What Does Sarah Palin's Selection Tell Us About John McCain's Readiness To Lead?

I so do not want to write any more about McCain's reckless choice of a completely unvetted-- unless getting the thumbs up from religious fanatics is your idea of serious vetting-- candidate for a possible next president of the United States. I'm sure you've already read how she and her husband have been members of a fringe political party that was pushing Alaska to secede from the U.S. and about how she is embroiled in a scandal the media has dubbed "Troopergate," which she is attempting to coverup and derail.

People may be fascinated-- and even sympathetic-- by the train wreck that is Sarah Palin's personal soap opera, but what does it say about McCain that his first big-- and this is really big, given his age and poor health-- executive decision was made in such a shoddy, slipshod manner? This isn't about Sarah Palin's gender or her family. It isn't about alcoholism, a son busted for vandalism and drugs and then forced into the army to avoid jail, or sexual promiscuity, wild MySpace pages, a flip-flippin' career based on pork and earmarks, outrageous ethical lapses, or sensationalistic stories in the National Enquirer or Us Weekly. And it isn't about Sarah Palin's faith or even the whacky, anti-Semitic, crazier-than-Reverend Wright sermons she sat through. This is about John McCain's inability to live up to the most basic precepts of national leadership. People who know him best-- other than those like Lieberman and Lindsey Graham riding on his coat tails-- all say he has never exhibited any capacities for leadership. From the time he was in the Navy right through his time in the Senate, he was always judged to be severely lacking in leadership and executive abilities. The Sarah Palin debacle should not come as a surprise to anyone, just as another warning.

In case you were wondering what the right-wing talking heads really think about McCain's irresponsible pick, this clip catches GOP shills Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, two phonies who should each be permanently banned from TV now-- inadvertently talking into open mikes during a break. OMG; this should be devastating. They think the Palin disaster is the end of whatever chances McCain had-- quite the opposite of what they say when the cameras are rolling:



And if you missed any of that, here's a rough transcript:

Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state government work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all how you want to win a Texas race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work.

Noonan: It's over.

Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

Todd: Its insulting to Kay Baily Hutchinson ??

Noonan: I saw Kay this morning

Murphy: They're all bummed out. I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.

Murphy: Yeah, but what's the narrative?

Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it.

Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.