When Atheists Attack

Excellent article (though a little condescending here and there). Both Republicans and Democrats should be equally worried by the possibility that Palin could become the vice president, or worse, president of the USA. The decision to choose Palin as running mate is by far the worst mistake of John McCain so far, and casts very serious doubts on his ability to handle crucial decisions.

I just finished rereading your article with greater trepidation to the potential of Sarah Palin becoming the vice president or, more troubling, the president. Your concise and eloquent writing expounded my thoughts of her and grew louder each time I read it to myself. Not only do I want to send this article in bold print and all caps to every member of my conservative family but also to those who haven???t considered the profound consequences of electing this mediocre woman (and John McCain???s decision to select her). I believe this article should be read out loud to everyone in boardrooms, congregations, upper division classrooms, all the indecisive voters, red states and as a replacement to elevator music from now until election day. The denigration of voter???s reasoning within our country that once chose candidates on admiration, respect and intellect must also be derided by the rest of the world.

Its not Sarah Palin that disgusts you. Its the fact that your Sarah Palin, by definition, Senator Obama, all 143 days of him, has been trumped. All the issues you are concerned with about her are equally disconcerting, if not more, about him and he is running for President based on what?! The Dems in all their glory chose the wrong person. Mrs. Clinton was the antidote that the Dems didn't want to take. She's not much better but she beats the Palin trump card. I always find it amusing that that our educated elite writing their required 34 paragraphs know so much about who and what qualifies for President or leader for that matter but never find themselves among the mix. They just keep educating us dullards. Leadership has nothing to do with Ivy league dipolmas or maybe Einstein or others would have run. It has alot to do with guts, determination and sacrifice. The principles that this country was founded on and allows you to spew your intellect today. They don't teach you that at Havard. Thank you for providing us with a renewed determination to get her elected.

Aren't the Bush lovers something. The Republicans have been in charge of everything for the most part of the past 8 years and have managed to screw everything up so badly that many things, such as the economy and the deficit, may be beyond repair. Mr. Bush was handed a balanced budget by a Democratic president. And you still try to blame the Democrats. It is a little late to pass the blame. You've had your chance and failed in an almost unbelievably horrible way for our country. McCain wants to be president so badly that he sold his soul to the far right of the party. Imagine a pentecostal one breath away from the presidency. Imagine a president who thinks that end times are here and that she was sent by God to bring it about. YIKES.

The opinions people have formed about Palin happened within minutes of her initial speech. Everything else, including interviews by a talk show host, have been used to create the arguments against her. McCain is a strong, intelligent, savvy political leader, choosing a running mate who has traits of youth and inexperience was a method of balancing out the teams. This rhetoric about Palin's inexperience is to avoid the discussion that Obama has no more experience and is less genuine overall. What does Obama know about nuclear issues, political strife, national security? He is no more qualified than Palin to be the Vice-President...he is not running for VICE president, he is running for PRESIDENT! Perhaps we should compare him to McCain, his counterpart in this election. Is the only argument that goes in Obama's favor to compare him to the vice-presidential candidate? This country is on the verge of electing a complete novice to run this country because Bush has the intellect of a farm goat. I consider myself an independent voter, and I try and assess the best candidate regardless of their party affiliation.There are two other extremely serious issues I hope get some media play. AGEISM is running rampant, this is unacceptable! We get all worked up about racism, sexism etc, but Ageism is all over the place and I am tired of people pretending this is not a significant issue. Second, where was all of this concern when Cheney was nominated for vice-president. His daughter is a lesbian, he does not support gay rights, he hunts game and shot his friend in the face, he has health problems and could die at any moment. If he were a woman, we would have burned him on a stick! He is a terrible leader, he frightens me, and yet...as for now...I still have some rights (I personally am shocked). How about giving Sarah Palin a chance to be judged like a man, if she wants to shoot a moose- so be it. No one really seemed that concerned about Cheny's 80 year old friend who was shot in the face. Palin has a pregnant daughter...a lot of families have to deal with teen pregnancy, drug addiction, and the ilk. If her daughter was not pregnant, people would have come up with something else to get on the podium about.
Finally, I find myself defending Palin, not because I am her biggest fan, but because I think we have gotten out of touch with the things we think and say about people in the public eye. If we want to be this demanding of her character, then lets pass some of that around. I will always wonder if the columnists of today were the same ones chiding Clinton for his indiscretion and he ruined the morals of this nation. I might ask if perhaps in their eyes it is Clinton's fault Palin's daughter is pregnant?
Side note: I happen to believe Bill Clinton is one of the most intelligent and impeccable leaders of his generation. His interpersonal relationships are none of our business, we should be so lucky as to have someone like him again in office before I die.

It is truly amazing when you see such clear venom come out of an athestic like a Sam Harris. In his opinion, we Christians are stupid, ignorant and clueless because we believe there is a God who has revealed Himself and is ultimately in control and that fact alone drives Mr. Harris to frothing at the mouth because he believes he is in control and he is not.

The fact that Harris is complaining because Palin is a self-professed christian and seems to live up to those moral values is telling about the bias of the opinion expressed in this article. The fact that people like Harris forget that this nation's Constitution and all its laws are based on religious values and morals. Everyone of the founding fathers expressed this notion. If all people lived by the morals and values, believing in "God" or not, then we would not have problems such as the economic crisis caused by greed of the big "elite" people on wall street and their political hacks in Congress. I would much rather have a person that gives us straight talk about their beliefs, even if I do not believe the same things, than a person who hids their values for political reasons and cannot givve a straightforward answer on anything remotely personal.

