Sarah Palin. Eeeek. As a male in his mid-30s, I can honestly say I’ve seen a lot less porn than most of my peers, and still – even I know that Sarah Palin has got the porn secretary look down. Or maybe it’s the Freshman English teacher getting blackmailed into going down on a student who found an old copy of that magazine (I needed the money!) under his Dad’s bed. One or the other. Either way, she’s taking her cues from porn.

And if you don’t think that resonates with 25-45 year old male conservative voters, you’ve never been to a trade show in Dallas or Atlanta or Scottsdale. It’s amazing what good family men will do when away from hearth and home and within taxi-proximity of a strip club.

Anyway, now that we are finally getting to the point where we can get the current criminal out of office, when his popularity is so low that the Dems should be able to win running a chimp against his potential successor, let us consider what happens if McCain actually wins. Right now, McCain is riding on the backs of scared old people, mega-Christians, gun nuts and the greedy wealthy. And he’s added a psycho Ann Coulter clone to his ticket – and we’ll get to some truths about the ersatz porno-VP in a sec. So, let me say this – if Obama and Biden cannot take this election in a landslide (remembering that they actually do have real political experience in DC, and have documented  their plans for changing things in the next four years) it suggests to me that this nation has two problems.

First, as a nation, we are not ready to elect a black man. If that’s true…well, get me out of here.

Second, the gun nuts and Evangelical Christian have taken control. Look, I respect everyone’s right to their religious beliefs. It is a fundamental part of what makes America great. But if Christianity becomes  as integrated with politics as many of the Evangelical leaders would like, say goodbye to science in public school (my son’s favorite subject – aside from art which will probably be second or third on the list to go).

I don’t really believe that McCain can take this election with Palin at his side, because I think the selection was an obvious (and misguided) attempt to manipulate perceptions. But, I also never thought an idiot who wants us to be afraid of “Terrists” could be elected – and he’s been chipping away at the foundations of our nation for 8 years. So, as someone afraid of even more egregious stupidity in Washington, I am doing something I don’t usually do. I am taking information that is surely all over the Web right now and reposting here in case one of my valiant readers has not yet seen this stuff about the real Sarah Palin. And there are legitimate citations thanks to moveon.org just in case any one reading this was taken in by one of those Obama is a freaky Muslim emails from a few months ago.

• Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is “God’s task.” She’s even admitted she hasn’t thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.” ^{1, 2}
• Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to “keep up the good work” and “wished the party luck on what she called its ‘inspiring convention.'” ³
• Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn’t made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.⁴
• Palin doesn’t believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, “I’m not one though who would attribute it to being manmade.” ⁵
• Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP. ⁶
• Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn’t even support abortion in the case of rape or incest. ⁷
• Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She’s said she will only support abstinence-only approaches. ⁸
• As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, “news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.” ⁹
• She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said “thanks, but no thanks” to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks “while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.” ¹⁰

Sources
1. “Palin: Iraq war ‘a task that is from God’,” Associated Press, September 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24701&id=13701-10465615-75TYM6x&t=6

2. “Palin wasn’t ‘really focused much’ on the Iraq war,” ThinkProgress, August 30, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24702&id=13701-10465615-75TYM6x&t=7

3. “The Sarah Palin Digest,” ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/

4. “McCain and Palin differ on issues,” Associated Press, September 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24703&id=13701-10465615-75TYM6x&t=8

5. Ibid

6. The Sarah Palin Digest,” ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/

7. Ibid

8. Ibid.

9. “Mayor Palin: A Rough Record,” Time, September 2, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24704&id=13701-10465615-75TYM6x&t=9

10. The Sarah Palin Digest,” ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/