I wish Sarah Palin would just go away

Every time I come across anything about Sarah Palin, it makes me want to write something about why I wish she should go away. However, every time that thought comes to me, I also think about how I am contributing to the total number of things out there about her, and worry that I'm just fanning the flames.

I can't stand it anymore. I have to get it off my chest. This will be absolutely the last time I write anything about her, and I'm hoping that this post inspires others to ignore her as much as humanly possible.

When Sarah Palin became John McCain's choice of running mate, she was unknown to me. The more I got to know about her, the more I had to wonder why McCain didn't choose someone more qualified. I wouldn't have voted for him anyway, but at least I would have been slightly more comfortable if he had won.

The first story I heard about Sarah Palin was that she tried to get books banned from the library in Wasilla, Alaska. What is true about the story is that she asked the librarian how she felt about banning certain "objectionable" material. The books were never banned, and the list that circulated in a viral manner all over the Internet was a hoax, but the truth regarding that story was enough to make me dismiss her as a viable choice for any office under the United States. If she was willing to try--even try--to ban books from the library, she could not uphold the Constitution.

The next thing I began to hear about was her religion. As someone who supports and defends the Constitution, I fully support the Free Exercise and Establishment clause in the first Amendment, as well as the prohibition of religious tests provided in Article VI. I would feel like a hypocrite if I simply condemned her because she's part of a fundamentalist sect whose members feel as though they're entitled to a separate set of facts about the world than the rest of us, simply because that, to me, would be a religious test. My concern is that she cannot separate state and church, so she will not leave me the freedom to choose not to exercise religion--which is a necessary component of the Free Exercise clause. We can't have free exercise if I am forced to choose a religion; I must be free to abstain from that choice. Sarah Palin's record on the First Amendment is poor in this regard.

Palin's positions on choice, endangered species, drilling for oil, and just about everything else are opposite of mine. I don't favor eliminating opposing viewpoints, but she struck me as someone who is unwilling to compromise--just like George W. Bush. Someone who will not compromise will ignore the will of the people--just like George W. Bush. We don't need another George W. Bush.

Palin demonstrated time and again that she knows nothing about world affairs. The very idea that she would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency was unsettling to me.

Finally, she associated with Alaskan secessionists. The fact that her husband was involved witha secessionist organization and that she spoke to that organization--praising it--tells me that she does not have the best interests of the United States in mind. Why would someone who hates this country want to hold its highest office? I suppose the reasoning involves the notion of changing the country to fit one's own politics.

The media just won't leave Palin alone now. I wish they would. I'm tired of seeing her. I'm tired of hearing about her. She isn't relevant anywhere but Alaska at this point. If the GOP is insane enough to run her again in 2012, I'll be surprised, but until then, can we just be shut of her? Can we just pretend like she never happened? Sure, she was great for comedy, but that's no reason to keep her story alive.