Apart from the hillbilly soap opera aspect of things, there are disturbing facts emerging about McCain's inexplicable pick for VP.Apparently she's just a typical religious right
"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."...and a partisan divider who brought the abortion issue to mayoral campaigns (from the same Times story):
"When Palin, who went on to win re-election by a landslide, was forced out of the Mayor's office by term limits in 2002, her husband Todd's stepmother Faye Palin ran for mayor. She did not, however, get Sarah Palin's endorsement. A couple of people told me that they thought abortion was the reason for Palin not supporting her family member — Faye, they say, is pro-choice, not to mention a Democrat. A former city council member recalls that it was a heated race, mainly because of right-to-life issues: "People were writing BABYKILLER on Faye's campaign signs just a few days before the election.""She was for "creationism" being taught in schools:
"The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms."...before she was against "creationism" being taught in schools:
"As a candidate for governor, Sarah Palin called for teaching creationism alongside evolution in public schools. But after Alaska voters elected her, Palin, now Republican John McCain's presidential running mate, kept her campaign pledge to not push the idea in the schools."She thinks the Iraq War is a "task from 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.""Her church isn't her, but still -- Bush critics are going to hell?:
"The most recent pastor at the Assembly of God in Wasilla, Ala., where Palin was raised - the pastor arriving in 1999, in a church that Palin left in 2002 - later warned that critics of President Bush might be banished to Hell and that people who voted for John Kerry might not gain entry to Heaven..."Which is nothing compared to some of the speeches given by guest speakers at the church:
"Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity."The picture that emerges is that of a scientific illiterate and shamelessly self-promoting religious extremist ("Pray for my natural gas pipeline!") who has no problem muzzling free expression when it suits her purpose. In other words, a typical religious right whackjob. I'm starting to think she was vetted, alright, to make sure she was the worst possible candidate.
(TGB has more, as does Rusty Idols, and Chet wonders "Why Her?")
(h/t: prole)
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