Ex-Governor Palin, You are no President Nixon!

As you've probably heard, Sarah Palin is stepping down as governor of Alaska. She is reportedly doing this so she can focus on a presidential run in 2012.

What exactly is it that makes her think she is qualified to run for president?

This is not a rhetorical question. A CNN/Opinion Research poll in February showed that 29 percent of Republicans would support her as the nominee, which put her in first place among them.

What this means is that a large number of Republicans believe that the correct ideology can overcome just about any lack of experience or talent. They believe that Sarah Palin's belief system is so correct and perfect, that she can use it to make the right decisions on any matter, regardless of her knowledge of the subject at hand. In other words, she has a unified theory of the world which will direct her in any situation. Of course, any Republican could do this, but she has the advantage of being more personable and better looking than Gingrich or Cheney.

Need to know what do if Israel bombs Iran? Refer to the conservative manifesto. Or maybe the neo-conservative one. (I'm assuming she'll settle on one before the Iowa caucuses.)

What's the correct response to a global market crisis caused by unregulated derivative trading? Let's see. That's on page 3 of the 4-page Republican guide to running the universe. Page three is entitled "Economics." The only words on the page are "Free Market!" Never mind that she doesn't know what derivatives are. That's why we have a simplified guide to the world right here in our ideology! Free the markets!

How should we approach the absolute disaster that is the current war on drugs? Easy! Drugs are illegal. Therefore they are wrong. Why are they wrong? Because they are illegal! When people do illegal things, they are criminals. Criminals are a threat to freedom loving people everywhere. We have to put them all in jail!

For this subset of American voters, experience, wisdom and judgement are negatives. The world is simple; therefore nuance, and the ability to think for yourself is redundant, and, in fact dangerous. You might get it wrong. From this perspective, it was important that she resign immediately before getting tainted by too much experience for the job they want her to have.

If you think this is an unfair caricature, you haven't been paying much attention to the Republican Party lately.