Really? Seriously? Who?

I am wondering if John McCain seriously wants to be President. Seriously, the Gov. of Alaska? Really? Dr. HokieKev and I had the following conversation Friday morning:

Dr. HokieKev: Guess who McCain picked?
Me: Mitt Romney- duh!
Dr. HokieKev: Nope. Guess again.
Me: Leiberman.
Dr. HokieKev: Nope. Again.
Me: If he picked Mike Huckabee, I am moving to Australia.
Dr. HokieKev: Nope, I will give you 40 guesses and you will never get it. Sara Palin.
Me: Who?

I think most of America echoed my response. I get it John McCain, I really do. You needed to prove to the conservative conservatives that you are, in fact, conservative. You needed to pick someone young because, lets face it, you aren't. And you, by all accounts, needed to pick a woman. I get it. You thought this woman thing would bring over all the Hilary voters. Do you think Hilary supporters are stupid? Do you think that all women are the same? Do you think this woman is anything like Hilary? Seriously, if people out there are thinking of switching their vote to John McCain simply because he picked a woman as his running mate then they need some serious help. I mean, if you like her politics, fine. But just because she is a woman, that is dumb. Really, really dumb.

I think it is really funny how McCain has been hyping up Obama as an inexperienced "celebrity" and then he goes and picks someone equally as inexperienced and who is fast becoming somewhat of a celebrity. Sara Palin...Really? I mean, yes she has executive experience. She was the mayor of a town with less than 9,000 people and is now the Governor of Alaska. Alaska? Really? Alaska has 670,053 people in it...Whoa, Dream Big! New York CITY has over 8 million people. In fact, 19 CITIES in the United States have more that 670,053 people in them. NINETEEN!!! Governing this city...er....state gives her foreign policy experience, commander in chief experience, experience dealing with the economic problems that face the country? Oh, I am sorry. She is the Commander in Chief of the Alaskan National Guard. I guess she also has experience with big oil. Isn't it funny how she is all for drilling in the wildlife refuge...isn't it also funny how her husband works for BP? I mean, its fine he picked someone outside of Washington who has little experience but at the same time he can't be hating on Obama for the same reasons. In all actuality, she could end up being the President. Let's remember that McCain is 72 and has had 4 bouts with cancer.

I guess she is pretty. John McCain does like to have pretty women around him- just look at his wife. And she did win Miss Congeniality in the Miss Wasilla Pageant in 1984. Too bad she couldn't convert that into Miss Alaska and had to settle for first runner up. She also has that whole good looking family thing going on. People like those good looking families. Ask Obama- he has one too. She also pulls in those social conservatives who were a little shaky on McCain and some of his more moderate leanings. We will see if they stick around after this whole teenage daughter getting pregnant thing. They probably will as the kid is keeping the baby and allegedly marrying the father. Hopefully, the poor girl isn't hurt too much by the media frenzy that brought the admission out in the first place.

This "scandal" is, in fact, what has increased Palin's celebrity. When the story broke that her 4 month son was really her 17 year old daughters and she was the grandmother and they were covering it up, I kind of laughed at the media for being so dumb. One, it is pretty rare for a young mother to have a baby with Down's Syndrome and two, even if it were true, its really none of my business. So the kid had a baby and the grandparents are raising it. Whatever. That is kinda the responsible thing to do. Dr. HokieKev thinks it would be just as bad as the whole John Edwards lovechild thing. I said that parents will do alot to protect their children and that this would be the responsible thing to do. Come to find out, the baby is hers but the 17 year old daughter is pregnant. I still say whatever. I mean, I guess that whole abstinence only education policy thing didn't work and maybe she will rethink her stance on it. If she is naive enough to think that teenagers aren't having sex (esp. in Alaska, I mean, what else is there to do), what else will she believe? But that alone is not what will make her a bad Vice President.

Nevermind the fact that she is anti-gay, anti-choice, and anti-polar bear. Who needs equal rights anyway? And seriously, isn't everyone pro-life? I don't know anyone that wakes up in the morning and says "Oh, let's kill some babies today!" I do however know alot of people that don't feel it is the governments business to get involved in the affairs of a woman's uterus. And the poor polar bears- Palin is against putting them on the endangered species list because she believes it will harm the economy in Alaska. Poor polar bears.

I think she is also a bit shaky on the meaning of the First Amendment as she advocates the teaching of Creationism in public schools. Separation of Church and State is kind of important and is one of those things that distinguishes us from many other countries. People from many backgrounds and faiths attend public schools and it isn't fair to force one way of thinking upon them all. If parents want to teach Creationism to their children, fine. They can always send them to church, read them the Bible, or send them to a church based school. And if you decide you must teach Creationism in public schools, then I really think you have to teach all versions of it from all different backgrounds. I am sure science teachers would love that added obligation.

If the Republicans are going to have a shot in 60 days, she really needs to give that speech at the Republican Convention that has been cut short because of the Hurricane. She really needs to clear some of this stuff up. Not that it will matter much to me, but maybe it will give those people who are voting for her just because she is a woman something to really think about. I think in the end, I will be sitting here saying Really? The Governor of Alaska? Really?