McCain Picks Palin: Lots of Real Stories

Depending on who you read, you'll get a different angle on what "the real story" is around the Republican nominee's VP pick. Here are just a few, accompanied by an image of Sarah Palin in Feb. 2008, reportedly 6+ months pregnant:

1. Sarah Palin's family values
• Endangering her unborn child with Down Syndrome, about to be born prematurely, by flying cross-country instead of seeking qualified medical care once her water broke
• Revealing to the world that her 17 yr old unwed daughter was pregnant, in order to counter viral internet rumors suggesting she had faked her pregnancy to cover the 17 yr old's pregnancy (let that one sink in a bit)
  
• Accepting the McCain campaign's offer to become the vice presidential candidate, a stressful and demanding role, instead of personally taking care of her special needs infant, her 7 yr old daughter, her 14 yr old daughter, and her pregnant 17 yr old daughter
2. Sarah Palin's ethics
   
• Alleged abuse of power as Mayor, firing two city officials and pushing two other city officials out for supporting her opponent in the mayoral election
• Alleged abuse of power as Governor, firing the state's chief law enforcement official because he would not buckle under pressure to fire a state trooper who was involved in a bitter custody battle with her sister
• Alleged abuse of power as Governor, summarily firing her own legislative liaison at the request of her husband who was distressed because the man was dating the soon to be ex-wife of the husband's friend
• Allegedly hacked into fellow Alaskan Oil and Gas Commission member's computer, obtaining 'dirt' on the member who was later fined for doing party work on government computers
• Alleged use of Mayor's office computers to do political work in her unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2002
  
3. Sarah Palin's ability to govern well
   
• Hiring a deputy administrator to run the mayor's office for her, and leaving the town $20 million in debt when she left
  
• Disbanding the state's Agricultural Board because one of their subcommittees made recommendations she disagreed with, and hiring a new Board that ended up making the same recommendations, after costing the state an additional $900,000
• Replacing Alaska's public safety commissioner (whom she fired) with a man who had to resign two weeks later due when his sexual harassment history emerged, and then giving this man a $10,000 (or $15,000, I've heard both) separation paycheck
  
4. Sarah Palin's education and life experience
   
• Holding only a BS in journalism (1987), with no evidence of continuing education
  
• Obtaining a passport for the first time in 2007 for her only trip overseas to date
  
5. Sarah Palin's religious influence
   
• Exhorting members of her church to pray for a gas pipeline because it was God's will that the pipeline go through
• Supporting teaching creationism in public schools
  
• Attempting to get certain books (on evolution?) banned from her local library while she was Mayor
• Believing that the US Military is doing God's work in Iraq
  
6. Sarah Palin's job history
   
• 1988—briefly worked as a sports reporter
• 1992-1995—Wasilla city council member
• 1996-2001—Mayor of Wasilla (pop. 5469 in 2000)
  
• 2003—Chair of Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, but then resigned
  
• 2003-2005—one of 3 directors of a 527 PAC supporting Ted Stevens
• December 2006-present—Governor of Alaska
7. Sarah Palin's honesty
   
• Ran for Governor on a "build-the-bridge" platform, but after Congress rescinded the earmark, claimed that she was the one who told Congress no thanks on "the bridge to nowhere"
  
• Claimed that no one in the Governor's office had pressured anyone to fire the state trooper (her sister's ex-husband) but later admitted it when e-mails and recorded conversations were released
  
8. Sarah Palin and "Country First"
   
• Associating with the Alaska Independence Party for more than a decade, addressing their convention from her Governor's desk with words of support and encouragement
  
• Happy about her candidacy because it will be "great for Alaska"
  
9. John McCain's wisdom (or absence thereof)
   
• Campaign didn't go through routine vetting process
• McCain met her once
  
• FBI didn't vet her either
  

In other Alaska news, attorneys for embattled Senator Ted Stevens will try to keep certain audio tapes from the jury—saying the FBI illegally wiretapped an Alaska oil contractor and just happened to get Ted on tape 105 times. The irony is delicious.

P.S. Here's a truly terrific blog about Alaska, and Sarah Palin in particular!