I’m praying that Sarah Palin never becomes V.P.

Though Sarah Palin's hotness makes her more appealing to look at, compared to the usual wrinkled right-wing religious white guys, her Christian zealotry is just as scarily ridiculous.

Scary, because here's a God is on my side true believer who could, just possibly, heaven help us, be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Oh, wait! We already have a president like that. So what's the problem with another one?

Lots. By comparison, Sarah Palin actually makes George Bush look minimally competent and well-informed. So her astounding fatuous cluelessness, when combined with her trite Christian fundamentalism, results in an exceptionally dangerous political mix.

Sam Harris nails her to his non-believer cross in a cogent Newsweek piece, "When Atheists Attack."

We have endured eight years of an administration that seemed touched by religious ideology. Bush's claim to Bob Woodward that he consulted a "higher Father" before going to war in Iraq got many of us sitting upright, before our attention wandered again to less ethereal signs of his incompetence. For all my concern about Bush's religious beliefs, and about his merely average grasp of terrestrial reality, I have never once thought that he was an over-the-brink, Rapture-ready extremist.

Palin seems as though she might be the real McCoy. With the McCain team leading her around like a pet pony between now and Election Day, she can be expected to conceal her religious extremism until it is too late to do anything about it. Her supporters know that while she cannot afford to "talk the talk" between now and Nov. 4, if elected, she can be trusted to "walk the walk" until the Day of Judgment.

Recently I opined that craziness can be a dose of sanity. Absolutely. We all need some sort of way out there to balance the humdrum, practical, sensible side of life.

But my caveat is that our healthy weirdness shouldn't unduly interfere with other people's ability to live their own lives as they see fit. If you want to ski black diamond runs in an icy snowstorm, great. Just don't run into someone else.

Sarah Palin's religiosity, like that of so many other fundamentalists, crosses way over the line in this regard.

I've got no problem with her believing that God speaks to her. However, when she uses this supposedly divine inspiration as a foundation for public policy, now Palin becomes a freaky true believer who shouldn't be allowed to get near the Oval Office.

In her church, Palin has prayed that the Iraq war is a "task that is from God." Ditto for a natural gas pipeline through Canada.

This probably explains why Palin is so fond of saying that she "doesn't blink." Meaning, I guess, that when fresh facts come into view, she keeps on staring at God's vision that she's fantasized in her mind. Harris writes:

What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents – and her supporters celebrate – the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson [Charlie, of ABC News] that she had ever harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take command of the world's only superpower, one got the feeling that Plain would gladly assume any responsibility on earth:

"Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to perform surgery on this child's brain?"

"Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, and I'm an avid hunter."

"But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no training as a surgeon of any kind."

"That's just the point, Charlie. The American people want change in how we make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with a challenge, you cannot blink."

Well, Palin can pray in her fashion, and I'll pray in mine.

Dear God, if there is one, which there probably isn't, but just in case, hear my plea: Do not, repeat do not, allow Sarah Palin and John McCain to win the election in November.

Comments

[tucson]

Leaving aside discussions about our objective inexistence for a moment:

Obama has ties to extremist figures such as Revds. Wright and Pfleger. If Obama believes what they preach, his religious views are as far out as Palin's. But I doubt he is religious at all. His association with them was a political calculation to advance his career. Palin's beliefs are probably sincere.

So, take your pick: a genuine fundamentalist or a bona fide phoney.

Back in the days when I was associated with RSSB you could say I was a fundamentalist. I believed and acted on the dogma to the letter. To most outsiders my beliefs were way out there somewhere beyond christian fundamentalism. Despite my absurd religious views I was a reliable and competent employee and also a good manager of my own business. I was generally liked and respected. People got paid and work got done.

I think you must see my point.

Beyond that, I see no one with the gravitas to deal comnpetently with the astonishingly difficult issues at hand.

I remember Steve Forbes back in the nineties running for president. He came off as this wimpy nerd harping about a flat tax which was beyond the public's ability to comprehend...Huh?, so of course he had no chance to win. But this guy was/is a deceptively tough, honest and savvy economist who is the type of person I would like to see in the race and not these political hacks we have to choose from.

[Adam]

Tuscon,

Who cares about sincerity? What if Palin and McCain's "sincerity" take us into war with Iran? What if her sincerity overturns Roe Vs. Wade? What if her sincerity is used by her higher-ups as an excuse to "stay the course" for another 4, or god forbid 8 years?

[Edward]

Here is the challenge with this process: let McCain run for election with this governor, who is barely qualified to run a state, and if they do not get elected, she poses no threat. If they do get elected, then sometime between November and January, she bows out, and McCain "appoints" another VP.

All trust is broken, and any sincerity is suspicious. There is no honor among thieves.