Sarah Palin thinks the VP runs the U.S. Senate.
Many out there are making a big deal about the fact that Palin has been “applying” for the VP job for six weeks and still doesn’t know what that job entails. While that is a valid point, the critique of Palin doesn’t go deep enough. Every citizen should know what the vice president does, let alone the governor of the largest state in the union. That is not an unreasonable expectation. I’m not asking for every one of us to be a policy wonk or to even have a firm grasp on how a bill becomes a law. My expectations of our educational system have been so diminished that I will settle for a basic understanding of the separation of powers.
Then again, Palin only seems to have become conscious of the world outside the pageant circuit (and even worse, the TV anchor circuit) during the Bush administration. She has only known a bigger world under the vader-esque power of Dick Cheney. I certainly don’t want any Vice President to have the power Cheney and his black heart (no, really) have exerted, let alone the insane expansion of power that Palin’s idiocy would suggest. This begs the question: with a role model like Cheney, can we really blame her? Let me stop you right there…yes, we can.
I just can’t picture Palin in the cloak room saying to Patrick Leahy, “fuck yourself!” In fact, the image that comes to mind when you think about Sarah Palin in the Senate is not her palling around with that bunch of corporate shills making policy. Instead, it is a bunch of patriarchs patting her on the forehead and suggesting that she get back to playing her flute and counting her oil dollars. You betcha!
I find her candidacy offensive. She is disturbingly uneducated and culturally illiterate. I think the biggest problem (and least reported issue) with Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama is his throw-away comment that implicitly gives a modicum of credence to Palin’s selection, saying, “She’s a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired.”
No, she is not. Her candidacy is indefensible.
Election to public office does not distinguish you. Her behavior in our modern bloodsport, in every political Coliseum across the country, is not admirable. She is an abomination.
I cannot imagine how anyone could vote for McCain knowing that she is a heartbeat away from ruling the “free” world. If you intend to do just that, please explain it to me in the comments section. I really and truly would like to understand your rational for such behavior.
After the jump, a video that Palin absolutely needs to watch and we all could use as a civics refresher course. Read the rest of this entry »
