no fixed position come away with? In part one, Gibson asked some very tough questions. Some were clearly within the boundaries of fair inquiry, others not, in my judgment. But that is only a part of evaluating what took place.

People like me who greatly admire Gov. Palin were (to put it mildly) put off by Gibson's condescending tone. He really did come across like a grumpy old fogey, impatient that he had flown all the way to Alaska to have to listen to this young whippersnapper.

But it is also true that his elitist I-will-not-suffer-fools-gladly snobbery is part and parcel of Gibson's demeanor. He really is in love with the sound of his own voice, a flaw not unknown in broadcast journalism. My conclusion is, nonetheless, that if you were not predisposed one way or the other toward Palin, you would agree Gibson's attitude bordered on smarmy.

Palin supporters were annoyed not only by his patronizing tone but also by the obvious trapdoors Gibson established again and again for Palin to fall through. It was "gotcha" journalism at its worse. Again, I think non-partisans would agree, provided they understood that parts of the interview were rigged.

Any pro-life Republican running for higher office anticipates such treatment. What really grated were the no-win questions Gibson asked and the arrogance with which he imputed something like arrogance to Palin.

Gibson starts with can you really, really, really believe you're competent to be vice president, even president. Yes, I can. Didn't you in your heart of hearts entertain doubts? No, replies Palin, I didn't.

"Doesn't that take some hubris?" Gibson stated, his own hubris meter at plus 100.

So, if she expresses any doubts, she is eaten alive. If she doesn't, she's Mrs. Hubris. Where I come from that's called heads I win, tails you lose.

Gibson was patently unfair in the way he inquired whether Palin agreed with one key component of President Bush's foreign policy, the "Bush Doctrine." Anyone who has watched a debate could see he was setting a trap.

There was no good "yes" or "no" answer for the simple reason it is not a simple doctrine. It is comprised of many components. When Palin asked what he meant, Gibson's whole demeanor conveyed that he believed she didn't have the foggiest idea what he was talking about. Clearly, she did, but by making her pause and then ask for a clarification, Gibson had accomplished his goal.

The single most egregious instance came when Gibson edited a comment Palin had made about the Iraq war. (He was basing what he attributed to the governor on a video available on youtube. However this meant that people like me had already seen and heard what Gov. Palin actually said.)

By carefully chopping off the introduction to the snippet he quoted, it gave Gibson an opening to ask incredulously, "Are we fighting a holy war?" When Palin politely demurred, saying, "I don't know if that was my exact quote," Gibson insisted, "Exact words."

They were parsed and taken out of context, of course, and in the process completely distorted what Palin had said. If you watched the video, you knew she was paraphrasing what Abraham Lincoln had said during the Civil War--"let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side"--as she explained to the clearly dubious Gibson. But Gibson had accomplished another part of his mission: all-knowing anchor alarmed by an "extremist" comment.

Tonight is part two of the interview (which was taped earlier yesterday). I have no doubt that Gibson will come out guns blazing, his eyebrows raised to the heavens, his voice filled with disbelief.

Be sure to watch, if you can, and say a prayer for a woman under siege.

Please send any comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com