Sarah Palin Goes Ballistic
October 7, 2008Palin Goes Ballistic
Philip Giraldi
The issue of John McCain's health has been somewhat muted thus far in the presidential campaign, possibly because no mainstream media talking head wants to appear to be picking on someone who is old and sick, not to mention frequently querulous. If McCain were to be elected and then die or become incapacitated, Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin would become president. There has been considerable criticism of her lack of experience, but, as many of the critics are actually opposed to her in-your-face religiosity and conservative social values but afraid to be open about it, it is not quite that simple. Harry Truman knew almost nothing about running a government and a world war when he became president upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but he was frequently able to overcome his lack of experience by exercising good judgment and listening to key advisers such as George Marshall whose judgment he trusted. Similarly, it might be argued that Palin could be a candidate who has no experience but who has plenty of common sense combined with homespun virtue that will lead her to make the right decisions.
Many Americans who are particularly concerned by the issue of war and peace have also expressed reservations about Palin's worldview and the type of decisions that it is likely to produce. Palin's universe is defined by fundamentalist Christianity and small-town values, undeniably a plus in rural America but hardly a sufficient grounding when one has to step on the world stage and deal with frequently hostile nations and peoples that cannot relate to either. Like President Bush, she sees things in simplistic, Manichean terms, telling Katie Couric that "It is obvious to me who the good guys are … and who the bad guys are." Palin's inability to articulate foreign policy issues and her lack of interest in reading either newspapers or books suggest that she has little curiosity about foreigners and their ways, a view not terribly dissimilar to that of George W. Bush when he first ran for president in 2000. It has been noted that Palin did not even acquire a U.S. passport until last year, at age 43.
At this point in the campaign, it is important to make some assessment of how Palin thinks of foreign policy issues based on the information she does have combined with her understanding of the national interest. She frequently demonstrates a worldview grounded in American exceptionalism, believing that all nations in the world aspire to American values and that any country that does not want Western-style government with its constitutional guarantees and freedoms is somehow outside the pale and potentially subject to enforced democracy. She clearly supports nation-building, saying of the war on terror that it has been a mechanism to "usher in democratic values and ideals around the world." She also has a clear view of the enemy as "Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation," and she is willing to use force when necessary, insisting that "We must do whatever it takes, and we must not blink."
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