Palin Tarnishes Christians and Christianity

If Sarah Palin is personalizing Christianity as a side issue with her campaign, she's making the classic political mistake of mixing church and state.


Alaska shoreline, courtesy Carnival Cruiselines

Why is Palin pulling "Christianity" into her speeches and expecting voters to accept that a "higher calling" might cause her to conduct another future political campaign? My view is that she's besmirching a good religion and embarrassing those who defend it, incidentally aggrandizing herself at every opportunity.

Just please, Sarah, if you read this, don't drag your religion into the muck. It's my religion, too, except mine's a little different and isn't manifest the same way.

And fighting for revenge against innocent bloggers and big news services is bananas. What's the saying about hot kitchens? "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!" The White House is a much bigger, hotter kitchen than any place in Alaska.

Worse, Palin is beginning to sound a little crazy as well as conflicted. Now she's threatening to sue a blogger meekly calling herself the nickname, "just a girl from Homer". Who does Palin think she is? Mary, Queen of Scots? No, just a girl from Wasilla, that's who! Her vindictive rages and small world view aren't assets.

If she thinks she can sue bloggers just because she thinks she can, she's nuts. Aren't we bloggers protected by the First Amendment? After all, most writing and blogging compare to looking after children because it's necessary and useful work but not extremely well paid. Of course, lucrative writing such as producing bestselling novels is an exception. Palin herself should prove able to write a bestseller, if the hype of her supporters is any indication. Bluster, intimidation and threats have limited usefulness.

If Palin thinks she can squash free speech, she's the one who needs to learn a lesson. How is the rest of the country learning about the state of Alaska and how it's being run? Actually, I had little idea until now how different it is, how many fewer laws there are in Alaska than in, say, New Jersey, my state for more than two decades.

It's rather odd to me that Ann Coulter and Margo Howard, daughter of Ann Landers, are saying that Sarah Palin is leaving her governorship because she is "too big" for the job. Why are they supporting her? Rumors abound about Palin and some facts haven't been released.

Do you think Palin goes too far invoking loyalty with whiffs of religious superiority, dragging bloggers into her rages?