Imagine learning that Jill Biden held membership for a number of years in a fringe political party whose goals included a restoration of the confederacy. And imagine that video surfaced of Sen. Joe Biden offering words of encouragement to that same neo-confederate political party, including the words, "keep up the good work."
The resulting controversy would engulf not only the Bidens, but also Barack Obama, whose judgment, intelligence, and sanity would be called into question. People would wonder how he could have chosen such a person as his vice-presidential nominee.
"Does Obama agree with those neo-confederate ideas?" People would ask.
"Did he know about the Bidens' extremist views before placing Sen. Biden on the ticket?"
"If he didn't know, why didn't he know? Wasn't Biden vetted?"
"How can someone with such poor judgment be trusted as commander in chief?"
These would be legitimate questions. Membership in, or close affiliation with, a fringe political party whose goals include removing one or more of the 50 states from our union is something most presidential candidates would consider a disqualifying trait in a running mate. If you knew about it and offered the job anyway, it suggests that your acceptance of such views extends to a willingness to place a radical political extremist next in line for the presidency.
If you didn't know about your running mate's extremist affiliations prior to placing him on the ticket, you have no business running for president yourself. You're so incompetent that you're unfit to serve.
With that, I give you Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for vice president, in a taped address to the 2008 convention of the Alaskan Independence Party.
Keep up the good work.
This is the work of the Alaskan Independence Party:
The Alaskan Independence Party can be summed up in just two words:
Until we as Alaskans receive our Ultimate Goal, the AIP will continue to strive to make
The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State.
The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party's founding father, Joe Vogler, which was for Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government, fully responsive to the people, promoting a peaceful and lawful means of resolving differences.
Now, one imagines that if the AIP had any interest in remaining a state, as number four suggests, they would just leave well enough alone.
No, the "ultimate goal"l of the AIP is to separate
"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government," Vogler said in the interview, in which he talked extensively about his desire for Alaskan secession, the key goal of the AIP.
"And I won't be buried under their damn flag," Vogler continued in the interview, which also touched on his disappointment with the American judicial system. "I'll be buried in
At another point, Volger advocated renouncing allegiance to the
"And then you get mad. And you say, the hell with them. And you renounce allegiance, and you pledge your efforts, your effects, your honor, your life to
This is the "good work" that Sarah Palin, whose husband was an AIP member, encouraged the party to "keep up."
What was John McCain thinking?
As shocking detail after shocking detail emerges about Palin, the McCain campaign is spinning ferociously, insisting that yes, she was vetted before being placed on the ticket. Obviously, McCain doesn't want people to think that he offered the vice presidency to someone about whom he knew nothing. Such foolishness is not an attractive trait in a presidential candidate. It makes George W. Bush look like Solomon.
But McCain's insistence that none of this comes as a surprise is not comforting, either.
It means he knew she was unqualified for the job, and offered it to her anyway.
He knew that she was under investigation for abusing her office.
He knew that she had no foreign policy expertise.
He knew that her claims about loathing earmarks are lies.
And he knew that she is, at the very least, sympathetic to a fringe, anti-American political party.
He knew all of these details, which by themselves would cause a presidential candidate to say,"next!" To say nothing of the daily revelations about Palin that do nothing to make her look like a smarter choice.
The other possibility is that he simply felt he had no choice. He is so intimidated by the religious right that he is literally willing to do anything they tell him, including nominating someone like Sarah Palin for vice president.
But there is no answer to the question "what was he thinking" that any voter should find reassuring about McCain's ability to serve effectively as president of he
