Stop waiting for the world to change.

You know that song by John Mayer? The one you can’t help humming despite the fact that John Mayer is a tool?. “Waiting for the World to Change.” Well, I’m not buying it. If you want the world to change, you can’t wait for it. But what’s scaring me lately is….I’m not sure the world is going to change at all. Not for the better, anyway.

By that I mean…I’m not so sure Obama is going to get elected this November. There, I said it. I somehow thought if I never mentioned it, never thought it, never wrote it down on paper that it wouldn’t be so. But right now, it’s not looking good.

It was easy for me to be deceived. I live in a neighborhood where kids have lemonade stands to raise money for Obama. Where moms at the playground wear shirts that say “Obama Mama.” Where every other brownstone has a sign up that says “Change.” How foolish of me to assume that friends in other places felt the same way.

I know that I cannot single-handedly change the minds of everyone who thinks John McCain/Sarah Palin would make great leaders of this country. I’m just writing this to try to present some food for thought…some information that may not have been considered. And I’m starting with Sarah Palin. Why Palin and not McCain? Well, he’s a topic for a different blog. He certainly deserves his own. I’m starting with Sarah since by choosing her, I feel that McCain made a real statement about what kind of president he’d be. One that would rather “be a maverick” by choosing someone controversial and unqualified than someone who actually deserves to be a heartbeat away from the president. And since McCain is 72 and let’s face it, not looking like the picture of health….I take his vice-presidential pick very seriously.

Sarah Palin. Ah yes. Where do we begin? I’m not here to bash her pregnant daughter or her hair or her clothes or her general snarkiness. I could…but it would be too easy. Plus it would dilute the real problems I have with her…all of which stem from her policies/beliefs.

1. Palin does not believe in abortion, even in cases of rape, incest or severe birth defects. The very notion that the government should have a say in what women do with their own bodies is appalling to me. Right now, NARAL Pro-Choice America reports that donation and volunteers have been up since Palin’s nomination and are calling the GOP platform “the most anti-choice ever put forward.” Change? Oh yes, it’s change all right…a giant step backward.

2. Palin does no believe that global warming is “man-made.” She also favors drilling which will release more carbon into the atmosphere. She asked church workers in Alaska to pray for a $30 billion pipeline in the state because “God’s will has to get done.”

3. And speaking of church, Palin’s place of worship featured the Jews for Jesus founder David Brickner who described terrorist attacks on Israelis as G-d’s “judgement of unbelief” of Jews who haven’t embraced Christianity. Not that Obama’s church was much better but…he doesn’t go there anymore. Can we say the same of Palin? Her current church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays to heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

4. Palin opposes explicit sex education. Somewhat ironic considering her current family situation…ooops, I said I wouldn’t mention her daughter.

5. Palin believes in teaching creationism in school.

6. Palin first got a passport in 2007. Which doesn’t exactly show a lot of curiousity about the outside world, now does it?

7. The Bridge to Nowhere. You all know about this, I assume. She was originally in favor of building a 398 million dollar bridge to an island with 50 people on it. Until she realized it was unpopular. And then all of a sudden, she wasn’t in favor of it anymore.

8. Palin wanted a local librarian to ban certain books. When the librarian refused, she was fired. Under pressure, she later re-hired her.


9. Her tenure was rife with controversy, including Dairy Gate, where she fired the entire Alskan Agricultural Commission board and filled it with her buddies as well as TrooperGate, where she fired a public safety officer who refused to fire her brother-in-law.

10. Palin attended the convention of the Alaskan Independence Party, which supports Alaska seceding from the US. Her husband was a member of that party from 1995-2002.


I could go on. But I won’t. I can’t. I’m eating lunch and I might be ill. Please consider all the facts before you vote. Because if you vote for McCain, Palin could be your president. Our president.

Gulp.