Sarah Palin offends me.

As a woman of at least average intelligence, an American, a taxpayer, a registered voter, a hockey fan, a dog lover, and a person who occasionally wears lipstick, she offends me. She is so far beyond ridiculous that it is actually painful for me to watch her. I want to watch the vice-presidential debates, but I won't be able to because it's just too hard. I will just listen to the guffaws coming from the next room as my husband watches it.

As a woman, she offends me because she is apparently pro-rape. She wanted to charge rape victims in Alaska for their OWN rape kits. And she is under investigation for the firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan because he refused to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law. But she says she fired him because he asked for federal money to aid in rape investigations. That is much worse. Why is she so pro-rape? And keep in mind that Alaska has the highest incidence of incest and rape in the country. So a governor who is pro-rape isn't helping anything.

She offends me as an American, a taxpayer, and actually as a high school graduate because she just lacks basic critical thinking skills, and like most Republicans, she misses the point entirely. There's no way she can give a thoughtful, intelligent answer to a question because she doesn't understand the problem. The Republican solution of the energy crisis, "Drill Baby Drill," completely misses the point. The problem is not our dependence on foreign oil, it's our dependence on oil. Period. So while drilling for our own oil is a questionable solution in the short-term, it doesn't come close to solving the actual problem.

I did go to high school and to college for a while, and though we have a pretty sub-standard education system, I think I could come up with at least a couple of Supreme Court cases besides Roe v. Wade. The question was essentially about Supreme Court cases besides Roe v. Wade with which she disagreed, but I don't think she could even come up with any other Supreme Court cases. How about Exxon v. Baker, which happened in ALASKA! And she even made a statement at the time that she was "disappointed" in the decision. Plessy v. Ferguson, anyone? Obviously, either of these would have been a perfect answer to the question, but instead she just starts rambling on and on about Roe v. Wade!

She was also asked why she disagrees with Roe v. Wade, and she says she disagrees with it because it is something that should be decided on a state level. However, this is not the real reason. She believes abortion is morally wrong but tries to take it to a different level. If she had just said "I think it's wrong" I would possibly have a miniscule amount of respect for her. But instead she goes off on a rambling tangent about states' decisions. Then when asked if she believes that the right to privacy is given in the Constitution, she said yes. She does believe the Constitution provides the right to privacy, and the right to privacy is a pretty big part of the Roe v. Wade decision. OK let's think about this. As a mere high school graduate, I seem to remember that the Constitution is a document of the Federal government. Therefore, using my critical thinking skills that I learned in high school, I can determine that if the right to privacy is given in the Constitution, and that the right to privacy is a huge part of Roe v. Wade, then Roe v. Wade falls under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, not the states. They are two entirely separate issues. But, again, the point goes right over her head.

I don't understand why anyone thinks she's likable or relatable. She's a dolt (my husband's favorite term for her) and there is no way that she could be an effective vice-president. She's barely an effective human. She's sarcastic, catty, small-minded, and lacks basic thinking skills. I recently heard a "talking head" on a news show say that her strength (singular) in a debate is her ability to deliver a zinger. Somehow I don't think someone like Joe Biden, who is intelligent and thoughtful and actually understands a question when it is asked of him, is that susceptible to zingers.

Sarah Palin has set women back at least 50 years. Any hope we had of one of us becoming president or vice-president anytime soon is gone, thanks to her. She says that Hillary Clinton made 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, but I think she's up on a ladder with a glass repair kit trying to fill them all in.