With Palin, however, the contempt for science may be something a little more sinister than the bluff, empty-headed plain-man’s philistinism of McCain. We never get a chance to ask her in detail about these things, but she is known to favor the teaching of creationism in schools (smuggling this crazy idea through customs in the innocent disguise of “teaching the argument,” as if there was an argument), and so it is at least probable that she believes all creatures from humans to fruit flies were created just as they are now. This would make DNA or any other kind of research pointless, whether conducted in Paris or not. Projects such as sequencing the DNA of the flu virus, the better to inoculate against it, would not need to be funded. We could all expire happily in the name of God. Gov. Palin also says that she doesn’t think humans are responsible for global warming; again, one would like to ask her whether, like some of her co-religionists, she is a “premillenial dispensationalist”—in other words, someone who believes that there is no point in protecting and preserving the natural world, since the end of days will soon be upon us.

Isn’t he dreamy? But wait, there’s more:

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just “people of faith” but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

Nobody can accuse him of pulling punches or of giving preferential treatment to his erstwhile favorites, that’s for sure.

28a. I’m going to read you several things that some people have said concern them about John McCain’scandidacy. Please tell me which TWO of these, if any, cause you the most concern. (IF MORE THAN TWO, ASK:) Well, if you had to choose just two, which would you say cause you the MOST concern? +

THIS TABLE HAS BEEN RANKED BY THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE

His vice presidential running mate is not qualified to be president if the need arises – 34%

It seems likely that he would continue George W. Bush’s policies – 23 

His economic policies would only benefit corporations and the wealthy – 20

He is too committed to keeping a high troop presence in Iraq – 14

He is erratic and does not have the right temperament to be president – 14

He is too willing to make false attacks on Obama – 9

He is too old to be president – 8

None of these cause concern – 25

So, according to this poll the selection of Palin as VP is more of a drag on McCain’s chances than GWB.  I guess that means there are a lot of people out there who think being smart is good.

Mr. Biden made few mistakes; he appeared more measured and thoughtful on substance, and made forceful points that contrasted with Ms. Palin’s slogans. But she provided the more vivacious, visceral television performance: it was a 90-minute sprint to reclaim her identity as a feisty, folksy frontierswoman ready to storm Washington. And she did it like a reality show contestant — broadly, with stagey asides to the camera, including an assurance to some third-grade students, in what she called a “shout-out,” that they would get extra credit for tuning in.

So whatever sort of smart it is to make key strategic adjustments and say the right kind of nothing, she’s got that.

Yes, Joe Biden has it too.

I have a number of relatives who vote Republican for idiotic reasons (because they’re the “family values” party, chiefly. I mean, if thinking about fags makes you feel icky, just say so) and who have sworn off the McCain/Palin ticket this election because of the mockery that was the Palin nomination. But I’d bet you ten dollars that both are back on board now. Phew. Family values are safe.

Make a case that I’m wrong.

Here’s the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.

And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she’s a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed middle-American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin’ Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else’s, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning.

Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she’s a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power.

Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she’s the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV -and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.

The Palin speech was a political masterpiece, one of the most ingenious pieces of electoral theater this country has ever seen. Never before has a single televised image turned a party’s fortunes around faster.

Dude, I love you!

Now I don’t have to say anything more about this topic myself, since it’s been said for me better than I could say it. And I think I’m pretty good at saying stuff like that, so you know I’m impressed.

Hat tip Boing Boing.