In 2008, Sarah Palin was hailed as the world's top energy expert. She promised a trans-Canada natural gas pipeline from Alaska, to the energy hungry lower 48. It seems therefore appropriate that the media would ask Sarah Palin a few questions about her field of expertise.
They could ask her what happened to the trans-Canada pipeline. They could ask Sarah Palin why she quit her job rather than completing this project, especially when she claimed that she's to original "no quitter."
They could ask if it might be more economically viable to get methane from landfills. They could ask about the energy potential of miscanthus, or how Moore's Law would apply the development of solar energy.
I could answer these questions, and I'm not an energy expert. I've just read Our Choice by Al Gore. Wouldn't an energy expert like
Sarah Palin be familiar with Al Gore's work? And as an energy expert, why doesn't Sarah Palin accept the most fundamental scientific truth of the 21st century - that global climate change is REAL and that it man-made? Sure, Sarah Palin doesn't have to believe in global warming - and she doesn't have to believe in the law of gravity either. Sarah Palin can believe whatever she wants, but she shouldn't go around telling her Tea Bagger fan club to drive off a cliff - and that in a way is precisely what she is doing.
Why doesn't anyone in the media ask Sarah Palin these questions? The answer is simple. As a rogue, which by definition means a crook, a charlatan or an con-artist, The Queen of the Rogues, Sarah Palin gets to pick and choose the questions she wants to answer, and as rogue, she also gets to pick and choose when she's going to tell the truth.
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Palin Is Ready? Please.
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This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.
Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic challenges.
Domestically, the bailout and reform of the financial industry will take years and hundreds of billions of dollars. Health-care costs, unless curtailed, will bankrupt the federal government. Social Security, immigration, collapsing infrastructure and education are all going to get much worse if they are not handled soon.
And the American government is stretched to the limit. Between the Bush tax cuts, homeland-security needs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the bailout, the budget is looking bleak. Plus, within a few years, the retirement of the baby boomers begins with its massive and rising costs (in the trillions).
Obviously these are very serious challenges and constraints. In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true.
© 2008
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