John McCain has stated that radical Islamic Fundamentalism is "... is the central threat of our time, and we must understand the implications of our decisions on all manner of regional and global challenges could have for our success in defeating it." http://www.johnmccain.com/...
"...the implications of our decisions..." What are the implications of his decision to put Palin on the ticket as his vice-presidential nominee?
The biggest implication is that he will continue the tradition of putting politics above what is best for this country. If he truly believes we are under such a threat, why would he choose to put someone with NO foreign policy experience in a position to possibly be our Commander in Chief? Is that good judgment? He is 72 years old! Some of his banners say Country First. How can he say he is addressing the needs of the country by putting Palin in a position of possibly becoming President? For eight years we have lived with the consequences of letting political motivations influence important governmental decisions, even compromising the integrity of our justice department, now we are going to compromise the integrity of our security.
The most politically expedient decision Barack Obama could have made when choosing a VP would have been to choose Hillary Clinton. But Barack realized that his choice needed to be someone he could govern with. Obama has great respect for Clinton, and they would have governed well together had it not been for the simple problem of an ex-President in the white house and a press corps eager to portray an Obama/Clinton feud. One had only watch the media coverage of the convention to realize that the press would have created a media drama that would interfere with our country’s business. No matter how hard Convention Democrats tried to steer the conversation back to the business at hand, Ann Curry and her ilk couldn’t ask a question that wasn’t trying to fan the fires of a dramatic confrontation.
So Barack made a decision that was in the best interest of governance, and put an eminently qualified person in the number two position. Someone he can govern with and who could easily be our Commander in Chief should something happen to our President.
Does anyone believe the same about Palin? Does anyone believe McCain is going to turn to her for advise or allow her to be part of governance? In announcing his decision, he said the people he did not choose would be important in his administration, and I’ll bet that while Palin is attending funerals, Liebermann and Romney will be working with McCain. Choosing a woman as tool rather that a substantive partner shows McCain’s blatant disrespect for women. Cindy McCain would have been a more qualified choice, but then I guess she wouldn’t have gotten past the vetting process.