Sarah Palin and Alaska's Proximity to the Melting Arctic
by David Sassoon - Sep 26th, 2008
If you haven't seen Sarah Palin explain how Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, make sure to watch this astonishing video clip from Katie Couric's interview.
No doubt, Sarah Palin's jaunt through New York this week, in such close proximity to world leaders assembling at the UN, some of whom sat with her one-on-one no less, have boosted her credentials immeasurably.
So how come the same logic of proximity does not apply to global warming?
Alaska is America's ground zero of climate change impacts which have not only been documented scientifically but are also visible to the naked eye. Polar bears drowning, turning into cannibals; earlier melting and later freezing of the permafrost on the tundra; millions of tons of methane bubbling up from the melting Arctic seabed; and of course the steady march toward a polar ice cap that is going to finally vanish.
Palin is in much closer proximity to the American citizens of Shishmaref, Alaska than anyone in Russia, but what they have to teach her just hasn't rubbed off. After 400 years of continuous habitation on the same spot, the people of Shishmaref are moving. Their town is being annihilated by the impacts of climate change.
You would think all that proximity to global warming would qualify Sarah Palin to be Al Gore's pit bull.
What am I missing?
Bookmark/Search this post with:
What You're Missing
You asked what you're missing, and I have a suggestion.
Sarah Palin is a cynical choice by a shallow politician to drain away Hillary supporters from Obama. If it works, it's a very sad day for America, because it will clearly indicate how disengaged the electorate is in the process, and that's the day we will lose our democracy.
In marketing they call it a "straw man," but let's call her a "straw person" just to remain politically correct. But this straw person is on fire and standing next to a powder keg. If elected, the "boom" will resound through this country sooner or later.
This is a very dangerous person to have only one heartbeat away from the presidency as America faces some of its most pressing challenges in a century. I've written an article about it at
http://writertotheworld.com/pailin%e2%80%99s-failin%e2%80%99/
Post new comment