Not. Sarah. Palin.

The brief comment I most agree with regarding McCain's selection of a running mate (and I am going to try to never use her name again except under the unlikely circumstance of her becoming president of the United States ...)

McCain is trying to distance himself from the incumbent because a clear majority of Americans think the country is on the wrong track. McCain, by lying and weaseling, hopes to place all the blame for this on his predecessor and to keep as much of it away from the Republican Party as possible; and to the extent that it falls on the Republican Party, he will not run as a Republican. But his election would mean that the executive branch of the government, in which so much power has been concentrated over the years, will not change.

The problem is not "Washington," at least for this one vote for president. The problem is that the executive branch of government has become a poisonous swamp.

Drain the swamp. Vote Obama. Let him refill it, and let's see how it goes.

"Drain the Swamp" ought to be the Obama campaign slogan.

It'll be sweet, frankly, to throw the Republicans out of office and see how they like having to sell their homes in DC and VA and MD in the housing market they created.

 My favorite quote about the GOP vice presidential nominee is from Stephen Hess,  senior fellow emeritus in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and one of the foremost authorities on media and government in the United States:

Palin will be taking us on a hell of a two-month roller coaster ride, but when we get off on November 4 her effect on the election’s outcome will be the same as all past vice presidential candidates. Zero (except LBJ, “the exception that proves the rule.”)