From Melissa Lammey: Professor Miller,
I am a philosopher and educator living in Florida. I just saw your lecture posted on You Tube regarding the 2008 election. I know you are right. I came to the same conclusion myself, but the confusion only lifted for me after the nomination of Palin. I realized the exact argument you made about 'creating a narrative'. I started a petition online for Palin to voluntarily release her college GPA. My goal was to expose her blatant lack of qualifications and raise questions about her nomination in people's minds. I believe those in power have become so brazen, as you explained, that it might just take a little pointing out. I agree that the fight will likely start on November 5. Still, I wanted to send you what I wrote and distributed to friends. SUMMARY This election year has brought much discussion of the experience of our candidates, but little of their education. When we citizens are hired in the private sector, we are expected to provide information regarding our education as well as our experience. We should be allowed to consider the same in deciding who to elect as our nation's leaders. Further, candidates should provide this information at our request. Senators McCain and Biden have experience to the extent that information on their educational backgrounds is less relevant. We know who they are, we know what they will do. Senator Obama and Governor Palin, however, have not been tested to such an extent by experience. For this reason, their education and their performance in academia is more relevant. We know that Senator Obama has achieved degrees with honors in fields relevant to the office of the Presidency from two of the most respected academic institutions in the United States. We do know that Governor Palin has a four-year degree in journalism and communications. However, we do not know how that education is relevant to the office of the Presidency. Regardless, Governor Palin should allow us to consider her grade point average as a reflection of her ability to follow through on a four-year task. LETTER We, the undersigned, respectfully petition you, Governor Sarah Palin, to voluntarily release your college grade point average for voter consideration. We believe that education and experience are important factors to consider in deciding the election of our Vice-President. Excellence in academia indicates qualities that are qualifiers for leadership. Excelling in one's education reveals the ability to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize large amounts of information. It also reveals that one can be dedicated to a series of complex tasks over the course of four years that will, ultimately, achieve a higher goal. We believe the leaders of our nation should possess these qualities. We hold this belief with great conviction given the challenges we currently face as Americans. You, Governor Palin, have asked us to elect you to the second highest office of the land. We would like to consider your performance in academia in making this very important decision. Please, Governor Palin, release your college grade point average for our consideration. If you accept my arguments as presented in this summary and letter, please sign my petition and distribute it to as many people as you see fit. The petition may be signed anonymously by clicking 'do not show my name' on the signature form. I am the only person who will see information provided here. You may access the petition by clicking on this link: <http://www.thepetitionsite.com/225/petition-to-alaska-governor-sarah-palin-to-voluntarily-realease-her-college-grade-point-average>Petition to Palin: Voluntarily Release Your GPA My best regards, Melissa Lammey --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
