It's self-evident that Sarah Palin is not qualified to serve a 72-year-old man's heartbeat away from the presidency.

It's also evident that she's a liar and a hypocrite -- between claiming she's against the bridge to nowhere when she was for it, her stonewalling on Troopergate and her slashing funds for teenage mothers.

But in many respects, I find her extremism is the scariest part about her. She's even farther out in right field than  Bush and Cheney.

Consider just a few of the things we already know about her:

She believes in teaching creationism.

She does not believe global warming is man-made.

She opposes stem-cell research.

She is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

She believes that God wants our government to fund a new pipeline in the state.

She believes that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are on a task from God.

She belonged to a political party advocating Alaska's secession from the U.S.

She supported Pat Buchanan for president.

She attended her church when the founder of Jews for Jesus spoke.

And when she first for mayor of Wasilla against an opponent whose last name was Stein, she claimed that she would be the town's "first Christian mayor."

This is John McCain's "soulmate?"

That speaks volumes about the black hole that is John McCain's soul.

It also reveals McCain to be a wimp, not a tough guy. He kowtowed to the American Taliban in his party, nominating one of their own, rather than taking them on by nominating a pro-choice candidate.

As a Jew who has strongly and enthusiastically supported Barack Obama since he first announced his candidacy, the notion that he has a problem with Jewish voters drives me batshit crazy. There's no substantive reason for this and I believe the mainstream media has vastly overstated the question.

But any Jews who still have issues with him, for whatever reason, should know this about the woman John McCain wants to put a heartbeat away from the presidency, courtesy of today's New York Times:

When Sarah Palin first ran for mayor of Wasilla, she defeated a three-term incumbent named John Stein.

Stein isn't Jewish -- he was raised a Lutheran -- but that didn't stop Palin from Jew-baiting. According to the Times:

“Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, ‘Whoa,’ ” said Mr. Stein, who lost the election. “But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I’m not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: ‘We will have our first Christian mayor.’ ”

“I thought: ‘Holy cow, what’s happening here? Does that mean she thinks I’m Jewish or Islamic?’ ” recalled Mr. Stein . . .

(Emphasis added.)

Don't let appearances deceive. Besides being woefully unprepared for the job, this woman is a dangerous, intolerant extremist.