The Palin Edition, part deux (plus a few choice tidbits)

Because Talking Points Memo rocks, they summarized all the developments with the Palin pick, and I reproduce it here, in full, for your reading pleasure:

The Palin Meltdown in Slo-Mo

By Greg Sargent - September 1, 2008, 6:20PM

On the same day that the Republicans were forced to dramatically cut back their convention activities, the Palin Meltdown unfolded with extraordinary speed. It's worth pondering the totality of what happened today, in a mere half day...

* The news that Palin once backed the Bridge to Nowhere went national.

* It emerged that Palin has links to the bizarro Alaska Independence Party, which harbors the goal of seceding from the union that McCain and Palin seek to lead.

[update: the AP confirms she was a member of this group
and a commenter to this blog points us to more information, including video of Palin addressing the AIP]

* The news broke that as governor, Palin relied on an earmark system she now opposes. Taken along with the Bridge to Nowhere stuff, this threatens to undercut her reformist image, something that was key to her selection as McCain's Veep candidate.

* The news broke that Palin's 17-year-old daughter became pregnant out of wedlock at a time when the conservative base had finally started rallying behind McCain's candidacy.

* Barely moments after McCain advisers put out word that McCain had known of Bristol Palin's pregnancy, the Anchorage Daily News revealed that Palin's own spokesperson hadn't known about it only two days ago.

* A senior McCain adviser at the Republican convention was forced into the rather embarrassing position of arguing that McCain had known about the pregnancy "last week" -- without saying what day last week he knew about it.

* It came out that Republican lawyers are up in Alaska vetting Palin -- now, more than 72 hours after it was announced that she'd been picked.

* Palin lawyered up in relation to the trooper-gate probe in Alaska -- a move that ensures far more serious attention to the story from the major news orgs.

What else will come out today? After all, there are still six hours left until September 2nd...

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What else will come out today? Well, since that writing, it seems that the McCain campaign has hired Tucker Eskew, the lovely man who directed the 2004 smear against McCain, accusing him of having fathered an illegitimate black child...

Democratic women are not moving to McCain--pass it on! They do not like the Palin pick.

A successful convention. Obama's speech was watched by more than 40 million people; it was well received and he's seen a good response in the polls--not just on who people would pick, but also on his leadership and his favorables. These polls were taken post-Palin, so that's good news for us.

And here's good old Sarah, in all her glory--
She wants to know, "what does the VP do, anyway?"

She's a little confused about the pledge, "under God," and the founding fathers...

She laughs as radio talk host calls her political foe (who is also a cancer survivor) a "bitch" and a "cancer" who "needs to go away".

A last note: What I hope all of this makes clear is McCain's supremely poor judgment and his dangerous shoot-from-the-hip decisionmaking style. He did not fully vet this VP pick, and he expects us to believe he has the right experience and disposition for the presidency???