Smoking!
For anyone who doesn't know, Karl Rove and the modern Republican Party are masters of the political game. And political there is meant in the dirtiest, most unethical sense of the word. They will simply do anything to win. They will tell any lie that works. They are not afraid of being called out as hypocrites because they know that most of America stopped listening to the Democrats years ago.
Selecting The Girl was a pandering but masterful political move. McCain picked up several points because of her, from the right wing who had been concerned that he was too reasonable and moderate, and from disgruntled feminists who will endure months of mockery and vote McCain in November anyway just to have a chance at "putting a woman in the White House".
In defending The Girl, the Republicans have sunk to a new low in hypocrisy. Now that they are attacked in exactly the same way that they have attacked Hillary and Obama for 18 months, they cry foul after only 2 days. This is best summarized in this video which was sent to me by a friend. I think it's really funny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiUAcEJY98
Now it's true that turnabout is fair play. It's a basic American principle. Nevertheless, I think we (America) should leave her alone. Why? Because her inexperience is irrelevant. George W. Bush proved for all time that a trained monkey could be President. The GOP puppetmasters will pull the strings whether it's McCain or The Girl or anybody, just like they've been doing for the last 8 years. All previous Presidents assembled experienced cabinets in order to provide the President with complete knowledge and expert advice, making up for any deficiencies in the President himself. The Republicans just took it a step further and removed decision-making from the Presidency. A political lobotomy, if you will. And we never missed GW's gray matter.
Secondly, I don't think McCain is going to die. He's a tough old man. But if he did die, keep in mind that President Girl would get to choose her own VP. And I'll call it right now, it'll be Dick Cheney, who will never die because after all these years of ultra-conservatism, his body has adapted and doesn't actually need his heart. So if you're happy with the status quo, don't worry, you can safely go ahead and vote the Republican ticket.
Hmmm ... here's an interesting theory. Why did John McCain vote with Bush 95% of the time since 9-11, after losing the nomination to GW in 2000? Was he entranced by the virtue of his policies? Doubtful. I think that despite being much more qualified, experienced and intelligent, he lost to GW in 2000 because he wouldn't be a proper puppet. So he spent the last 7 proving himself to the puppetmasters, and it worked.
Thirdly, if McCain doesn't die, the VP remains just the VP. The office doesn't come with much power, although that can change for the right person like it did for Cheney. It won't for her. I'll admit I only know her political views in broad strokes. I read her Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_palin , that's about it. But it doesn't matter. The overwhelming likelihood is that The Girl will be mostly harmless. By that I mean, she'll cause little additional damage to the hypothetical McCain administration.
So let's leave her alone already. She's inexperienced, you've made your point, now move on.
Aww, such a cute family! But the little one might be pure evil.
Now no one should know all this better than the Republicans. So why have they continually attacked Obama for inexperience, interpreted, to their advantage, as not having thirty years in the Senate under his belt? There's no denying McCain is older. While Obama was still in law school, McCain was already under investigation as one of the Keating Five (he took $112k from Keating but wasn't convicted - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five ). But how can the GOP sell that as an advantage?
How can the Republicans say, for 18 months, with a straight face, that Obama's not ready, having already given us 8 years of GW? And then turn around and say that The Girl is well-prepared?
Because they are happy to be hypocrites and tell any lie that works and they know ahead of time that they're going to get away with it. If you didn't watch that video, click it now, it's hilarious.