William Jacobson is insane. I don’t hate Sarah Palin. I don’t have a problem with her son, Trig. I don’t see anything even remotely wrong with having a baby with Down Syndrome. I don’t think it’s appalling that she took her baby around with her on the campaign trail. I think what Andrew Sullivan said about Sarah and Trig during the campaign was beneath contempt. But I still really, really dislike Sarah Palin and everything she stands for.
The biggest problem I have with Palin is her difficulty with the truth. She lies constantly. Some lies are self-serving, like saying she said ‘thanks, but no thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere.’ Some lies are malicious, like saying candidate Obama ‘pals around with terrorists.’ But they all debase the truth and our political discourse.
My second problem with Palin is that she is completely, willfully ignorant. I can’t think of anything other than moose-dressing that she might be considered well-informed about, and that includes the job requirements and responsibilities of being the governor of Alaska. I don’t dislike stupid people, but the willfully stupid drive me up a wall.
My third problem is her lack of self-awareness. If she were actually genuinely patriotic she would know that the last thing this country needs is to be led by someone with her obvious limitations.
My fourth problem is that she is a mean and vindictive person who used the accouterments of power to punish her enemies, including her former brother-in-law.
My fifth problem is that she is a Republican of the worst type: socially conservative, economically oligarchic, and environmentally disastrous.
I could go on…I have a few pet peeves as well. But the fact that her winking, hair-flipping, and ‘you-betchas’ grate on me rather than make me see starbursts is not critically important.
The last thing I hold against Sarah Palin is that she has a baby named Trig.
