Sarah Palin needs to shut-up and go home. She has proven to be disastrously unqualified to be vice president or president, she has proven to be an unmitigated embarrassment for John McCain, and she has proven to be either unwilling or incapable of realizing what she says is either so false, so hypocritical, or so divisive that she makes George Bush look like Aristotle, Ghandi, and Mother Theresa combined.
What Sarah Palin will tell you is she’s one of the most popular governors in the nation. What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is why. Numbers lie. Yes, the numbers will tell you that prior to her selection as the GOP vice presidential candidate, 82% of Alaskans approved of her job performance (since her selection, her approval rating has dropped to 68%, still a high number). But that 82% doesn’t tell you why they approve. Certainly one reason is that every year Alaskans get a cut of oil company profits; this year every eligible (meaning you lived in the state for a full calendar year and weren’t a felon) man, woman, and child received $2,069 from the State of Alaska. That’s not Palin’s policy, since it was instated in 1976. What is Palin’s policy, however, is this year every man, woman, and child received an additional $1,200. $3,269 total. A family of four year-long residents received $13,076. No wonder why they approve of her job performance.
What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is whether or not she’s supporting indicted Alaskan senior Senator Ted Stevens. We do know that she once ran a 527 group of his.
What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is she has no idea what the vice president does, but if she did, it would be like the Cheney vice presidency. First was the interview several months ago before she was the vice presidential nominee where she plainly admitted to not knowing what the vice president does:
As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.
Then on Monday she said this in an interview:
A vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president’s agenda, they’re like the team member, the teammate to that president, but also they’re in charge of the United States Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it’s a great job and I look forward to having that job.
Emphasis added. The vice president, of course, has no substantive role in the U.S. Senate unless there is a tie vote. Article I Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution is clear on this matter. Also, during the vice presidential debate, she argued for expanding the role the vice president a la Dick Cheney:
Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president’s agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with [Cheney] that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we’ll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation.
How you can argue for more power when you don’t even know the existing power of the office is beyond me.
What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is since she was announced as John McCain’s running mate, voters’ opinion of her has plummeted:
In addition, for the first time, more voters have a negative opinion of her than a positive one. In the survey, 47 percent view her negatively, versus 38 percent who see her in a positive light.
That’s a striking shift since McCain chose Palin as his running mate in early September, when she held a 47 to 27 percent positive rating.
What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is how anti-intellectual she is or is not. Andrew Sullivan writes:
Here’s one way to look at the question: how has Palin brought up her own kids? Her eldest son is a high-school drop-out. Her eldest daughter has had, so far as one can tell from press reports, very uneven attendance in high school, and no plans for college. Her other daughters seem to spend a lot of time traveling the country with their mom at tax-payers’ expense. I’ve seen them at several rallies with the Palins this fall. Are they not in school?
The least one can say is that none of her children seems to have been brought up thinking that college is something to aspire to. And her new son-in-law just dropped out of high school as well.
Sarah Palin’s own record of several colleges over several years—ending with a degree in sports journalism—tells you a lot. So does her interest in policing the Wasilla library as mayor and using the town’s money for a sports stadium. She cut funding for the town museum and opposed building a new library. So does her amazing ignorance about the constitution.
What Sarah Palin won’t tell you is she abused her power in the Troopergate scandal (although she will tell you the investigation “cleared” her); what Sarah Palin won’t tell you is she lied about telling Congress “thanks, but no, thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere” and then proceeded to spend some of the received money anyway on a Road to Nowhere; what Sarah Palin won’t tell you is she took full advantage of the earmark system that John McCain moans about; what Sarah Palin won’t tell you is on these issues and a host of others, she is incapable of telling the truth—often simple truths, at that—but is more than capable of simply making things up to suit her needs. She won’t even tell you what newspapers or magazines she reads. She won’t tell you these things because she refuses to hold a press conference and instead would rather hide from the media and the American people.
What Sarah Palin will tell you, however, is Barack Obama pals around with terrorists. What Sarah Palin will tell you is he is a socialist because he thinks spreading the wealth around is a good policy for the economy. Here’s the full quote in its context for the record:
So all I want to do is—I’ve got a tax cut. The only thing that changes, is I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well—even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that—I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. [...]
My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re gonna be better off if you’re gonna be better off if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.
Sarah Palin will tell you Obama is a socialist, but she won’t tell you if you apply her definition of a socialist, her taxing a corporation and then spreading that wealth makes her a socialist. She also won’t tell you the John McCain of 2000 said the same thing Obama said:
Responding to a question from a girl who wants to know why her her father, a doctor, pays a higher tax rate than people who earn less:
McCain: “I think it’s to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more.”
Doctor’s daughter: Aren’t we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?
McCain: “Here’s what I really believe. When you are, reach a certain level of comfort, there is nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.”
What Sarah Palin will tell you is some parts of America are more American than others (although she later apologized for her comments, they were delivered at a rally and were no doubt meant to fire up her supporters who probably don’t care whether or not she apologized), and she will tell you that community organizers aren’t that great because they don’t have “actual responsibilities.”
What Sarah Palin will tell you is she is one of us, that she’s a “hockey mom,” whatever that is supposed to mean. Well Sarah, you aren’t one of us. We don’t lie, cheat, and swindle our way through life. We don’t pal around with groups in our states who want to secede from the Union. That isn’t the American way. That isn’t putting country first. That is putting you first.
Sarah Palin, it’s time for the rest of us to tell you something: go home. You are unfit to be vice president let alone president, and by choosing to have you on the GOP ticket and possibly in the White House, your “maverick” friend John McCain is unfit to be president.