The McCain campaign angrily derided the Democratic Party, mainstream media and liberal blogs today for vetting Sarah Palin when the McCain camp's own vetting proved woefully inadequate. Calling the media's interest in a woman who could possibly be an elderly, cancer-ridden heartbeat away from the presidency a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for veep, they declared, "This nonsense is over."
Not so fast, guys.
A decade ago, the Republican congress paid a rabidly conservative "independent" prosecutor tens of millions of dollars to rummage through every public and private speck of the life of a sitting president and his wife. The GOP saw absolutely nothing wrong with making Bill Clinton's private dealings -- and private marital infidelities -- part of the public record. A vetting process, if you will, that took place after the man had already been elected to national office not once, but twice.
So let's get this straight. Sifting through Bill Clinton's dirty laundry on the taxpayer's dime is patriotic, while trying to find out more about a possible vice-president whom nobody outside Alaska had even heard of until a week ago is "sleazy." Bill Clinton's Troopergate, yea. Sarah Palin's Troopergate, nay. Jokes about Chelsea Clinton, OK. Questions about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy, nuh-uh. Subpoena the First Lady about an investment she made when she was the First Lady of Arkansas? Absolutely. Dare to question anything the Governor of Alaska did while she was the Governor of Alaska? Absolutely not.
And this coming from Steve Schmidt, a Karl Rove understudy, no less! The only way it's anything less than laughable is if it's followed by: "And we're sorry we did this to Hilary Rodham Clinton."
Based on less than a week of research, it looks like Sarah Palin has enough skeletons in her igloo to make Tom Eagleton look like an ideal running mate in comparison. Here's hoping we dig up every bit of dirt there is to find. And while revenge is a dish best served cold, I can't wait to see the Republican ticket get a taste of what they put the Clintons through.