Demonstrated ability lacking

John C. Espy, Ronan

Gov. Sara Palin has demonstrated an ability to deliver demagogic sound bites at her rallies. However she has not demonstrated an ability to be able to respond with any indication of intelligent rigor to even the most basic questions that we should be demanding of a vice-presidential nominee.

In her first interview, Palin asserted that her sole experience with foreign affairs was that Alaska lies within close proximity to Russia. Palin did not even possess a passport until a year ago. When Palin was asked by Catie Couric what periodicals or newspapers she reads she replied "all of them." I find her folksy facade to be both frightening and insulting. Senator McCain is 72 years old with a history of stage II melanoma, there is a 50/50 chance that vice president Palin could become President Palin. It is interesting how many times on the campaign trail that Palin has said "In a Palin and McCain administration."

If Palin were running for president right now, would you vote for her? How could any critical thinking individual not question the judgment of McCain in tapping Palin as his vice-presidential running mate? McCain's decision makes a mockery of his campaign rhetoric of "country first". If this is an example of McCain's judgment, I shudder to think how he would react when faced with a crisis. What McCain has demonstrated is his willingness to sacrifice the welfare and security of the United States by placing an individual with what appears to be not even a high school level grasp of the most basic domestic and foreign policy literally one heartbeat away from the presidency. This was not done so McCain could mine Palin's sage advice on profoundly complex national and international matters but only an attempt to secure some type of political advantage. This is especially true when one considers the incredible talent (e.g. Tom Ridge, Ann Richards, Mitt Romney) McCain chose to pass by with his choice of Palin.

I ask you how comfortable are you with the following scenario: It's 3 a.m. "President Palin, the United States has been attacked how should we respond…"

On Friday Oct. 10 a bipartisan Alaskan investigative committee found Palin guilty of "abuse of power" and an "ethics violation" in the Troopergate scandal. Yet on Saturday Oct. 11, Palin stated she felt "exonerated" by the report. Palin's response was consistent with the Bush/Cheney doctrine to create their own history of events woven together by bold face lies.

We have lived through the past eight years under the abject ineptitude, flagrant lies and dismantling of the Constitution by the Bush administration. The Palin/McCain ticket serves to profoundly deepen the domestic and international debacle the Bush administration has perpetrated for the past eight years. We are not choosing a prom king and queen, we are choosing the president and vice president of the United States. To quote Palin, "We are not going to be taken advantage of any more"

(Here's winkin' at y'all)