Did they even do anything CLOSE to vetting Sarah Palin?
The other day, I wrote about how Sarah Palin was nothing more than a two-bit hack, given the investigation into her abuse of power as Governor, firing the Public Safety Commissioner when he wouldn't fire her ex-brother-in-law, lied about pressuring the guy to do so, and then showed keen judgment by replacing him with someone who had to resign in two weeks because of sexual harassment problems.
Seems that Palin honed this skill back as Mayor of Wasilla, where she was nearly recalled, for firing the Police Chief and Library Director for not supporting her in her 1996 race for Mayor.
Yes, that's right. Hack n' Sack Sarah didn't even try to hide it. She didn't say the Police Chief and Library Director were doing a bad job. No, she fired them for "not fully supporting her efforts to govern" (i.e., not endorsing her for Mayor).
Seriously, though, we're coming off eight years of cronyism and inept leadership in the White House, which led to everything from Heck Of a Job Brownie to the US Attorney Firing Scandal. Sarah Palin's emerging record as Mayor of Wasilla and as Governor are almost a complete mirror of that (though closer to the Mayberry scale than leader of the free world).
But it is a glimpse into the type of "leader" she is. An inept hack, in the George W. Bush mold, who was so brazen with the little power she was given that she faced citizens trying to remove her from office. Did John McCain even ask her about this, the one time he talked to her on the phone before picking her?
If John McCain wanted a woman on the ticket, there were plenty of conservative women to choose from, who have a respectable record as public officials, and who would arguably be ready to be Commander in Chief. That he chose Sarah Palin, who is nothing short of an embarrassment, speaks volumes about the kind of judgment McCain will show as President. For if he's willing to put a nearly-recalled, under-investigation inept hack one heartbeat away from the Presidency, what kind of judgment will he show when choosing Judges and Justices, Secretaries of top departments, and administrators of lead agencies?
This isn't putting Country First. It's putting Political PR first (and not even good PR at that). Sarah Palin as a VP nominee is an affront to the intelligence of every American, and a freakin' embarrassment.
Well done, John McCain. You've shown possibly even worse judgment than George W. Bush, which until now was almost an impossibly high bar to meet.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/20/13255/4335/355/604754
http://tpzoo.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/end-times-prophecies-and-more-how-electing-sarah-palin-endangers-your-life/
A recall threat in a small town means even your neighbors can't put up with you
Nowhere do we find out essential details of this "almost recall," like how many people does it take to actually get a recall petition certified, whether it was just a few days' long "high passion" episode or evidence of more deep-seated problems with her leadership, what she did to pacify the potential petitioners (if anything), etc.
There are much better ways to go after her but this one is just plain sloppy. I know HuffPost can do better than this!
Why can't these Republicans ween themselves off of these knee-jerk ideologue hacks who infect and fester within their party?!?
This is the point that must be pressed hard!
McCain is NOT "more of the same..." he is much much worse than Bush.
How is this not crystal clear to people?
And you are here salivating for more information on Palin to be fed to you? Come on folks, do not be naive and underestimate the GOP. This feeding frenzy is part of the strategy.
If she's stays in, they can pull a few gender-votes. Plus, you have two people that are difficult to "attack". John McCain - because he's a former POW and the media loves him. Sarah Palin - because any negative story, after this blows over, will just be labeled as misogyny.
Consider, she's already got the backing of the Religious Reich. That helps if she stays in - it brings more of them to the polls.
Now suppose she bows out. They will claim that the decision was due to liberal media hypocrisy. That will also get a higher turnout. And then McCain might be able get away with selecting Lieberman.
Either way, this is win-win for McCain. At least, that's what they are hoping.
It's time to put this away and get back to the issues.
So was John McCain in Arizona.
Keep the news coming on Palin.
To answer the first question, no.
When it comes to Republicans, no thought is ever put into anything they do.
For example, invading countries...