I have to echo Fareed Zakaria in the Washington Post: It’s time for Sarah Palin to go.

Careful observation of her over the past weeks leaves little doubt that she is unfit to be vice president or, worse, president. Her meager three public interviews clearly demonstrate that she has absolutely no grasp of international issues, one of the two most critical areas of presidential responsibility.

Her responses to most questions are incoherent morasses of canned, irrelevant sound bites and nonsensical babblings that leave listeners bewildered. Her questionable administration of the town of Wasilla, Alaska (population around 5,000 during her tenure, and she had to hire a city administrator to handle the day-to-day chores) and a brief 18-month stint as governor of Alaska also do not qualify her for the broad-ranging multi-tasking required of a president.

She herself admits she has never given any thought to wider national or international issues. What does choosing her say about McCain’s judgment? She may be shrewd, savvy, colorful, someone you can have a beer with; none of these is a prerequisite for the office she seeks.

A president must be well-grounded in the national and international situations with which she will deal, logical and methodical, demonstrate leadership of something besides the “Yee-Haw!” variety, have the ability to study a situation from all angles and sift through comprehensive expert advice to arrive at decisions.

She must work well with both sides of the aisle, understand the nuances of governmental procedure, surround herself with brilliant advisers and be ready instantaneously to deal with any and all contingencies. Sarah Palin blatantly meets none of these requirements.

The 21st century vice presidency is no longer only worth the “bucket of warm spit” so often used to describe that office in the past. From Al Gore onward, and certainly during the presidency of Dick Cheney and his mouthpiece George Bush, the duties and influence of the VP have grown to unprecedented levels.

And any person who might accompany John McCain into the White House will have a great deal more to do than just preside over the Senate. That person will have to be more prepared than any in the past to step into the Oval Office because of the unavoidable consequences of McCain’s age and questionable health. When you vote McCain for president, you vote Palin for president, too.

She faces a bipartisan ethics investigation in her home state. She claims that her pregnant daughter made the “choice” to keep her baby, a choice Palin would deny other American women; and despite her speeches about family values, she pitchforked her daughter into the merciless spotlight of national politics at a terribly sensitive time for the young woman.

She supports and encourages the barbaric practice of the aerial slaughter of wolves. She claims to abhor earmarks only after having secured $27 million worth of them for Wasilla. She supported the Bridge to Nowhere until it became unpopular and was derailed by Congress, and only then turned against it, now claiming to have been the one who derailed it.

Only a few months ago she demanded in an interview to know exactly what it is that the VP does every day. And most frighteningly, she never hesitated for a moment to accept the nomination; any thoughtful, right-minded person would want time to ponder or pray about or at least sleep on accepting such a huge responsibility.

It seems to me that most of the world’s greatest leaders (Washington, Lincoln, Gandhi, and others) have been humble men, realizing their own limitations and open to thoughtful meditation. Not Gov. Palin. (Note to Palin: Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman and the Founding Fathers were all “community organizers” too.)

The campaign is keeping her under wraps, either so she can cram for the debate or to minimize her irrational unscripted public utterances — but taking a few weeks to memorize the names of foreign government officials, the chief exports of their countries, and a general map of the world does not qualify you to become vice president.

McCain admits he’s no economist. Neither is Palin. Yet McCain says he needs no on-the-job-training. His VP shouldn’t, either.

Ellen McDaniel-Weissler

LaVale