Palin is ‘perfect decoy’

Caroline Evans of Lambertville
    Everybody’s talking about Sarah Palin, from the locals on the Lambertville streets to the television teasers I saw on a trip to Rome, Italy, last week.
   She’s everywhere, like pollution, and I’m very worried.
   Why?
   Because she has become the issue of this election, and every attempt in earnest by us Americans to seriously consider the qualifications of the next president of the United States has been undermined, once again, by a sinister group of ne’er-do-well political strategists who put country last and winning first.
   By putting her on the ticket, even against McCain’s wishes, they grabbed the public’s attention, cynically predicting women or Hillary supporters are stupid enough to vote for her and hoping once again the Republican machine will prevail, this time with the female vote in tow.
   It makes no difference to the party in power, and maybe to millions of women and Americans, that Palin lacks national experience, that she kills caribou and wolves for sport, that she has no idea about foreign governments, let alone American foreign policy, that she thinks global warming and the war in Iraq are acts of God, or that her daughter got pregnant despite her hockey mom’s preaching abstention over a healthy sex education.
   For her party, she’s the perfect decoy, and they are only too happy to make her the focus of this election as opposed to the economy, health insurance, energy policy, education, the war and our loss of respect throughout the world — for which they offer no viable solutions.
   For the unscrupulous “right,” this election is once again all about winning, even when winning means America will lose. With the sparkly, deer-caught-in-headlights Palin front and center and stealing the spotlight from her slow-moving running mate, the necessary focus of this election is lost, and once again our attention is diverted from the pain and shame this kind of politics has wrought on our country to the allure of false patriotism and an extremist in conservative’s clothing.
   Politics is rough, but it is not sport, and the Republican party’s (read Carl Rove’s) vile tactics only point to why it is so crucial that our country put leaders in office as opposed to another team that cheats to win.
   We bought their deception in the last two elections. We watched them bring down the economy by borrowing from China and others to fund a war based on lies and deception. We gave them latitude to squash our Constitutional rights, and if we’re not vigilant and wise to their tactics this time around, we will elect a new team of con artists who have scammed us with yet another politico-ponzi scheme.
   In Italy last week, I chatted with a group of Italians at an outdoor cafe, who could not refrain from talking about the election.
   ”Palin is a stupid joke,” they said, “and America is lost.”
   They said Americans will vote for McCain because Obama is “Negro.”
   They kissed their fingers, held them up and said, “Arivederci America!”
   I hope we can prove these Italians wrong. While we may not have the perfect choice in this election, the only sane and safe option we have is to vote for Obama-Biden and continue to keep our eye on the issues, hold them to their campaign promises and send Sarah Palin back to Alaska to be with her kids and grandchildren.
Carolyn Evans
Lambertville