Saturday, September 06, 2008

The McChange Remains the Same




In other news, it looks like The National Enquirer is feeling pretty confident they have the goods on a Palin extramarital affair. In response to threats from the McCain camp ("We'll sue!), the Enquirer, basically said "bring it on."

"The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum."


Now normally, this stuff would be left where found, but in this case the news is really not about Sarah Palin. Who care about her? Most of us had never heard of her before last week. She is the most minor of political footnotes; a fourth chair oboe player on the domestic political stage.

The import of her is that she is John McCain's pick for VP, which says a LOT about John McCain, one way or another.

On the surface it appears McCain failed to do the most basic kind of due diligence, and yet this may be the most important decision he will ever make if he is actually put in office (God forbid).

Did McCain know that during her tenure as Mayor of the 5,000-person town of Wasilla, Sarah Palin not only dinged the U.S. Government for $23 million in budget earmarks for nonsense such as a public transportation system (for a rural town of 5,000?), but that she left the town $20 million in debt?

Did John McCain know that Sarah Palin did not sell the state plane on EBay as she claims, and that the state actually lost money on the deal?

Did he know that her "Bridge to Nowhere?" story is a lie, and so too is her story about doing battle with Ted Stevens (they are close friends, and he has been her mentor)?

Did John McCain know that Palin attended 5 Colleges in 6 years? Did he know her daughter was pregnant? The she in under investigation for abuse of power? That she tried to ban books at the public library in Wasilla? That she is a creationist?

Did John McCain know her position on ANWR and abortion are different from his? Did he know she disagrees with him about global warming and has "no opinion" about Iraq?

Clearly, very few questions were asked. This was a "seat of the pants" kind of thing that suggests McCain thinks the job is a joke and that the American people are stupid.

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