"She wanted to get people who believed in creationism on the [Wasilla school] board. I bumped into her after my band played at a graduation ceremony at the Assembly of God [a church]. I said, 'Sarah, how can you believe in creationism - your father's a science teacher.' And she said, 'We don't have to agree on everything.' I pushed her on the earth's creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she'd seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them." Mr. Munger also asked Mrs. Palin if she believed in the End of Days, the doomsday scenario when the Messiah will return. "She looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime'."The consequences of the successful revolt of the fundamentalist "foot soldiers" in the GOP must be chilling to the deposed "generals." If, either by succession or eventual election, the Chistianists' darlin', Sarah Palin, becomes President, we can kiss goodbye any expectation that the U.S. can or will deal with the global climate crisis or lead the world into the post-petroleum economy. Scientific education, research and development will surely languish in the United States, while the cutting edge of science and technology will inevitably move to Europe, Russia and the Pacific Rim, all of which successfully departed from the Dark Ages a half-millennium ago. No prospect could be more dreadful to the corporate executives and investors, who have traditionally supported the Republican Party. The solution? Throw the barbarians out of the palace. And the most immediate, effective and certain way for the Republicans to accomplish this is to relinquish the government to the Democrats, who are refreshingly free of fundamentalist hocus-pocus. Then, after a season out of power, the Republican Party, free of the crazies, can reconstitute itself into a responsible, moderate, and secular institution: kind of like it was under Dwight Eisenhower. Meanwhile, as a minority partner in the Obama administration, the Republicans can work with the Democrats to restore America's former leadership in science, technology and industry by investing in education, physical infrastructure, and basic scientific research. Facing the Decline of American Global Influence and Leadership. As all too many regressive market absolutists have too readily forgotten, a functioning and flourishing market is, at its foundation, a moral order. It presupposes obedience to mutually accepted rules and regulations, and it is based upon trust and confidence: above all confidence that published statistical data (on employment, investment, profit and loss, etc.) is accurate. With the Bush Administration's abrogation of international treaties and agreements, its reckless deficit financing of an illegal war, and now the disclosure of deceptive and even illegal behavior among the leading financial institutions, that essential trust in the American financial structure and in American good faith negotiation has been severely eroded. To put the matter bluntly: the United States of America is no longer a trusted partner in the global financial community. If this loss of trust is not restored immediately and decisively, that global community might decide to exclude the U.S. from the "playing table." The U.S. dollar could be replaced by the Euro as the international standard currency, and the value of the dollar could collapse. The multi-trillion dollar U.S. debts could be called in, and no further loans could be granted to the U.S. Treasury. And that would be the end of the United States as a major global power. The United States, with its astronomically huge foreign debts, its enormous trade deficits, its loss of manufacturing base, and its dependence upon foreign resources (especially petroleum) is no longer in a position to claim leadership in the global economy, or even to make rules in that economy. In fact, should the rest of the world (notably Europe, Russia, Japan, India and China) finally decide it has had enough of American bullying and empire-building, the world community can, if it so decides, demolish the U.S. economy, the might of the American military notwithstanding. (See my The Vulnerable Giant). So we ask our hypothetical stalwart Republican tycoon: Who is best qualified to avoid such a catastrophe, and to restore the trust, prestige, and leadership of the United States in the world community? A self-confessed economic ignoramus, whose one-note diplomatic repertory is "bomb, bomb, bomb"? Or a trained lawyer, skilled in community development, and the co-author of significant legislation regarding arms-control, nuclear proliferation and climate change Moreover, imagine if you will, the impact upon the international community, and in particular the Islamic nations, of the election of a black American President with the name of "Barack Obama." This would announce to the world that the United States has at last put aside its historical racism, and is now prepared to deal with its global partners with respect and without bias. The rational and financially self-interested course of action for the corporate executive and investor is to throw out the cowboys and the buccaneers, and replace them with responsible and honorable players in international finance. It is a solution that has the distinct advantage of being radical, sudden and unequivocal. And it can be accomplished on November 4. What the Oligarchs Must Do Before November 4. Suppose our hypothetic tycoons are persuaded (a) that capitalism must once again be saved from itself by the restoration of government oversight and regulation, (b) that a theocracy is anathema to the functioning of a modern, industrial economy and to a solution of global environmental crises, and (c) that the Democratic candidates offer a vastly superior opportunity to restore America's stature in the global community. Suppose, in short, that they have decided to renounce their allegiance to the Republican Party (at least for this next election), and to cast their lot with the Obama/Biden ticket. What, then, are they to do? Here are a few suggestions: 1. First, and most obviously, they can announce his endorsement of the Democratic candidates. 2. They can direct financial support to the Democratic campaign. 3. If they have influence or significant investments in the corporate media, they can "unleash" that media, and direct them to practice authentic journalism. 4. They can publicize the vulnerabilities of paperless touch-screen voting machines, put pressure on law enforcement, and put the election industry on notice that hanky-panky in this election will have severe consequences. In sum, out of simple enlightened self-interest, the corporate elites must look to the Democrats to rescue them from the morass into which the GOP has led them. If they are smart, that's what they will do. But don't count on it. Copyright 2008 by Ernest Partridge