Slouching toward Eagleton
Oh, to be a reporter right now on the staff of the Anchorage Daily News. The big snows haven't come and an important national story has landed in their laps.
I'm referring, of course, to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her pick by Sen. John McCain as his running mate on the Republican ticket. Palin is an embarassment of riches, it seems, when it comes to scandal. The latest story out of Anchorage has the former state police commissioner, the one Palin fired for refusing to fire her cheatin' brother-in-law, saying Palin spoke to him personally about the matter.
If so, that would be (1) an abuse of power, or (2) official oppression, take your pick. Palin would have used the power of her position as governor--a post she's held for all of 18 months--to pursue a private vendetta against the man involved in a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with her sister. The Alaska State Police, like every police department, have rules and regulations governing trooper behavior, and a well-defined disciplinary process. Palin sought to bypass that.
But again, I would point you to the comments in the story that quote the former state police commissioner as saying the McCain campaign never contacted him about Palin when they were supposedly "vetting" Palin for the vice presidency. Alaska GOP leaders say the McCain folks didn't send anyone to Alaska to check into the background of the woman they would put a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Looking at this from a broader historical perspective, Palin would seem to be the latest in a string of Republican appointees who have crashed and burned over ethical issues during the Bush Administration. I guess when you think the federal government is the great Satan, you don't much care who you pick to conduct the nation's business.
As Hurricane Gustav bears down on New Orleans, it would be wise to consider this Republican record of incompetence and corruption and wonder if perhaps Palin ought to make a hasty exit from the ticket. It won't happen, though, because the religious right sees Palin as saintly for her stance on abortion and would erupt in anger if McCain admitted he made a mistake and dumped her. Expect a statement from McCain soon that he is backing her "1000 percent."
The Eagleton in my headline is Sen. Thomas Eagleton, who withdrew as Sen. George McGovern's running mate in 1972 after it was learned he had twice undergone electro-shock treatment in a mental hospital for "nervous exhaustion." Eagleton had been picked on July 14, 1972, after only a minimal background check in which he failed to mention the hospitalizations and treatments. He withdrew on Aug. 1 despite McGovern saying he was backing him "1000 percent." He was replaced by Kennedy in-law Sargent Shriver, father of Maria Shriver. The ticket went on to a crushing defeat.
All the talk of Palin being a "game-changing move" for McCain won't matter a hill of beans if she is being battered on a daily basis by new revelations that the minimal background check on her failed to reveal.