When Atheists Attack

From Wikipedia "A bigot is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own" I quote this article "we shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear codes". This article is a bigoted screed. Newsweek should be embarrassed. dangerously its probably not.

From Wikipedia "A bigot is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own" I quote this article "we shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear codes". This article is a bigoted screed. Newsweek should be embarrassed. dangerously they are probably not.

give it a rest. Focus your efforts on the qualification process for Presidents and VPs rather than beating up someone that was selected. McCain too old? What's the max age for a presidential candidate? Thought so? Should a VP have xx years experience as senator/governor or only in a state in the lower 49? Again, attack the system, not the folks using it.

Sam: As a Small-Town Country "Bumpkin" myself, I have to say your arrogant, elitist comments are exactly why "City-slickers" such as yourself are unfit to lead from Public Office. Sarah Palin has raised a family and taught her kids self-reliance, that meat doesn't always come under plastic or from McDonalds, and that you can do great things if you really put your whole heart, soul, and passion into it. By contrast, your ideal, wordly "City -Slicker" candidate would be from that same sneering, "I'm better than you because I went to Princeton" crowd that you came from. Aren't those arrogant, well-educated, well-heeled financiers and investment bankers the same ones wholly responsible for the meltdown on Wall Street??? Did they all think they were "Smarter than the average Bear??????Not in my book. In the country, you can't just go down to the Giant or Kroger if you run out of milk in the middle of a blizzard----you have to plan ahead and, while you're at it, plan for the worst case. So don't belittle an amazing woman just because she didn't come from the same background and upbringing that you did. She shows the same temprament, tenacity, and connectedness to the earth and people that other great leaders of this country have shown, and I'd rather have HER as the understudy to the No. 1 Guy than the most worldly, experienced, and well-read No. 2 Guy to the "Never-did-a-hard-day's work-in-his-whole-life" No. 1 Guy that took over 40 years to "discover" who he is.

I think Palin is very close to what Bush was like when he was first running: particularly in attitude, values, conviction, wisdom, basic knowlege and level of experience. This is what our country wants. And since we want it, we will get it.

It's interesting that everyone is all up in arms over Palin's religious beliefs, yet Obama claims to be Christian as well and if that is true he would hold the same beliefs as Palin. Yet, Obama tries not to mention anything about being a Christian unless he's in the right crowd and thinks that will get him more votes. They bring up Palin's church, yet Obama was going to a church where the preacher spouted hate and venom about America; no one is questioning that fact. At least with Palin you know where she stands; Obama you don't because he can't make up his mind. That is far scarier than any logic Palin holds.

Sarah Palin has a degree from the University of Idaho. Major: Journalism-Minor: Political Science.

Good for her. She didn't get any help from affirmative action.

She has a degree.

The following people have/had no degrees:

George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Harry Truman
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Rush Limbaugh
Michael Dell

Geez, man. While I completely agree with your central point:

> What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents
> ???and her supporters celebrate???the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance.

... I also share a great deal of Gov. Palin's Christian faith, and I'm having a hard time digging through your speculations as to what Christian faith actually involves. You're right, that Gov. Palin's experience and attitude are terrifyingly inadequate to the job she's running for; you might want to consider your own lack of experience and inappropriate attitude toward the things you don't understand ... especially when your speculations aren't even relevant or necessary to your quite valid point.

Like you, I was worried to see Palin's charisma in an ill-advised cause. I'm also worried to see your ill-advice in a worthy cause.

Dear Newsweek,
Why is this article headlined as "When Atheists Attack"? Shall I anticipate the following sequels written in reasoned, fair opposition to the Palin VP nomination: When Jews Attack; When Muslims Attack; When Liberal Christians Attack; When Quakers Attack? Is reasoned opposition only and/or necessarily an "Attack" when it comes from a person who doesn't espouse a god belief?

Mr. Harris feels that we Americans are making our political choices on an emotional level, rather than dealing with facts. Judging by the rabid reactions in this comments section, that part of his analysis is spot-on. It seems almost impossible to have a political debate these days in which the discussion doesn't spiral hopelessly out of control into ad hominem attacks and opinions wholly unsupported by facts. We have become so enamored of fighting the culture wars that we have forgotten that we really are in this together.

Our media fans the flames, because more page views mean more advertiser dollars. Toxic disinhibition, the state of mind that allows usually well-mannered people to attack each other with personal attacks on line, runs rampant. We forget that we all really do depend on each other. The more urban Blue Staters depend on resources from the Red States. The rural Red Staters need the technology generated in Democratic urban strongholds. We depend on each other.

The most powerful thing about our republic has always been its ability to flex, to hold all the disparate desires and needs of all its people under the same roof. It has also been wildly successful at allowing the best and the brightest to rise to the top, regardless of their parentage or the circumstances under which they were born. I'd hope that regardless of our views about religion, we would vote for the most qualified team on the basis of actual policy positions, knowledge of the issues, and ability to communicate effectively.

Sam Harris-
So, we give Obama the grace to believe that he has his own personal faith tenants that may or may not correspond to his pastor's, but no grace to Palin on the same issue. Question: Have you spoken to Palin or has anyone else gotten the facts on her true PERSONAL beliefs and how they match up with the church that she USED TO go to? No, I bet not. You just publish slander and uninformed "truths" that you really can't substantiate. As far as Palin's response to the "Bush Doctrine", I have read at least two accounts, one published in the Washington Post that explains that MANY experts would have not exactly known what Mr. Gipson meant by the Bush Doctrine because that phrase has had numerous meanings throughout Bush's tenure. So to ask for clarification did not necessarily mean that she had no handle on issues, but could have meant that she did not know which version of the "Bush Doctrine" he was referring to. As to spirituality, the truly great leaders of our country have historically believed that they needed help from above.

thank you. i wish every voter could read this.

Every condescending half-baked idea so arrogantly expressed in this grotesquely smug diatribe by Sam Harris tells you much more about its author than anything said about Sarah Palin. This disgraceful and hate-filled rant so dripping with contempt, could easily have been applied to an untested Harry Truman as easily as Palin. The point that our reality-challenged and sad little reporter, Sammy-boy Harris misses over and over is that a great leader does not need an ivy league education to have authentic and keen leadership instincts and full of superior capabilities.

I'd trust Sarah Palin to make much better decisions than the "well educated" Barack Obama with regard to nuclear proliferation, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, climate change, Russian belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, Islamism, the United Nations, American schools, energy, infrastructure and Internet security as Sammy's simple empty-headed article lists.

In fact, it's not even a close choice. And just a reminder Sammy -- she is #2 on the ticket. When it comes down to who's #1 on the ticket (McCain versus Obama) on all of these listed issues, it gets way beyond laughable for those of us with fully active cognitive function.

I am not a particularly religious person, but Sammy's intolerance and ugly cartoon depiction of Sarah Palin simply because she has a God-based belief system that he don't agree with makes him the ultimate "Ugly American."

Sammy, maybe you shouldn't think in such black-and-white terms when it comes to people of faith, and gain a little nuance when it comes to those you don't understand and publicly belittle. The funny thing is, they happen to be smarter than you.