The other day conservative Bay Buchanan accused President Obama of having "dummied down the Supreme Court" with his selection of Justice Sotomayor and his nomination of soon-to-be Justice Kagan. Now these are two women who, regardless of any political opposition one may have toward them, are very accomplished and respected in their chosen professions. They are far more accomplished than, let's say Sarah Palin, who the same Bay Buchanan praised when John McCain selected her for his running mate. Sarah Palin, whose resume could be written on the back of her hand.
The same Sarah Palin, who in September of '08 during the presidential campaign, was asked by Katie Couric, "What newspapers and magazines did [she] read to stay informed?" Palin's answer was, "I've read most of them." When pressed by Couric to be more specific Palin responded, "All of them. Any of them." Apparently, none of those magazines were about the founding fathers and the birth of America. Perhaps she should have picked up an American history book before she decided that she was qualified to be vice president and tell Americans what "real" America was. But then again, with her folksy image, that may have been a little too "elitist" for her to do. Although she will never be accused of ever letting the facts get in the way of a good story or a good one-liner.
Recently, in an episode of "The O'Reilly Factor", shown on the GOP propaganda machine known as FOX News, Sarah Palin, while discussing the controversy around the national day of prayer stated: "Go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant - they're quite clear - that we would create law based on the God of the Bible and the Ten Commandments." Really? Is she talking about the same guys and the same documents that we all grew up reading about in school?
Regardless of political ideology most Americans would agree that the founding fathers were intelligent men. And I feel that it is safe to assume that if they wanted the Ten Commandments and the Bible to be the law of the land, they would have done it. I mean there was nothing to stop them from doing so. It wasn't like some crazy liberal organization was threatening to protest them. Oh wait. They were the crazy liberals, a fact that many conservatives ignore when they mention them in their talking points.
But to show just how wrong Sarah Palin is on this issue, I present Thomas Jefferson, who in 1802 stated: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and state."
And James Madison who in 1822 said: "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity; the less they are mixed together."
