I woke up this morning, thinking, “Wow. That was a crazy dream I had last night. I imagined McCain picked some unknown, inexperienced, right-wing nut job from a disconnected state as his Vice President. I’m so crazy. No more wine before bed anymore!”
And then I opened my laptop to find that, crazier yet, it wasn’t a dream.
McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is really, really scary. First of all, she has no national experience at all. She barely even has any state level experience, having been Alaska’s Governor for less than two years. Before that, she was the mayor of a podunk town and before that, a self-described “hockey mom.”
Palin is 44, which makes her three years younger than Obama. Obama was a state senator for 8 years and a U.S. senator for 3 years, which makes him far more experienced than Palin. McCain’s biggest criticism of Obama throughout the campaign has been his supposed “lack of experience.” I guess, it turns out, experience really isn’t that important after all, huh Johnny?
McCain praises Palin for her “tenacity” and being tough on the issues. But what issues? Social issues? Everyone knows that social issues don’t actually matter and are only used as a tool to pander to the less intelligent “values voters” who lack both an understanding of manipulative political tactics as well as a general understanding of how our country works. In my mind, Sarah Palin can be boiled down like this:
- She claims to be a feminist… but strongly opposes a woman’s right to choose
- She claims to be “moral”… but is under investigation for retaliatory firing of her ex-brother in law after he divorced her sister
- She claims to be concerned with preservation… but sued the federal government for placing the polar bear on the endangered species list, saying it would discourage drilling for oil in Alaska
- She claims to be pro life… but is a member of the NRA and pro guns
- She claims to be intelligent… but was a former Miss Alaska contestant
The scariest part of this entire circus is that McCain, at 72 years old, would become the oldest elected president in history. He has a history of cancer - including a melanoma that was removed during the campaign. The possibility of his death or incapacitation during his term is very, very real. And if that happened, guess who would be in charge of the country, meeting with foreign leaders? That’s right! Zero economic or foreign policy experience herself - Sarah Palin.
The move to add Palin to his ticket was a very sad attempt by McCain to appeal to women voters, to basically try and capture some of the former Hillary supporters. But Palin is the exact antithesis of everything Clinton stood for. Furthermore, suggesting that one woman can be substituted cleanly for another is disgusting. But then, I suppose that’s been McCain’s approach for years anyway.
Shame on you, Johnny, for thinking so little of women’s intelligence and for disgracing your entire party with such a poor choice.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Evan // Aug 31, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I don’t like either of them but it’s okay that he picked her because it was a moot choice, they are going to lose to the Dems.
2 Matt Urdan // Aug 31, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Well, I’m a Hillary supporter and I like Palin. Read more on my blog if you’re interested, but to answer your points, which are just a rehash of the talking heads on MSNBC or the surrogates put forth for the Obama campaign:
* She claims to be a feminist… but strongly opposes a woman’s right to choose
She does not oppose a woman’s right to choose to do anything. What she opposes is abortion which she believes is wrong. She believes it is wrong because she believes there is value and potential in every life. Knowing her youngest son would be born with Downs Syndrome, she and her husband had the child because no matter what Trig’s life will become, his life is precious, his life is unique, it will never be seen again, and by his birth and lifetime, something valuable will be added to this world. I think it’s tragic. If it were myself and my wife, I’d probably make a different choice. But the issue of choice on abortion is the difference in how we value life. Sarah Palin believes all life has value. Just because she things abortion is wrong, does not make her evil or preclude her from taking feminist positions on all other issues.
* She claims to be “moral”… but is under investigation for retaliatory firing of her ex-brother in law after he divorced her sister.
There are allegations against her by a state legislature that she essentially declared war on by ridding it of corruption and powerful politicians that were proven to be corrupt. There have been no charges. I believe Obama’s association with Reverend Wright and the other dealings he’s had with real estate in Illinois are more serious cracks in Obama’s character than this will play out in Alaska. You gotta be fair.
* She claims to be concerned with preservation… but sued the federal government for placing the polar bear on the endangered species list, saying it would discourage drilling for oil in Alaska
Yes…the Polar Bear population on the north shore of Alaska is far healthier than the threshold that population would have to drop to be placed on the endangered species act under the law. The fear is that with global warming and the ice caps melting that pressure will be placed on the polar bear populations. But that time has not yet come. Putting the polar bear on the endangered species list would prevent oil drilling and exploration on the north slope. That is not in the best interests of the nation, the integrity of the endangered species act, or Alaska. It’s just an emotional attempt to make the polar bear a symbol of global warming and to use real and powerful legislation to serve special interest groups who don’t want drilling in the Coastal Plain of ANWR.
* She claims to be pro life… but is a member of the NRA and pro guns. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. You are mixing messages. Prolife abortion issues have nothing to do with 2nd Amendment NRA rights to bear arms issues. She hunts. She fishes. She’s not going to stalk Joe Biden and kill him. Please.
* She claims to be intelligent… but was a former Miss Alaska contestant. Since when are beauty and intelligence mutually exclusive? Your statement here is your fatal flaw and hurts the integrity of your blog. Making this statement is akin to using this whole post to promote a propaganda that has nothing to do with facts and issues.
I’m still probably going to vote for Obama, but I won’t make up my mind until after the debates. However, I am very fair, and my only interest is being fair and thinking for myself. If you watch the news with an objective eye, you’ll hear the same thing every night from the surrogates speaking for the campaigns. They are all lying and telling half-truths. No one is being honest and candid. They are just spouting the party line and trying to make you vote for them. The truth is out there….Go find it.
Cheers!
3 J. Citizen // Aug 31, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Very very dirty, liar and stupid attack on Governer Sarah Palin. She is the best choice for America.
Wake up USA before it is too late.
4 American // Sep 18, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Are you Crazy? Palin is as qualified as my cat… McCain is so old he is mentally not prepared for the stresses of presidency, Pailin is just Dick Cheney with lipstick. She is as crazy right-wing, neo-con and anti-american as they come. She uses religion to hide her real face and justify her lack of knowledge and intelligence. Shame on you McCain
READ: http://www.tcpedia.com/politically-speaking/sara-pailins-satan-lizards-say-it-all
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