Need we remind you that virtually half of all Americans voted for George W. Bush, not once, but twice? So let's not reserve The Dunce of the Year Award to just the GOPers.

Actually, both Barack Obama and John McCain are the weakest nominees that either party could have served up to the masses given the serious issues our country now faces. Neither of them deserve to be elected and neither are qualified for what the job demands now. McCain is so fixated on Iraq he can't see - or doesn't care about - anything else, includng health care or the economy. Obama hasn't been able to find his ass or a coherent, consistent message since Hillary Clinton wasn't around to beat up on during his Primary. "Turn the page" my ass.

Unfortunately for America, George W. Bush has lowered the standard for becoming the President. Every Tom, Dick, and Harriet now thinks he or she is material. Sarah Palin is but one more example of how the Presidency has become nothing short of a political fast-food franchise. Do you want fries with that? No wait, we have apple slices too.

Can we ever get this country straightened out again to the point where we actually can recognize it? Or are we doomed to become yet another rather large banana republic with a (wink-wink!) Constitution?

One would think that any group picking high-level representatives for themselves would want to elevate their best and brightest. Do the Republicans have such low self-esteem that they think this is the best they have?

Perhaps Palin and Mccain are a reflection of how Republicans feel about themselves after 8 years of Bush and 14 years (1992-2006) of a Republican Congress. Look where it's gotten us.

Thank you for posting that fabulous piece!

I am truly astonished at the level of FEAR and INTELLECTUAL DISHONESTY displayed by so many of the letter writers regarding the Governor of Alaska. The name calling, the hystrionics, the pretzel rationalizations are pathetic. This is what passes for "Intellectualism"? What you deride as anti-intellectualism is simply the secure knowledge of what must be done. Some do, many just whine. Please grow up.

THE GOOD NEWS! is that Palin is the new YoUnG face of the Republican party---What better gift could be given to us Liberals than that? THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING....

Most of us Americans view politics as just another venue of popular culture. So it naturally follows that we use the same criteria to pick our political leaders as we do our pop cultural avatars. The thing we like about Brittney, Lindsay and all those other one-named people is the same thing we want in our politicians- their stupidity and fallibility. It not only gives us a warm sense of superiority by making us believe that despite our lack of talent, brains, beauty and bucks we are actually better than they are, it justifies our casual contempt for government and governance. Government is Bad; Politicians are Evil- and we vote for people to prove it time and again. The neo-con dominated GOP understands how good it makes most of us feel, and gleefully uses it against us- but particularly against the po' folk that vote for them.

In a sense this is a tribute to the success of the US- things went so well for so long we came to believe like Rome did in its time that we are eternal; our success and prosperity a virtual law of nature and governance doesn't matter. I've contended since the 2004 election that it would take an economic catastrophe to shake America out of its vanity-induced stupor and realize a head is useful for something besides putting a baseball cap on- and we're going to need all the brains we can get in the times ahead. Something good may come out of the wreckage of the past 8 years after all. Here's hopin'!

You Coastal liberals, that people who do not share your worldview are dumb?

Hell, people who do not use your catchphrases, and speak with your accents. It is is not just Palin. You treated Jimmy Carter the same way. and William Jennings Bryan for that matter, and Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson. Forever you have craved the respect of English and European aristocrats. After the mess they made of things between 1914 and 1945, they don't deserve any deference and as one who lived in Europe for thirty years, I can assure you that the average German or Frenchman politician is no more knowledgeable than the average Texan. We are all provincials, the products of narrow prejudices,you all included.

Has been lowered in every area of our culture from excellent to mediocre ....

We can now see the all-important nature of politics for the circus it is.

She has the IQ of a broom but at least a broom KNOWS ITS JOB and does not want to steal into the dustpans job specificity as well. She's so ignorant, she wants to invade into every aspect of gov't. She does not know when to "Leave it alone & go home."

Articulate speech, complete sentences, pluralistic thought processes, original ideas are all characteristics of a good leader. Erudition, community involvement, education, and common sense are all important in a leader. Perhaps most necessary in our times are dreams and means to implement those sweeping dreams.

Per information readily available, anyone can track Sarah Palin’s executive experience. She left Wasilla in crippling debt. She has strange, if not illegal, personnel policies. She runs Alaska like a good ol’ boys’ and girls’ club peppering her administration with cronies and woefully unprepared friends. Ask someone in Alaska why they like her. The answer comes in hunting, fishing, six packs, ah gosh moments.

For every dollar sent to Washington, Alaska receives $1.84 in grants, earmarks, subsidies. Even with that inflow of funds, she has not balanced the state budget.

Oh, she is certainly a good executive.

True, she is great in front of a camera as long as the terms of that exposure are hers and that the questions don’t matter, just the sound bites. Oh, gosh, scripts are wonderful. You betch ya’.

This won’t change your mind. I know from your short comment that you are committed to the ticket and platform.

Sarah Palin is commited only to Sarah Palin. Again, I asked friends in Anchorage who know.

What do we get if McCain/Palin win? A dead McCain and an elevated actor. Look at the mess we have from the last actor elected.