03 September 2008

Palin, new surprises, and the "patriotic" card

The media have been exposing more and more interesting surprises about John McCain's new running mate Sarah Palin. All these issues prompted the New York Times yesterday to question how thoroughly she had been vetted.

One of the new tidbits of information that caught my eye in particular was the claim that Palin had previously been a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which has, as the "number one plank" in their platform, the question of possible secession of Alaska from the U.S.

Wow.

Supporting the secession of one's state from the union doesn't sound like the height of American patriotism.

It seems a whole lot less patriotic than, say, Barack Obama not always wearing his flag pin.

So now not only can McCain no longer play the experience card against Barack Obama, since his new running mate Sarah Palin has less national government experience than Obama. It seems that now he can no longer play the "patriotic" card either.

The best resource I've found on this secession issue so far is a post at the Daily Kos site that contains more info, videos, links, etc., here: Successionist Sarah: VP pick Sarah Palin and the Alaska Independence Party

While Sarah Palin's issues are all interesting, and many of them are somewhat alarming, the biggest issue in my opinion is what this says about McCain and his own judgment. What does it say about him when he chooses such a controversial candidate, one with so little relevant experience, to be one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States of America?

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