What a baseless smear. Are you trying to suggest that she didn’t give birth to the Down’s baby?

The problem is, the more I hear, the less that example seems real to me.

Nonetheless — tomorrow, Biden. While some might wonder what importance there is to discussing VP picks, the issue is, it is important: they indicate the kinds of decisions the candidate will make by showing the kind they have. And Biden does contradict many aspects of Obama’s message — from the Iraq War to being about change. So there is much to criticize here.

While she is capable of standing out in a public which is ready to cheer her on, with props put in place to help put some comic relief into her presentation, there is much more at stake them someone who can “look good.” Image is what she brings to the campaign more than anything else; her lack of speech on pro-life causes here demonstrates she wants to rely upon the image even for that, without actually saying anything specific. So her family is a representation of that image. I get it. It’s why I keep saying she brings them out and into the spotlight, and any criticism of her, by how she uses them for political gain, will include criticism of that image and how correct it is to reality. Nonetheless, on a surface level, it is effective, and it might work to the end. I don’t know. And her making for herself the image of “I am not a career politician but one of you” (which contrasts her to Biden) certainly will attract many in America, even though one could question if that makes one qualified or not. And I question how accurate it might be now.

I did find a few things she said disturbing as a Catholic/Christian, and those are what I want to highlight.

1) America first. This is a big center of her speech. A couple problems with this. One, it’s quite capable of being idolatry. Second goes with #2.

2) Win victories in war. Are the wars merely for American dominance and is this why we must win victory, because it means America first (in the world)? But what if the war is unjust? Do we put America over justice? No humility, but really, pride, boastful pride, over America’s place in the world.

These two really go together in another way. “America first” can be a mantra used ot justify any injustice — from wars to torture. “Well, maybe it’s a problem, but we need to be concerned about America first.” It reminds me of the way the Soviets put the USSR first over the needs of the people.

3) Thus, we see her giving constant attention to threats in the world, but in doing so, she also showed her inability to accept the fact that even our enemies have human rights is indicative of someone who is not pro-life. Anti-abortion, maybe; pro-life? No.

4)Talking about “destroy them” McCain’s views on evil. He has, “Seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome.” Ok, Sarah, how is evil overcome? Fighting and killing your enemies? I thought you were Christian. Evil is overcome by the cross. Can you tell me, what exactly is evil?

As has been said on Voxa Nova many times, the first of those concerns is found throughout American politics. Obama is just as guilty as Palin here. However, Christians shouldn’t use that as an excuse. Whether or not you believe a certain candidate is best, that doesn’t mean you should be silent on those issues which contradict Catholic (or Christian) sensibilities. And this is one of the big ones which Catholics need to get their act together on. Too much of this “America first” without any sense of what it implies is dangerous. For some, I do think it is idolatry. We might render what is Caesar’s to Caesar, but Caesar should never be first.

I was just giving examples; but you know, I think (for once) SB had a point, which is why I will do a post. I’ve had posts which criticized Obama and McCain already. I’ve talked about Palin quite a bit this week (obviously, people know why). But I’ve not given any attention to Biden. As is clear, every candidate has some good and bad sides, and so it’s worth showing some of the problems many of us have with Biden.

I agree.

Hahaha… the other thing was her pro-life record that she did not mention tonight in her introduction to the country. Sad.

Damn. That was one of the few cool things she had going for her.

* Sarah Palin used to wrestle kodiak bears in Alaskan bare knuckles fight clubs.
* Sarah Palin once bagged a caribou by staring it down until it died.
* Sarah Palin turned down a job as skipper of a Deadliest Catch boat because it wasn’t
challenging enough
* Sarah Palin fishes salmon by convincing them it’s in their interest to jump into the boat.
* Sarah Palin once guided Santa’s sleigh through an Alaskan blizzard with the light from her
smile.
* Little known fact: without her glasses, looking deep into Sarah Palin’s eyes will blind you with
the beauty of the tundra sun.
* Chuck Norris wishes he was Sarah Palin trapped in a man’s body.
* Sarah Palin paid her way through school by hunting for yeti pelts with a slingshot.
* Sarah Palin knows the location of DB Cooper’s body because she threw him from the plane.
* Global Warming doesn’t kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does – usually with her bare hands.
* Three of Sarah Palin’s five kids came out sideways – she never flinched.
* If placed into Schroedinger’s experiment, both Sarah Palins remain alive.

S.B., you have to understand, that’s “Democrat math” like in “how do we pay for Bush’s tax cut. You don’t pay for a tax cut, you simply let people keep more of what they earn. :)

1) Iraq War
2) Russia-Georgia

You might also mention Biden’s vote for the odious bankruptcy bill, Henry.