Sarah Palin seems to be taking a page from the McCarthy era, mixing it with thinly veiled racism, and igniting partisan driven hatred.  Unfortunately for John McCain, surly as he is, her message is actually more testosterone driven than his.   At times, one wonders if she has confused the order of the names on the GOP ticket.

But John McCain aside, her rabble rousing tactics jeopardize the safety of all of us. This behavior, at any time is reprehensible enough, but in the current atmosphere in America, it is obscene. The  economic uncertainty, the ongoing tragedy of the War on Terror, and the threat of growing global unrest make this a fragile chapter in the life of our country, and we had better get our priorities in order.

The divisiveness that Palin has wittingly or unwittingly enflamed with her words will not disappear after November 4th. The coming months are going to test our national sense of ourselves as Americans; spending our days at war with one another is not in our best interest.  Whichever candidate is elected President, his arsenal of skills must include bipartisan team building, and I am not just referring to Congress.

As I reviewed Palin's history in Alaska, she seemed benign enough (if you were not her ex brother-in-law, an environmentalist, or a political rival.) I find it hard to believe she masked all these retrograde political beliefs...she doesn't seem to be much of a reader or deep thinker from all accounts. I wonder if she even understands the historical context of her accusations. Could it be that the Bushies who orchestrated her crash course in politics filled her with some philosophies that suited their agenda, an agenda that had more than just the election in mind?

Enter the Sea Smurfs 

On September 30, the Army Times reported that "Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 3rd Infantry, will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks."  The article goes onto say that " They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack. They will be known as CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force or CCMRF. (pronounced "sea smurf.")

The sea-smurfs "will learn how to use the first ever non-lethal package that the Army has fielded, 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them." (A later clarification stated, "These non-lethal weapons would only be used in war- zones and not for any domestic purpose.") 

Somehow this information doesn't make me feel any safer. Why now, when our armed forces are suffering such a manpower crisis?

Maybe they will be available to "protect voting precincts" to insure fraud free elections...you think? Or maybe we will need to be protected from exercising our rights as stated in the constitution.  You know...the ones that give us the right of free speech, free press, the right to petition, and freedom of assembly. 

Oh, but then there is the little matter of National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives 51 and 20.These directives give the President unprecedented power and the ability to do anything he deems necessary to ensure we will maintain an "enduring constitutional government."

John McCain and Sarah Palin's campaign of negative smears and outrageous charges does little to help their chances for election. It does however succeed in feeding the basest instincts among us, and it diverts our attention from the real crises at hand.

 The lack of transparency in the current administration has always been alarming.  Today it is more critical than ever for the public (that's you and me), to understand what is really going on in our government.  To fail to do so could be fatal to all that we hold dear.