If He Knew; If He Didn't Know

Did McCain vet Sarah Palin? Here are the facts we know, just four days into Sarah Palin's VP nomination:

Palin is so wrapped up in a nepotism-themed legal battle that she's just had to hire a lawyer.

There's an abundance of video proving Palin lied about her position on the "Bridge to Nowhere."

Her unwed, teenaged daughter got knocked up in the 11th grade.

IF McCain did vet Palin, then...

1. He's willing to drag Palin's family through the mud. Including the pregnant daughter - 17 years old - through a veritable shit storm of political mudslinging. And this, coming from a guy who criticized Obama for letting his ambition get in the way of his good sense? Tsk tsk!

2. He's more desperate than we thought. Most of us immediately picked up on the desperation upon first hearing who McCain's nomination was. But for a person whose political life is in its infancy, and who we've only known for four short days, this seems satirical. Pinch me - am I dreaming?

3. He may be going senile. Eight years ago he didn't seem dumb, but these days he's more and more (apparently) losing it. How incoherent do you have to be to knowingly hire a woman with this much dirt? Especially the sort of dirt your party typically pretends is the provenance of the Democrats.

IF McCain did not vet Palin, then...

1. He's a liar. He's already gone on record stating he knew all these things before asking Palin to be his VP nominee.

2. He's a fool. Anyone with one-fourth the time he's had in Congress should know: vet, vet, vet! Everyone agreed the "estimated risk" in this pick was sacrificing his experience argument against Obama for a VP who would energize the base. But this is a base who thinks abstinence-only education actually works! Referendum on judgment? You bet!

3. He's a loser. In any competition, it's one thing to take a risk. But only the loser denies having misjudged the risk once it proves unsuccessful (see item 1).

One thing is certain: McCain has just handed the Democrats the election on a silver platter. Let's hope Obama really does stand for change - change to the way the (D)s handle silver platters.

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