Please dont vote Republican

One of my favorite movies is a movie called “Mystery Alaska”. It is about a team from a small Alaska town that convinces the New York Rangers to come play them in an exhibition game. It stars Russell Crowe and it really makes you feel good about being an American. After all, it is the small towns and communities across our great country that makes America what it is. Big cities be damned, with there superfluous sophistication and intellectual pretentiousness. Now, let me transition from a fictional movie that makes one feel all nice and cozy to a real life horror show that could very well be coming to a White House near you.

Sarah Palin spoke tonight in Minnesota.  Sarah Palin, who presently is under investigation; who has a teenage daughter who is now pregnant; who was last seen as a mayor of a town slightly bigger then my High-School; who is married to someone who advocates the succession of Alaska from the Union. Boy was she great. She really showed those intellectual snobs what it really means to be American. It does not matter that we are now in a globalized, interconnected world. It does not matter that we as a country that was once the gold standard in education, innovation, and morality, yet now see some of our iconic brands fall in prestige to foreign competition. In case you did not notice, a Belgium/ Brazilian company has bought out Budweiser. If you only care about beer and silly movies, that should at least make you mad enough to advocate for change. It does not matter that over the last eight years the Bush administration has neglected to confront key issues such as global warming, human rights, genocide, and other such international issues. It does not matter that the Bush Administration has regulated our constitution to a mere advisory role. Sarah Palin, nominee of a major party for Vice-President, chose to throw left hooks at Barack Obama by sensationalizing key issues and simplifying the real problems we now face as a national, while simultanously mocking Obama for appealing to our better nature, and challanging us to make a difference. I thought her performance, in a word, was disgusting.  

In her speech tonight Sarah Parlin, Governor of a town of 600,000 (I know it is really a state, but seriously) chose to use her keynote address to mock, belittle, and deceive the American public). Her rancorous speech may have played well to certain voting demographics, but it did not exhibit the professorial approach that is necessary in solving the problems that this country faces. Folks, lets be honest, the issues at stake are too high, the consequences too great to succumb to such blatant pandering.  Comments like “I was the mayor of a town, which is kind of like being a community organizer, but with responsibility” are cute, and funny, and make people who want there leaders to “be just like me” all warm and fuzzy inside. This is not what we need right now. We need someone who will cross party lines, take a chance, and really confront the issues at stake. Now call me unpatriotic, but I want a leader who will rise above mere name-calling and roll up his sleeves not to throw a punch, so much as to pick up that shovel and get to work. I challenge the readers of this article to give me one legitimate reason why she should be second in command to a 72 year old with a history of cancer. What people have got to realize is that the rest of the world has to believe in us again, and they won’t with a McCain – Palin ticket. Having a vision and willing to work accross both party lines dometically, and through international organizations globally is important. Throwing insults and whinning like a little baby is not. Palin, tonight, if nothing else, proved that the Republican party still choses to care more about winining elections then accomplishing meaningful change. Hopefully the American people have gotten that out of there system, or have they?