The hypocrisy reeks

Well the media has had its fun with Republican Vice President nominee Sarah Palin, the Governor from Alaska, a state with a smaller population than Brooklyn, NYC, and her family, including her pregnant teen daughter, redneck future son in law, drunk driving husband and questions about the divorce of her husband's business partner. It's been an amusing sideshow but it also led the public's attention away from Palin's social conservatism, her views on Alaskan independence, troopergate and her general lack of experience. Forget her conservative views for a moment and look at her resume - a little weak don't you think? It makes Obama's resume look much more impressive. We're expected to be believe that a 2 year chief of a small, rural organization is qualified to run a trillion dollar operation? These are the issues we should be discussing.

While the job of the Vice-President is basically to make sure the President is still breathing, I am a little more concerned about who is warming up in the bullpen when the President is a 72 year old cancer survivor. But hey, don't let that worry the Republican party. The GOP has an election to win in November and another President and Vice President to inaugurate on January 20th.

I'd like to have someone competent on the 21st on January. Unfortunately too many voters think character issues are important when you're about to entrust someone that amount of power, as if the "nice" guy is so innocent. They'd rather have the hockey mom over the "elite" Senator from Chicago because she is more like them. That kind of thinking is what got this country in so much trouble. We wasted tons of resources basically investigating Clinton's sex life then elected an inferior candidate because he seemed like a nice guy.

I don't want a leader who is like me, my friends or family. I want someone who is better than us. I don't care who a leader sleeps with or prays to. I don't care if he/she is a nice person or a total jerk during off hours. I do care about what he or she will do on the job. Give me a slut who is an intelligent leader over a tea sipping fool who doesn't know what he is doing any day. What happens in a leader's bedroom (or whatever bed he or she is in) is none of the public's business.

Personally I don't care that the potential future Vice President has a teen daughter about to give birth to a baby out of wedlock. What I do care about is the Governor's competence. However, it's all about power and keeping it, not what doing what is best. What I'd find really amusing, if the situation wasn't so serious, is how the GOP went from Dan Quayle bashing Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock 16 years ago to how wonderful that the Palin family is not having an abortion, who cares about a 17 year old being pregnant. And of course, their own little pitbull, Bill O'Reilly, who so upset that Britney Spears 15 year old sister was pregnant this past spring has changed his views to Palin's becoming a grandmother is a private family issue. Personal responsibility? That's not for Republicans apparently.

Still, you have to admire a party with so much chutzpah that they can go for jugular of a person from "the other side," but then cry foul if their person is attacked for the exact same thing. It's bad when the other side has sex out of marriage or nominates a candidate with little experience, it's ok when we do it. The hypocrisy reeks.