It's becoming abundantly clear that John McCain didn't bother to take a look into Sarah Palin before naming her his Vice Presidential pick. Reported here on Huffington, and backed up elsewhere, McCain's people are actually vetting the pick now, after the decision has been made.
Joe Klein is right, that this is the McCain temperament at its absolute worst. This is his shoot first, ask questions later personality, which even McCain admits gets him into trouble. The problem, of course, is that this time it could get America in trouble - very, very deep trouble.
Everyday, more comes out about Sarah Palin, which shows that not only is she completely unprepared for the presidency, but has displayed decision-making that is rash, spoiled, too personal, too petty, and detrimental to the people she's supposed to be working for. In short, she's shown herself to be completely drunk with her ability to sack people at her whim.
Once is a fluke...
First, and almost immediately revealed, was "Troopergate" - Palin's attempt to pressure the Public Safety Commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law as a state trooper, lying about it, and then firing Walt Monegan, the Commissioner, when he tried to explain there was nothing he could do. Then, Palin replaced Mongegan (who had a very good record on the job) with someone who had to resign after two weeks, because he had sexual harassment problems in the past, which Palin was aware of when she appointed him.
Now Palin is under investigation for Abuse of Power (an investigation that is due to offer up a report just days before the election, by the way).
Two is a coincidence...
Next, we found out as Mayor of Wasilla, Palin canned the Police Chief and the Library Director for not supporting her campaign for Mayor. Palin never contended that these people weren't doing a good job. To her credit, I guess, she was up front that these good public servants were on the chopping block because they wouldn't support her campaign.
Palin faced a recall effort because of her decision, and eventually had to reinstate the Library Director, and came to an out of court settlement (a tacit admission of wrongdoing) with the Police Chief, basically paying him to go away.
Three is a pattern...
Today, I discovered that Todd Palin, Sarah's husband, also had a say in hiring and firing decisions. A long-time aide to Sarah Palin, John Bitney, who was a childhood friend of hers, was unceremoniously dumped from his job. Apparently, he found out he was fired when his Blackberry stopped working, and when he called to see what the problem was, discovered he was no longer on state payroll.
His mistake? Bitney was dating the soon-to-be ex-wife of a friend of Todd Palin's. Todd Palin didn't like that insult to his pal, so he had Sarah fire her old friend, and long-time aide. Again, Sarah Palin never even tried to contend that Bitney was doing a bad job, and no one had charged that he was doing a bad job. He simply pissed off Todd Palin's friend, and his head rolled.
Four is an effin' disaster for America...
Another scandal involving Sarah Palin's tenure as Governor is Dairygate (I know, I'm sick of the 'gates' too, but that's what they call it up there).
As Palin came into office, the state Creamery Board, after years of study, concluded that state-run Matanuska Maid Dairy was beyond saving, after years in the red despite heavy taxpayer subsidies. It recommended that the dairy be privatized, as the only way of rescuing the dairy, and saving Alaskans from giving tax dollars to a failing business that inflated dairy costs.
You would think that Palin, the so-called maverick cost cutter, would be thrilled. Nope. Instead, Palin fired the entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation, and replaced them with loyalists, who in turn installed themselves as the new Creamery Board. Palin contended that Mat Maid Dairy just needed better management, and these guys would do it. In short, like another person I know (hmmm...) Palin didn't like the expert's answers, so instead of dealing with the facts, she fired the experts to find "new facts."
Except not so much. Nearly $1 million in subsidies later, including $200,000 in Alaska tax dollars paid to farmers to dump raw milk into the ground, this new Creamery Board came to the same exact conclusion as the old one - Matanuska Maid Dairy was a failure and a drain on the state. Oh, and the kicker is now the dairy has been reborn, and subsidized with Federal tax dollars, otherwise known as "pork."
This would all be funny Northern Exposure politics, if John McCain didn't impulsively choose to put Palin one heart-beat away from the Presidency. One heart beat away from managing the Federal government, and picking who would run departments. One heart beat from hiring and firing security agency heads. One heart beat away from the Red Button. One heart beat away from managing two wars (and maybe more if McCain has his way).
But, this is not a joke. This is the future of this country. If John McCain is serious about "Country First," if he really cares about the future well-being of Americans, he will come to his senses and ask Sarah Palin to leave the ticket. Now.
It would be a disastrous political move for him, for sure. But, if John McCain is who he says he is, and values this nation above all else - even more than his own political career - he will not allow Sarah Palin anywhere near the Oval Office. And, if he doesn't admit his dangerous mistake, he's as bad of a political hack as George W Bush is, and as she is. Nothing more.