Stop it John...You're Killing Me

Is McCain playing with my head? I don't think so, but once again I am stunned by what I'm seeing in American national politics. The choice of Sarah Palin as the next VP seems to make the argument that if a politician does something stupid enough, people will give him (or her) the benefit of the doubt, even support, because the alternative of accepting that an individual risen to that level of national importance could do such a thing is so distasteful. After all, the current President Bush has turned that strategy into an art form.

Although I would like to express my wonderment and befuddlement over this extraordinary political choice by McCain, I will only address here the defense made by several individuals in the wake of this anointment, regarding Sarah Palin's lack of experience (which gives the word 'understatement' new meaning).

As with several (convention located) Republicans being interviewed this morning (the most outrageous being Lindsey Graham) the argument here is ‘why should her experience be questioned, just look at Obama’s’. Even though anyone staring down on this planet from space might look at the Palin nomination and think they were watching a Disney family movie, the imminently clear difference between Obama’s obvious limited experience and Palin’s is that Obama’s experience has been reviewed and judged by nearly 50 elections over the last 9 months in the most viewed and participated-in nominating contests in the history of this country. Sarah Palin, by comparison, achieved her position by winning an election (without a plurality – 48%) in a state with a population one-fourth the size of greater Cleveland, then was picked out of the blue, primarily by McCain’s advisers, and presented to the public on a plate – this is what’s on the menu, eat it or shut up.

That said, I am even more in awe of those defending the decision than the actual McCain’s team choice in the first place. But then I’m the guy, with a son in Iraq, who thought Bush would lose the 2004 election by a margin greater than Herbert Hoover lost his re-election. Is common sense officially dead in this country?