We worship an awesome god in the blue states, and we've got some gay friends in the red states

I'll get this out of the way before this turns into the "Sarah Palin is the Worst Thing Ever Blog". Here's my ultimatum thought on the matter:

With the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has finally shown what this election is all about: the true, honest-to-god intelligence of the American people.

Look, we can't agree on the same things with a lot of these issues. For example, I would say that investing in tons of solar and wind energy over the next ten years is the most important thing to lead to energy independence, others will argue that offshore drilling or opening up Alaska will immediately fix the problem, as well as lower the cost of gas at the pump. I could tell you that allowing a woman to choose what she feels is right for her body and the pregnancy that she might not want is constitutional and has nothing to do with whether you think that life begins at birth or conception, others would say without a doubt that allowing abortion is the same as allowing murder and perpetuating death. I say tax big business, they say cut taxes for the wealthy to boost the economy. I say get out of Iraq now, they say if we leave we surrender, and we are close to a victory. Fine. Whatever. We don't agree, and seldom do people change their minds about certain issues in a matter of months. And as much as I want an election to be about the issues, it's really about the people, sad as that is. I mean, the Democrats always stand for the same things, same as the Republicans. Boys will be boys.

But whether red or blue, old hat conservative or young liberal, we can all agree on one thing: liars in public office suck. They do. Nixon sucked. Bush sucks. And yes, for a little while there, Clinton sucked. They lied on television, they lied to the American people who (at least the majority of which) elected them, they lied to the fucking constitution. Liars. Suck.

And it's not so much that McCain has been a serious liar. True, he's a hypocrite and no longer deserves that pretty little "Maverick" label that's got people so jazzed for god knows why. True, he won't really change anything, and he hasn't really said that he would change anything except getting those damned do-nothing congress people out...despite the fact that he's been part of the Republican filibuster that's been blocking anything from being done in the past two years. But I mean, he's not that bad. He's old, cut him some slack, he forgets things about, you know, policy. But he could still be president!

Palin, though. PALIN. There's a liar for you. Like really, she lies about things. Not just in her attacks on Obama. But in her commendations of herself: the bridge to nowhere. Being anti-earmarks. Being a reformer. Being progressive. Getting rid of the old boy's club. Lie lie lie lie lie.

And it goes beyond that. Look: I want terribly to see a woman in the white house. But this is what I stand for, as a woman (and, god knows, a feminist):

Pro-equal pay, pro-choice, anti-assault weapons, pro-gay, anti-war, pro-first amendment, pro-public education, anti-big business, green, environmentalist.

Here's what the McCain/Palin camp seems to spout so far:

No mention of equal pay for equal work, pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay rights, war hawking, censoring, vouchers instead of public school, tax cuts for big oil and big business, more drilling for oil, less plans for efficiency and green energy, and drilling in the environmentally threatened Alaska Wildlife Refuge and off the coast of Florida.

So there you have it: having a woman on the ticket doesn't really seem to be doing anything for women.

Also she's a liar. Outright.

So here's what I say it comes down to: if McCain, after his pick o' Palin, wins, then Americans are stupid. If he loses, then they're smart. Not because of the issues, but because of the people that they would be voting into office. That's my final worrrrrd.