Sarah Palin would be a good president of the United States.

In the lead up to the 2008 presidential election, Senator John McCain was in need of a running mate that would serve as his vice president. And given the extremely competitive nature of that race, McCain was in need of someone that would give him his desperately needed popularity boost. From an outsider's perspective, it would seem that his advisor's criteria for deciding a vice presidential candidate was fairly straightforward. They had to pick a nominee that would sufficiently sway evangelical voters and simultaneously appeal to disenchanted Clinton supporters. To strike this balance, McCain's advisors choose governor Sarah Palin — the slogan spouting, wolf hunter from Wasilla. Quite thankfully, the former governor went down in history as one of the two losers of the 2008 presidential election. Unfortunately, the campaign ended up making her a national figure. Consequently, the prospect of Sarah Palin attaining the republican ticket for the 2012 presidential election isn't as completely ridiculous as it once may have been. Those that care about the future of civilization should find this disturbing. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Palin's nomination as president of the United States would represent one of the most potent and invidious threats to American hegemony and global stability since the Cuban missile crisis. This may seem like a grandiose claim, but it merely enunciates an ordinary fact about the potential hazards of a shocking blend of piety, confidence, and ignorance. Should Palin become president, she would become capable of enacting policies so ill conceived and detached from empirical reality that the world's various nations could conceivably unite to oppose us. Of course, this need not be the case; there are other options to a Palin presidency. ============> The Audacity of Hype: Why Sarah Palin Is Unfit For The American Presidency <============ C1: Sarah Palin's views are incongruous with the pursuits of a civil society. Though many of Palin's views are fairly mainstream (in the context of American religiosity), some of them still represent dangerous fantasies that are at odds with rationality. For example, given the religious milieu that Palin grew up with, there is every reason to think that she believes in the rapture and a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis. While Palin's beliefs about the origins of life are disconcerting, her likely views on the rapture are far more disturbing. In fact, it is a faith position of the Assemblies of God church she attends that Alaska will be a ‘refuge state' in the ‘last days'. [1] Thus, if this bright-eyed Alaskan were to suddenly wake up and hear that a mushroom cloud had replaced New York City, it is plausible that she would see a silver lining in the subsequent plume of ash and destruction. To the eyes of the former Governor, such an event would be a sign that the greatest event that would ever happen was about to occur – the return of Christ. This is precisely the type of thinking that society does not need. There are scarcely any other beliefs more dreadfully maladaptive to the future of civilization than the belief that society must necessarily come to an end for Jesus to return. C2: Sarah Palin doesn't posses the intellectual prowess necessary for high office. Sarah Palin is, quite evidently, intellectually unprepared to assume more power than any other person on the face of the Earth. However, she does not appear to be stupid. In fact, upon close scrutiny, she seems to be perfectly average in terms of her intelligence. And this is the problem. An average intellect isn't an acceptable attribute for the leader of the free world. If this attitude seems snide, consider, by analogy, the fact that when one goes to get brain surgery, one does not seek the council of an average neurosurgeon. Likewise, when one has end stage cancer, one does not try to find the appraisal of an ordinary oncologist. Therefore, shouldn't it be obvious that it's important for any nations political leaders to be elite. Given how high the stakes are, the United States just can't afford to have any presidents that aren't elite. ::Conclusion:: Former Governor Palin is the embodiment of a very backwards, parochial, and primitive mode of viewing the world. And her continued presence in the American political system is nothing short of an absurd mockery of the enlightenment values on which the United States was founded. Thus, to say that she is unqualified to be President would be an understatement. Of course, Palin also has many critics from the right as well as the left. Indeed, over the last two years, there has been a growing chorus of staunch conservatives who have come out to denounce her. In particular, the highly respected conservative columnist George Will has stated that he thinks Palin is "obviously" not prepared to be president. [2] Mr. Will is not alone in his sentiments. There is simply no way to deny what is obvious to most people: Sarah Palin is a religionist that is intellectually unprepared to grapple with the intricacies of the American presidency. Sources: 1. YouTube - Olbermann: Palin's Religious Beliefs on Israel and the Rapture. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 09 June 2010. . 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com...