A near miss

OK, so we sat up and watched the vice-presidential debate last night. And I have to say I was mildly disappointed.

Sarah Palin had the world's expectations so low that the fact that she did not vomit onto her own podium (or anyone else's) OR dissolve into tears OR go completely off the deep end and attack Biden and the liberal media and, and, and for her woes, counts as a victory.

She made a few gaffes, but nobody seems upset by that. She thinks that the general who led troops in the Civil War is currently running operations in Afghanistan, but nobody blinked. Our expectations were really, really low for her.

That speaks volumes about America and what we are willing to accept from our leaders. We are willing to accept a leader who does not know more than one Supreme Court Decision EVER, we are willing to accept a leader who cannot name a single new source that she reads. We are willing to accept a leader who cannot pronounce nuclear but would be willing to drop one on someone.

That is terrifying enough.

But you know what?

I wanted a train wreck last night. I wanted to see her crash and burn in a spectacular fashion. And in a way I did. We just don't get to hear it through that filter.

Sarah Palin showed herself to be a blithering idiot capable only of parroting the talking points she had been fed. If she had been another candidate for vice president and came out onto the stage and offered that performance, the pundits would be wringing their hands and calling it a disaster. But the fact that she is perceived as just a small step above a protozoa in intelligence, her folksy non-answers are being held up as sparkling examples of wit and debate skills.

Dear god, she's still dumber than a hake. We've just been told to expect so little that when she gives up five cents instead of four, we call it a 25 percent over-achievement. Never mind that we deserve leaders with a full dollar's worth of brains and are getting someone who can barely spell her name and who, I would hazard a guess, could not name all the states on a map of the US, never mind the nations of the globe. She spelled U.S.A. right last night and is being heralded as the rebirth of the party of Lincoln.

How utterly pathetic.

Check this out

Check out this blog post on Sara Palin by my friend over at phigment. Brilliant stuff. Just delightful.

It just takes ones's breath away

this from Daily Kos:

Here is Palin's response to a candidate questionnaire for the Alaska 2006 gubernatorial race:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: 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

Now for those who want to know why this is so offensive, consider this information (mostly) from Wikipedia:

1. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. Fully more than a century after the end of the American War of Independence, one would expect that any founding fathers would be long since dead. Founding Grandkids, perhaps, but certainly no Founding Fathers in that crowd

2. Bellamy's original Pledge read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The original version doesn't even mention America or God, so stuff that in your hat, Ms. veep-wannabe.

3. In 1923 the National Flag Conference called for the words my Flag to be changed to the Flag of the United States. The reason given was to ensure that immigrants knew to which flag reference was being made. The words "of America" were added a year later. Um, still no god stuff, two decades on.

4. The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge as the official national pledge on June 22, 1942. Without the god stuff, again!

5. The words "under God" were added by legislation signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 14, (Flag Day) 1954 after a sermon by a Presbyterian minister convinced him of the need to add a mention of a deity. Oh, here it is. During the McCarthy era. Right. 1954 is precisely 62 years after the thing was written, and nearly 200 years after any founding fathers were alive and writing things like declarations, constitutions and such. But no pledges... isn't that interesting??

6. Sarah Palin is a certifiable idiot.

I can hardly wait for November.