A Passing Fancy

I have written in the past several days about my opinion as to how Sarah Palin will stand up to media scrutiny. She will. There are, however, other tests for demonstrating that someone is fit to run the country (Yes, the VP is only a heart beat away from the presidency, particularly if the prez is 72 years old with a history of recurrent melanoma). I have now watched the Gibson interview of Palin. Other than not obviously understanding the meaning of the 'Bush Doctrine', she did rather well in a rote, sort of memorized, response kind of way. The significance of the Bush Doctrine, that notion (military attack on a nation whom the spinmeisters make up stuff to support the basis for the attack) lies at the very heart of the need for change in the way our government conducts its affairs. To underscore this deficiency in Palin's understanding, during a deployment ceremony for her son Track and thousands of other soldiers heading to Iraq, Palin told them they would be fighting “the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.” This comment reiterated the initial connections the Bush administration once made, but no longer does, between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks. It was necessary for a senior McCain campaign aide to correct her statement and point out that Palin did not believe Saddam Hussein played a role in the attacks. I would argue that a demonstration of a basic level of understanding about why our country is embroiled in Iraq is an absolutely essential requirement in order to claim, as she does, that she is ready and fit to assume the mantle of the U.S. presidency. Fit maybe, but certainly not ready if the major campaign mantra is about change. If one is about change, one needs to know first what needs to be changed. To throw my two cents in on the current Republican manufactured offense at Obama's stealing of McCain's oft-used line about putting lipstick on a pig, I would add that calling a pig a dog doesn't make it a dog. If we don't hear about the change that McCain/Palin plan for the good of the country, all this hoopla about Palin will soon render her a passing fancy.