Gov. Palin is nowhere near fit to be VP of the USA

I've spent hours researching Gov. Sarah Palin and have been utterly horrified at what I've discovered. This woman should not be allowed anywhere near our Whitehouse.

It's actually sort of hard to know where to start. I read an article on AlterNet.org yesterday that was mind-blowing enough, only to have them offer even more today.

Yesterday's article about Sarah Palin was compiled by not one writer but is a collaborative effort by the AlterNet Staff. In it, they point out 10 disturbing Palin facts.

The intro quotes AlterNet writer George Lakoff's warnings in regard to a Palin for VP choice:

She is inexperienced, knowing little or nothing about foreign policy or national issues; she is really an anti-feminist, wanting the government to enter women's lives to block abortion, but not wanting the government to guarantee equal pay for equal work, or provide adequate child health coverage, or child care, or early childhood education; she shills for the oil and gas industry on drilling; she denies the scientific truths of global warming and evolution; she misuses her political authority; she opposes sex education and her daughter is pregnant; and, rather than being a maverick, she is on the whole a radical right-wing ideologue.

It goes on from there to expound on these 10 issues:

1: Palin supports gunning down wolves from planes

2: Palin doesn't believe global warming is man-made

3: Palin is the candidate of powerful far right-wing cabal; her nomination seals their support for the little-wanted McCain

4: Palin staunchly opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest

5: Palin takes unnecessary risks with the health of her own child, supports failed abstinence-only programs

6: Palin is under investigation for allegedly abusing her power as governor to help her sister in a messy divorce

7: Palin lied about her plans for the "Bridge to Nowhere"

8: A so-called political reformer, Palin has big money ties to Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who has been indicted for political corruption

9: Palin exploits her son's Iraq service for political gain

10: During her time as mayor, Palin drove a town deep into debt

I highly recommend reading the article in its entirety, in which it lays out each point, here.

In today's post, AlterNet writers Isaac Fitzgerald and Tana Ganeva point out 8 more:

1: Palin Tried to Ban Books From Local Library

2: Palin Apparently Doesn't Put 'Country First'

3: Palin's Love Affair With Earmarks

4: Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms

5: Crazy Reverend, Crazy Church

6: McCain Picking Palin Reeks of Sexism

7: Palin Can't Even Run a Car Wash

8: Lied About Foreign Travel

The article expounds on all points.

Then, there is the religious fundamentalism reported here:

Palin Asks for Prayers That War Be "Task That Is From God"

By Juliet Eilperin
When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin delivers a formal address to the nation tomorrow night accepting the GOP vice presidential nomination, it's unlikely to resemble the free-form commencement address she gave in June to a class of commission students at the Wasilla Assembly of God.

The liberal blog Huffington Post has posted a video of the speech, which gives a sense of how Palin used to speak to hometown audiences. Casually dressed in a zippered jacket and short black skirt, Palin exhorted congregants to pray so she could realize her public policy goals.

"I can do my part in doing things like working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, a $30 billion dollar project that's going to create a lot of jobs for people in Alaska, and we're going to have a lot of energy flowing through here -- and pray about that also -- I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she told them, "but I can do my job there, in developing our natural resources, and doing things like getting the roads paved, and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms, their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded. But really, all that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

Switching to the war in Iraq, Palin told the group of students that they should not only pray for men and women in the military but to make sure the leaders of this country are sending U.S. soldiers "out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Whaaaat? My jaw hit the floor on that one (thank you, Independent). Obviously, this woman is a Armegeddon-loving extremist fundamental type of Christian. Do we want her anywhere near the red button? I think that the reaction to the article in the comments section of it is even more telling as to how the average American is responding - I encourage you to read them.

While we wait here for Ms. Palin to Rapture us all, I'd like to also point out a few more things that Just Ain't Right about Palin's nomination. It was, in my opinion, a lame attempt to attract women who just can't wait to vote a woman into office AND shore up the religious fright base all in one fell swoop.

And, here is why that could backfire.

