Defending Sarah Palin

November 7, 1:37 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Anyone feeling a wee bit sorry for Sarah Palin?  I am.  A wee bit. 

Look, Ms. Palin was a terrible choice.  She was light years from having the requisite skills to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Particularly  when it's a 72 year old heartbeat.  There were some of her defenders that argued the governor could learn the necessary facts and skills required to make her a competent vice president.  There are two problems with that argument.  First, how much time was that supposed to take?  What would happen if John McCain had been elected and, God forbid, something happen to him on January 21st and Vice President Palin is not quite ready to assume the presidency? 

But the second problem, and for me the larger issue, is not Ms. Palin's lack of understanding of world geography and world events; it's her apparent lack of interest in those things.  Someone who is interested in politics or world events accumulates knowledge and understanding of the issues, and those without that interest don't.  And based on all we've read about Ms. Palin, it seems obvious the governor is just not interested enough in world affairs to be a viable vice presidential candidate.

That said, she's now taking a drubbing from anonymous McCain campaign officials; bath towels, Africa, tantrums.  Unseemly stuff.  Clearly looking for scapegoats, the McCain campaign folks want to blame someone other than themselves for their loss Tuesday.  Here's the ironic part; these folks now so busy busting Ms. Palin's chops are the same folks who adamantly defended her in interview after interview.  Whenever some incredulous interviewer would ask if the governor was prepared to ascend to the presidency if required they would, without pause, defend their choice and assure the electorate she was, indeed, a very capable choice. 

Kinda scary, huh?  If we can believe what we're now hearing, the governor was far from defensible and not a very capable choice after all.  Those McCain campaign officials, appearing during all those interviews and asserting she was a great choice were not only lying to Americans but willing to place the country at risk in order to win the election. 

Sarah Palin deserves her share of criticism for her campaign behavior and the deluded self confidence to accept the nomination.  But It's the power crazed scoundrels who tried to pull off this huge scam on the American people that deserve the lion's share of scorn.