Trying to Make Palin Batshit Crazy
By Larry Johnson on August 31, 2008 at 8:12 PM in Current Affairs
Some good friends on the Democratic side of the ledger have warned me to stand down on Palin because she is a rightwing whacko. I’ve asked for evidence and here is what they are providing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I will respect my friends on the left regardless, but I don’t think the following constitutes rightwing crazy.
Creationism–My friends wrote me that Palin is a “creationist.” Normally that means someone who does not want evolution taught and insists that the world was created in six days (God rested on the 7th). Here’s what the nut Palin said:
In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:
“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”
She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum.
Damn. What’s wrong with her? She hasn’t used her position as Governor to force her religious views on other Alaskans. Yep, that’s a dangerous rightwinger if you ask me.
Abortion–At the final debate on November 2, 2006 in the Governor’s race in Alaska, the question of abortion came up according to the A.P.:
The candidates were pressed on their stances on abortion, and were even asked what they would do if their own daughters were raped and became pregnant.
Palin said she would support abortion only if the mother’s life was in danger. When it came to her daughter, she said: “I would choose life.”
I suspect Palin’s position is far more conservative than most of Hillary Clinton’s supporters. As Governor she has appointed a man to the judiciary who reportedly favors parental notification or court intervention if a minor seeks an abortion. That said she has not used her office to eliminate abortions or make them more difficult. With respect to her own beliefs she has been consistent.
I have a problem with folks who condemn homosexuals and then engage in the practice. Or those like Jimmy Swaggert, who condemn prostitution but pay to have some lady ride the baloney pony. Or those who condemn abortion but get one when it suits their purpose. You may disagree with Palin on abortion but she is a person of principle. She is not asking others to do what she herself is not willing to do. In terms of Washington’s standards that makes her an “extremist” and kooky. God forbid anyone in Washington would make a promise and actually live by it.
Global Warming–some of my friends insist Palin believes humans do not cause global warming. Well, here’s what the news reports:
During last fall’s political campaign, Gov. Sarah Palin said she remained unconvinced about how much human emissions contribute to current global warming trends. She endorsed the work being undertaken by a new Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission created by the Legislature last May, which she said would help provide Alaskans with answers.
But the Legislature steered away from addressing broader causes of global warming and potential solutions when it created the panel.
What’s wrong with her–”unconvinced about how much human emissions” contribute to current global warming trends. So that means she won’t do anything to reduce CO2 emissions. Right? Well, wrong. According to a Green Wire article dated April 12, 2007:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced plans this week to find out how the state can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, through a new subcabinet of top administration officials who will develop policies to combat the effects of climate change that are more pronounced in Alaska than elsewhere in the country.
State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Larry Hartig said Palin exhibited more interest in the issue than she did during her campaign last year, when she said she found evidence of man-made global warming unconvincing. “From my first meeting with her on this topic, I could tell she was interested in it and in the new information that was coming out,” he said.
The subcabinet, which will include the heads of the state Fish and Game, Natural Resources and Commerce departments, will first address a petition that environmental groups filed March 29 seeking to force state industries to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
Palin’s committee may also have to deal with the mindset of last year’s state legislators, who created another climate change commission that is meeting today and Friday to consider warming’s effects on oil and natural gas development, agriculture, engineering and other arenas, in preparation for a report due in January. The commission is not examining causes or solutions, reflecting some legislators’ positions that warming is not human-caused.
I don’t know about you, but the picture that emerges of Sarah Palin based on her record is a pragmatic, principled conservative. She does not strike me as a blind ideologue. Seems to have a lot of commonsense and is not afraid to fight on principle even if it hurts her financially. That is the kind of change we need in Washington. Someone willing to buck the staus quo. As I have said before I do not agree with her on some of the issues. But I am mightily impressed that she exhibits intelligence and reason in taking the positions she does and it comes from her personal conviction about what she believes is right and wrong. I find that refreshing.
So, if you are trying to run a campaign predicated on changing the status quo in Washington, who symbolizes that kind of change–Joe Biden or Sarah Palin. An insider who has spent 36 years in Washington and become wealthy in the process or a mother of five who took on the Republican establishment in her own backyard. Yeah, that’s a hard question.
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