We have for a while been witness to the abject anti-intellectualism of Sarah Palin and her supporters. Whether it is her blatant distortions of what her opponents say or her utter cluelessness when it comes to global politics (or even national politics), Palin has painted herself out t be a more physically-attractive clone of George W. Bush. And while fortunately she is not the Presidential candidate and it is increasingly likely she won't become vice president (assuming you ALL go out and vote for Senator Obama! Don't slack off because he seems to be winning!) there are disturbing murmurs about Palin as the 2012 Presidential candidate.
Oh, scoff if you will, but Palin is a dark distorted reflection of Obama. She has a base charisma that attracts people fearful of the Democratic party and the ability to rile people up. What's more, people just seem to "like her" (and I have to include my mother in this crowd, who "likes" her even though she's been shown to be clueless when it comes to the basics needed to be Vice President, let alone President). And with the ouster of not only the neocon movement but also the moderate Republicans from the Republican party, we're left with religious-thinking right-wing reactionaries who will refuse to acknowledge anything the Democrats do as having any validity, and indeed consider Democrats as unAmerican traitors who are trying to destroy their country. Politico has even reported that top conservatives are already planning out the role of the GOP after this election, and expect to have Sarah Palin as their 2012 Presidential candidate even if John McCain somehow pulls a miracle out of his hat and wins in 2008.
Christopher Hitchens put it best in his article Sarah Palin's War on Science in which he focuses on Palin's disdain for scientific spending as "wasteful" and "unnecessary" (when talking about research on fruit flies). Hitchens' final paragraph sums up perfectly the tragedy that the Republican party has become:
This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.
Hitchens also talks about Palin's belief in Creationism and in her disbelief in humanity's responsibility for global warming. He goes on to comment on another more disturbing aspect of Palin: her religious beliefs.
Videos taken in the Assembly of God church in Wasilla, Alaska, which she used to attend, show her nodding as a preacher says that Alaska will be "one of the refuge states in the Last Days." For the uninitiated, this is a reference to a crackpot belief, widely held among those who brood on the "End Times," that some parts of the world will end at different times from others, and Alaska will be a big draw as the heavens darken on account of its wide open spaces. An article by Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times gives further gruesome details of the extreme Pentecostalism with which Palin has been associated in the past (perhaps moderating herself, at least in public, as a political career became more attractive).
As if that isn't disturbing enough, Hitchens goes on to mention her being "anoited" by an African bishop who "casts out witches" (something I find rather offensive; how many pagans would have to go back into the broom closet for a Palin Presidency? How many non-Christians would be persecuted for their beliefs? How many athiests would be discriminated against for their refusal to believe in God?):
High points, also available on YouTube, show her being "anointed" by an African bishop who claims to cast out witches. The term used in the trade for this hysterical superstitious nonsense is "spiritual warfare," in which true Christian soldiers are trained to fight demons. Palin has spoken at "spiritual warfare" events as recently as June. And only last week the chiller from Wasilla spoke of "prayer warriors" in a radio interview with James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who said that he and his lovely wife, Shirley, had convened a prayer meeting to beseech that "God's perfect will be done on Nov. 4."
Of course, this anti-science belief isn't only indicitive of Palin and the religious right that are seizing control of the Republican party. Senator McCain derided efforts to study the DNA of grizzly bears in Montana, which can be used to track grizzlies and determine their number. Instead, McCain seems to think of DNA as of use in "paternity" and "criminal" issues.
However, as annoying as McCain's anti-science beliefs are, they're a drop in the bucket and primarily due to McCain's "war on earmarks" and wasteful spending. To be honest, I actually agree with him on certain aspects about earmarks: I feel earmarks and riders on bills should be eliminated and that any request for spending should be done separate of other legislation. But McCain can continue his battle against earmarks in the Senate. He does not have the capacity or flexibility to be President of the United States. What's more, his very campaign is an endorsement of the anti-intellectual beliefs of the religious right and of Palin and her supporters.
This must be stopped. We need to start pointing out Palin's flaws, her bizarre beliefs, and the fact she is, far more than McCain, a candidate of fear and divisiveness. And while I believe the Republican party needs to be shaken up, the signs I've seen shows that it is moving in the wrong direction, embracing the religious thinking and insanity that has cost it so many seats in the House and Senate in 2008.
It is essential that we do not let up our guard. Republicans are not bad people. The rank and file voter wants what is best for the country. Sadly, Republican voters are being betrayed by its leadership who have learned the wrong lessons from this election cycle. And if they don't soon correct their mistakes, then the party of Lincoln, who freed the slaves and worked so hard to preserve the Union, may go the way of the Whigs and Federalists.
Robert A. Howard, Tangents Reviews