This goes out to all my friends recently returned from Malaysia. Wagwan

Two things came to mind when I decided to blog today. I thought, I should talk about ladies, or the election. Well, I decided to write about both. Here's to you Sarah Palin.

I just got a phone call from the Green Bay Press Gazette asking me if it was okay for them to publish a letter to the editor that I had to submit for one of my classes. We had to keep them to 200 words, which is difficult. I was surprised it was being published, as the paper, and the letters to the editor, are well slanted to the right and well over 200 words. My letter...well here it is.

"It has surfaced that Sarah Palin, as Governor of Alaska, is suing the US government to remove the Beluga Whales of Alaska's Cook Inlet from the Endangered Species List on the grounds that the science is "premature." The numbers speak for themselves: beluga whales in Cook Inlet went from 653 in 1994 to an estimated 278 in 2005! Similarly, Palin has sued to remove Polar Bears from the list, in spite of their diminishing numbers and habitats. In the past, Palin has pointed to visibility as a valuable means of assessment, and Alaskans can "see" that the polar bears and beluga whales are in danger.
The problem is that her state stands to profit greatly from more oil drilling. If these animals remain listed as endangered, their habitats must be protected from drilling, so she is questioning the facts and the science to prevent that. It helps that the scientists she has worked with are global warming deniers and have received funding from oil companies. No surprise then, that their reports confirm the arguments of the pro-drilling camp. Is this the kind of ethical behavior we want from our leaders? Can Palin be touted as a maverick, uncorrupted by politics and big business? It isn't "premature" to say no. "

Needless to say, I am horrified at the thought of this lady being our VP, and an ailing war hero away from the presidency. I am not necessarily saying I think Obama is entirely honest or uncorrupted, but Palin has made that judgement easy in her case.

A day or two after the RNC, almost hall that she had said in her fiery speech had been discredited by that pesky institution called TRUTH. It became well known, and documented, that Palin was a poor and oftentimes devious mayor and governor. Further developments, like Troopergate, have unearthed more abuses of power and disregard for basic rights of certain people/animals. You all know these things, and I hope you are considering them in your decision making.

What we really need to consider, though, is the implications of her "electrifying" candidacy. Even after these truths came out, she is still a darling to much of the nation! What does that say about our, and our neighbors', expectations for our leaders? Do we really care more about looks, personality, and hobbies, than policy, education (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyoafptEm5c) , and integrity?

Regretfully, I have to admit that I see the same behavior in a lot of Obama supporters, who have bought into his slick delivery, without adequately checking up on him. A lot of young people have been caught up by Andy Warhol style portraits and Will.I.Am. videos, just as much as Palin fans are sold by seeing a small town lady with guns and kids. Obviously, a lot of us have gone out and done some research, some debating, and some thinking before choosing our candidates, but many others haven't.

Is this because we don't care about the future of our country or the world? A lot of people have some questionable priorities, but no, I don't think so. I think it has a lot to do with distance, real and perceived. Washington, and decision making, seems far away from the average US citizen. Maybe we don't expect much of our leaders, because we expect that Washington is going to do what Washington is going to do, regardless of who is in office. Is this that true? Maybe, but not trying to exercise the power you do have certainly isn't going to help. For the pessimists out there, think along the "lesser of two evils" line.

So what to take from this? Choose your candidate carefully and knowledgeably, knowing that even if you don't believe you're making a difference, you've got nothing to lose by having a little hope for one of them. Read, talk to people, think, and then vote.

p.s. As a geography and environmental studies guy, it was hard for me not to go into the environmental implications of the election. If you want to talk about it, hit me up, I'd love to. Also read this awesome op/ed by Michael Pollan, a very good environmental/agricultural journalist... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?em

Save the Whales, Polar Bears, and Ourselves

Tommy