Sarah Palin and the Dinosaurs

Sarah Palin must be stopped.

It is bad enough that she supports abstenence-only education programs when she herself was pregnant out of wedlock as her daughter is today.

It is bad enough that she supports banning books and fired a librarian over it.

It is bad enough she supports hunting wolves from helicopters and has something against polar bears.

But the icing on the cake? Dinosaurs. You know, those cute little creatures from "The Land Before Time" movies? Except with Sarah Palin, Dinosaurs didn't exist in a land before time. They existed in that time between Adam and Eve and Noah. Something like 6000 years ago. Sarah Palin is a firm believer in creationism and has a clear record of giving the big lipstick coated middle finger to Science.

I can understand a politician from Alaska being ignorant on foreign affairs given that her state has less than half the people in St. Louis. I can understand a hockey mom from Wasila not having a fricking clue what the Bush Doctrine is when you spent most of your time making executive decisions such as "Do we have enough money in our city budget to put up our second stop-light?" And I can understand how she thinks of herself as a reformer because in Alaska, a reformer is anyone just slightly less corrupt than Senator Ted Stevens.

But what I cannot understand is any person, religious or not, ignoring facts and ignoring the truth when it can hurt our country for generations to come. As for private citizens, I could care less whether you agree with the theory of evolution as scientific fact. Not everyone can be an expert on these things, and admittedly, evolution is not an easy subject to wrap one's head around. But as a public servant, it is your responsibility to avoid imposing your beliefs on people when they get in the way of facts and science. Science education in this country is at a low point today. I don't know if we will be able to recover from another 4 years of this idiocracy. The United States has succeeded largely on the backs of scientists, and every facet of our economy has been advanced by our scientific community. Sarah Palin likes to think God has blessed America (and therefore damned every other country) when it is science that has given us so much. But the future of science in America is uncertain. More and more top scientists are coming out of our universities, but they are from India and China. What happens when they return home and begin keeping their scientific advances for their own countries. What happens when China discovers a cure for cancer or when India is able to wean itself off of foreign oil, all the while the United States remains in the 20th century? Terrorism and the current economic crisis are small potatoes compared to the thought of the United States falling behind in science.

Sarah Palin has single-handily resurrected the religious right's power and their crusade to create a theocracy in Washington. Here are the questions I want to see journalists ask her: What is your position on the teaching of evolution in the classroom? What is the role of the church in public education? Do you intend to use religion as a litmus test for all of your policy decisions?

Sarah Palin has taken over the GOP nomination and John McCain has already become the old grandpa sitting in the back seat just hoping the Palin Express drops him off at a nice nursing home. John McCain is the face of an old GOP, pre-GW Bush, that I largely disagree with, but at least protects the Constitution and tries to uphold the tennants of our Nation. Sarah Palin is GW Bush on Jonestown KoolAid. She scares the crap out of me.

While I ultimately believe that Barack Obama will win this election on the "issues that matter most" such as the economy, foreign policy judgement, and up-holding the Constitution, this election is bigger than this. Not only does Barack have the best ideas and plans for our nation, but John McCain and Sarah Palin have the worst ideas and plans. When GW ran against Al Gore in 2000, a lot of voters said to themselves: "They seem pretty similar on a lot of issues, so I will go with Bush because I can relate to him better." This time around, the contrasts couldn't be more stark, the stakes couldn't be higher, and the future of our country couldn't be less certain. If Sarah Palin is the new face of the GOP, then you better pray that McCain doesn't kick the bucket while in office, because if he does, you can kiss your country goodbye. The choice is clear. The power is ours. Sarah Palin must be stopped.