There’s a lot of talk about what we can and cannot say about Sarah Palin. There are some who seem to think any criticism at all of Palin amounts to sexism, an attitude that strikes me as sexist. It says that women can’t be taken seriously in the political world and treated the same way men are treated. It’s like the high school coach who puts girls on the boy’s varsity team not because he thinks they are good players, but because he thinks the opposing team will hesitate to rough them up. (Which, come to think of it, might explain McCain’s choice of Palin.)

I argued yesterday that it’s absurd not to talk about Palin’s inexperience. Anyone who says that talking about her inexperience requires imposing a double standard is, um, imposing a double standard.

However, I will not criticize her as a mother or suggest she has too many small children to take care of to be VPOTUS. I haven’t seen any such criticism personally, but I understand there was some such carping among a few Daily Kos diarists, leading to the Times of London to report a “Left-wing websites such as the Daily Kos are leading the chorus of disapproval.”

It’s not much of a chorus; more of a small chamber ensemble. In any event, don’t go there. The late Benazir Bhutto gave birth while she was President of Pakistan, for pity’s sake.

And yes, I’ve heard the rumor that Palin’s youngest baby isn’t hers. I’m not going there, either, unless more evidence shows up. Making wild accusations that turn out to be stupid makes you look like a rightie.

On the other hand, Josh Marshall explains in detail why Palin’s troopergate issue needs to be discussed.

We rely on elected officials not to use the power of their office to pursue personal agendas or vendettas. It’s called an abuse of power. There is ample evidence that Palin used her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. When his boss refused to fire him, she fired him. She first denied Monegan’s claims of pressure to fire Wooten and then had to amend her story when evidence proved otherwise. The available evidence now suggests that she 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.

There’s a difference between criticizing people professionally and criticizing them personally. Criticizing Palin’s stands on issues, yes. Discussing her record as a mayor and a governor, yes. Pointing out her lack of experience, yes. Ridicule of her appearance, family or personal lifestyle choices, no. I hope we’re clear.

Let’s not forget that the real focus needs to stay on John McCain. Todd Gitlin writes,

McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin is not a weird anomaly. It’s of a piece with his standard modus operandi. He’s impulsive, erratic. Put him in a jam, he leaps from petulance to exuberant nose-thumbing. He may be old, but he’s unseasoned–he’s childish. He jumps outside the box and takes pleasure in his insouciance. Faced with a foreign policy problem, he thinks: Bomb. (Sometimes he blurts it out, as in: Bomb bomb Iran.) Faced with energy crisis, he thinks: Drill. Faced with Russia-Georgia-Ossetia, he thinks: Let’s get the Cold War on. Bomb and drill, drill and bomb–this is not a steady hand at the wheel; this is a go-for-broke gambler playing the game as he loves to play it.

Whenever I see polls that say a majority think McCain would be a better commander in chief than Obama, I want to scream. We need to find a way to flush this jerk out into the open so the American people can see him for what he really is.

Update: Ta-Nehisi Coates writes,

The entire Sarah Palin pick comes down to one thing–the hope that George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, or (God forbid) Will.I.Am. will make a joke about moose-burgers. At that point, the McCain campaign will cut an ad which says They’re laughing at you. Vote for McCain and you can show the world. You can show them all! Of course said ad will never appear on television but will be screened only for the media–who will then do their job and turn the cable news into giant echo chamber in which the “Real Americans” yell They’re all gonna laugh at you! They’re all gonna laugh at you! Welcome to Victimology 101–the White Working Class Edition.

Watch the Obama-Biden ad. Nice.

Word is that McCain had wanted to choose Joe Lieberman as his running mate, and the GOP Powers That Be wouldn’t have it, because Lieberman supports abortion rights. So the “maverick” caved and chose someone else.

I think Lieberman would have been a much more dangerous choice for us than Palin will turn out to be. Joe may be persona non grata on the Left, but I think most people who are not politics nerds, which are most people, don’t understand why us lefties don’t like him. They see him as a moderate bipartisan who talks about Gawd a lot. The choice would have assured people that McCain intends to break with the extremist body of the GOP.

And the Dems sure as hell couldn’t have said he isn’t qualified to be veep.

The next question is, how carefully was Palin vetted? She wasn’t a complete surprise, as I’ve seen her name mentioned a few times in the past several weeks as a possible veep pick. The McCain campaign claims she was well and thoroughly vetted. Josh Marshall has reason to doubt this.

Oliver Willis calls it, I believe:

Increasingly, I’m beginning to believe the Palin pick is the latest manifestation of John McCain’s impulse control problem, a thread going through his entire life – from cheating on his first wife with Cindy McCain, advocating for war with Iraq right after 9/11, chanting “bomb Iran”, as well as his numerous flashes of rage both physical and verbal against his congressional colleagues. As Paul Begala notes, McCain picked someone who isn’t up to the job in a way that would endanger us all – and all based on what his ego is feeling at the moment.

There is speculation that Palin will end up being the GOP’s Thomas Eagleton and will be replaced on the ticket before November. I wouldn’t count on that. I think the true believers on the Right will support her and believe her to be an asset to the ticket no matter what happens between now and November.

