What are you thinking?

An open letter to supporters of Sarah Palin:

Are you fucking nuts?

I mean seriously, have you people completely lost your minds?

Are you so blinded by your fear, bias, and irrational hatred of Barack Obama that you're ready to put one of the least-qualified candidates to appear the last century next in line to be leader of the free world? Her politics or gender have nothing to do with this; rather, I'm talking about her utter lack of any serious thought or ability when it comes to the economy, Iraq, health care, or for that matter any domestic or foreign policy.

You have to know that the chances of her becoming president within the next four to eight years are not insignificant. Based on actuarial tables using his age alone, John McCain has about a one-in-five chance of dying while in office. Factor in his health history of melanoma and other physical problems, and the chances that Palin could wind up as president approach even odds. Does this not at all worry you? Apparently not, because you've embraced this former beauty queen with a fervor that would be hard to top unless Jesus Himself had returned for the Second Coming and was running for office -- which is not all that far removed from Palin's ideology. Religious interpretation of public policy is a cornerstone of her values, as when she painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do ... a task that is from God," she told the Wasilla Assembly of God, her church home for many years while she was growing up. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Palin apparently believes that God also has a plan for Alaska's energy proposals, as she asked the audience to pray for a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in Alaska. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built," she said.

Personally, it scares the crap out of me to think that any VP -- or possibly president -- would be making critical decisions based in any part on their certainty of what "God's will" or "God's plan" is for America. When people in certain other countries do this, we refer to them as "fanatics", "fundamentalists", or perhaps even "terrorists". They believe without any doubt whatsoever that they are right, that their cause is blessed and they are willing to die for it and receive Allah's rewards in heaven.

Compare that concept to remarks made in a sermon by Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999:

"We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of
war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode."

Hmmmmm. Sound familiar?

Kalnins also preaches repeatedly about the apocalyptic prophesy of the "end times" or "last days." Granted, it's debatable whether politicians should be held responsible for the views of their religious mentors, as Obama learned with Rev. Wright. But it is fair to say that Palin's policies have been and will continue to be shaped by her belief in divine guidance to a far greater extent than most political leaders. She will have the "bully pulpit", in a literal and very chilling sense.

Her claim to the moral high ground, however, seems pretty hypocritical compared to some of her other positions and actions. For one thing, she out-and-out lied about her support for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere." Then, not only does she apparently hate some of God's creatures, including endangered species, she seems to think it's OK for her husband Todd to defy a legal subpoena compelling him to testify in the investigation of her role in the "Troopergate" scandal, as well as to use her personal unsecured e-mail account to conduct state business in violation of public accountability laws. This last one is pretty funny, really. There's been all sorts of of righteous indignation from conservatives this week about the hacking of her Yahoo email account: "This is a shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of law," campaign manager Rick Davis said Wednesday in a written statement. True enough, yet wholesale violations of the bill of rights by illegal government wiretaps and other actions under the Patriot Act don't seem to bother her at all. How does the shoe feel on the other foot, Sarah?

There are many other examples of her lack of even the most basic prerequisites for America's top leadership, but why go on? You Palin supporters are determined to place this unfit neophyte (who is getting a crash-course on global issues spoon-fed to her on 3x5 cards) at the helm of the nation in one of the most challenging times in recent history, when our aggressive and arrogant foreign policies have left us with few friends in the world. Think we've had it rough during the last eight years of Dubya? Just wait; a McCain/Palin presidency will be an unmitigated disaster. But you don't seem to care. So let me ask you again:

Are you fucking nuts?