September

Andrew Sullivan:
As the Palin pick starts dominating the news cycles - and not in a good way - you have to ask yourself what the fundamental point of this story is. I can't put it better than this reader:

I don't think it's Troopergate, the curious pregnancy, the pregnant unwed daughter, the Alaskan separatists, or the bottomless ignorance that makes the difference. Palin is by any measure the worst vice presidential pick of the modern age (which considering Agnew, Quayle and Eagleton is quite a statement). The killer is McCain's decision-making process and what this tells us about it. The man is a risk-taker who makes snap decisions "from the gut." He liked Palin. She looked like a maverick and a bit like himself. He didn't invest the time or resources to look into her deeply.

How can a person like this be put at the helm in a time of skyrocketing international tensions?

To my mind, this pick is not about Palin's unreadiness to be president. It's about McCain's unreadiness to be president. This act of judgment - a blend of ignorance, gut, cynicism, and pure egotism - makes him seem like a worse potential president than even George W. Bush. This is McCain's first real executive decision. And it is unbelievably shallow, incompetent and reckless.

How seriously does he take service to his country when he make a decision this important this crazily?