But that’s OK. Obama will never win those votes, anyway. The real question is, how will independent voters perceive her? Those are the votes Obama needs. And I’m not much worried. As I said, Lieberman would have been much more dangerous.

On the minus side — I understand President Bush will not be attending the RNC convention because of Hurricane Gustav, which disappoints me terribly. But you know how our president likes to take charge and stay on top of things during hurricanes. In fact, McCain questioned whether the convention would be held at all.

“I’m afraid … that we may have to look at that situation and we’ll try to monitor it,” he told Fox News. “But you know it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near-tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster. So we’re monitoring it from day to day and I’m saying a few prayers too.”

Yep; wouldn’t be appropriate. Not at all.

Kinda reminds me of back home, except the Ozarks has hills and more foliage.

I picked up the photograph of beautiful downtown Wasilla from this site, which has a must-read background article on the new nominee for VPOTUS, Sarah Palin. Read it, and then ask yourself: Is Palin another Dan Quayle? Or another Katherine Harris, albeit with less money? See also “Chief Fired by Palin Speaks Out.”

Wasilla, Alaska, is where Palin gained nearly all of her executive experience. She was on the Wasilla city council from 1992 to 1996 — I envision a meeting room graced by cheap imitation wood wall paneling and a soft drink machine — and mayor from 1996 to I think 2006. I haven’t found a precise end date for the mayor job. Then she was sworn in as governor of Alaska in January 2007. That was, like, last year.

Steve Benen reminds us of something Karl Rove said earlier this month on Face the Nation.

“I think he’s [Obama] going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice,” Rove said. “He’s going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he’s going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He’s not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president.”

Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years, he’s been able but undistinguished,” Rove said. “I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America.”

Rove continued: “So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I’m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States.”

See above, photograph of beautiful downtown Wasilla, Alaska.

It’s possible Palin could help the McCain ticket a lot. She is already firing up the “movement conservative,” anti-government Republicans. Her inexperience will not be an issue for them, since they don’t give a bleep about anyone actually governing. She also will help McCain with social conservatives and cement support with white, conservative evangelicals. I expect McCain to get a significant bounce with these groups.

What about women? I predict a short-term bounce that will wither away once most women catch on how far Right and how inexperienced Palin is. And if anyone thinks McCain’s choice was not a bare-assed attempt to lure Hillary Clinton supporters, Gail Collins notes,

… the only nonfamily members other than McCain that Palin really mentioned in her introductory speech were Democrats Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Whatever happened to Ronald Reagan? Isn’t there a rule that you have to mention Ronald Reagan?

“It was rightly noted in Denver that Hillary made 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America,” Palin said. “It turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

Not that anyone pays much attention to them any more, but feminist organizations like NOW and NARAL are already slamming Palin.

However, this is a moment that calls for quiet reflection on how far women have come since second-wave feminism burst forth in the 1960s. Forty years ago, slaves to the Patriarchy like Palin simply denounced feminism and women’s equality, saying they were happy being second-class citizens. Now, they pay lip service to feminism and take the reins of power to help the Patriarchy keep women subservient. Unfortunately, I fear there are many women — too young? too stupid? — who are selling out women by supporting an unqualified, anti-reproductive rights whackjob, who if she actually became President would set back women’s rights at least 50 years.

Yes, I’m a bit irritated.

On the other hand, long-term I think the Palin choice could backfire among “swing” voters, especially when they learn about her extremist right-wing views on most issues and understand how utterly inexperienced she really is. McCain’s one advantage with the swing voters was his alleged superior experience and judgment regarding national security. I think the Palin choice broadcasts that his judgment is erratic and that he is more interested in winning elections than protecting America.

In other words, it’s a frivolous choice that makes the Obama-Biden ticket look all the more serious in contrast.

A lot depends on how much of a clown show the GOP convention turns out to be. Eight years ago, a complacent electorate enabled a frivolous presidential candidate to get into the White House. Four years ago, a frightened and emotionally manipulated electorate repeated the mistake. But now, if the GOP convention is the convergence of social pathologies it usually is, I think this time the electorate will not be amused. Now, people are damn pissed off and want the government to be run by people who are serious about running government.

And the conventions do matter. The Dem convention of 1972 hurt McGovern. The GOP convention of 1992 hurt Bush I. Let’s see what they do this time.

I think the biggest reason the polls have been so close is that people who are not paying close attention see the silvery-haired white guy who’s been in Washington forever, and the young skinny not-white guy who’s brand new, and they figure the older guy will be the serious one, the one with gravitas.

Yet it’s McCain who has been running a silly, frivolous campaign — the only time he gets serious is when he is reminding us he was a POW 40 years ago, which is every ten minutes. Otherwise, he runs silly advertisements and has a nearly content-free campaign that consists of telling lies about what Obama might do while fudging the details (if there are any) of what McCain might do.

And a lot depends on Palin herself, and whether she can stand up to national scrutiny, with which she has had no experience, without imploding.

Heh.

Update: Andrew Sullivan —

Here’s the real slogan the McCain campaign should now adopt:

Putting. Country. Last.

Update: Get this —

Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.