I freely admit that I’ve been paralyzed when it comes to talking about Sarah Palin. Some people might be surprised to hear that, since I’ve posted several rants about the Republican candidate. But others have asked why, with all of the incredible information that bubbles to the surface about Sarah Palin on almost a daily basis, I haven’t been writing more about her.
To be honest, I’ve already written quite a bit about her. I was beginning to feel that Palin was about the only thing I was writing about. And really, where does one even begin? What issue do we talk about? Which scandal in her past is the most important? Which of her recent lies should I talk about first? Which contradiction or hypocrisy should we be most concerned about? There’s so much wrong with Sarah Palin that it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ve wanted to write more about her, but I haven’t known what to write about, and I haven’t wanted to turn The Watch into some unhinged Palin hate site.
The closer the election gets, however, the more anxious I become. While most polls show Barack Obama ahead of John McCain, we all know that those crafty Republicans have ways of suppressing votes and turning predictions on their heads. Just think of Ohio in 2004, when there were so many irregularities (such as insufficient voting machines and ballot shortages in districts that leaned Democratic) that many people felt that it could only be explained as a concerted effort. And who could forget the Republican thugs who were stationed at voting places all over the country for the sole purpose of challenging other Americans’ eligibility to vote?
While it’s a political nightmare that most mainstream Americans are reluctant to even consider a possibility, there is a chance that Sarah Palin will be the next vice-president of the United States. I certainly have issues with John McCain, but it was the addition of Sarah Palin to the ticket that truly put fear into my heart. There are so many reasons that there is no quick way to sum it up.
Therefore, I’ve decided to write a series of articles detailing the reasons that I believe Sarah Palin, and John McCain by association, represents a danger to our country. I’ve identified eight main themes that I find myself repeatedly addressing in conversation, and I’m going to focus on one of those themes each day for the next week or so. Hopefully somewhere in all that I can convincingly make the case that Sarah Palin is the one person in this country who should be kept as far away from the White House as possible.
I can’t help but think, as McCain and Palin supporters at rallies shout hate-filled slogans at Barack Obama such as “traitor!” and “kill him!” and “off with his head!” that perhaps we have reached that moment in history akin to where the Germans found themselves as Adolf Hitler began his ascent to power, when scientists and intellectuals found themselves at a loss as to how to explain what was going on all around them. It’s very possible that we’ve reached that point in history where science fiction writers of the future will look back to this time and examine it in dialogue in which one of their characters ponders to another “If you could go back in time and stop Sarah Palin before she did so much damage, even if it cost you your life … would you?”
I find myself in these final weeks compelled to make my voice heard. Better minds than I write about Sarah Palin on a daily basis in newspapers and magazines, but I’ve yet to see her summed up for what she is. We are a nation that hungers for sound bites and five minute analysis. We want fluff. We have no taste for lengthy discussions. I don’t think the many objections that I and countless others have to Sarah Palin can be summed up in a handy media-ready sentence that can be shot through the short attention span of the average American and into their easily distractible brain.
Indulge me, if you will, in the coming week, and I will attempt to explain to you why Sarah Palin cannot be allowed to make it as far as Washington, D.C. Why she must be stopped here and now, before her over-reaching ambition destroys us all, and our liberties become little more than wistful memories of better days, when our noble democratic experiment ultimately failed under the weight of extremist political and religious ideology.
Oddly enough, I’m not trying to be melodramatic. My concerns are very real. John McCain is a bitter old man who knows that this is his last chance of becoming president. Some of his anger can be forgiven, even if his tactics thus far have been more detestable than honorable. But in the final analysis, because John McCain is an old man with a history of heart problems, it is Sarah Palin who truly represents the most significant danger to our democracy that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Give me a week, starting tomorrow, and I’ll tell you why I am afraid for my country.
