Pre-Election Pet Peeve:

People who say, "I might have voted for John McCain, but Sarah Palin is a terrifying nut case."

It's not that I don't agree she's terrifying. She's anti-choice and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, despite a basic ignorance about every other judicial decision. Her definition of "alternative energy" is offshore drilling. She wants to privatize health care. She's running around the country red-baiting like crazy and thinks a more progressive tax scheme ("spreading the wealth!") is a bad thing. Her rhetoric at campaign rallies stirs up racist, xenophobic sentiment. She's helping fuel rumors about Obama that are not only false, but also based on the idea that being Muslim ought to disqualify you from an American presidential race. So yeah, she's scary, but McCain shares her policy positions and participates in the same campaign tactics. A vote for McCain, with or without Sarah Palin, would have been a vote for continued economic inequality, nonexistent health care, and a repro-rights nightmare.

What kind of voter would accept these regressive policies when espoused by an old white man, but reject them when espoused by a woman? Voters who intuitively "respect" the war-veteran, centrist McCain of years past? Voters who just get a "good feeling" about him? I smell bullshit, and probably sexism. People need to get their mind off personality, and onto the issues. Palin's not as smart as McCain (and her church is scarier), but ideologically, she's hardly different.

As a side note, we apologize for the relative quiet around Pink Scare these days. The myriad demands of school and work are taking a toll on your faithful bloggers. If you'd be interested in writing a guest-post to perk things up a bit, please let us know in the comments!