Really?

THAT was Sarah Palin's so-called "speech of lifetime"? A divisive, snotty, whiny diatribe that did nothing but set the stage to resurrect the '90s "culture war" moniker?

What a load of crap. So apparently we come right back to where we started--with people who conflate church and state and just want a president who will do their bidding on social issues they've never even bothered to think about beyond what they've been told by others. God forbid we think about this country's stand in the world and how the hell we are going to deal with it. No, by all means, let's fixate instead on a woman who apparently can gut a fish while giving birth.

I do love that gender is being taken off the table a bit here, and that Palin just gets to be an asshole because she's an asshole (and an asshole who apparently never took that whole Republican Party "Teach Abstinence" campaign to heart, but that's OK because her family has enough money to deal with the situation, as well as enough money to deal with the medical demands that come with having a child with a disability, unlike, say, millions of others).

The Republican Party's standing on social issues has never been more self-serving, full of double standards, and appalling. Palin was chosen precisely because she could "legitimize" these views. If you can put a pretty woman--who clearly dreams, still, of being on "Designing Women"--on a national stage and have her yell "YAY, GOD!" and "BOO, ABORTION!" then you motivate a group that did not want to vote for McCain previously. Pretty simple/standard PR and Marketing 101. Plus, when women tell other women what to do with their bodies, everyone gets confused and thus we distract from horrifying scenarios, such as Palin holding diplomatic talks with any leaders from the Middle East.

I just woke up with a sour taste in my throat. And I am angry. I am sick of both parties at this point, but the Republicans are simply repugnant. No vision. Nothing but continued hate and fear mongering and telling people of this country how they should live their lives to be considered "good." (I have yet for anyone to explain to me, too, how Republicans who are "fiscal conservatives" are actually helping the country as a whole in the long term.) It's patronizing, dumbed-down smoke and mirrors tactics that ultimately only divide the country into Us and Them. Only now it's coming from an old man whose ego has outstripped his common sense and a VP candidate who's essentially "Mean Mommy." If this is how we're supposed to "make history" (i.e., by not electing Obama) then I guess too many people in this country are simply OK with identifying with their captors.