Due the fact that my cell phone was ablaze yesterday with inquiries about McCain's "historic" choice for a VP candidate, I thought I would send out an e-mail with my thoughts (that and it's 8 am and I'm working and am bored)...
Two Disclaimers though:First, let me say that the fact that either an African American President or a female Vice President is now ensured is truly exciting. While the media has been absolutely rediculous in needlessly playing-up both the gender and race aspects of this election throughout the entire primary and now general campaign, I think it's certainly a giant step forward and will - in and of itself - help to mend the image of America abroad...
Second, the tone of the following e-mail may seem a little harsher than those I've sent out in the past. The reason being... it is!Now that the politically correct disclaimers are out-of-the-way, the pick of Sarah Palin is both hypocrital and an absolute insult to women. Here's why:
Hypocritical: John McCain's campaign slogan is "country first." His most frequent stump speech statement is, "Barack Obama would lose a war in order to win a political campaign. I'd gladly lose a political campaign in order to win a war." Despite the obvious stupidity in that statement, the bottom line is he's basically saying, "I love my country. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is an ambitious phoney who would rather make millions on Wall Street than work as a community organizer in Chicago." (Yes, remember, facts are irrelevent!) John McCain is 72 years old and has had cancer twice. Although it is a somewhat morbid thought, it is a legitimate argument to say that McCain's choice of VP must pass a high threshold of qualification due to a slighter higher chance of he or she one day being thrust into the presidency. That being said, you'd have to be def, dumb, blind, and unable to smell to believe that he truly believed that Sarah Palin is cabable of being President should something happen to him. He met her ONCE! She's been Governor for 18 months and before that she was the mayor of a town of 8,000 people (smaller than Bexley!). The choice was clearly a political pander aimed at women - based on the sexist assumption that women vote due to genitalia and not issues and of course, as a single monolithic voting bloc! The fact that they share genitalia with Palin, in McCain's opinion, will so cloud their minds that they won't be able to see that she stands for everything progressive women do not! There was NO consideration of country in this pick!
Second, the notion that Palin is carrying the same torch as Hillary Clinton is absurd. Aside from the fact that when somebody called Clinton a bitch on the campaign trail, McCain laughed; aside from the fact that Palin said she was tired of Clinton's "whining" during the primary; aside from the fact that Palin has stated she is so pro-life that she would not favor an abortion even under circumstances of rape, incest, or death to the mother; aside from the fact that Roe v. Wade would be obliterated under a Palin VP; aside from the fact that she wants creationism, not evolution taught in schools; aside from the fact that she's against any type of gay rights; aside from the fact that she strongly supported Pat Buchanan in 2000 and his wonderful views of Israel as well as his statements about "lesbians taking over America city by city"; it was absolutely infuriating to see the Republican pundits, congressman and campaign workers - from top to bottom - lie through their teeth yesterday on all the news outlets trying to give the reasons why she was ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. When I first heard the pick I was a bit worried. I thought, "wow, how have I never heard of this woman and she could be the next vice president?" I thought that there would be a whole amazing story about to follow cleary stating why she could be president. I was wrong. While her story is certainly admirable, this is the most blatant political pander - at the highest level - I have ever seen. It makes the gas tax holiday look like a legitimate, long-term energy plan!
I can't wait for the day - and something tells me it's getting closer and closer - when a strong, progressive woman shatters the "glass ceiling" and storms into the White House; however, Sarah Palin, while remarkable in her own right, is not that woman!...
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