Great little Sam Harris column.

I think what this says is that American people don't have much respect for the position of the President, and no *real* awareness that they happen to be the world's leading military superpower at the mo'! These people wouldn't be looking for 'average' when it came to their surgeon, or the guy flying the commercial jet they travel on, or heck -- their financial advisor! They'd WANT someone smart and savvy and highly qualified.

So they probably feel that the job of the prez is less demanding or needs less qualifications than any of the above jobs. In which case, sad as it is, I agree with Harris:

"This is one of the many points at which narcissism becomes indistinguishable from masochism. Let me put it plainly: If you want someone just like you to be president of the United States, or even vice president, you deserve whatever dysfunctional society you get. You deserve to be poor, to see the environment despoiled, to watch your children receive a fourth-rate education and to suffer as this country wages -- and loses -- both necessary and unnecessary wars.

McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him. He has so little respect for the average American voter that he thinks this reckless and cynical ploy will work.

And it might. Palin's nomination has clearly excited Christian conservatives, and it may entice a few million gender-obsessed fans of Hillary Clinton to vote entirely on the basis of chromosomes. Throw in a few million more average Americans who will just love how the nice lady smiles, and 2009 could be a very interesting year."

wait for the camio/'stolen' photo of her with her hair down and glasses off and she has won. They are so pre dick but yes sadly it may work.

Both men and women will vote for a strong 'Mama' though they all deny it now I remember being shocked by the people who voted Thatcher in. This is agony to watch. Let us pray :-) xxx

I'm on his mailing list... he sent this out a few hours after emailing a link to the article you refer to:

Sam Harris: Sexist Pig and Liberal Shill

I've received more than the usual amount of criticism for my recent opinion piece on Sarah Palin, most of it alleging sexism and/or an unseemly infatuation with Barack Obama. For those who care, I'd like to briefly respond:

My alleged sexism: It is true that I used some hackneyed, gender-slanted language in the piece ("get sassy," "girl-next-door," etc.). This was deliberate. Clearly, I played this game at my peril. I can say that if Sarah Palin were a man of similar qualifications, I would have used equally slanted language to describe him. I might have called Mr. Palin a "frat-boy" or a "lumberjack." I would have invoked some silly macho phrasing like,"Watch Cousin Jim flip Putin the bird." My concern is not that Mrs. Palin is a woman. My concern is that she is a totally unqualified and poorly educated woman who was added to the Republican ticket as a token woman (and Creationist wacko). For what it's worth, the article was vetted by the two women closest to me (wife and mother) and by two female editors at the LA Times. If anything, the editing at the Times made the piece even more "sexist."

My alleged Obamamania: Many McCain supporters have written to say that (1) Obama is also unqualified (or even less qualified than Palin) and (2) I have shown myself to be a hypocrite by not objecting to Obama's religiosity. Briefly: My criticism of Palin should not be construed as uncritical acceptance of Obama. Needless to say, I find Obama's religious pandering repulsive. The suspicion that he is pandering, out of obvious necessity, and not quite as religious as he makes out, is somewhat comforting, however. But even if Obama were precisely as religious as he appears, he is not a Creationist, Rapture-Ready blockhead. Palin, by all appearances, seems to be one. This is a difference worth noting. Whatever you may think of his politics, Obama is very intelligent and reasonably well educated. Palin thinks the universe is 6000 years old. Unfortunately, I wrote my article before some of the most disturbing signs of her religious extremism came to light.

So, let me simply declare that I would be overjoyed to have a qualified woman in the White House. I would, likewise, be overjoyed to have a qualified African American in the White House. In fact, I would be overjoyed to have a qualified WASP man in the White House. I will be guardedly optimistic to have a very smart (and somewhat qualified) Barack Obama in the White House. And I would be frankly terrified to have a religious bumpkin like Sarah Palin in the White House. I think you should share this last conviction. Hence my latest opinion piece.

Best,
Sam

white light:

wait for the camio/'stolen' photo of her with her hair down and glasses off and she has won. They are so pre dick but yes sadly it may work.

This will never happen. She's a bun-head. No way will anyone catch her with her hair down.

You want a bet? wait for it, when things are not going thier way? they will pull out all the plugs, and buns!

And I would be frankly terrified to have a religious bumpkin like Sarah Palin in the White House. I think you should share this last conviction.

******************************­******************************­*********

Except that it is only a terrifying thought if you are NOT a religious-bumpkin yourself! And about 30% of this country ARE, based on most polls, religious bumpkins (and I would like to clarify that I do not consider all religious folks to be bumpkins, or all bumpkins to be religious, but I consider the overlap to be terrifying !).

In this case, there are also the chromosome bumpkins, the ones who were pissed because HC isn't Prez-nominee and will vote for McCain-Palin PURELY because Palin has ovaries, and screw her politics.......

Yes... the most dangerous individual in America these days? The "Elitist". (Hmmm... substitute "Bourgeoisie" for "Elitist" and what do you get?)

There is an insecurity behind the raw machismo on display at the RNC (at least until McCain took the stage...) - any attack (real or perceived) will rally the faithful to the "victim" regardless of the validity of the attack. Being attacked by the "media elite" is the highest virtue one can attain. Sarah Palin was the perfect person for the job.

....and mostly to a chilling chorus of "USA! USA! USA!"

It was one thing when the USA hockey team beat the USSR at Lake Placid; at a political convention it reminds me of Nuremburg.

In this case, there are also the chromosome bumpkins, the ones who were pissed because HC isn't Prez-nominee and will vote for McCain-Palin PURELY because Palin has ovaries, and screw her politics.......

I wonder how many of those there are. I can't imagine there are very many.

If you listen closely, you can hear it very faintly in the background: Deutschland über alles!

Don't cry for me Wa-asilllla
The truth is, I never left you

We're also gung ho for Dumb-as-a-stump.

One of my Republican buddies who usually votes on issues in the Primary, voted for Bush in the 2000 Primary because "he seemd like a guy I could have a beer with."

I wanted to strangle him when he told me that in 2004.

Short of that -- u should've clobbered him on the head so on election day 2004 he'd be nursing a bump on head at home and not be at polling booth!!!!!

Didn't know an average american's wife could afford a 300,000 outfit to wear to her husbands big event though?

I guess to be 'elitist' it has to cost over 500k?