Remember that old Charmin tissue commercial? Charmin was so soft, apparently (i wouldn't know--I hate that kind of stuff), that no one could resist giving it a squeeze. It seems to be nearly as hard to resist mocking Sarah Palin. She's such an easy target. Well, but here's the thing. I'm not defending Palin; quite the contrary. McCain's choice of Palin was cynical in the extreme, and any residual respect that I had for his common sense and "plain talk" has evaporated.

And, I'm glad that she's being required by the media to account for herself. She is not in any way qualified for the office she seeks. But is that her fault?

 However, all the Palin-bashing may have an unfortunate side-effect. Americans love the underdog. People who might otherwise not vote for McCain may do so, because they feel sorry for Palin, and want to show support for the brave little lady who doesn't blink. Attacking Palin is like stealing candy from a baby, or shooting fish in a barrel. It may seem to be fun, but it's too easy, and it's the wrong target. The person who deserves the blame for Palin's candidacy is not herself, but McCain. McCain chose Palin for the worst of reasons: cynicism.

The John McCain who is running for president will do anything to win--even place within a heartbeat of the presidency a person who is clearly unfit for the office she would hold, were that eventuality to come about. This shows that he has no regard for the country which he professes to wish to serve--rather, he is serving only himself, and does not care how he wins as long as he does, by whatever means necessary. Wilde said that the cynic knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. That's a great way of describing McCain's choice for veep--she may well be the price of winning the white house, but she brings no value whatsoever to the office she would hold. And McCain MUST know this, but chooses to ignore it.  As a running mate, Sarah Palin has the charisma that McCain lacks. He chose her for this reason. He also (again, cynically) apparently thought that the disaffected women voters who were angry about Hillary's defeat would flock to vote for her (and so he'd gain office on the votes for Palin). This, however, is clearly not true--which anyone could have told him had he asked. Hillary supporters were never going to be Palin supporters. Palin stands for everything they're against, and against everything they're for. But McCain neither knows nor cares, really, because that's not what's important to him. And as it turns out, it's not women, but men, who are flocking to Caribou Barbie.

This is really the depths of cynicism--to attempt to garner the votes necessary to win office by calculating that your running mate will attract more votes than you will. And for all the wrong reasons. And, paradoxically, attacking Palin could lead to a resurgence in votes for her (because, again, that's why McCain chose her--so that people who wouldn't vote for him would vote for her). So, save your ammo for McCain. He's the one who deserves to be mocked. He's an egotistical old man, out of touch, and not even caring that he doesn't understand this country, the economy, or foreign affairs. He just wants to win, and I'm sure he and his advisors are laughing at all the SNL spoofs as much as everyone else--they just think they're laughing all the way to the White House. Let's not let him get away with it.