Sep 25, 2008

Glenn Greenwald admits he was wrong about Palin

She is much worse than he thought:
One of two things is absolutely clear at this point: she is either (a) completely ignorant about the most basic political issues -- a vacant, ill-informed, incurious know-nothing, or (b) aggressively concealing her actual beliefs about these matters because she's petrified of deviating from the simple-minded campaign talking points she's been fed and/or because her actual beliefs are so politically unpalatable, even when taking into account the right-wing extremism that is permitted, even rewarded, in our mainstream. I'm not really sure which is worse, but it doesn't really matter, because with 40 days left before the election, both options are heinous.
And it matters a lot:
Vice Presidents matter much more than they did before. So much unfettered power is now vested in the Executive that it's inevitable that the Vice President will wield significant authority. McCain evinces little interest in domestic policy, and the fact that he will be beholden to her and her Dobson-ite base if she wins makes it highly likely that she will exert substantial influence over numerous important areas. All of that, combined with McCain's age -- and what really do appear to be legitimate and growing questions about his health (those are mere suspicions, but appropriate ones that should be answered by McCain) -- makes Sarah Palin's candidacy a very real hazard, something that, by the day, I'm convinced is as important as any other issue in the campaign.
The scariest thing is that somewhere about 48% of American voters will vote for these freaks. That could easily round up to 50%, but even if that disaster is averted, we have to ask ourselves: Why isn't this election a blowout? Why isn't it like Chirac v. Le Pen in 2002? Or at least like Johnson v. Goldwater in 1964? Hell, is there any sane person who would not choose Goldwater and Miller over McCain and Palin?

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