Like 70 million or so other Americans, I watched the Vice-Presidential debates Thursday night. Joe Biden acted vice-presidential and Sarah Palin didn’t screw up as many had feared. Analysts will continue to dissect the debate, what was said and what it all means and not to miss that opportunity, let me throw in my two cents.
Two comments from Sarah Palin caught my attention from a human rights perspective. Her comments in response to Joe Biden’s statement about Darfur was heartening if it weren’t a lie.
As noted in the Washington Post on Saturday (Palin Team Opposed Divesting of Holdings to Protest Darfur), “[l]ast January, a bill known as HB 287 was introduced into the Alaska House of Representatives to restrict investments in companies that do business with Sudan. During a committee hearing in February, a Palin administration representative, Deputy Revenue Commissioner Brian Andrews, testified against the legislation on the grounds that it would do nothing to help “the afflicted in Sudan” and would add to the fund’s administrative costs.
More important was Palin’s comments about “government being the problem,” made in the context of her overall view of government and the economy. This republican mantra justifies so much of what the Bush Administration has done in the last eight years to dismantle government to that unscrupulous business activities can continue unfettered by responsible oversight. Palin’s statement validates that, if elected, we can expect more of the same “keep our hands off of business and let it do what it does best” approach.
Thank god for Sarah Palin. I was worried that we might have learned our lessons from the current financial crisis and avoid future calamities brought about by unfettered capitalism.
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