Sarah Palin is not a Joke. This is Drop-Dead Serious Stuff.

The election is 4 weeks away. At this point, for me, there is only one issue in this election that matters. I'll give you a hint. It's not the economy.

Sarah Palin's performance in the vp debate was, by media pundit standards, "not awful". And the bar has been set so low for her that "not awful" apparently translates into credibility as a candidate and potential vice president. I don't know how to tell them, but no it doesn't.

There is only one way for me to describe what I saw coming from Sarah Palin during the vice-presidential debate last Thursday night: The Stupid. It Burns.

What did she say that was so stupid?

1. The vice presidency has "flexibility" inherent in it. That is to say that she supports Dick Cheney's "unitary executive". Although I doubt very seriously she has any idea what Cheney means by that. I doubt she has any idea how Cheney has changed the vice presidency. I doubt she has any idea how Cheney has trampled the Constitution. I doubt she has any idea how Cheney's expanded role misled the country into war, threatened and continues to threaten our prosperity and security, was responsible for setting up prisons of torture, and did all of it with blatant disregard for the law, the Constitution, the will of the people, and basic humanity. IMO, Dick Cheney is a war criminal. I suspect that her original statement to the press about the vice presidency is reality: she has no idea what a vice president does all day. She doesn't know because she's probably never read the f***king Constitution of the United States of America. How in the world she could swear before her God and her country to defend something she lacks basic understanding of is beyond me. The Stupid. It Burns.

2. If Palin didn't know the answer, she answered a question she did know the answer to and justified it by implying that in doing so, she was a maverick like John McCain. At one point she said to Joe Biden, "I may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear." Somehow, she was under the mistaken impression that Joe Biden and Gwen Ifill were her constituency. She forgot one little group that might have an interest in her actually answering the questions posed: the American public. The Stupid. It Burns.

3. A shout out to Sarah Palin. You are not the MC of the high school pep rally anymore. That comment about school kids wasn't cute. It said to me that you weren't taking the debate seriously. The Stupid. It what? That's right. Burns, burns, burns.

4. She has gone on record as saying that she believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible. That is to say that she fervently believes the Earth is 6000 years old, that dinosaurs walked with humans, that abortion is wrong in all cases except for saving the life of the mother (which I doubt seriously she believes as well, but this is likely a compromise), that she was helped in her campaign to become governor by a fundamentalist minister who prayed over her (a minister, who, BTW, claims to have chased a witch out of his village), that God spoke to Moses from a burning bush, etc. Just think of this. She believes in a Earth-cleansing flood, tablets carved by the hand of God, the tower of Babel, the parting of the Red Sea, water into wine, walking on water, the creation of all life in 6 days. You name it, she's buying it. She believes that life is unchanging, that the prophesies are real, and she looks forward to the apocalypse. As Matt Damon pointed out, I don't want THAT having the nuclear codes. Oh, and Sarah dear? It's nuclear not nuke-u-lure. And I've got a mushroom cloud of burn.

If anyone can show me some reason....any reason at all....to believe that this woman has grasped a fundamental understanding and preparedness for the crushing responsibilities of the position to which she aspires, please, please, please....I beg of you....point them out to me now.

In claiming that Dick Cheney was "the most dangerous vice president we've had in American history", Joe Biden only had it partially right. If McCain is elected, that honor will be lauded upon a Vice President Palin. It is the job of the vice president to serve as second in command. To take the President's place should he or she be incapacitated. She is patently incapable of assuming this responsibility and fulfilling her role. That means that someone else will be running the country from the sidelines, and THAT someone is not someone we voted for.

At this moment in history, Sarah Palin is the most dangerous woman in the world. And the reason she is so is all John McCain's fault. For me, there is no choice in this election.

The Stupid. It Burns. And if they win, there will be nothing left but scorched Earth.