Throwing Palin to the wolves

I have to admit that I am taking unabashed pleasure in the sheer glee with which many in the Republican party - heck, many of McCain's own campaign staffers - are taking in throwing Sarah Palin to the wolves. Between the revelations that the $150,000 shopping spree may have been more like $200,000, the Republican lawyers supposedly dispatched to Wasilla to yank the clothes directly from the former VP pick's back, the renewed accusations of diva-like temper tantrums, and - this is my favorite - the claim (on Fox News!) that Palin had to be told that Africa was a continent and walked through the Iraq war timeline with pictures and finger puppets. All in all, it's been nearly too much schadenfreude for me to handle.

Of course, I tend to sober up when I remember that the very same people who are trashing her now are the people who were assuring the American people with straight faces and uncrossed fingers that this woman was fit to lead this nation. That tends to wipe the smile right off my face. Because I can think of no more despicable political act - no better way to demonstrate how little the McCain camp really seemed to care about this nation - than the fact that, knowing what they seemed to know about her character and her qualifications, they nominated her anyway.