Sunday, September 07, 2008
Palin at Cheney's Undisclosed Location?
Today McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said that Palin won't give any interviews until she is "comfortable" and "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference." At the moment she is off being "tutored" at some undisclosed location and is not ready for prime time (or even a softball interview from her Friends at Fox). That's pretty scary to contemplate--two months from the election, and Palin is being prepped on foreign policy and the challenges and tasks facing this country.
As Josh Micah Marshall points out, "That's really all we need to know" about whether she is prepared to be a heartbeat away form the presidency.
At least Cheney waited until _after_ the campaign to hide out at his undisclosed location.
Talking Points Memo | Not Training Wheels We Can Believe In
As Josh Micah Marshall points out, "That's really all we need to know" about whether she is prepared to be a heartbeat away form the presidency.
At least Cheney waited until _after_ the campaign to hide out at his undisclosed location.
Talking Points Memo | Not Training Wheels We Can Believe In
"Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage"
Frank Rich nails it in his column today. While "fact-checking" Palin's speech and noting that, far from what she claimed, she actually supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," hired lobbyists to secure earmarks (negating one of McCain's biggest platforms), did not sell her jet on eBay, and is under investigation for abuse of power, he notes that the issue is not just that Palin is not qualified to be VP, but that it reflects negatively on McCain and his decision-making qualities:
"[McCain's] speed-dating of Palin reaffirmed a more dangerous personality tic that has dogged his entire career. His decision-making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preference for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.
As The New York Times reported last Tuesday, Palin was sloppily vetted, at best.... There was no F.B.I. background check. The Times found no evidence that a McCain representative spoke to anyone in the State Legislature or business community. Nor did anyone talk to the fired state public safety commissioner at the center of the Palin ethics investigation. No McCain researcher even bothered to consult the relevant back issues of the Wasilla paper. Apparently when McCain said in June that his vice presidential vetting process was basically “a Google,” he wasn’t joking.
This is a roll of the dice beyond even Bill Clinton’s imagination. “Often my haste is a mistake,” McCain conceded in his 2002 memoir, “but I live with the consequences without complaint.” Well, maybe it’s fine if he wants to live with the consequences, but what about his country? Should the unexamined Palin prove unfit to serve at the pinnacle of American power, it will be too late for the rest of us to complain."
When is the media going to start vetting McCain?
Op-Ed Columnist - Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
"[McCain's] speed-dating of Palin reaffirmed a more dangerous personality tic that has dogged his entire career. His decision-making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preference for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.
As The New York Times reported last Tuesday, Palin was sloppily vetted, at best.... There was no F.B.I. background check. The Times found no evidence that a McCain representative spoke to anyone in the State Legislature or business community. Nor did anyone talk to the fired state public safety commissioner at the center of the Palin ethics investigation. No McCain researcher even bothered to consult the relevant back issues of the Wasilla paper. Apparently when McCain said in June that his vice presidential vetting process was basically “a Google,” he wasn’t joking.
This is a roll of the dice beyond even Bill Clinton’s imagination. “Often my haste is a mistake,” McCain conceded in his 2002 memoir, “but I live with the consequences without complaint.” Well, maybe it’s fine if he wants to live with the consequences, but what about his country? Should the unexamined Palin prove unfit to serve at the pinnacle of American power, it will be too late for the rest of us to complain."
When is the media going to start vetting McCain?
Op-Ed Columnist - Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
