The abyss created by America’s recent culture wars only grows deeper as it divides the far-right Republicans and those who are conservative, but socially liberal. My own father, for example, is a lifelong Republican, yet he doesn’t support the socially conservative agenda being pushed by his party’s vice presidential and presidential candidates. The disparity between the two groups of conservatives has only grown wider with this election, and now, cautious fiscal conservatives are no longer represented by the party that has instead adopted a slash-and-burn approach to economic policy (i.e. McCain’s proposed spending freeze). In much the same way, fiscal conservatives/social liberals no longer have a political party that truly represents them. They are now forced to choose between two candidates who they don’t feel strongly about one way or another. I would recommend that independents and fiscal conservatives/social liberals form their own political party. Hopefully, the extremist philosophy of social conservatism would fade away election after election, leaving the U.S. without the ideological dead weight that inhibits societal progress.
Palin’s Speech: Three Troubling Remarks
1. “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
This was slap at all those who work hard to build up communities from the bottom up. Often working in inner city areas, community organizers teach local leaders how to lead and improve their community when politicians just aren’t getting the job done. I’m sorry, Sarah, but the paltry 616 votes you received to be elected mayor don’t make you better than Barack Obama. I’m sorry that, in your book, the Iditarod races are more important than helping the disadvantaged get healthcare. While the first portion of the RNC was supposed to be about service, I guess that was purely political, then, since you so blatantly mock it?
2. Palin also said that the war in Iraq is “a task from God”
……Are you kidding me?
3. “Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and [Obama’s] worried that someone won’t read them their rights.”
When more than half of the men and boys -some as young as fourteen- detained at Guantanamo Bay as suspected terrorists and tortured for years by US officials were eventually released without charge, there may be a reason for having those most minimal of rights accorded to suspects after all.
Sarah: This is democratic nation, not a fascist regime.

The Hypocrisy of the Religious Right
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
This excerpt from Emma Lazarus’ poem is exactly what America stands for. We are a nation that (through theory and historical example) welcomes exiles, immigrants, and those who are willing to take a leap of faith and begin a new life in an unknown land. In this sense, America is the nation that follows the original tenets of Jesus Christ better than any other in the world. The mission that is set forth for every American upon birth is to continue this legacy by personifying this uniquely American spirit.
There is a group in America, however, that espouses the same ideas yet is the worst at following them. The Religious Right is completely and utterly hypocritical, and that collective hypocrisy, with the nomination of Sarah Palin, may soon come to define America to the international community. Here are some of the most common forms of radical right wing thought and why they don’t make sense:
The Allegation: Those people who comprise the Religious Right think that Democrats want government to, as an acquaintance of mine put it, “control everything.”
The Reality Check: So, wanting the government to tell you who you can marry (anti gay rights), what a woman can do with her body (wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade), regardless of what the man does with his body (this is for those hard-liners who think abortion should be outlawed even in cases of rape, such as Sarah Palin and possibly John McCain) doesn’t count as having the government “control everything”?
The Allegation: RRs are pro-life while Democrats are “abortionists.”
The Reality Check: The term “pro-life” is completely misleading. Those Republicans who believe that a mother shouldn’t have an abortion even if the complications of her pregnancy may prove fatal to herself are, in fact, not pro-life. They believe that the mother should die rather than have an abortion. To me, that sounds more like “anti-woman” than “pro-life”. The terms pro-life and pro-choice should be changed to anti-choice and pro-choice, because that is much more accurate. It is totally hypocritical for those who call themselves “pro-life” to wrap themselves up in a guise of morality when really, they’re completely ignoring the needs of women, preferring to treat them as mere childbearing vessels.
The Allegation: that Democrats aren’t as moral or pro-family values as the Religious Right.
The Reality Check: A few nonexamples to ponder: John McCain’s despicable treatment of his first wife, John McCain calling a teenage Chelsea Clinton “ugly” in 1998, John McCain calling his wife the c-word, Larry Craig in the airport bathroom, Ted Stevens’ corruption scandal, George Bush and the Iraq war, Bush, Cheney and the oil companies… the list goes on. Can you really claim that you’re the party of family values and morality? If you think being anti-choice qualifies you for that title, then see the above allegation and reality check.
For those of you who honestly believe that you’re the followers of Christ in your pro-NRA, anti-choice agenda, here’s another reality check: Jesus taught us to love one’s neigbor as oneself, to be nonviolent, to help the underpriveleged, and to turn the other cheek. He would NOT agree with hating gays, telling the mentally handicapped who make up the majority of the homeless population to “pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps” even if they don’t have boots, or reducing the role of women to people who, even if they are raped or their health may be compromised, should stay pregnant, and dare they work, not get equal pay.
Though Rush Limbaugh said in an email “Palin= guns, babies, Jesus,” Palin really equals a potential future where America will be identified with the emblem of the religious right: a caricature depicting a hickish, gun-toting Jesus Christ.
