For those who ever doubted, mark my words – Sarah Palin is running for President in 2012. I can see it coming in the distance. It’s much like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and realizing that it is in fact the train approaching, not the dawning of a new day. And either we wake up now and smell the coffee, or we all move to Canada to avoid watching the eventual demise of this great nation should ex-Governor Palin actually gain enough votes to become the next President.

Palin is a made-for-TV reality show persona. She is hugely popular and somehow managed to rank #2 in a recent Gallop poll survey of the most admired women of 2010 (behind Hilary Clinton, and ahead of Oprah Winfrey). I guess it must be her TV show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on TLC that puts her in that kind of esteemed group. Sadly, her Andy Warhol-ian 15 minutes of fame should have been up a long, long time ago.

As a 21st century celebrity, she has mastered the “cult of personality” mentality that seems to be pervasive within our society these days. The scary part is that every time she opens her mouth, she spews vitriol and insanity – or perhaps even makes up a word or two like “refudiate”. But being a celebrity politician brings with it many potential inherent dangers. In Palin’s case, just take a peek at a couple of pieces of her social policy agenda – her perspectives on religion and health.

In her latest book, “America By Heart”, Palin has decided to take issue with the words of John F. Kennedy. In a 1960 speech, Kennedy noted that "I am not the Catholic candidate for president, I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic". This is, in fact, finding the balance between religion and public service.

However, Palin believes that Kennedy "essentially declared religion to be such a private matter that it was irrelevant to the kind of country we are." And according to Palin, America is now "reawakening to the gift of our religious heritage."

Sarah, I am still awakened by the First Amendment. Sorry. The role is to serve the country, not to impose a religious dictate upon the populace.

It is understandable how she could have her opinions about something so personal as, well, the separation (or not) of church and state – especially as a politician. But it’s when she starts talking about topics that she really knows a lot about – you know, things like, umm, health – that’s she really on point.

First Lady Michelle Obama has focused her efforts on the “Let’s Move” campaign that addresses child obesity. This has become a huge problem in the United States, with one in three children being obese. This has very serious ramifications on the future health of the country, and will have a huge impact on the cost of health care. Keep in mind that Obama is simply advocating for getting kids moving – nothing more, nothing less.

Unless, of course, you ask Palin …

"And I know I'm going to be again criticized for bringing this up, but instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician's wife priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track."

This is really getting old. Everything – everything – is being put in the context of being a dastardly government program to take away the rights of the populace. Please, give me a break. Why, oh why, does she take issue with everything? Just because she lives in a country where she can? I am certainly not the first to make note of this ridiculous diatribe.

What becomes even more … intriguing … about her take on all of this is that it will have a significant impact on the military. It has been reported that 27 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds are now too fat to join the military. Let’s hope she doesn’t find any Bush-era “weapons of mass destruction” anywhere anytime soon.

So while we’re discussing the possibility of Palin running for President, let’s expand the thought a bit. How about a Sarah Palin and Rick Perry ticket in 2012? They are both gun-toting Governors. One can see Russia from her porch, the other can almost see Mexico from his. It sounds to me like it’s a match made in right-wing-tenth-amendment heaven. But I digress.

In some ways, perhaps we just keep on hoping that Palin does in fact become the Republican nominee – because certainly the Democrats would then sound like the voice of reason. But then again, let’s hope that nobody in their right (or far right) mind will vote for her in reality, when push comes to shove for this country. As they say, talk is always cheap. Buyer beware.

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