Palin tapped as McCain's VP choice

You, unfortunately, have no idea what Alaska "executive experience" really means. Alaska politics is part-time. They need time for their "real" jobs like commercial fishing and oil exploration. Alaskans pride themselves on independence and DO NOT believe in big government. That's the reason they DO NOT HAVE big government. One person with that kind of "executive experience" placed in the the vast US Federal government would get crushed. Palin is no Joan of Arc. Not even close. In fact, it's dangerous and negligent to think that she could even handle the position of President of the United States. It insults all Americans who want the best leaders possible serving the people. Remember, the primaries are a vetting process and the candidates have been scrutinized for many months now. Palin has not.

You seem to think you have the market corner on what Alaska Executive experience is. Having worked in JNU in several different capacities and been around those who have worked in the exec branch I think you are full of it. You apparently have no idea what it entails. However, if you truly think being a state senator in Illinois and then a little over 3 years in DC qualify someone to be President I would just like to know what you are smoking. Of course, Palin isn't running for President, McCain is, and his experience dwarfs Barry Obama's. By a massive amount. I for one think Obama would get absolutely overwhelmed were he to win the presidency and I am more frightened of that prospect than of anything in my entire adult life. Well next to Manny Ramirez going to the Yankees, but other than that, Obama scares the crap out of me.

Manny going to the Yankees scares me too! AH

...and then there is a REAL reason to have the bejeezus scared out of you. W was governor of Texas (another extremely huge "western" state) before he became president of the United States, and his term of office has been an unmitigated disaster not only for U.S. citizens, but for the world. Hundreds of thousands have dies in Iraq for his vindictive family matters (he had to go chase after Saddam because Saddam went head to head with W's Daddy...sounds like Sarah and the State Troopers but on a grander scale, doesn't it?) Yeah, I'll take Barry Obama and his scant executive experience any day over the likes of George W and Sarah, not to mention McKain (not that he really matters...he's likely to keel over before the end of the first term...thus the importance of calling stink on the Palin pick.) Durf. Wake up. You're lost in the haze of whatever neo-con Republican circles you're running in. Break out of it and recognize Obama for what he is: the best thing going for you and all the rest of us in this election cycle.

Agreed. I invite the world to join me. You know, that's about the response I expected. It says a lot.

There's a lot of us that have never blogged before, Kate. We've thought we were alone in a wilderness wondering either why we became lemmings or realizing that that certain hesitation about jumping on the Palin bandwagon did indeed have a real cause. The hairs on the back of our neck prickled, but were we the only ones that felt it? Now we know what the rest of the nation will soon learn. Surely, somebody is going to come up with an ad that features Sarah on the Bob and Mark show girlishly giggling when the host says "Lyda Green is a cancer to the state, she should just die". This will be followed by sound bites of obvious contridictory statements made days, sometimes just hours, apart, and will include the lie she so boldly stated during her introduction about her role in the "bridges to nowhere". Then it will show Sarah calling all of us "haters" for not agreeing with her, and close with some of the vindictive name calling she's become known for. This ad won't even have to mention the fact that she is under investigation for abuse of power and ethics violations. No, the real Sarah all by herself should do the trick. For those of us who barely tolerated John McCain's positions on ANWR, border security, welfare for illegals, finance reform, etc., etc., his incredibly horrible lack of judgement in this selection combined with his complete inability to conduct a proper vetting process leaves little hope for a successfully presidency. I have little hope for a good end for this story.

Keep blogging...

Anonymous.....thanks for your post. I noticed that too! On Fox she had on a white cast at the VP rally and then on CNN she had on a pink one at the same very rally....And why does she need a cast when it was supposedly just a sprain? something isn't right here....i'm glad you noticed it too. it says we are paying attn to the little things too! And can anyone answer for me why at the announcement in Dayton, Ohio yesterday there were NO McCain/Paulin signs ready to hand out to the crowd? Says to me she was a really really really last minute pick! Anyone else notice no signs either? At most rallies/reveils there are already signs with the VP's name on it. But not this time..hmmmm...

She has had a long standing AC sparation and all of the hand shaking has exerbated that injury. She is waering various temporary spints to avoid hand shakes. That is all.

I am not a Palin fan by any stretch; but, your Obama vote will lead to "fearful, dependent and socialist." I hate the idea that I have to vote for the lesser of evils; but, that is too often the case. Unless some independent superstar emerges, I am going to vote my view of the lower-risk bad choice - McCain/Palin. What a bummer. Andrew - does Sarah have to resign as Governor to run for Veep?

