E.J. Dionne Jr. is not afraid. Much of the mainstream media is afraid, so afraid that they have buttoned their lips. Sound familiar, because to me it sounds like the same Republican media machine that quieted the press about the illegitimate, illegal buildup to Iraq. So, who is Sarah Palin anyways?

She's a Christian, who thinks that Creationism should be taught in your child's science class.

She's a pro-birth supporter, who thinks your medical decisions should be in the hands of the government.

She's a Mayor, whose first act was to fire a librarian that wouldn't ban books she found offensive.

She's a neoconservative, who received over $27 MILLION in earmarks for an Alaskan town smaller than 95 North Carolina towns and which had only TWO more people in it than Hillsborough, NC.

She's a Governor, who used her Executive powers to fire a state trooper over a family squabble.

She's a hunter, who opposed measures to keep the polar bear from extinction.

She's worked in the oil industry, and doesn't believe in Global warming.

She's the parent of pregnant teen, who as Governor cut funds for pregnant teens less fortunate than her own.

She's one step behind an aged man with cancer from being President, but she is hiding behind John McCain's back for fear of answering tough questions about her politics and his past history.

It is time for Sarah Palin to put up or shut up. Enough one-liners to friendly crowds. If the American Presidency simply required a woman who could toss out zingers, then Paula Poundstone would have been picked for VP a long time ago.

Instead, it's time for us to hear her bark, instead of her bite. Let's hear her explain again how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." When, of course, they've never cost us anything - even now they haven't cost us because they haven't drawn on the federal money provided to them.

Let's hear her explain why she called Hillary a whiner, but at the same time she is hiding behind someone else and complaining about the big, bad, meanies in the news networks.

Let's hear her explain how she was for the Bridge to Nowhere, even using it as a campaign issue, before she was against it. Oh, and did you know she was against it because the feds took the money away and she was deciding whether to build it with Alaskan money? Remember that line, 'if we want a bridge we'll build it ourselves'? I guess they didn't want the bridge.

She's not right for North Carolina. She's not right for America.