Sarah Palin is the distilled essence of wingnut

John Cole responds to the Dan Drezner's interview of Sarah Palin the other day. To summarize:

And Sarah Palin is the distilled essence of wingnut. She has it all. She is dishonest. She is a religious nut. She is incurious. She is anti-science. She is inexperienced. She abuses her authority. She hides behind executive privilege. She is a big spender. She works from the gut and places a greater value on instinct than knowledge.

This is depressing. Depressing because Americans have a real choice, and it is in Obama, unlike the lack of choice Canadians have in the upcoming election. Americans are not only electing a president of the United States, they are also electing the most powerful world leader. The choice Americans make will in large part influence the policies of Canada, and politics around the globe. What's disturbing right now, is that Sarah Palin is new. She's the fresh face, and the American general public likes a new celebrity. That's what politics have become -- a show -- and Sarah Palin puts on a good show. Americans are fascinated with her, and that's what McCain has going for him. Something fresh -- which was the Obama advantage, until now. It's scary how close Americans now are to making the wrong choice.

Updated: September 14, 2008 -- New York Times cover article on Sarah Palin.