Speak English, Woman

If having a vagina and journalism degree qualifies you to be Vice President, then I would like to be nominated as Secretary of State. Lemme get them nuclear codes too, while we’re at it.

Perhaps I’m not really qualified, though. I’ve never served on a PTA; I’ve never been a mayor (of a city whose population mirrors that of my alma mater); and I’ve never been Governor of an energy producing state (for two years). I guess everything I really need to know about Sarah Palin, however, was proven in last night’s debate.

Objectively speaking, I thought she did really well. Maybe even great… and I’m saying this even though I can’t stand her. She’s a great debater. She took everything in stride; she appeared fresh, excited and ready; she focused on energy – an important issue which happens to be her strong suit – but she made sure that McCain was the spotlight. She attacked Obama where she could (which wasn’t often considering that she only recently learned everything she needed to know about him), but overall I thought she came off as well-prepared, and knowledgeable (read: a quick study) of the major issues.

HOWEVER, that folksy, cutesy, “regular person” shtick was pissing me off. Speak English, woman. “Betcha”, “Gonna”, “Ain’t”, and “Ya” are not English words. More importantly, they are completely inappropriate colloquialisms to use on the national stage in the ONLY debate you’ll ever engage in. Did anyone council her on this? I get the appeal, but come on. Is it that difficult to pronounce all of the sounds in your words? You don’t even use that many! By not answering many of the questions Ifill presented, you managed to reduce your vocabulary choices to topics surrounding energy, war and eh, I guess the economy. Whenever you were really stuck, you talked about McCain being a Maverick to deflect the attention away from yourself. Good thing Biden nipped that in the bud. McCain is no Maverick. Period. Thank you, Senator Biden.

Bottom line: the woman is not qualified. This debate obviously helped Palin recover from previous gaffes, but it did not speak to her ability to lead the free world. Lady – I am not impressed by your everyday, soccer-hockey-mom persona. Such “moms” belong on the sidelines of the field and/or rink. They do NOT belong in the White House. And, just because you happen to prove yourself in a single 90-minute debate does not mean you deserve four years as the second highest-ranking official of the free world.


No. No. No. Thanks, but no thanks.