It was funny when John McCain had trouble remembering which Islamic sect was what and Lieberman had to whisper in his ear.  It was a gaffe, and great fun.  And then he made it again.  And again.  And now it comes to this.

The decision to open a tribute to the 9/11 victims by invoking the Iran hostage crisis (1979 I believe) has taken this lack of understanding to a whole new level.  How can you open a tribute to someone by showing such a blatant lack of knowledge regarding what, and more importantly who caused their death?  Does John McCain intend to chase bin Laden to the gates of Tehran, then the gates of Moscow?  Then where? A trumphant return to Bejiing - this time taking all the gold?

Trading on the images of burning American corpses is bad enough.  Sadly, it was not only the New York dead who were salaciously displayed.  It is surprising even, when you consider this is the republican party who was in control of the levers of power when on 9/11 those lives were so abruptly cut short.  This is a low in politics to be sure.

But to bring the Iran of 1979 back and try and tie it to this modern day tragedy is the depth of insult.  Didn't Lieberman whisper in his ear that the Shiite regime of Iran has nothing to do with either Osama bin Laden or the attacks on America?  Did it slip not only the mind of John McCain, but the collective mind of the entire republican party?

So one more time John, but slower: Al Quaeda ... is .... Sunni.[stop]  Iran .... is .... Shiite[stop] Sunnis .... are .... at .... war .... with .... Shiites[stop] The ... Shiites ... did ... not ... attack ... us ... on ... September,11 2001[stop] You ... can .. not ... invade ... another ... country .... that ... had .... nothing ... to .... do ... with ... it[end of story]

How are you going to teach Sarah Palin foreign policy if you yourself are still fighting the ghosts of Regan's enemies?

- Comes from a small state out in the middle of nowhere.
- Unknown on the national stage (so they can invent narrative)
- Not a chance of relating to someone not-white
- Put on the ticket for red-meat GOP appeal

It seems if McCain's gonna be George, maybe Sharah should be Dick.  Cheney's even less popular than Bush.  If Palin is framed as an incompetent version of Cheney wanting to play keystone kops behind old-man McCain's back in the White House, I don't think it would help her image much.

Besides, it's a great tie in to ponder what would happen if Sarah Palin were to take the trip to Georgia that Cheney is on right now.

Palin - None of the experience ALL of the Dick.

A couple of days ago, I came across this piece on the AK national guard.  It seems Palin has decided to give the national guard commissioner a promotion to Supreme General of Alaska (but only in Alaska).  This has some of the rank-and-file pissed because their own promotions are frozen.

General Campbell issued a very interesting statement rebutting the complaint.  The wording struck me as strange at the time but in light of the AIP information, it seems a little more significant. 

This is from a statement by the commissioner (who is also the subject of the promotion in question):

The decision to promote the Adjutant General to Lieutenant General in state status is based on a fundamental states rights stance, for which Alaska has a strong historical position. The National Guard works for the Governor and in Alaska that is a very essential point in our relationships with the federal government. This promotion is a statement by the Governor of Alaska that the National Guard is the state military force responsible for responding to state issues, at the direction of the Governor, working for the Governor. Alaskans serving Alaskans.

Is it normal for Governers to promote generals in this fashion?

Maybe this is what they've been talking about when they say she's been commanding the national guard.  The national guard is apparently an insurgant army for Alaska's freedom - and Palin the supreme commander.   It all makes sense now.

Seeeee!  And y'all said she wasn't qualified!