Sarah Palin is Bad for America (a Conservative’s Perspective)

Here’s why Sarah Palin gets a conservative “F” for “Idiot.” She’s as selfish as she is beautiful, she’s unqualified to lead our nation in any capacity, and she’s really not smart.

Sarah Palin is cashing-in on the political fear and hysteria within the Republican Party that Obama will get re-elected in 2012. Just watch Fox News Channel (FNC) if you want an earful and yearn for a dose of trepidation. But the President has disappointed liberals as well as conservatives and I don’t think he’ll run for a second term in 2012, much less get re-elected. He’s too narcissistic to put himself in a position where he might not win, plus I think it’s sinking in with him (and the American people) that it’s hard to run our country when you’re a progressive liberal. He can’t take the heat, so he’ll run out of the kitchen. The bottom line here is that we don’t need Sarah Palin to carry a conservative torch for us; the torch is lit and it’s running across all shades of the political spectrum. Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are a few of the beginnings of better things to come for our country.

Even so, she’ll continue to cash-in on the conservative wave of enthusiasm and anxiety until they turn the volume down on her. Just refer to her $100,000 fee for key-note speaking at the Tea Party convention but won’t speak at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) because there’s no money involved. She’s all about Sarah and not about America. And actions speak louder than words.

A year and a half ago, she was a political stunt by John McCain during his run for the presidency and she was not remotely qualified to be a heartbeat away from the White House. It was no surprise that the media crushed her and she deserved it. She didn’t know anything and we watched it happen. But that was over a year ago and everybody deserves a second chance, including us because we have to shoulder some of the responsibility here also. So, is she any more qualified now? Here are a few examples. The bottom line is I think we should start saving her from herself. For her sake and for our conscience, it’s our responsibility to tell her that she’s no voice but her own.

First, she left her governor’s office a year and a half early because she had too much personal baggage and couldn’t govern appropriately. Ok, that’s a noble decision. But now she’s open to running for the presidency of the entire country? I don’t buy it.

She left her successor two weeks after she announced her resignation. What was she doing that was so unimportant that she could leave the office of the governor in two weeks? Didn’t the people of the great state of Alaska deserve a governor who was hopefully working on assignments that would truly improve their state’s prosperity? That takes time; at least I think it does. What’s likely, given her hasty retreat, is that she wasn’t doing anything important except planning her next election. I’m sorry, but we saw that movie last year.

If you’re still not convinced that she’s no more qualified now than she was eighteen months ago and you still have a penchant for her political potential, just watch some of her softball interviews on FNC with O’Reilly and Beck and listen to what she says. She’s a Fox News “analyst” and been given the resources to really “get in the weeds” on the domestic and international issues at-hand now; therefore, we should listen to what she has to say.

I don’t know what she’s analyzing except her political base (she can count me out), but regrettably everything she says in her interviews is fluff. She’s no more qualified now than she was over a year ago. In fact, she’s probably less qualified now because of her mad dash out of the governor’s mansion and into the Fox News limelight.

I know what you’re thinking at this point—“Jack, you’re not giving her a fair shake. Don’t you have any better examples of what she’s saying that we shouldn’t agree with?” It’s a great point and the simple answer is “No, I don’t.” She really doesn’t say much that’s controversial. She doesn’t have to. Between softball interviews with Bill O’Reilly and the Fox News machine to get her exposure, she doesn’t have to answer to anyone right now nor does she have put her foot down about any one particular issue. She doesn’t have to “stay on message” because she doesn’t have one.

I am a three-time combat veteran who cares about our country’s direction and the elected representatives that help craft it day-in and day-out. This is what bothers me most about Sarah Palin. Sarah has no depth when it comes to the types of decisions required to actually govern this country on a daily basis and keep us the world superpower that we are. Look at the four elements of our national power—diplomacy, intelligence, our economy, and our strong military. First, she’s done zero work with the State Department. Second, her knowledge of the intelligence community stems from the relative location of some of our intercontinental ballistic missiles in her home state. That’s hardly relevant in today’s fight against extremism and irregular warfare. Third, she makes no mention of Keynesian economics and why it isn’t working nor does she make any mention of the various types of inflation we face in the near future (and what to do about them.) Finally, she has no military experience other than what she can garnish from her son’s perspective as a soldier and her run of the Alaskan National Guard while governor.

America, we’re smart. Let’s not elect stupid politicians.

Just like Oprah handed Obama to the American people, so is FNC handing us Sarah Palin. Let’s make sure America has learned from the mistake of the previous presidential election and we all start looking at conservative candidates for the presidency that believe in country first, that are fully qualified, and that are intelligent to the devices of our federal government. That’s nothing to be afraid of.