I have a cold and a headache right now, so I’m feeling extra-grouchy. The headache is due to caffeine withdrawal. After spending twenty-four hours in the hospital last week with what the doctors thought at first was appendicitis, I have been diagnosed with a sensitivity to dairy food. I’m not supposed to have any dairy products for a few weeks. You know what? Soy milk in coffee is nasty. Black coffee is too harsh. I tried black tea with lemon and sugar, which I used to like, and almost immediately got sick. So I’m cold-turkey on the caffeine right now, and feeling it. The cold came yesterday, just to make me feel even worse.

This is my frame of mind in responding to Anne’s call for Pagans to blog about the horrors of Sarah Palin. I’ve never discussed politics here. I am politically aware, because I like to know what’s going on, but I don’t really like to talk about politics because it’s usually just so much wheel-spinning. It generally feels like a waste of time. I’m doing it now because, well, because Anne asked us to, and I like Anne, but also because I’m finding this time we’re living in now to absolutely batshit fucking terrifying.

See how grouchy I am? I used profanity! I never use profanity on here! It’s called for now, though.

The other day, one of the talking heads on TV was saying something about how this whole financial crisis thing is a great big surprise, no one saw it coming, etc. etc. I turned to Mr. Nettle and said. “How long? How long have I been describing this EXACT GODDMAN SCENARIO that is happening right now? How long have I been saying this is coming.”

Mr. Nettle, looking meek, replied “um, I think maybe for a year or so now?”

“And what is my background in finance in economics? How did I know this is coming? Am I some kind of fucking genius that I saw this coming?”

Mr. Nettle, still looking meek, seemed unsure of how to answer, because he does in fact think that I am some kind of genius (it’s part of his charm) so I answered for him. “None! I have no formal education whatsoever in any of this. I read Barron’s online, I read the WSJ, I read the CNN money page, I read blogs, for Gods’ sake! Lots of people saw this coming!”

What makes it even more frightening is that before, I thought maybe I was wrong. I thought I just didn’t understand things properly, because after all, what do I know? I knew what it looked like, but I’m also keenly aware of my ability to occasionally be wrong. I thought that bloggers like the lovely folks at Automatic Earth might be mistaken. Now, feeling more right, I’m looking ahead. It looks bad. It looks very bad.

Here’s a recent bit from the Daily Show:

“You’re saying the president here won’t be satisfied until American children are eating roadkill?” suggested Stewart.

“Until they’re fighting over roadkill,” Oliver emphasized. “Until roadkill is the prize for the strongest.”

This is humor, everyone. Ha! Ha! (there’s the bitter laugh I promised.)

So, on to Palin. I have been a registered Democrat all my life. Not because I think the Democrats are that much less corrupt and evil than the Republicans (they are, but only by a little) but because for my entire adult life, they have been the Party Least Likely to Burn People Like Me at the Stake. I was actually a little relieved that McCain got the nomination – not because I ever at any point had any intention of voting for him, but because if he DID win, I thought of him as being marginally less insane than the other Republican candidates, and the least beholden to the wild-eyed burn-the-witch crowd. I thought, well, it wouldn’t be all that bad if he got in – not good news, really, but it would still be an improvement, right?

Obviously my super-genius skills failed me there. Because, my friends, not only is McCain’s vice-presidential choice a word-salad* spouting beauty-pageant contestant, she is also an enthusiastic member of a church that wages “spiritual warfare” and believes in driving out witches. As in, me. If people invaded my house, killed my pets, and drove me out of town with stones, Sarah Palin would cheer. At least, she did when an African minister described doing just that to a witch in his town.

So here’s why I’m afraid. Obama ain’t perfect (the FISA thing was disenchanting for me) and we are pretty much screwed as a country anyway, but he’s not going to start calling for my blood if he gets elected. McCain? McCain is old, and ill, and doesn’t seem like he’s all there these days. A Palin presidency would be the worst thing I can imagine for this country at a time like this.

When people lose everything, they look around for a scapegoat. Palin has the perfect scapegoat for them. Us.

We’re about to lose everything.

P.S. Just heard that Washington Mutual went under. They couldn’t even wait for the weekend! I don’t bank with them, never have, and if I had all my money would have been out about six months ago, but lately I’ve been getting increasingly strident mail offers to borrow money from them. $30,000! In your bank account, right now! No collateral! Please, Ms. Good-Credit, just take it! Pay no attention to the interest rate behind the curtain! Nobody else has sent me these. If I start seeing them from other banks, I will perk up and take notice.

*If you haven’t seen her interview with Katie Couric yet, go look it up on Youtube or something. Please. The woman sounds positively aphasic. And she calls Henry Kissinger “naive.” It’s hilarious, in the same bitter way the Daily Show quote is hilarious.