Sarah Palin, 2008-2009, a Political Obituary

As she steps down today as governor of Alaska, where is the Mouth That Roared headed? Political obscurity is a possible destination but, based on her 11-month performance since John McCain anointed her, that seems unlikely.

A long-time Alaska Republican operative tells the Washington Post: "As the saying goes, the most dangerous place you can be is between a grizzly sow and her cub. But now I have to change that--it would be between [Palin] and a television camera."

The irony is that, during the campaign, Palin soared on scripted sound bites but was a stealth candidate, never once appearing for questioning on Sunday political talk shows. Now that she has made a mid-life career change from politics to celebrity, she is as available as Ann Coulter, if not quite as brainy.

Yet, while helping bring down McCain's candidacy, Palin rocketed into the hearts of the GOP Hard Right, and it would take more than piddling proof of corruption to dislodge her.

In a well-advised written statement to the Post, the departing Palin insists, "I'm not leaving the governorship because of any particular ethics complaint. Rather, I have explained that the millions of dollars spent by the state and the diversion of resources to address politically inspired records requests, personnel board costs and wasting staff time is unnecessary and harmful to the state.

"I will take the battle nationally and I won't shy away from challenging the powerful, the entrenched, the corrupt and anyone standing in the way of getting our country back on the right track."

Especially when the TV cameras are rolling.

McCain Didn't Google Deep Enough

A few months ago, the Republican candidate told backers that choosing a running mate was easy. "You know, basically it's a Google. What you can find out now on the Internet--it's remarkable."

Now it appears that vetting his last-minute choice of Sarah Palin was no search engine slam dunk as a traffic jam of revelations clogs the path to her nomination and raises once again the question of whether McCain's shoot-from-the-hip temperament is suitable for a 21st century presidency.

The list keeps growing--the ethics investigation of her firing the state's public safety commissioner for not firing her former brother-in-law; her membership in a party that advocated Alaskan secession from the Union; her support for the Bridge to Nowhere before opposing it, along with such family items as her teenage daughter's pregnancy and husband's drunk driving arrest.

What's more troubling than any of these disclosures is the fact that the decision was so impulsive, the fact-finding behind it so slipshod and, worst of all, that McCain's staff is so clearly lying about the process to cover up its shortcomings.

After seven years of an Administration that manipulated intelligence for life-or-death decisions, the last thing the nation needs is a new President who can't even keep the information-gathering on his running mate from going off the rails.