Palin pandemonium

Some links for those following the Palin phenomenon. It's going to be interesting as the conflict between her image and her actions moves into the light, with some saying the sexist hounds are attacking her, others that a search for truth is in progress, some digging in their support, others questioning it as they learn more about her.

• An email from Wassila by Ann Kilkenny. Defenders of Palin say this is a liberal hatchet job. Others say the facts do support the email's legitimacy. Kilkenny is someone who battled Palin when as mayor she tried to fire the librarian who wouldn't entertain the banning of books. A lot of comments after this email, pro and con, makes for interesting reading and suggests the division that's occurring over McCain's choice of VP, which clearly has excited the evangelicals.
• The Conservative Case Against Sarah Palin. This one is fascinating reading. The writer makes five points:
  • Sarah Palin Supported a Windfall Profits Tax on Oil Companies as Governor
  • As Mayor, Sarah Palin raised taxes for pet projects
  • Sarah Palin is unfamiliar with American History (She believes the Founding Fathers put "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, which they wrote themselves. In fact, it was written in 1892 but "under God" not added until 1954. When we first did this in school, at "under God" we made a kind of "sieg heil" gesture that later was dropped -- maybe somebody suggested we looked like a bunch of Nazis.)
  • As a professional politician, Sarah Palin has evinced no interest in foreign policy
  • Sarah Palin flat out lied to the American People in her campaign debut (About the bridge to nowhere: 'But here’s the real thing about this: Palin lied. She did not tell Congress Alaska didn’t want the money. Indeed, Alaska got the money–it just wasn’t enough to build the bridge. So in her speech, in what amounted to her national debut, she told a lie to make her administration look better than it actually was. Does that represent the values that conservatives want our political leaders to have? I doubt it.')
• Librarians Against Palin. They are terrified by her attempt to ban books as mayor. I don't blame them.
  

Backers of Palin are going to play the sexist card, the hatchet job card, against anyone trying to find out who the hell this lady really is -- after all, it is not a long stretch to imagine circumstances in which she would become President. I hope the debates are structured so she is asked to respond to many of these questions about her.

In politics, there's nothing more dangerous than a charismatic liar, especially one who is ambitious. If this is who she turns out to be, we're in for quite a ride. And don't forget how she got in the spotlight in the first place.