Sarah Palin II

I thought I had been pretty thorough in my previous post about Sarah Palin, the Republican VP candidate. But since old man McCain announced his choice for VP, a lot more facts have come to light. Like the fact that her conservative pro-abstinence, yet oddly pro-contraception stance, has not worked for her unmarried teenage daughter who is now pregnant. Or the fact that she has had to hire a law firm to defend herself in the ongoing investigation where she allegedly abused her power to seek the termination of her ex-brother-in-law from his job as State Trooper.

I came across this interesting blog today that includes some of the answers she gave in a questionnaire she completed when she was being considered for Governor in 2006. The questions and her responses have been paraphrased (except where otherwise indicated), but her full answers and the exact wording of the questions are available at the source. Please enjoy, and as you read, do remember that this is the woman who could be one heart beat away from the president if old man McCain has his way:

• Should abortion be legal in cases of rape, incest, a handicapped baby, cases of genetic defect or to save the life of the mother? Her response: Only if, in the opinion of a doctor, the mother would DIE by having the baby.
• Should children be taught biological facts in sex education classes, or should they be taught abstinence until marriage (without biological facts, such as safe sex practices)? Her response: "Explicit sex education will not find my support." (Too bad her teenage daughter was not given the benefit of a proper sex education.)
• Will you expand laws that try to prevent hate crime? Her response: No.
• Do you support modernising gaming laws, or expanding gambling in the state? Her response: Gambling destroys families. (Alaska is one of a handful of states that don't raise money for good causes with a lottery.)
• Should same sex couples be allowed spousal benefits? Her response: No.
• Are you offended by the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance? Her response: "Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance." As a little education for the wannabe VP, the Pledge of Allegiance was created in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a baptist minister and Christian socialist (yes socialist). He proposed a fifteen word pledge that did not include any reference to a deity. He also proposed the Bellamy Salute, that rather embarrassingly looked exactly like a Nazi salute, and so this was later replaced with the hand on heart gesture. It wasn't until 1954 that the words 'under God' were added, after a few years of religious campaigning. And although I am only a lowly immigrant to these shores, I am pretty sure the Founding Fathers were dead by 1954.
  
• What are your top three priorities as Governor? Her response: "1. Creating an atmosphere where parents feel welcome to choose the venues of education for their children.
  2. Preserving the definition of “marriage” as defined in our constitution.
  3. Cracking down on the things that harm family life: gangs, drug use, and infringement of our liberties including attacks on our 2nd Amendment rights." (Yes that's right, her top three priorities included supporting locking up more people for drug crimes; a policy that has worked so well thus far. And of all the priorities that must exist in that state, her number two priority is to discriminate against homosexuals.)

As some blogs are beginning to observe, this is like a younger female George Bush. While I already suspected that McCain was far too old to attempt to run for office, I honestly never did imagine that his judgment was so badly impaired as to select a woman like this for a running mate.

It's almost like he has given up already. Which is fine with me.