Over the weekend, former governor Sarah Palin gave the keynote speech to the Tea Party Convention held in Nashville, TN. During the Q&A session (after her speech in which she, amusingly, mocked President Obama for his use of teleprompters), Palin used her own version of prompting…albeit an old school, low tech version: crib notes scribbled on her palm with, what looks to be a sharpie:

Sarah Palin answers Scripted Qs at Tea Party Convention

So what’s the big deal?
Simply put, it’s the content of the crib notes which is disturbing. Keep in mind, this Q&A session included questions that Palin was made aware of before the session…in essence, she knew what would be asked of her. One of the questions was “what three things would you do if you were elected President”. The crib notes on her hand was, in effect, her answer: concentrate on energy initiatives, cut taxes, and “lift the American spirit”–code for making religion an integral part of her administration.

What’s problematic here is that these are supposedly her core beliefs…and she had to consult crib notes on her low-tech prompter–sharpie notes written on her palm…

Close up of Palin\'s hand during the Q&A session

Close up of text on her hand at a subsequent press conference.

Why Palin Should Never Be President
Tea Party advocates (and right wingnuts aside), there seem to be a disturbingly large number of individuals in the US that would like to see Palin as President. But to those people I ask a simple question:

If Palin needs crib notes to answer simple questions about her core beliefs, how would she react to a true crisis?

This is not simply an attempt to pile-on Palin here–it’s a legit question. Think about it for a second: the only reason why Palin would write answers as to her core beliefs in her hand is if she was worried she’d forget them in the glare of the lights while on stage. What in the world would she do in the glare of the lights of the world stage? How could we have any confidence that she would not act like a deer caught in the headlights when a real crisis confronted her?

How could we have any confidence that she would not act like a deer caught in the headlights when a real crisis confronted her?

The thought of Mrs. Palin in this position, frankly, scares the hell out of me–and it’s why, my friends, regardless of her politics, regardless of her beliefs (and whether you agree with them or not), Sarah Palin should never be in a position where a crisis may demand her to make a split-second decision in which the lives of Americans rests with that decision. We simply can’t trust that she’d not panic, as she has done repeatedly on the campaign trail during the 2008 elections–and evidently still suffers from.