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9/17/2008

A Response to David Brooks from Laura Zam

http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/09/16/opinion/16brooks.html?s=2

I am a woman and I am vehemently opposed to Sarah Palin. My opposition, however, has nothing to do with feelings that Wal-Mart shoppers are below me. Most everyone in the US, I would imagine, has shopped at Wal-Mart; it is part of the fabric of our culture. As for Tuscany, isn’t the American dream that everyone can go as far as they’d like? It seems hypocritical then to fault people because they have achieved. Can we please stop this faux cultural divide?

My objection to Palin then has nothing to do with condescension. It is for the reasons Mr. Brooks sites: Palin does not have a world view that would make her an effective leader of the most powerful country in the world. Look what is happening to world markets as U.S. companies collapse? What happens in the U.S. does not stay in the U.S.

I appreciate Mr. Brooks’ courage in speaking truth in the face of pressure on the right to just go along with this V.P. choice. I would appreciate, however, if conservatives would give liberals the same benefit of the doubt regarding our judgement: When we express concern — and terror, frankly — regarding this woman as our president, it’s not because we are snobs. It’s because we understand that this is a critical time in history and we crave an intelligent, wise, experienced, compassionate, forward-thinking, brave, encouraging, skilled, and knowledgeable visionary.

Let’s bag the elitist myth, OK? The country is in crisis and we need people who know how to fix it. Unfortunately, that’s probably not just your average American citizen. Rather, I would hope, it’s people who have been studying national and international matters for many years.

I ask you: Do you think Sarah Palin has the wisdom and abilities of an F.D.R. or a Churchill? If not, then she should not be anywhere near top leadership at this time in our history.

- Laura Zam, Washington, DC

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— David V
5:11 pm