This article is very informative and well done. The point being made is simple. We blame Bin Laden for obeying God's will and messing up the world. Palin is somewhat frightening. Making political decisions based on religious beliefs is for me a "no no". The lady is motivated by something that scares me. She does not appear to reflect but has this insistent and self-righteous attitude even when she is talking rubbish.

Harris' analysis is real food for thought. Why do Americans appear to love mediocrity so much when it comes to politics? I cannot think of people in say France jumping up and down for Palin because she is a hockey mom. Really there has to be more substance than that. Harris also has a valid point. Why have so much contempt for people who are sound? In order to be the president of the US, the person must, under present circumstances, have elite characteristics. Obama has shown such traits and all we hear is that he is elitist. Palin for example is not ???elite???. (I have not seen much in the overall attitudes of McCain that would make me characterize him as an "elite", as explained in the dictionary. He is more a street fighter ready to draw blood without blinking.). Palin is being put to shame because she does not have this "elite" nature. She does not shine on matters that would make a president stand out.

I think that some people have contempt for excellence because they have not had advanced education and because they do not consider themselves to be intellectually strong. This is a mistake because we all are inadequate in some areas. However that makes us neither inferior nor unable to appreciate the shinning star in others.

As for Palin she is too over-confident and does not appear to appreciate her own inadequacies and weaknesses. This will unfortunately only lead her to further embarrassment as she moves on during this campaign because she just cannot study what she has not known over 44 years in just two months. This is McCain???s fault.

It is truly frightening that there are so many people in America who believe the best candidate for elected office is someone "...they'd rather have a beer with." It's the failure of the American educational system - we have created a generation of real dumb-a**es. All these folks who think Palin is qualified not only lack the ability to think critically.
It's pathetic.

This entire donnybrook has caused me to recall a comment by that near-infallible b.s. detector, The Hon. Harry S. Truman, in Merle Miller's justly-celebrated "Plain Speaking": "I don't trust people who carry on too much about religion. When somebody starts shouting too loudly in the amen corner, you'd better go home and lock up the smokehouse." That's particularly true when applied to a politico. If you see and hear a politico "carrying on" a good deal about religion, you can bet the farm and the livestock that you are witnessing a first-rank four-flusher, a "Bible-beating bunko artist," working his/her best grift. Sadly, it works like a charm on a sizeable slice of the great Amurrican "booboisie" (with apologia to Mencken). One needs only scan some of the responses supra to realize how many unfortunate folks still vote on the basis of irrational Medieval hokum.

I recall a sage observation made by that near-infallible b.s. detector, The Hon. Harry S. Truman, in Merle Miller's "Plain Speaking": "I don't trust people who carry on too much about religion. When somebody starts shouting too loud in the amen corner, you'd better go home and lock up the smokehouse." That goes double for politicos who "carry on" about religion. If you encounter one of those cases, you can bet the farm and the livestock that you're hearing a line from a first-rank four-flusher, a "Bible-beating bunko artist" who is just doing a bigtime number on the great Amurrican "booboisie" (apologia to Mr. Mencken) and the Simple Simons who take up space in this nation. The types Saul Bellow, I believe, denominated "the damp people." Ms. Palin looks pretty "damp" to me in a number of ways.

I read with interest Sam Harris' off the mark defense of elitism. Spoken like a true elitist. I would like him to tell me what defines an elite politician, or what makes a good president. Ivy league education? Years of work in the government? High social status? A law degree? Perhaps our political process would benefit from a common touch, as opposed to the partisan, insular view that exist in our government today. Does he think that the founding fathers were pushing for a class of elite politicians to steer the fate of our country? I doubt it. Give me some one who worries about the price of a head of lettuce at Safeway rather than how the price of arugula has gotten out of hand at Whole Foods. A good example of of the value of elite leadership can be seen in America today. Look no further than the recent Wall street meltdown to see the outstanding job that the elite bankers, brokers, CEOs and government officials did in ruining our financial system. In Harris' eyes the meltdown is probably the fault of the poor smucks who applied for the subprime mortgages, not the greedy elitists who built their financial houses on sand.

Sam Harris critiques Palin supporters for forgiving her mistakes, but it is just as prevalent with Obama and his followers, who refuse to consider all the weird company and church teachings which Obama has kept company with for decades. Who cares what Sam Harris thinks, since he is such a raving atheist? Harris also reveals his lack of understanding concerning why people do not like elitism, it is akin to taxation without representation. As an elite atheist (Harris), or elite pseudo-"Christian" (Obama), they claim to know what is best for all, despite insulting Bible-based morality. This is wrong!

It's a thoughtful article, well written in a very efficient style, however I found myself inserting the name 'Obama' in place of 'Palin' on many of the points the writer made, and it was equally alarming considering that Obama wants the number one job in the country, not the number two.

It's a thoughtful article, well written in a very efficient style, however I found myself inserting the name 'Obama' in place of 'Palin' on many of the points the writer made, and it was equally alarming considering that Obama wants the number one job in the country, not the number two.

This is the best article I've read thus far on Sarah Palin. You have very accurately diagnosed the Christian dogmatism problem in politics and the worrisome prospect of this mentality in the White House. For the past 8 years I've wept and gnashed teeth over Bush's references to personal faith -- I've never forgotten mention of Oswald Chambers's daily devotional "My Utmost for his Highest," which I found compelling as a teenager. By comparison, Bush almost seems Methodist and likely won't be raptured. I have been flirting for the first time in my voting life of voting for a Republican presidential candidate. As an Illinois resident, Obama has been a disappointment to our state, promising us he would not run for President during his first term. That's about all he has done. Nevertheless, McCain's choice of Palin makes me seriously question his judgment.

thanks for an excellent article. Now you have revealed what Alaskans have know.n about our Governor

thank you for an excellent article