Might Palin Pull a Harriet Miers?

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So it’s only been a few days that Sarah Palin’s been on the ticket. But for chrissakes, it’s only been a few days that she’s been on the ticket! This much drama, this soon? At this rate, I half-expect Maury Povich to nab her first interview. And I actually felt kinda dirty watching the networks tonight, they went all Inside Edition on us, like CBS interviewing teens on a New York City stoop, asking what they think of Palin’s daughter being a mama (they were teenagers, blunt and unforgiving). With only a Category 1 storm to cover and no Bush/Cheney duo-of-evil to broadcast, the nets needed the drama to fill that gaping news vacuum. But, did they, really?

Weirdly, this confluence of events, the surprise out-of-nowhere pick of Palin, the stall of the convention, Gustav being less than a catastrophe, and Palin’s family drama, all of these factors have come together to magnify the absurdity of a) the VP pick, and b) the saturation of punditry (of which I am a part, I know). It’s like the entire world started to care about one woman four days ago and now her life is laid bare, boom.

Which of course, is your fault, McLame. We care, and we go on and on because there’s a chance she’ll be our president in a matter of months. Of course everyone is on the detail hunt, that’s why candidates are “thoroughly vetted.” The ol’ straight talker has got to know this isn’t going well. So does he back up slowly and flip on the hazards? Does Palin resign a la Miers and take one for the team? Joe Lieberman, Tom Ridge, Mitt, any of you guys game for a do-over?

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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