Sullivan on Palin and God, Opposition

In light of the revelation that Palin thought McCain's selection of her was "God's plan," Andrew Sullivan reflects (with dazzling brilliance) on what that means:

Palin isn't a minister or priest. She isn't a bishop. She is a celebrity, who spent ten minutes trying to run a state much bigger than Texas with the population of the District of Columbia. When she says "it's God's will", she is saying, it seems to me, either that her destiny is foretold as a modern day Esther (which is a strong theme among her Christianist supporters); or that it doesn't matter what decisions she makes in office because God is in charge. So she is either filled with delusions of grandeur and prone to say things that believing Christians keep private out of humility; or she thinks she's some kind of Messiah figure.

And with similar authoritativeness, he pinpoints the nature of current Republican "opposition":

Look. There is a real and vital role for political opposition, and a robust, healthy, even vicious critique of Obama’s policies and a clear alternative to them is not just legitimate but essential for a democracy to work. But these statements from key players at the very top of the Republican party do not reflect this. They reflect a partisanship that seeks to impugn the core motives of the president, implying that he is, in fact, something alien and destructive to America, and must be opposed in everything he does, whatever it is, because his success would mean the end of America itself. It is not a declaration of opposition; it’s a declaration of war.