For one thing, did McLAME really think the women in this country are so stupid that we'll vote for anyone with a vagina? I won't. Even though Clinton ran on the democratic ticket and I tend to vote democrat I didn't support her. I thought other candidates better reflected what this country needs, and better represented my own interests, and Hillary is too centrist for me. However, Palin's beliefs are practically the polar opposite from Hillary's - and in the wrong direction. Even if I had been a Hillary supporter, to switch my vote now to McLame because he put a woman on the ticket would be insane, fickle and stupid. Especially because Palin is out-and-out anti-woman. She doesn't care a whit about children or women's care.

This must be an unbelievable slap in the face to Hillary Clinton, who considers herself a progressive and has monumental political experience, intelligence, connections and power. There is obviously the unspoken comparison which is just incredibly insulting to Clinton. Ms. Palin isn't breaking any glass ceiling. She's repairing the cracks and setting women back or would be, if she gets into office.

The republicans, by giving this inexperienced, neocon, gun-toting, nutty, anti-feminist woman the VP offer, show they assume that women in this country are so stupid they won't vote on the issues but just to get a woman into the Whitehouse. I think they will be shown that they were wrong in their assumption.

Consider this: McLame's reputation, before being touted nonstop as a P.O.W., was considered by many to be a maverick because he didn't necessarily go along with his fellow conservatives (now neocons). He's not a religious man by any means and is, by many reports, very uncomfortable being scrutinized as such. As many are saying, the McCain of 2000 wouldn't vote for the McCain of 2008. This is because the maverick part of McCain has changed. McLame has now been rebuilt in the shrub's image, and has probably been ordered to kowtow to the same handlers that the shrub does. I read that McLame wanted to pick his pal LIEberman for the VP slot. I have read that KKKarl Rove nixed the idea. I cannot by any stretch of the imagination believe that McLame selected an uber-rightwing christian fundamentalist on his own. It just doesn't wash with me logically or strategically.

Also, I think that the people that have always liked McLame are just now seeing the first glimpse of Palin. They are in for a shock when they find out who Palin really is. It stands to reason that, most probably, McLame was at his most mavericky when he attracted a good deal of the supporters he now has. The newcomers - conservatives who reviled him a year ago -- probably prefer who he is now that he's fell into lockstep with the neocons. Which means that his other supporters are probably getting more and more confused with who McLame has become. Will the selection of Palin be the straw that broke the camel's back for these more moderate voters?

I know people who like McLame. Not one of them are extreme Christian fundamentalists and I already know of two of them who, upon learning who McLame's running mate is, switched their vote immediately to Obama. They were both were women.

McLame has voted against women's progress 125 times. So he doesn't really have our best interests at heart to begin with and, in that regard, he has a lot in common with Palin. Women who let the hysteria over abortion rights (and don't really realize what those rights are or how beneficial they are to womankind as a whole) may just knee-jerkily vote for Palin. And that's to be expected. But, I don't think this is the majority by any means.

While I don't trust much of what CNN says these days, this was an interesting survey showing that most people don't feel comfortable having religion mixed in with politics. McLame is taking some big chances that the uber-religious base may be bigger than it actually is.

Then there is the vetting factor. It's a complete mystery to many. I've been posting about how I can't believe that McLame would have actually chosen a candidate that had a pregnant, unwed, underaged daughter. It simply doesn't wash. Politicians don't like anything that smacks of even a scintilla of scandal. And, please, wouldn't Palin, being a rabid supporter of abstinence-only programs rather than education on sexual practices and safe sex, showing up with a pregnant teen set alarm bells off? When McLame chose a candidate harboring a known scandal, in the form of her pregnant, teenaged, unwed daughter, did he make a really stupid and desperate mistake? Crooks and Liars now has some indication that he may have.

So, in addition to not vetting her properly, which is, in my humble opinion, a very unPresidential strategy, now it might come out that he lied about what he knew about Palin in the first place? He has definitely put his campaign in peril and I can't see how this is going to play out well for the rethug party. There's an awful lot of lying and covering up going on and it's a turnoff for voters.

It simply does not look good for the GOP.

And the icing on the cake? Obama's poll numbers hit 50% for the first time, smack dab in the middle of the RNC.