Verbatim: The Sylva Herald “Letters to the Editor”
Palin’s delusions

To the Editor:

Sarah Palin recently misquoted President Obama (yet again) and attacked him for his “lack of faith in American exceptionalism.” In Palin’s world, the United States is perfect and to criticize it is to be unpatriotic. I can imagine Palin as captain of the Titanic: “This is an exceptional ship. How dare you criticize the gaping hole in the hull? Now let’s all sing another verse of ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee.’ ”

The United States ranks 33rd in survival rate of infants. We rank 49th in life expectancy. We are 151st in real growth of the gross domestic product. We are 56th in spending on education as a percentage of GDP. Only about 70 percent of our students graduate from high school.

In Sarah Palin’s eyes, this is not only acceptable, it is great, you betcha. It’s as if she is at a ball game, wearing her flag pin, lustily singing “God Bless America,” and loudly chanting, “We’re number one! We’re number one!” I am astonished that Palin equates patriotism with celebrating a quality of life that leaves much to be desired. What a strange way of showing love of country. It does make life delightfully simple, however. If you see no problems, you feel no obligation to help find solutions. You can walk off the job as governor, for example, and go on a “first class” speaking tour.

Being an involved citizen is a lot like being Sarah Palin. “Except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Lisa Bacon
Sylva

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