Sharks and Politicians

I want to start this post by observing that when I write I envision an audience of co-workers who I consider friends and bloggers who I consider acquaintances and potential friends. I'm worried that with this post I may irritate if not alienate some. It is not, however, my intention to demean or denigrate. I do, though, feel compelled to say my piece regarding the reaction to John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate.

I don't look at the presidential election as a sports competition or an ongoing reality show (though I grant that the Press has a tendency to portray it along those lines.*) Thus I'm uncomfortable with the giddiness and glee that I see greeting the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate. She seems to have a number of attractive points. But I remind myself that she was selected by a political machine that does not have our best interests at heart but ultimately has the goal of perpetuating its own power. Look at it another way: A shark swims, eats, and seeks to perpetuate its kind. Politicians are much the same. The Republicans are the current big shark in the lagoon. The Democrats would like replace them. I myself would much rather not have a big shark that controls our swimming in the lagoon. I would rather replace it with something closer to a dolphin that would protect our use of the lagoon from the marauding Democrat and Republican sharks.

*Or sometimes, in the case of Obama, leftist journalists use the tone of a Gospel writer.