Thanks But No Thanks. . .

Get your shovels ready, people. I'm spoutin' off.

I know my writing ability sometimes limits me to put to paper what is so fervently and passionately swimming in my head, which is one reason I have restrained myself from writing about this topic thus far. I wanted to be able to portray my feelings on Sarah Palin accurately. This morning I came across this article in Newsweek by Sam Harris that does just that.

"The next administration must immediately confront issues like nuclear proliferation, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and covert wars elsewhere), global climate change, a convulsing economy, Russian belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, Islamism on a hundred fronts, a defunct United Nations, the deterioration of American schools, failures of energy, infrastructure and Internet security … the list is long, and Sarah Palin does not seem competent even to rank these items in order of importance, much less address any one of them."

What I wrote below started as a simple introduction to the article in Newsweek, but as my family can attest, when I start spewing about something I feel so passionately about, I sometimes find it hard to stop. Hey, I warned you to get a shovel.

Nothing in this race for the White House scares me more than the thought of Sarah Palin sitting to the right hand of John McCain. But other than the brief reference to her unique choice in baby names, I have held my tongue in regards to my opinion of her. Until now.

I feel that I have given her a fair chance. I listened to her acceptance speech at the RNC and did my best to keep in mind that it was her job as potential VP to recite a speech written to blast Obama and his campaign with such tired and obvious cliches. And that her shrill, but god-given voice should not be held against her, although the snarky tone she tends to use should be well within her control. I have researched her stand on policy and even agree on some points. And in the beginning I gave her the benefit of the doubt concerning “Troopergate” and the investigation into her abuse of power. Hell, I can’t even say I wouldn’t be tempted to use the same influence to play havoc with the life of someone hurting my sister. But the way that the McCain campaign has sealed up that investigation is just plain scary. I have read articles and blogs on both sides of this surprising VP pick doing my best to understand who Sarah Palin is, and how and where she plans to lead our country, each time reserving judgment as to what I would find. What I have found is amusing at best and at worst, disturbing.

In opinions against her I have read of limited education, potential censorship, mounds of debt left behind from her time as mayor of Wasilla, extreme pro-life attitudes and the all too familiar, “with me or against me” attitude that our country and the world has had to endure for the past eight years under President Bush. The many pro-Palin websites that have popped up over the last month are just as disturbing to me. Many don’t so much talk about any positive achievements of her career, but boast of stands against global warming and wildlife preservation and of pushes for creationism in schools that leave me shivering. But what is most bewildering is how they put her on a pedestal for being an every-day woman, or as www.hockeymomsformccain-palin.com proudly announces as part of their homepage header, “Sarah Palin shares our early-rising, butt-freezing, glass-pounding commitment to our children and communities”. It’s as if she is running for president of the PTA and they are ecstatic they have found someone that understands the chaos of the afternoon pick-up in the school parking lot. DO YOU PEOPLE NOT GET IT? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CHAOS OF THE WORLD!

They love her because she is just like them. Just like their gutsy neighbor who took on town hall. Just like their mother who raised five kids. Just like their sister who worked her way through college little by little. These are all people to be admired, but not one of them is qualified to be Vice President of the United States. And no, I haven’t forgotten about her time as Governor of Alaska. But that is what’s so scary about much of the demographic following her. They aren’t even spouting such credentials. They are rejoicing in her commonalities to their mediocrity! I don’t want someone like me running the country. I barely manage to pull together a birthday party and still can’t pronounce the name of Iran’s President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). I want someone that excelled in school, possibly even attended, I don’t know. . . . . HARVARD? Someone that has traveled to, even lived in, other parts of the world, is familiar with and respects more than one religion, that is willing to talk first and shoot later and is ready to acknowledge responsibility for how we are affecting the Earth.

I don’t believe Sarah Palin is a bad person. In fact, in some ways I feel sorry for her. I believe she is a pawn to garner the votes McCain was lacking and that she had no idea what she was getting into when she jumped down the rabbit hole of Rovian-Republican politics. I don’t even have much to go on that she is a particularly bad Governor. She seems qualified for that position. But there is a huge jump between Governor of a state of 600,000 people and being second chair on the world stage. A jump I don’t believe Sarah Palin and her limited world experience is qualified to make.

Please read the entire Newsweek article.

Pictures of anti-Palin rally in Anchorge courtesy www.mudflats.com.