With all due respect, either you haven't been paying much attention, or you've done lost your mind. She's "demonstrated she can weather criticism?" Hardly. She has been treated like a princess by the ADN ever since she called her press conference to bring down her fellow Commissioner at Oil and Gas because she needed a viable excuse to leave the job (it wasn't working well for her kids). They've treated her with kid gloves ever since. She's never had an iota of criticism except on this blog and she's erupted at that - saying petty, vindictive things about Andrew "he's a hater," etc. Just last Sunday afternoon, for crying out loud, she called a letter writer to the editor who's letter had been printed in Sunday's paper and gave him a royal lashing for saying he's wished he hadn't voted for her. You are right, and so is Mr. Halcro, that this pick was all about Sarah "the person." But, since she won't be given the absolutely free ride she's enjoyed her whole political life by the 4-5 guys in the press who've been covering her, then Sarah The Person is going to be portrayed for who many of us up here have discovered she really is: unethical, a fabricator, stunningly vindictive, clueless about policies and procedures, narcissistic, uninformed, inarticulate about things she hasn't memorized her talking points on, and utterly uninformed on national and international affairs.

what I don't get is why the Republicans vetting her didn't have all this info? if I, a stay at home mom in Washington state, can spend a few hours at my computer and find all this stuff, troopergate, the laughing radio interview thing, the polar bear thing, the shadow governor, etc, etc, etc. Why the heck didn't this info get to McCain...or better yet, assuming it did, why did he pick her anyway?? I'm looking for their motive. I really don't think, after what they've done for 20 years, that the Republican machine went stupid. It's truly unbelievable that they thought they'd get Clinton voters with this. They are just not that gullible (neither the voters nor the Republican machine) Something just doesn't add up.

Lets get a few things straight about Palin stepping over the line. First her X brother-in-law is a public servant who was convicted of a game violation and it has also been confirmed that he used a taser on a child just for the fun of it. Why has he not been fired? He is a law enforcement officer and he should be held accountable for breaking the laws he is required to uphold. If I had the information the Governor had, I would feel compelled to ask the commissioner what is being done about this so called public servant. I would argue that it is her responsibility as an elected official to have her administration look into the issue of why this officer was still on the force. Even the fired commissioner has said that Palin never asked him to fire the X brother-in-law. At this point, absolutely nothing has been revealed that indicates that Palin has used her office for personal gain. The people who have tried to destroy this woman have political agendas and they seem incapable of seeing many of these issues for what they really are.

"Lets get a few things straight about Palin stepping over the line." I wanted to use your phrase in case you forgot it. So let's do get some things straight. Wooten tasered a kid, not a bright thing to do although it was a taser with a blank charge and no connecting wires such as they use in training. Like I said, not bright, but not lethal. He shot a moose illegaly, with his wife's tag while she was standing there teary eyed because she couldn't shoot it and her dad was pressuring her to fill the cow tag. Her dad, Sarah and Todd, and others kept the moose in their freezers and enjoyed it until it came time to dig up things to use on Wooten, two years later. Keep in mind also, these charges and others against Wooten were investigated and Wooten was disciplined. Disciplined enough? Maybe not, but to revisit and reopen the issue is double idemnity, and that is illegal. As far as Monegan saying he had no pressure to fire Wooten ... wrong again. Either read, research, or don't, but don't make it up. Let's use your phrase and get some things straight. This is not the first time Sarah has used a political office for her own vindictive purposes. But as she gains higher offices with more power they become more evident. Makes you wonder what a VP could do doesn't it. Jerry

Fact, He shot that moose and that is illegal. Fact, Walt publicly stated that nether Sarah or Todd had ever asked him to fire Wooten. "For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff," Monegan said Friday from Portland. ADN 8-30-08 I did not make anything up, but I did leave out the parts about his driving under the influence and the death threat made to Sarah's father because at this point I've not been able to substantiate those accusations. Questioning the commisioner about Wooten's ability to do his job can can certainly be perceived as pressure, but they did not reopen the case. By the way, double idemnity refers to a clause in a life insurance policy. I think you mean double jeopardy and that is a legal term that certainly does not apply at this point in the game. Mike

I'm curious. If republican party loyalty is important to you, why would you have voted and worked for McCain during the primaries? The guy's greatest reputation prior to running was as a backstabber to those in his own party. That's the reason why the main stream media and the NYT in particular loved him.