Sarah Palin not sure what the vice president does. (Here's one hint, Sarah: You might become President). Joe Sudbay (DC), AmericaBlog.com: Jed posted video of Sarah Palin admitting she really doesn't know what the V.P. does. Okay, here's the thing: The main job of the vice president is to become president if something happens. It's especially relevant when the possible president is 72 years old ("McCain's advanced age" is how a top writer at the right wing National Review Online puts it), has had cancer numerous times and wouldn't really show the media his medical records.
All of this makes Sarah Palin's lack of experience is disturbing -- and lack knowledge about her new possible job even more troubling:
UNDER INVESTIGATION: Palin. Robert Arena, AmericaBlog.com: So what kind of a politician is Sarah Palin? Well, let's just say she fits in quite nicely with the Republican culture of corruption that puts themselves ahead of the needs of the public. From the Anchorage Daily News, we learn why her fellow Alaskans authorized a $100,000 investigation into the firing of the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner for what appears to be exclusively personal reasons. From the Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska legislators on Monday voted to spend up to $100,000 to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's controversial firing of former state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The decision came from the Legislative Council, a bipartisan panel of state senators and representatives.The committee itself will not conduct the probe. Rather, it will hire an independent investigator to explore whether Palin, her family or members of her administration pressured Monegan to fire an Alaska state trooper involved in a rough divorce from Palin's sister.Monegan contends he did feel such pressure, and the question for the investigator will be whether Monegan might have lost his job for failing to dismiss trooper Mike Wooten.Palin has denied applying any pressure or otherwise abusing her power as governor...Palin abruptly fired Monegan on July 11 and later explained she wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different, more energetic direction. She replaced him with Chuck Kopp, the former Kenai police chief. But Kopp resigned Friday over questions about a reprimand he received after a sexual harassment complaint lodged against him in Kenai...On Monday, the council voted 12-0 to spend up to $100,000 "to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the termination of former Public Safety Commissioner Monegan, and potential abuses of power and/or improper actions by members of the executive branch."
A Republican who puts their personal interest ahead of the public? Palin fits in just perfect.
John McCain's gimmick: He doesn't even know Sarah Palin. They've only met once, maybe twice. Joe Sudbay (DC), AmericaBlog.com: So, Sarah Palin doesn't know what the V.P. does. That's bad enough. It gets worse. John McCain doesn't even know Sarah Palin, but he thinks she could lead our nation if something happens to him. (And, by the way, McCain is 72 years old today and has had cancer numerous times so we're not talking about some remote possibility.)Watch this video Jed compiled. No one knows Palin:
Chuck Todd is right: "It's gimmicky." This is a gimmick -- a pure political gimmick. John McCain put politics before the best interests of his country.
Sarah Palin wants to let the polar bears die, too. On global warming, she's aligned with "most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints." Joe Sudbay (DC), AmericaBlog.com: Earlier this morning, before I left Denver, I wrote a post about oil companies and their cronies fighting the new rules designed to protect polar bears. Little did I know when I was writing the post that one of those cronies would be picked as McCain's v.p. Yes, guess who else wants no protections for the polar bears? Sarah Palin:
Another global warming denier. Great. Sarah Palin is grossly misinformed. Maybe she should spend some time with the biologists who've been monitoring the polar bears lately. A report on this very subject came out this week:The State of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday.She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas evelopment in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts.Palin argued there is not enough evidence to support a listing. Polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation, she said.Climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice, the main habitat of polar bears, during summers are unreliable, Palin said.The announcement drew a strong response from the primary author of the listing petition."She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Alaska deserves better."
Siegel said it was unconscionable for Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to sea ice, the polar bear's habitat.
"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."
Government scientists reported seeing at least nine polar bears swimming in open water over a six-hour period on August 16, including one more than 50 miles offshore, World Wildlife Fund officials said.That represents a huge increase over previous sightings, said Margaret Williams of the fund's Alaska office. A total of 12 polar bears were spotted in open water between 1987 and 2003, Williams said in a telephone interview.In 2004, she said, four drowned bears were observed."Unfortunately it's what we might expect to see if bears are forced to swim longer distances," Williams said. "The Arctic is gigantic. When you have nine bears sighted in one transect (route) ... one can assume that there are likely a lot more bears swimming in open water."
Sounds like Sarah Palin thinks the polar bears should just die.
VoteVets.Org's Jon Soltz: McCain "put political PR above sound judgment." When Jon Soltz speaks, listen:Maybe Palin could one day be someone who has the judgment and experience that would make me feel comfortable with her leading our Armed Forces. But not now. Not after just 60 days thinking about those issues, and even then, just toting the party line. What's this say about McCain's judgment - to put political PR above sound judgment when it comes to naming a potential, if not very possible, Commander in Chief? What's it say about his judgment vs. Barack Obama, who faced with the same question, answered, "Joe Biden."In times like these, with the stakes so high, and the decent chance that McCain might not live long into his first term, I can think of no scarier thought as a proud war veteran than someone with such an empty resume holding in her hands the lives of my buddies still in the service.
Joe Sudbay (DC), AmericaBlog.com: What's bizarre is how the political pundits and talking heads are oohing and aahing over the raw politics of McCain's choice. McCain wanted to steal the news from Obama so he picked a v.p. who he even doesn't know -- and who has no foreign policy experience. None. So, the punditry is thinking McCain "won the day," as if that's the most serious implication of McCain's gimmick. It's not.
Jon Soltz once again cuts through the crap and explains quite clearly that McCain's political ploy could, god forbid, have dangerous implications for our national security and our troops.
- Palin is the least qualified and experienced running mate in the history of the office, having served a total of 20 months in office, and none on the national level.
- Does anyone really want Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency should McCain become unable to serve?
- Although known as a reformer, Palin is a product of the corrupt Alaskan political machine, and is even under criminal investigation herself for abusing the power of her office.
- Can she possibly face off against Joe Biden on any issue?
- She pronounces “nuclear” like George Bush. I knew that the GOP ticket wanted to continue Bush’s policies….but four more years of Bushisms too!?
- She supports Obama’s energy plan, all but undercutting the one supposed strength she brings to the ticket.
Rahm Emmanuel pretty much sums it up:
“After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small town mayor and brand new Governor as his Vice Presidential nominee. Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin’s lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn’t show judgement: it shows political panic.”
Andrew Sullivan says:
(C)ompare McCain’s pick with Obama’s: a man with solid foreign policy experience, six terms in Washington and real relationships with leaders across the globe.One pick is by a man of judgment; the other is by a man of vanity.She may be a fine person, but she’s my age, she has zero Washington experience, and no foreign policy expertise whatsoever.McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all.
MSNBC has a good pro/con rundown.
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