CNN

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

As President Obama weighs whether to send as many as 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan - the government we're supporting over there continues to become more of a joke. President Hamid Karzai has been declared the winner in the disputed election; after his chief challenger Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the runoff that would have happened Saturday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul.

Abdullah was calling for the resignations of top election officials to avoid the kind of fraud that happened in the first election. Didn't happen.

Faced with a transparently phony situation, President Obama is calling for "a new chapter" of improved governance in Afghanistan now that Karzai's re-election is complete. He really doesn't have much of a choice.

Mr. Obama says that Karzai has to take on the rampant corruption and drug trade - which he hasn't done so far and has helped the Taliban make its comeback.

Fat chance... maybe Karzai's brother - a suspected player in Afghanistan's illegal opium business and also suspected of rigging those August elections - could head up the Afghan Ethics Committee.

With each new development our presence in Afghanistan looks more and more futile. And it's no surprise that Afghan political experts along with regular citizens there say the elections have undermined the people's faith in democracy.

Meanwhile President Karzai vows that he will stamp out corruption and work with the Taliban. But even the Taliban isn't buying that - calling the election a fraud manufactured by Washington. Just what we need as our troops continue to die in that godforsaken place and more of them could be going there soon.

Here’s my question to you: Should the U.S. place its faith in Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai?

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Sarah Palin will be meeting with a number of heads of state and dignitaries this week at the United Nations General Assembly. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Leaders from all over the world are gathering in New York this week for the fall session of the United Nation's General Assembly.

And with all the possible conversations between heads of state and other political leaders that will go on there...One meeting is creating so much hype, the flies are fighting for spots on the wall to listen in.

Alaskan Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is scheduled to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The meeting comes as the McCain-Palin camp works to assure voters she has a good enough grasp of foreign policy to be one heartbeat way from the presidency.

Until now, Palin's foreign policy experience involves a trip to Kuwait and Germany to visit Alaskan National guard members...And something about being able to see Russia from her house.

According to the Washington Post, while in New York Palin will also meet with the presidents of Georgia, Iraq, and Pakistan as well as the Indian Prime Minister.

Here’s my question to you: What will Sarah Palin and Hamid Karzai talk about?

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