Knowledge Is Power

A reader writes:

As an American citizen in a critical time, do I have the right to know as much as possible about a possible President of the US?  (Let's face it, there is a high probability she will rise to that office given McCain's age and health.)  Of course, I do.  Since her nomination, I have been barraged with emotions and enticed by strange theories about her past.  Now, with the calm of over a week's worth of reflection (an eternity, apparently, for the American collective attention span), I see the salient issue arising from this mess as a need for knowledge.

I have a right to know who she is with as little filtering as possible.

I have a right to hear her views without the polish of the teleprompter or the marketing of Fox or the safe harbor of fluff pieces.  Through the democratizing medium of the internet, voices can be heard.  The people are the marketplace, and a deafening demand from the marketplace will be heard.  I understand that my requests do not mean Palin fails, but it means that I at least have more information. Knowledge is power after all. 

Keep up your good work.

I will. Steve Schmidt does not impress me in the slightest. He is guilty of professional malpractice. And some of us can't be bullied by spitballs from National Review. I will keep asking questions - in order to provide as much information to my readership as possible. We don't live in a totalitarian society. We can talk about whatever the hell we want. And if the First Amendment does not apply to asking important questions of someone who could be president next January, then it's meaningless.

And what does it tell you that in the week since they introduced their new nominee, the Republican machine has been able to do nothing but attack those who want to know more about her?

This is the Internet's moment, when it will flush the truth out against some of the creepiest power brokers this country has had to deal with since Nixon.