"You can see Russian nukes from here..."

*
In what Eugene Volokh opined is "an otherwise very sensible Slate article by a very sensible columnist," Fred Kaplan gaffed:

"If U.S. and Russian borders were only 100 miles apart, it's doubtful we could have survived the Cold War without a 'nuclear exchange.'"

Glenn Reynolds quipped:

"IF SARAH PALIN HAD MADE THIS KIND OF MISTAKE it would be a big deal. But since it’s a 'sensible writer' at Slate, it’s just a glitch."

Well, of course it would be a big deal, considering that Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska, and last time we checked, Alaska was still U.S. land. She knows the local geography well:

"Alaska and Russia are less than 3 miles apart at their closest point in the Bering Strait where two islands, Russia's Big Diomede Island and Alaska's Little Diomede Island, are located. In winter it is possible to walk across the frozen Bering Strait border between these two islands. At its closest, the American mainland and the Russian mainland are 55 miles apart where Alaska's Seward Peninsula and Russia's Chukotka Peninsula reach out to each other."

- JP