New Huffington Post Column

Mr. Cesca – that was worth the wait. As I posted in the comments there, it inspired me to pass the message along. Let’s make this election the election where every politician knows that appeals to bigotry spell epic FAIL.QT

Enjoyed your column, Bob. I think Palin is a demagogue, pure and simple. She has none of the qualities necessary for leadership and seems to be fueled by a mixture of misguided religious convictions (the kind that contract the spirit and narrow the mind rather than calling us to transcend whatever in us needs transcending) and unwarranted ambition. Fortunately (to adapt a line from Oscar Wilde), to be premature is not always to be perfect: Palin seems to think 2008′s campaign has been a fine introduction of her “brand” to the American electorate, but I suspect that she has been weighed in the balance and found sadly wanting–both incapable and uncharitable. (By contrast, in 2000 a lot of people probably thought George W. was more or less a harmless, amiable doofus, not the at times menacing figure he subsequently turned out to be.)

Thomas Carlyle said a long time ago that “in the long run, every government is the exact symbol of its people.” That’s a debatable statement, of course, but if a majority of the people advance a politician like Sarah Palin to the nation’s highest office, they may end up with a government that treats them like children and risks their very lives in the service of a twisted ideology. And the rest of us would get exactly the same treatment. (I’m not sure why I’m bothering to use the conditional because in essence, what I just wrote is a good description of the administration we have right now.) But I’m optimistic about Obama’s chances next Tuesday and about his prospects for a successful presidency, in spite of the mess he stands to inherit.

Thank you, Bob. My thoughts exactly. I’ve had about enough of politician like Sarah Palin who feel compelled to externalize and project onto others the Shadow Self we all have inside.