I made my earlier comment before reading the following remarks from today's Crikey email (4th September)
"How weird that conservative commentary in this country should sense some s-xist, leftist conspiracy behind the quizzical glances that have be thrown toward the Sarah Palin candidacy and the comic little soap opera of home-schooled eccentricity and accidental pregnancy trailing in its wake.

The case is proven, they say, that the liberal left is less inclined to accept strong feminity than are those champions of women's rights on the right. Would the left cock the same snoot if the candidate whose unmarried daughter was due to give birth somewhere this side of the inauguration was a male? Well, if that candidate was a champion of born again (and again!) family values, of abstinence based s-x education, was a figurehead of the party that pillories the collapse of family structure and blames that crumbling edifice on individual rather than social turpitude, then yes, they probably would.

The fact is, that the pregnancy of Palin junior points to the deeper hypocrisy of the proselytizing, moralizing, upright, arrogantly self assertive religious right. Weird indeed."

According to media reports, Sarah Palin:

1. Advocates drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge

2. Enjoys safaris, taking out wolves from low-flying planes

3. Scoffs at "Climate Change"

4. Is a lobbyist for gun rights

5. Found guilty of fishing without a licence

So it appears this woman advocates slaughtering anything that moves except human embryos.

As one former career woman (and mother) to another: "Sarah Palin - you sure do scare the hell out of me!

"Mother Nurture, you ain't!"

I wouldn't be too sure of that, Boaz.

>>Well Sells.. your eridite post should have confirmed that MIUAUG will take us in any one of a number of diverse and contradictory directions... most of which are contradictory and malfunctional. I won't hold my breath for deacons Pericles and CJ to admit this though :)<<

But the only admission I have is that Sells rarely leads so beautifully with his chin. He is usually a great deal more careful.

>>What strikes me about this list is that it lacks any coherence as an ethical system, it is simply a list of left, right, causes that have become fashionable. War is bad but uterine infanticide is good. This illustrates an ethical confusion<<

I presume that the point being made is that the Christian position - war is good, abortion is bad - somehow hangs together far more "ethically".

Labelling stuff you disagree with as a "cause", while describing your chosen position as an "ethical system", is pure sophistry.

Political campaigning is itself a moral wasteland. Looking for ethics-based policies would require a powerful microscope.

Perhaps Sells could complete his little homily with a description of the ethics he would like to see in a US presidential candidate, and a quick sketch on the "causes" they espouse that flow from this morality.

The best comment on Palin's endorsement I have seen comes from Spengler in the Asia Times, who says:

"The Democrats were watching the brightest and most articulate presidential candidate they have fielded since John F Kennedy snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And this was before John McCain, in a maneuver worthy of Admiral Chester Nimitz at the Battle of Midway, turned tables on the Democrats' strategy with the choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate."

The full comment can be found at:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JI03Aa02.html

As Spengler says, barring some unforseen event, McCain has it won.

It says volumes about the left that all they could criticise about Palin was that her 17 year old daughter had become pregnant.

I find the USA christian religionists infatuation with guns quite bizarre.

I wonder which gun or how many guns Jesus would recommend or own if he were alive today?
Shotgun?
Single shot?
Semi automatic?
Fully automatic?
Assault rifle?
Bazooka?

Would Jesus wear or carry a gun whilst in church?

Guns in church?

How old should a child in a christian family be, before he/she is introduced to the "culture" of guns. I believe some USA children are given guns while they are still toddlers.

Would Jesus go hunting as a "sporting" activity?
Would Jesus even eat meat?

In my opinion anyone’s apprehensions about whether Palin has the ability and knowledge and experience to take the reins of the White House if something happened to McCain are misplaced. A person’s character and actions, the latter even in a short time span as is the case of Palin’s short tenure as Governor, are immeasurably more important than knowledge in the accreditation of a president. The character of a person cannot be shared with another person, whereas the knowledge of a person or of many others can be shared with another person. And it lies upon the latter’s personality and character how that knowledge is to be used and what decisions will be caused by it. Palin’s tenure as governor of Alaska shows clearly that she can use her knowledge and that of others benignly, decisively, and effectively for the interests of her constituency. Hence she has the character to be an outstanding reformer and a great president. Voila une femme, to paraphrase Napoleon. And yesterday's speech at the Convention clearly demonstrates that Palin will be a capable VP.

http://civcontraislam.typepad.com