The choice by Senator McCain of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate foretells what a McCain presidency will look like. Like George W. Bush, McCain has filled a vacancy, not with goal of finding the most qualified candidate, but with the goal of political expediency. Like some in the Bush Whitehouse, Palin is under investigation for misappropriation of executive power. Alberto Gonzales misappropriated his authority as Attorney General. The vice president’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby was indicted for perjury, only to be pardoned by Bush. Bush’s main political advisor, Karl Rove, continues to refuse to answer a congressional subpoena on what he knows about the politicization of justice department hirings and firings. Just as Rove has refused to cooperate in any way with an investigation into the Bush justice department, Palin now refuses to cooperate with an investigation into the firing of her former brother-in-law. In fact, a lawsuit has now been filed to quash the investigation into whether Palin illegally used the office of the governor to fire her sister’s ex-husband from the state police force. This is simply more of the same we’ve seen for the past eight years from the Bush administration.
Palin’s choice as V.P. is even more of a reflection of John McCain than it is of Palin herself. It is credibly reported that McCain chose Palin at the last minute on advice of political operatives. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell recently reported that McCain only met Palin once before choosing her. This is eerily reminiscent of President Bush being led by less than stellar advisors. The actual choice of Palin also mirrors Bush’s choice of the less qualified. Remember Katrina’s “heck of a job, Brownie”? McCain and Palin represent more of the same.
Who will the political operatives tell McCain to choose next? Will it be Phil Gramm for Secretary of Treasury? He was the McCain campaign’s financial advisor when he called Americans’ lament over the economy “whining.” Maybe it’ll be a creationist for Secretary of Education? The point is, we cannot afford a president who will continue to appoint and nominate cabinet members and other heads of agencies based on political expediency over qualification. Eight years of this has lead to a disastrous foreign policy and an economy on the verge of collapse. We need someone of exceptionally high intelligence who will seek out the most qualified people for the toughest jobs. Barack Obama, past president of the Harvard Law Review, is such an exceptionally gifted individual. Our country simply cannot withstand another four years of the same we’ve seen from George W. Bush. McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin gives every indication that a McCain presidency will just be more of the same.
The choice by Senator McCain of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate foretells what a McCain presidency will look like. It is predictive of his choices for cabinet posts and judicial nominations. Simply put, a President McCain will be as beholden to the religious right as George W. Bush is. Bush was forced to withdraw his nomination of Harriet Myers from the Supreme Court by religious fundamentalist fearing she might be a closet “moderate.” Make no mistake about it; the extreme right-wing still controls the Republican political machine. McCain will need their support to govern, and in order to garner that support he would have to repeatedly acquiesce to their demands on appointments and nominations, just as George W. Bush was forced to do. In McCain’s case however, the choice of Palin is even more onerous. Not since the advent of television has a candidate for the second highest office in the land held such extreme religious views.
Palin’s church believes that we are in “end days,” preceding an Armageddon that will end the world as we know it and usher in the Second Coming. In particular, her pastor believes that the state she governs, Alaska, is a “refuge state,” that God has predetermined to accept the few remaining refugees of the battle of Armageddon. Unlike Brarack Obama, who wasn’t present in his church when his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made some unfortunate comments relating to racism in America, Palin shared the pulpit with pastor Ed Kalnins when he made his comments about Alaska as a refuge state. It was from the same pulpit that Sarah Palin made her comments that the Iraq war is a mission for God. Palin’s church hosted Jews for Jesus executive director Larry Kroon, who proclaimed that terrorism against Israel is God’s punishment for not accepting Jesus as savior. Unlike Obama, who left Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ because he disputed the inflammatory words of Rev. Wright, Palin still proudly clings to Wasilla Bible Church.
The Wasilla Bible Church statement of faith proclaims that the bible is the “inspired, inerrant word of God.” It is no small wonder that Palin believes in teaching “intelligent design,” which is simply respun creationism, in public schools. McCain himself, in order to garner support of fundamentalist Christians, said in 2005 that intelligent design should be taught in public schools, but later backtracked by stating it should “probably not” be taught as science.
McCain’s track record on his own faith is rather curious. Is it mere coincidence that the religious right rose up to assassinate his character in the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary against George W. Bush when McCain identified himself as an Episcopalian, yet McCain now finds himself Republican presidential nominee as a self-proclaimed Baptist? McCain even solicited the endorsement of tele-evangelist John Hagy to secure the nomination. Hagy has called Catholicism an apostate religion, and has referred to it as the “great whore.” Or, what about McCain’s statement in 1999 that overturning Roe v. Wade would result in replacing safe medically monitored abortion with dangerous backroom abortions, and his statement in 2008 that Roe should be overturned?
The record is clear, McCain will do or say anything to obtain the support of the extreme religious element that controls the Republican Party. The reality of political governance is that McCain will need to maintain and foster this support throughout his presidency. His new base, quite contrary to the constituency that supported the maverick McCain in 2000, consists of Christian fundamentalists that want to see creationism replace evolution in public schools, Christian prayer in public schools, the abolishment of stem cell research, and a foreign policy based on biblical prophecy. Remember President Bush’s speech invoking a new “crusade” after 9/11? Those were the words of a right-wing speech writer. We should feel ill at ease that the possible second in line to the presidency believes a nuclear holocaust may bring Christ’s return.
McCain’s choice of Palin for vice president indicates that McCain is likely to staff his cabinet with people of Palin’s ilk, whether it is Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Defense, or Secretary of State. Palin-esque judicial nominees for the federal courts will bring our country closer to the theocracy that the extremists of Palin’s church pray for. That is what the Palin nomination foretells of a McCain presidency.
