Jeff Zeeman’s Fantastic Commentary on the Palin Choice
As of two years ago, I was more qualified to be Vice President than she was. Seriously. I had half as many constituents as student government president at age 20 as she did at that time, and I have more constituents now as President of my civic association. While I am not short on self confidence, the idea that, after a little over year as governor of a small state whose concerns are about as far removed from the rest of America as France or Mexico, I would suddenly be qualified to be leader of the free world, is absolutely laughable. (I would nonetheless do a better job than GWB, but all that means is I have something in common with 2/3 of this country).
Were I a woman and in particular a Hillary suppporter, I would be absolutely insulted by this choice. McCain, a known and repeated misogynist by the way, is basically saying “because you are a double xx, you will vote for any woman, no matter who, no matter how unqualified, no matter how far her ideals stray from those of Hillary Clinton, simply because she happens to be a woman.” It really demeans the intelligence and judgment of women everywhere. Hell, just a few months ago, she herself called Hillary a “whiner.”
McCain knows almost as little about Ms. Palin as we do. He met her ONCE, in passing, before making this choice. He had barely talked to her prior to this week. This is simply unheard of and proves that she was a last minute hail mary selection. Basically, rather than picking someone based on qualification, after watching the DNC, his advisors wanted to do three things: (a) mollify the evangelical base, (b) shake up the campaign after Barack’s unbelievable speech, seen by more people than any convention speech in history, and (c) try to attract disaffected Hillary voters. Palin could do all three, and no other qualification mattered. Even he looked incredibly uncomfortable during her introductory speech — nervous and unsure.
Comparing Palin’s experience to Barack’s is a complete and utter joke. Again, Palin has never met a foreign leader. Never offered an opinion on foreign policy. Never once been in the national spotlight, other than for her physical appearance. Never been in a televised national debate, and only will be once before the election. Never been on Meet the Press. She has UNDER TWO YEARS of relevant experience. Barack has ELEVEN YEARS of relevant experience: seven as a state senator from a very populous state, four as among the three most prominent U.S. Senators, and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Plus, his other life experiences have prepared him to be President: two years running the most stunningly successful campaign in the history of Presidential politics, during which he had to fend off an aggressive challenge from one of the titans of our time, face unprecedented scrutiny, and survive a series of debates against a brilliant, seasoned opponent; nearly a decade teaching constitutional law at the most ideologically balanced law school in the country; and successful tenure as a civil rights attorney and community organizer. Yes, Palin is a parent. But so are most Americans, including Barack. What has she done that qualifies her to lead the free world? Be a sportscaster and gone ice fishing? Yeah, it’s a cute story, but do you feel confident in that background getting that infamous 3 A.M. phone call?
Here is where elitist snob Jeff comes out. The media can’t say this, but I will. To the extent someone lacks experience, in my view, that can be compensated for by being a brilliant, quick student of national and international affairs. Bill Clinton, for all his flaws, could master any policy in a matter of hours. Barack is exactly the same way. He is, without any doubt, a genius. Magna cum laude at Harvard Law School, con law professor, author (and he didn’t need a ghost writer) of two books and three of the most inspiring, beautifully written poltical speeches of the last decade. He has already mastered almost every conceivable policy issue and is fluent discussing all of them. Palin, well, we don’t really know, but there is no indication that her intellect remotely approaches Barack’s. All we know is that she was a communications major at U. of Idaho who obviously has a polished public persona. We already know that McCain barely graduated college, finishing four places from last in his class, and can’t even use a computer. Do we need yet ANOTHER group of intellectual lightweights running the country?
Palin’s reputation as a reformer is exaggerated. As of 48 hours ago, her campaign website featured a recent commercial in which indicted felon Ted Stevens endorsed her. 24 hours ago, that video was removed. Plus, she now claims that she was ignorant of her HUSBAND and CHIEF of STAFF’s efforts to get someone fired due to a custody dispute with her sister. Either she has no control over her staffers and husband, or she is deviously machiavellian. I am not sure which is more discomforting.
Now let’s get to some of her policies — she is a radical pro lifer, and would ban abortion even in cases of rape. She believes that global warming is not provoked by human activity. She is to the right of even McCain on environmental and oil issues. She would continue the Bush’s administration disdain for science: she even advocates teaching of creationism in schools. Completely opposed to any kind of stem cell research. Why do you think the base is so excited about her? If you care about science, and you think science should be more prominent than religion in the decision making process of our nation’s leaders, you simply can’t support McCain/Palin.
By her own admission, she is woefully unprepared — two months ago, she did not even know what the Vice President does, and when asked a few months ago, she demonstrated that she knew NOTHING about the war on Iraq. NOTHING about the most important foreign policy issue of our time. Charming and refreshing, yes. Presidential? Sweet jesus, no.
Ironically, all of the publicity about how Hillary was mistreated by the media has made them gun shy in terms of going after Sarah Palin. They are woefully afraid of being called sexist. This has nothing to do with gender. If she was a male, she would have been completely eviscerated by now. In terms of readiness to be President, she makes Dan Quayle look like Joe Biden. The odds of McCain having some sort of incapacitating disability in the next year are hardly remote, and the prospect of her as the leader of the free world within a matter of months is absolutely terrifying to me.
