Aside from being a disingenuous opportunist and outright liar who will say and do anything to get ahead politically, McCain just seems like the lowest of pond scum. War hero? Bullshit. So he was a rowdy young womanizer who graduated almost dead last in his class, who just happened to be piloting a handful of planes when they crashed or caught fire, including the one that got shot down in Vietnam. He caved immediately and told the enemy everything he knew, and somehow he now thinks that’s an automatic qualification to be president? When he came home he cheated on his wife because she had been in an accident that left her shorter and fatter; next divorcing her and marrying a rich, influential woman he had met in a bar. He rose in political circles to the point of having celebrity star power, and has since spent the majority of his career as a typical fat cat republican, voting for the same policies as Regan and the Bushes. By anyone’s account he’s always been a hothead and militaristic, and god help you if you cross him or disagree with him. He’s just a ridiculously wealthy, power-hungry old white conservative dude with a handful of houses and a dozen cars, who pretends to be one of us in the working class, while calling everyone else “elite” and out of touch. Political issues aside, do we really want someone this skuzzy and two-faced in the oval office?

 Concerning his lack of judgment in even considering someone like Palin for a running mate—it’s just a horrible joke, a purely political maneuver crafted in the wake of Hilary’s loss that insults just about everyone, especially women. The idea that women are interchangeable and ultimately tradable, despite substantive differences in all policies, is clearly a McCain concept, as his own history shows. Does anyone and I mean ANYONE think that Palin as President is an acceptable possibility? Just consider for the briefest moment, McCain’s age and history of cancers and imagine Palin obliged to step into the presidential position. All jokes aside, can’t we all agree how misguided and dangerous that would be?

 Trying to get beyond my incredulousness at the prospect, I can’t even begin to adequately surmise what a trainwreck Palin would be as VP, a heartbeat from the most important job in the world. For me, the scandals, petty name-calling and lying she does, her obvious and complete lack of experience, her fierce right-wing “values”, her threats of book-burning, and her god-appointed supreme self-righteousness…are all nothing compared to the most telling trait of all: She’s a loony creationist! This, more than anything else, tells me all I need to know about her.

 I know the wimpy media has largely backed away from this as a story, but the truth is well documented out there that she wholeheartedly believes creationism should be taught alongside real science: "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides."

 This, you may know, is a classic “ID” justification—they are just “presenting both sides” of an intellectual debate. To which I say again, Bullshit, complete and unadulterated Bullshit! What Palin and all creationists really want is “equal time” for teaching children nothing short of religious propaganda in science class. This is a way of attempting to lend credence to Christian fundamentalist ideology and right-wing extremist politics, while forcing their dogma upon the most vulnerable and easily influenced segment of our society, children. By trying to legitimize creationism by presenting it in the guise of a “scientific” alternative, Palin and her lot are not only perpetrating constitutional misconduct, but they are also flat out endorsing child abuse, in my opinion. (What could be more harmful than to intentionally and systematically mislead and lie to kids, while forcefully robbing them of their best chance to learn the fascinating reality about our very origins and evolution?) Don’t be fooled by her “teach both” stance—Palin, simply by her suggestion to “let kids debate”, clearly advocates creationism and all the wrong-headedness that goes with it.

 Why won’t anyone really force this issue? Are we so stunted and fearful as a nation that we can’t say that there’s no place for backwards creationists in the oval office? Haven’t we had enough of leaders who think that it’s part of “god’s plan” to lead us into wars and to enact policies that effectually steal from the poor to give to the rich? What century is this anyway? I’m becoming increasingly concerned that we really haven’t progressed all that far after all.

 Another case in point, and the other thing that no one seems to really want to talk about head on—is race. I don’t understand how we for the first time in American history have a truly viable black (mixed race?) presidential candidate and yet no one is substantively discussing this. Everyone seems to be turning their head or something, pretending that it’s not going to be a vital factor, or that we’re far beyond that as a viable concern. I, for one, can’t be so optimistic. Old fashioned racism is alive and well in this country, and I guarantee you that there is a sizable selection of the population who would rather kiss a pig with or without lipstick, than see a black man in office. There are a lot of code words out there as stand-ins for the “N-word” these days, like “arrogant”, “cocky”, “over-confident”, and “presumptuous”. We’ve heard that Obama is “disrespectful” (especially in regard to Palin) and that he’s finally starting to “show his true colors”. Racists hate nothing more than an intelligent, successful black man, so we keep hearing that he’s “inexperienced”—despite the fact that in terms of years in government office he has just as much as Hillary Clinton (not counting being the wife of a president), and comparable amounts to Lincoln, Kennedy, Carter, and Reagan, and twice as many years as GW Bush did! Holding a person of color to different standards is, undoubtedly, racism. What else would you call it?

 Even among people who would never consider themselves racists, a prejudice lurks. In thousands of subtle ways, the civil rights movement has not come quite as far as some would like to think. And despite what views are tallied up in media polls, when these people are alone in the privacy of the voting booth, the sad proof of their true convictions will emerge. Not too long from now, it may be entirely possible to look back with clear hindsight and say, “What were we thinking? We actually thought we might elect a BLACK man for president? How naïve of us.” I do hope we are ready—but until the national discussion on race is renewed, I have serious worries on that score.

 We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, I guess. But somebody eventually is going to have to face these issues of religion and race, and address them both a lot more honestly.