Star That was a great post. Thanks for that. I understand fully Liz’s concerns, but you have made a great case. The book censoring is what concerns me. Right now there is such hash slinging going on with everyone trying to outscoop each other, that I am waiting for the air to clear I read a linked post by someone from the Washington post. I read all the negatives about her that he said, and then waited and went back an hour later and reread the link, and it was actually very deceptive writing, because it sounded like trying to turn a positive into a negative. I want the truth, that is what is important to me, I feel I have been too tested by life to waste time on press manipulations. So at some point, I have to look up more. Thanks for the great post, it says tons.

Thanks Star—I like your picture of her, not that it jives with what I saw last night, but I appreciate your take. My only solace if she and McCain are elected is that we are likely to have a democratic congress, who will likely moderate who they can get approved for the Supreme Court and any bills will have to be both signed by McCain and approved by congress. My parents were great believers in divided government, we may soon have that again.

Star - You are witty, wily and yes a little wacky. But you are also a wonderful writer. I know how much you like the letter “w”….so I thought I would add a few. Okay, okay….that is a little joke. But, seriously, your post is so honest and from the heart. Yet, it is the last couple of lines that made me pause. To almost have lost a few friends over politics is not a worthwhile endeavor. In some of your brief comments you have attempted to bring about some normalcy about the campaign. I just do not think that some folks are capable of seeing it that way and that is very sad. “Every campaign is the most important in history” is a mantra I have heard through too many election cycles; and, for the most part, that is just hype. I hope your friends will come to understand that and not lose you as a friend; it would be their loss.

Star, I know I’m repeating myself, but you’re one helluva writer.

Star, sometimes it seems like you have a Ph.D. in sarcasm and I say that as a compliment! I worry about several of the things you said, but I also worry that she simply is not seasoned enough to step in if McCain is incapacitated in some way. I also see her as someone whose style is to attack rather than to create, and really government is mostly about creating. She would have to hire people, and her preferred mode is firing. She would have to come up with solutions, and her preferred mode is to attack the solutions others propose. I got an email this morning from someone in Alaska with some chilling details about Palin. Some excerpts: “As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain’s choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her. She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska , particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska ‘s failing school system. We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is appropriate is beyond me. She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has “green” policies. The only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla ), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment. Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska , she was mayor of Wasilla. The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade. Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I’m talking about. These people don’t have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don’t care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they’re happy. I wish I were exaggerating. Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn’t like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man’s performance and ability weren’t considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn’t close to the scandal of Ted Steven’s corruption, it shows that Palin isn’t “squeaky clean” and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn’t care. When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren’t so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me. In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US , Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton. To those of you who, like me, supported Hillary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don’t think that Sarah Palin is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are independent or undecided, don’t let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain’s judgment. While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president.” I have also heard speculation that Palin is a “stub.” That is, she is in the race as vice presidential candidate because of the cynical assessment that she will help win some independent votes, but she will not be expected to serve as full fledged vice president and may even be asked to resign, as Agnew did, to be replaced with someone less electable. I don’t know if that is true. I really think McCain did not want to raid the Senate because he is still hoping to keep a filibuster minority of 41 to keep Congress from interfering with the presidency. So he was stuck with looking to elected state officials and not too many fit the profile of pro-life/anti-choice, theocrat, female.