I wrote this piece back during the election...thought it may be a nice summary of how I felt about Palin during the election:
The aptitude of our American spirit is on trial this coming election. By that I mean, this election is not about a John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket vs. Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket. This election is not about the vast policy differences between the two candidates, either. This election is a litmus test for the very survival of a competent and informed republic. Let me repeat, this election is a litmus test for the very survival of a competent and informed republic.
Before you go rolling your eyes and muttering to yourself, “Oh, here goes Mike again with his overstatements and critique of Obama” let me assure my readership that this has nothing to do with Barack Obama, for once. I will briefly just state, for the record (if not abundantly clear from my remarks of him over the last two years) that I think Barack Obama is an inexperienced, conniving politician who will probably bring change to this country, but it will bring about change to the detriment of this great capitalistic (sometimes Obama supporters forget that fact) country. That’s all I’ll say about him in this article. The focus of my thesis is (enter stage left in a bikini) Sarah Palin.
Pure and simple, we have a candidate that does not meet the minimum threshold of competency for an elected office higher than city council-woman. A governorship is a stretch for her, but a Vice-Presidency, perhaps Presidency position for her is undeniably scary. I say this as a conservative who has supported McCain, Bush, and pretty much every Republican that has thrown their name into any contested election against Democrats, so, let me just say that I am being intellectually honest to my conscience and nothing more.
Every McCain supporter I talk to says that they love McCain, and they don't like the Palin pick, but they're voting for McCain anyway. Now, can someone please explain why this position is simply untenable? Simply put, Palin could effectively run this country, pending a McCain death or accident, with a 5% approval rating. In other words, people that even voted for her, don't think she should be president. This is the quandary of this coming election, and the reason our survival of democracy is fundamentally at stake. We no longer have a democracy, we have an inherent two party system where thinking beings turn into masquerading puppets for their respective sides and cheerlead for that team regardless of who is picked.
What if McCain had picked my mom? My mom is a nice conservative soccer mom lady. She knows about Roe v. Wade, disagrees with it, couldn't tell you much more about any other SC decision, she read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (entertainment section), she doesn't claim to have foreign policy experience because her grandma is from Italy, and she is a social conservative. Now I realize this is a stretch of the straw man, but still... I would NEVER in a million years, vote for my mother as President of the US. It defies the very sense of democracy. This witticism of mine is not of course directly on par with Palin, I mean the woman was a mayor and governor but still... I will say it again...
Sarah Palin does not meet the minimum threshold of competency as an elective candidate for Vice-President of the United States of America. If Palin is elected, this will only beget more people to give up on democracy, and I may be one of them. Vote third party this coming election, for the sake of democracy may be at stake.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Chillax dude, Sarah Palin is not gonna win the nomination after the 2008 debacle. Also, you never defined "minimum threshold of competency." And, finally, you never once discuss the odds that Sarah Palin might actually fill the position, instead assuming she would have to fill a vacated office. John McCain wasn't that old (despite appearance). My reasoning for voting for the GOP ticket was (a) it is unlikely that McCain will die while in office, (b) if he does die, there will be little time left on the clock for the term, and (c) either way, I'd rather have an incompetent Republican mouthpiece than an active liberal seeking to radically change the direction of our political discourse.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I, for one, think Mrs. O'Shea is a wonderful lady.
Jeffrey, there is not a moment to spare, so I will not chillax. I want a Republican candidate that is formidable in 2012. I want to stop the Palin bus before anyone gets on it.
ReplyDelete1) Minimum threshold of competency is a standard that is so widely noticeable, that it seeks to define itself. I cannot think of a more incompetent individual in the history of US presidential politics that came that close to becoming US President. Competency judgments are hardly defineable, so as I say, we all have different standards I suppose. She certainly does not meet "my" mininum level of competency, and I think I speak for a large number of Americans (including conservatives) by proclaiming that.
2) The odds are irrelevant, on both sides of the coin. The role of the VP is the assume the role of the P when he (or she) becomes incapacitated. We don't know what could happen. Since this is the only relevant part of the job description, it would behoove McCain to pick someone that is ready to take the position immediately. She was not ready then, nor will she ever be.
3) Your third point makes you look rather foolish. It degrades our political system to automatons masquerading by the whim of the two-party system and turns us into non-thinking beings. If the Republicans nominate an incompetent individual, I will not support them, plain and simple.
Third point conceded...
ReplyDeleteBy your rationale in point 2 though, the election may as well have been a referendum on the Speaker of the House, the President pro temp of the Senate, or who the candidates would appoint as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Tom Daschle btw..haha). After all, irrespective of odds, each of those could become President.
P.S. Don't bring this up at home....I need the comfort of a "no-fire" zone.
ReplyDelete