ENOUGH!

I have enjoyed the political campaign of 2008. From the debates waged during the primaries by both Democrats and Republicans, I sat perched on the end of my seat, waiting for what was to come next. I watched the coverage of each candidate, listened to the political pundits as they spewed their respective objective or subjective views, read every piece of literature written by political analysts and bloggers in regards to the pros and cons of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. I prayed that Obama would choose Sen. Joseph Biden and held my breath at the thought of whom McCain would choose. I knew McCain would choose someone who would help him top the performance of the Democrats at their convention, but never did I ever think he would choose Gov. Sarah Palin. Like many others, I thought he would choose someone who most of us were familiar with, but I also thought he would choose someone whom he was familiar with, but such was not the case. Instead of the old, familiar group of Republicans, McCain came out of left field and chose Palin.

Palin is the mother of five who served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska and is now serving as the governor of Alaska, a position she has held for less than two years. Why did McCain choose her? Well, that depends on whom you ask. If one listens to the Republican viewpoint, one will hear a bunch of adjectives and adverbs, nothing of substance, to explain not only why McCain chose her but also why she is qualified to become the next Vice President, and possibly President, of the United States. Therefore, to discover more about the woman who has “graced” the Republican ticket, I visited the following websites: http://gov.state.ak.us/bio.html and http://www.ontheissues.org/Sarah_Palin.htm. I must admit, her gubernatorial website is nothing compared to that of Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, but I guess nothing much goes on in the state of Alaska.

As I researched Palin, I discovered that she fought to have certain books banned from the library. This puzzled me, as she has been touted as “an intelligent woman.” I could not help but think, “Why would an 'intelligent' being want books banned? Isn’t education about the exchange of ideas?” When I ran across a list of books that Palin wanted banned, I was struck dumb:

· Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
· Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
· Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
· Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
· I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
· James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
· Lord of the Flies by William Golding
· My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
· Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
· The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
· The Color Purple by Alice Walker
· The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
· The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
· To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
· Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
· Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster

These are just a few of the books that Palin found offensive. For sure, there are high school students, as well as some college students, who would love to see the absence of Chaucer and Shakespeare in academia. In addition, there are many who espouse the notion that Mark Twain’s work is racist, which I guess would be the reason why Palin opposes “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, as well, even though such views are unfounded and clearly show a lack of critical thinking skills.

However, I cannot imagine what Palin could find offensive about books such as Roald’s, “James and the Giant Peach,” Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, or “Flowers for Algernon” a book (one would think Palin would embrace given her family situation) about a mentally challenged man who was restored to full mental capacity through a series of experiments. Unfortunately, the character reverted to his original self, but it was worth it, at least to me, that he was able to experience some normalcy, even if the experience was brief. The underlying question remains, “What is offensive about the books on the list?”

I viewed her acceptance speech on Wednesday night, with much objectivity. What else could one do to get a sense of who Palin is when she has been unreachable and untouchable since her appearance with McCain on August 29th when he announced her selection as his running mate? I found her speech rather puzzling though. My favorite line was, “You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.” I was left wondering, which of the two wears the lipstick. I have seen “hockey moms,” but I have yet to see any in lipstick, at least not at the hockey games I have attended.

I listened as Palin introduced her family, provided scant information about her accomplishments, degraded Obama and Biden while praising McCain, and negated discussing any real issues faced by American citizens. This was all fine and dandy, considering she did not write the speech herself. Then, she did the ultimate; Palin offended every grass-root community organizer in the country with, “Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown…let me explain…what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

This woman is crazy. The American Revolution was encouraged and fought by community organizers. Working class Americans earned the eight-hour workday because of the efforts of community organizers. Women gained the right to vote because of the relentless battle of community organizers. How dare Palin belittle the work done by women such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Nation, Jane Addams, Ada S. McKinley, and Gloria Steinem, just to name a few. These women, these community organizers Palin has such distaste for made it possible for her to serve as governor of Alaska and to be considered for the office of Vice President.

If it were not for community organizers, there would be no Red Cross, no Salvation Army, on Peace Corps, no AmeriCorps, no Habitat for Humanity…the list goes on। Maybe Palin has something against those who reach out to the broken and downtrodden in efforts to help them improve their quality of life. Maybe she believes she is above those who find themselves in a hopeless state at some point in their lives. Whatever the case may be, in the words of Obama, during his acceptance speech, “ENOUGH!” I am tired of being insulted by both McCain and Palin.

For McCain to think that women would vote for a woman for the mere fact that she is a woman shows lack of critical thinking skills on his behalf. The fact that Palin allows herself to be used by the very “good ole boy” crew she says she has fought as mayor and governor is unfortunate, to say the least. Let us face facts, if Sarah Palin were Joe Palin, McCain would not have considered him (her) twice, for the same reasons Karl Rove believed that Tim Kaine was not a good running mate for the Democratic party. Intelligent women would not allow themselves to be used in such a blatant fashion.

The McCain/Palin ticket may have the pizzazz that the Republican party needs and desires, but it has nothing to offer Americans who are for better education, better living wages, better health care, better regulation of businesses, and a better America.