Sarah Palin, the American scarecrow

The U.S. does not need enemies to shoot into its own leg. It just needs Sarah Palin. The selection of the extremist Alaska governor makes a joke of John McCain’s claims to be a more reliable, more experienced, leader for America than Barack Obama.
Who in Europe even in conservative circles would not be scared of having to confront the terrible idea that Sara Palin might one day become the President of the U.S?

If in the current context of the U.S. political scene Sarah Palin might appear just “right wing”, by European standards she can only be described as extreme right. In Belgium she would belong to the far right Vlaams Belang, in Italy to the Northern League, in France to the ultra-Catholic wing of the National Front.
Sarah Palin is an insult to America. John McCain seems to bet on the stupidity and the bigotry of U.S. citizens. His choice is a fingers up at the rest of the world. As Jonathan Freedland writes in The Guardian now that we know the Republican ticket "the world’s verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for".
The U.S. public diplomacy service is already spending millions of dollars to repair the damage of the Bush administration on the image of the United States in the rest of the world. It will go bankrupt if it has to try to offset the world’s reaction to Palin’s moving into the vice-presidential mansion.
John McCain should have read Richard Holbrooke’s piece in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs. “Restoring respect for American values and leadership is essential – not because it is nice to be popular but because respect is a precondition for legitimate leadership and enduring influence”.