Smile, Sarah

As interesting as the lovely Sarah is proving to be, sooner or later she is going to have to answer substantive questions, in public and on the record. The Palin’s are wingnuts and the Mrs. hasn’t had to think about anything more complex than picking juicy state plums, from a very ripe tree, for her family and friends in a decade. Throw in a wedding/delivery, some disgruntled librarians and a pissed off state trooper — not to mention a bridge that was going somewhere when she supported it but went nowhere quick after it caught the public’s eye — and this whole thing is more Springer than Meet the Press.

The business of America is a little more complex than building a sports center in Wasilla and I’m just not seeing Sarah hobnobbing with foreign leaders. McCain just gave up the middle. I can understand why social conservatives may be enamored of Palin, but for McCain to pick someone whose views on faith, abortion and gay marriage so closely mirror his own seems a little odd. He already has that demographic and with women overwhelmingly pro-choice it isn’t going to help much in that direction.

I hate the idea of a child being thrown into the spotlight during what, for any teenager, has got to be an awful time. Then again, you have to admit that there is a certain irony in an abstinence education proponents teenage daughter becoming pregnant. It’s irresistible and you can bet the McCain ideologues would be harping on it if the roles were reversed.

It is, however, a distraction from the simple fact that self described “hockey moms” shouldn’t be a part of crafting foreign and economic policy. Palin has got to be the most inexperienced candidate in modern times; sports anchor, city council, mayor, and finally governor of an empty state for less than two years. When in office Palin’s terms have been ineffectual and mired in controversy. That’s not good enough and I don’t want a “common man” for VP and Ms. Palin is nothing but common. She is poorly educated and poorly qualified. At no time has she shown the kind of intellectual rigor that makes me believe she is capable of running anything other than her husbands commercial fishing hobby.

Granted, maybe she can rise to mediocrity, but it’s going to be a steep learning curve and at our expense.

Sarah Palin represents the worst America has to offer. She, and her wacky family, personify the ugly American tourist that shouldn’t be allowed to leave West Bumfuck Alabama and embarrass us all. Bible thumping on Sunday and fornicatin’, drinkin’ and drillin’ the rest of the week. All paid for by an oil industry looking to perforate Alaska and further raise fuel prices so they can collect tax breaks to build the pipeline that will bring us cheaper gas. In a decade or so, for a few years. Maybe.

Honest, ethical people do not stall investigations or skirt the spirit of the law with legalistic voodoo. This woman filed an ethics complaint against herself trying to prevent a Legislative inquiry after demanding such an inquiry. I couldn’t give a hoot about her soap opera of a life or some ignorant Alaskan cop, I care about Cheneyesque manipulation of the system to avoid accountability.

87 days ago