I am disturbed by John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a vice presidential running mate. My objections are founded in her religiosity. I do not want a person with theocratic tendencies anywhere near presidential power. Besides voting against McCain in the election, my only option is to blog my disgust.
With this post I will start gathering objections to Palin's qualifications. Some post will be my own objection, some posts will come from the wider Atheist community. Let's start with Sam Harris.
When Average isn't good enoughBy Sam Harris, September 03, 2008 in the Los Angeles Times.
So let us ask the question that should be on the mind of every thinking person in the world at this moment: If John McCain becomes the 44th president of the United States, what are the odds that a blood clot or falling object will make Sarah Palin the 45th?
The actuarial tables on the Social Security Administration website suggest that there is a better than 10% chance that McCain will die during his first term in office. Needless to say, the Reaper’s scything only grows more insistent thereafter. Should President McCain survive his first term and get elected to a second, there is a 27% chance that Palin will become the first female U.S. president by 2015. If we take into account McCain’s medical history and the pressures of the presidency, the odds probably increase considerably that this bright-eyed Alaskan will become the most powerful woman in history.
Sam Harris published a follow-up to address criticism regarding sexism.
I've received more than the usual amount of criticism for my recent opinion piece on Sarah Palin, most of it alleging sexism and/or an unseemly infatuation with Barack Obama. For those who care, I'd like to briefly respond:
My alleged sexism: It is true that I used some hackneyed, gender-slanted language in the piece ("get sassy," "girl-next-door," etc.). This was deliberate. Clearly, I played this game at my peril. I can say that if Sarah Palin were a man of similar qualifications, I would have used equally slanted language to describe him. I might have called Mr. Palin a "frat-boy" or a "lumberjack." I would have invoked some silly macho phrasing like,"Watch Cousin Jim flip Putin the bird."
Harris' point is that Sarah Palin is average. And frankly, average is not good enough when it comes to running our country. I look at Obama, Biden, McCain, and Clinton and do not see average. I look at Palin and see a manager from the meat packing plant. Are there any comments?
7 comments:
Theocratic tenancies?
Who does she rent them to?
I agree completely on the accusation of "averageness." Of course, the lack of relevant experience, theocratic connections, unnatural hatred of polar bears, etc. bothers me even more. I fear that she is going to be popular precisely because she is average. She will fuel that absurd notion that any of us can be president.
Much like religion, people will overlook the veracity if it makes them feel good.
by this point, it's lose-lose. i hope hope hope that this absurd ticket loses, but even if it does, it will certainly grab enough votes to make the election closer than it should be. even if they lose, the fact that millions of americans wanted to put the faith of their country into the hands of mccain and palin is depressing beyond words.
My principle objection to Palin is that she is a creationist. To be blunt, it shows that she is incapable of objectively examining evidence and reaching a logical conclusion.
Nice to share.
http://moslemprayer.blogspot.com/
The woman went to six colleges in five years. She tried to ban books in her little fiefdom, I mean, town. She influenced the schools in teaching "the debate" regarding evolution. And on and on.
The woman is a cretin. A scary, power-hungry, greedy, child-hating cretin.
She confuses me on several issues. She is pro-life, anti birth control and pro abstence. So, how did she have the most recent pregnancy and her daughter too? I fear for this woman's oldest, throwing her into the press free for all is not a "motherly" thing to do.
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