The problen with “town America” and their “small town values” is that too many people look at the veneer rather than the substance of candidates like McCain and Palin. I live in a small suburb of Birmingham, Alabama…a place which is basically controlled by the town’s First Baptist Church (which my mother—quite rightly—refers to as “The Church that ate Gardendale”). During the last election I was horrified to see church members standing outside the polls handing out flyers which detailed which candidates should be voted for…I don’t know if I was more shocked by these peoples’ presence, or the people who actually took one! I am truly saddened that there are SO many people who put more thought into what football team they root for as opposed to who they should elect as our next commander-in-chief…Whoopie is very right when she says this is a dangerous woman. Both members would readily curtail our rights as Americans (if given the opportunity)with one bold stroke of the pen and without a bat of an eye. The whole platform which they espouse is highly REGRESSIVE. These people are certainly against equality between the genders, among the races, among the various creeds, etc. This country is supposed to be free…when so called “small town values” are FORCED upon everyone, we all suffer through the destruction of the democratic ideals. True American leaders do not have to be devoid of their own values but they must respect the rights of the American people as individuals. This is why curtailing of rights which we already have (a woman’s/couple’s/family’s right to reproductive freedom, for example) don’t need to be changed…Polls have repeatedly shown that the majority of Americans advocate said rights…Also, the republicans need to quit shadow-boxing by talking about emotional, hair-trigger topics like those mentioned, and start mentioning solutions to problems which they can and SHOULD discuss (such as ending the war in Iraq, improving education,etc.)The consideration of real issues rather than pandering to a narrow constituency such as the “religious right” is the difference between a statesman and a mere politician. Sorry to preach, but I DO live in a small town…and I AM a Christian…I AM a mother…I am(also) a feminist, a thinker, and I am gay. So, I’ll just end my little diatribe with the following quote: “When politics and religion go to bed together, someone always gets screwed.” If we fail to see the grandstanding of the G.O.P. for the smoke and mirrors that it really is, then the future of our country is bleak, and democracy as an ideal will be horribly compromised.

Governor Palin is not only one of the most fascinating politicians on the scene, she is one of the most FRIGHTENING (kind of like a horrible accident—you don’t want to see it, but you just can’t turn away….). She represents so much of what is wrong with American politics: she is young and fairly pleasant lokking on the outside, but within she is a bigotted, hypocritical moron who (unless someone takes the her apart to reveal her inner “stepford” machinery) must be self loathing on the basis of her gender.If she ever sees higher office she will be in a position to do GREAT HARM to the civil rights of all Americans. Surely the fight for the equal rights of ALL Americans, regardless of race-creed-color-gender-sexual orientation, could not be forgotten so quickly that this nightmare of a political ticket will be forced upon us! I am a Christian who happens to also be a lesbian…I am also a patriot who values the pricipals of freedom of religion (as well as the right to not be religious)and the SEPARATION of church and state as being SACRED. All I can say is, “Please God, don’t let the American public be deluded by this outward fluff which is—at its core— mean spirited, bigotted, regressive, and truely against the ideals on which our country was founded!”