To the editor:

While many social conservatives talk the talk, vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin walks the walk and, at age 44, has an infant with Down syndrome and a pregnant 17-year-old daughter to prove it. This is not just because she opposes abortion (including rape and incest cases) but because she also opposes sex education in schools about any subject other than abstinence, including crucial topics such as contraception. Apparently, that goes for home also. Next we can try out her views on teaching creationism in the schools and see if we can’t produce a generation of science illiterates.

Of greater concern, these positions and the need to solidify his social conservative base were reportedly the deciding factors in 72-year-old John McCain’s choosing her to be his running mate and, if elected, to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. It certainly couldn’t be her other qualifications: small-town mayor and governor of Alaska for only 20 months. So much for “Country First” and the experience argument. I guess that’s what you get with a risk-taker as president, along with the occasional unnecessary war.

Barack Obama may not have extensive experience either, but at least he has demonstrated judgment in selecting Joe Biden, and has been vetted over 18 months by 18 million voters, not just by two brief conversations.

Oh well, at least we have some idea of how a President McCain would go about choosing replacements to the Supreme Court. Who says elections don’t count?

Dr. Steven C. Bruner,
Lawrence