Presidential candidate John McCain has chosen person with excellent credentials as a running mate. The Governor of Alaska, who ran a very successful campaign against the incumbent from her own party, has made significant improvements in the government of Alaska in a very short time by reducing wasteful government spending. In her previous job as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska she made significant improvements and while increasing spending reduced the local tax burden. She is a successful business operator, homemaker, follower of Christ, and mother of five children. As a college graduate, mother, homemaker, businesswoman, wife, and politician she has proven that she is able to balance the many demands of personal and public life.

Sam Harris writing for the current issue of Newsweek sees things another way and proceeds to trash Sarah's life and qualifications. I addition he insults a sizeable segment of the American people particularly women.

“The prospects of a Palin administration are far more frightening, in fact, than those of a Palin Institute for Pediatric Neurosurgery. Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.” Sam Harris, Newsweek, Sep 29, 2008

It is difficult for my small mind to fathom the bravery of Sam Harris to deny God; he must have a great deal more faith than I do. For him to be critical of Sarah Palin’s credentials on the basis of lack of education is ludicrous beyond imagination. Sarah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Idaho in communications--journalism. Is Sam saying that her school or her choice of major is somehow second rate? What an insult to the thousands of University of Idaho graduates. I am reminded of the one time Monday Night Football commentator Howard Cosell who was so able to point out the shortcomings of various professional football players while never playing the game. He was even proud the fact that he had not played the game. Sam has never run a business, run for office, won an election, nor had a baby. What are his credentials?

Here is a little chart showing the education and work experience of several former presidents and I believe that it shows no extraordinary talent or rigorous training by any of them. Mostly they just wanted to be president of the United States and were willing to run for office. Harry S. Truman for example never graduated from college and had no foreign policy experience. He had not even been briefed on the war situation or the “Manhattan Project” when he took over the office. I believe he did have extraordinary talent and certainly did not have rigorous training. He is listed as one of the ten greatest presidents ever. He was down to earth and not very well educated. Clearly he would not be seen as qualified by Sam Harris and most other of the critics of this day.

Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer and a governor of Georgia with no foreign policy experience and only a little education from the United States Naval Academy.  Here again a talented person without rigorous training. 

Then there is always Lyndon Baines Johnson a teacher turned politician educated at Southwest Texas State Teachers College. There is not comment need here.

It seems to me that Sarah Palin is eminently qualified to be Vice President of the United States and I am praying for God’s will in the matter.