16%

For many of you out there, Sarah Palin is the scariest thing that has happened to this country since Bush did not get elected in 2000 and became president anyway.

The present is immaterial, its all about the future. The only thing the present is good for is setting precedents. And in Sarah Palin's case, the precedent that is being set is that you don't have to be smart, capable, learned, know about our country's history, or be able to speak extemporaneously in complete sentences to be the president of the most (well, we used to be anyways...) powerful country in the world.

There is another precedent that's even more alarming for about 50% of you out there. The XX Factor, Slate's running commentary on all things concerning our favorite pair of chromosomes, had done a great job of detailing the myriad of ways Palin's deeply flawed candidacy has/will effect women (particularly powerful women) in the future.

Emily Bazelon, my favorite and not just cause of her name, sums it up like this:

"The fear now is that Palin is the anti-Hillary and that her lack of competence threatens to undo what the Democratic primary did for women. Palin won't bust through the ceiling that has Hillary's 18 million cracks in it. She'll give men an excuse to replace it with a new one."

By the way, just in case you were curious what the chances that Palin would become the president should McCain um, drop dead because he's so fucking old that sometimes I can't even beleive he's actually a candidate for president.... Its about 16%*.




*and that percentage goes up every year McCain gets older