The Palin Game

I think it would be apropos at this stage in the game to point out several facts that seem to have been overlooked to this point:

1) the Vice President is the President of the Senate, and

2) is next in line should the president become incapacitated or die while in office.

3) John McCain is 72 years old, and unwilling to release his medical records.

If the alarm bells aren't going off yet, they should be, because if McCain is elected, Sarah Palin will fill that office, become the president of the Senate, and become president of the United States of America and leader of the free world if at anytime, a 72 year old man unwilling to release his medical records, is incapacitated.

Yet somehow, we're supposed to be glad that she actually sounded like a reasonably intelligent person in last night's debate. We're supposed to be thrilled that she had a basic understanding of some of the day's issues. Never mind that she elected to spew GOP talking points instead of answering honest questions that are of grave importance to our country's future. No, no, we're just supposed to lap up the fact that she didn't totally self implode and contradict herself, like she did when she was interviewed by Katie Couric.

Of course, the same pundits that suggested that Palin had a great showing are also the ones that said Barack Obama and McCain tied in the first presidential debate, and that Palin and Biden tied in this debate. Call me crazy I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the next debate will be a draw too if the talking heads have anything to say about it. However, in point of fact, public opinion polls show that viewers thought Obama won the first debate 51 percent to 38 percent, and that Biden won this debate 51 percent to 36 percent. But, maybe it was just that more Democrats were watching and actually paying attention than Republicans--it wouldn't be the first time. (we also like to cite our sources and do research)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.poll/index.html (Obama over McCain)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/03/debate.poll/?iref=hpmostpop (Biden over Palin)

The sad fact is that this horse race coverage that we get from the networks (aside from FOX--we know their stance--lie, and if people don't believe you shout them down and act outraged) has everything to do with making desperate attempts not to alienate people from either party and nothing to do with actually reporting the news or offering any kind of real analysis of the political situation in this country.

The real analysis is this: Sarah Palin is an absolute joke of a candidate. The fact that she sounded competent in last night's debate doesn't somehow mean that she is actually qualified to hold the office for which she is running, and it shouldn't make anyone feel all tingly and nice inside either. And when I say competent, I mean that her sentences were coherent and she didn't say anything completely ridiculous. Let's not forget that she failed to answer nearly every question that was asked of her, which seems to me the most fundamental directive in a debate. If I have a student that doesn't answer the question in an essay, he fails and is told to do it over. It is beyond me that for some reason people running for the highest political offices are given a pass when it comes to staying on topic.

Ultimately, we shouldn't even be talking about competence. The people running for these offices should be our best and brightest; they should be able to think about complex issues and solve complex problems. I don't give a damn if someone is attractive or if I can have a beer with them or if they're likeable--none of those things make them qualified to hold office. So the fact that Palin was able to read talking points off of three by five index cards for an hour and a half doesn't really comfort me at all.

Neither does the fact that Palin's husband belonged to an organization that hates the United States and wants, sincerely, to secede from the Union. Or the fact that he hasn't graduated from college. Or the fact that Palin's first passport was issued to her about a year ago.

Worse are Palin's religious values. According to one resident of Wasilla, "she asked the library how she could go about banning books," shortly after she became mayor, because she was worried about naughty words. She also made rape victims pay $1,200 in order for their attackers to be prosecuted because of her extreme views on abortion. And guess who has suggested that creationism be taught in public schools: Sarah Palin.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html (Farenheit 451)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/01/planned_parenthood_hits_mccain.html (rape victims pay)

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/politics/election2008/news-article.aspx?storyid=117977&catid=221 (creationism)

Look, we all love our mothers, and people are entitled to their religious views, but being a mom doesn't make you qualified to run for vice president, and when your religious views are way out of the mainstream and at odds with science, logic, and reason (three of the cornerstones of innovation and sound business practices I might add), you should be careful not to mix them with public policy. In most of the other civilized countries in the world, Palin's candidacy would be viewed for what it is: a fraud, and an indication that the party responsible is not to be taken seriously.

Given the last eight years of malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence, lets go ahead and elect people that are qualified to lead our country, and tell the GOP that until they start nominating people that have a genuine interest in doing what's best for this country, they should just do what Sarah Palin should have done: stay home.