Monday, September 1, 2008

Scary Politics

This came in an email from a friend today and is from the MoveOn.org web site.   It's worth a read:

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected,
he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated.  And after months of
slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has
chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing
religious conservative with no foreign
policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic
background:

  * She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago.
    Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside  Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
  * Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of  rape or incest.2
  * She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.     3
  * Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
  * She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
  * She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy
   
policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables
won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for
listing polar bears as an endangered species--she was worried it would
interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
  * How closely did
John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They
spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being
vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We
also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about
their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She
is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been
a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international
experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that
3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially
be charged with leading the US in the volatile international
scene that exists today. --Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She
is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and
fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran
on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several
charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO
experience beyond Alaska. --Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As
an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement.
Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be.
--Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans,
collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is
doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the
national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came
to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been
communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems,
republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.--Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has
worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. --Marina L., Juneau,
AK

I
think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a
woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to
deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up
and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This
is a
patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to
females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting
"A Woman" in that position.--Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So
Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a
global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil.
And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin,
John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a
very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans
will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

--Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL
Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=10

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=11

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage
Daily News, October 27,
2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=12

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin--ignores science," Huffington Post,
August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=13

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club,
August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=14

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of
Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=15

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor,"
The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=16

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-2479352-iFIDoPx&t=17

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