Uneasiness

I have been uneasy about Sarah Palin since I heard her answer some questions. But before that, I was almost in love. An anti-establishment, magnetic, powerful person hailing from a "frontier state." She abhors abortion and wants to fix government. Ahh. The current state of politics is so atrocious that her entrance into the foray was like having pure oxygen forced into my lungs after breathing soot for years. But, like I said, this was before she had to answer extemporaneously. Though many (on the right) claimed she did fine, I was not so sure. Her engagement with Gibson was, as one writer put it, a "white-knuckle affair." And so I didn't sleep much that Thursday night. This person that felt so right wasn't feeling so right anymore.

I tried to convince myself that it wasn't a big deal that I could have answered Gibson's questions better than her. "She doesn't need to know a lot yet" I said to myself. "She has to be a lot." And that is possible. But then I recalled reading John Adams. David McCullough masterfully wrote of the men who drafted the constitution. Though humble, they were the best of the best, especially Adams. Their ability to lead stemmed from their great brilliance and integrity. Our enduring Constitution is owing, is large part, to the deft ability of those men.

But obviously, things have changed. Vanity (ushered in by way of the TV) now disallows many of those "best" from serving publicly. Moreover, The flatness of the world has brought with it unparalleled, intolerant and partisan media scrutiny, keeping many from even considering politics. Now it is true that there have been some smart men in the last 40 years that have attained the presidency or run for it (Clinton is overtly brilliant). And yet, these smart men have tended to be hopelessly narcissistic, and are therefore have little capacity to govern well. So, it seems, we are left with two options. The smart yet self-centered, or the less adept yet new and refreshing. I am uneasy with both, but focus on the latter.

Is our only hope for another Adams Sarah Palin? Perhaps, and I hope so. And as a Christian, I know that God will use whomever he pleases to see his great purposes accomplished (there is no difference to God between Adams and Palin). But I am not God. I have to try and use my puny brain and determine if some are fit for office and others not. Until I see something different from Palin, I will wallow in my uneasiness.

Read David Brook's piece from the NYT. He helped me understand a bit more why I was uneasy.