Don't let this whole "was Palin thoroughly vetted?" question throw sand in the air and block the real issue.  The McCain campaign has been insisting continuously that Palin was thoroughly vetted--but this discussion of the quality of vetting is a distraction. 

If they had brought on a VP pick who was clearly qualified, had the appropriate chops and credentials, then would any reporter be wondering if she was vetted properly? 

No.  It's all smokescreen.  By taking the "we vetted her like every other candidate" tack, Schmidt and gang avoid having to directly discuss her qualifications. 

If you had a VP candidate who was vastly underqualified for the job, wouldn't you do the same?

Don't let this whole "was Palin thoroughly vetted?" question throw sand in the air and block the real issue.  The McCain campaign has been insisting continuously that Palin was thoroughly vetted--but this discussion of the quality of vetting is a distraction. 

If they had brought on a VP pick who was clearly qualified, had the appropriate chops and credentials, then would any reporter be wondering if she was vetted properly? 

No.  It's all smokescreen.  By taking the "we vetted her like every other candidate" tack, Schmidt and gang avoid having to directly discuss her qualifications. 

If you had a VP candidate who was vastly underqualified for the job, wouldn't you do the same?

This just in: President Sarah Palin, the 45th President of the United States, is due to meet with leaders of the G8 Summit in Vienna for a three day emergency meeting Thursday to discuss the deteriorating political and military situation in Iran.

The former Republican Vice President and Governor of the Great State of Alaska (the largest State in the union based on geographic area) was sworn in as President in the Oval Office at noon Monday.

This followed the sudden passing of President and former Senator John McCain, who succumbed to cheek cancer Sunday at Bethesda Naval Hospital, just twelve days after taking the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States.  The recent decline in President McCain's health was unexpected, and his condition deteriorated rapidly shortly after taking office.  Some experts attribute President McCain's failing health to a hard fought campaign season.  Others point to the rampant partisan bickering that has become a fixture of Washington politics in recent years.  As the oldest person to be sworn in as President, McCain's age was a consistent point of discussion during the recently concluded 2008 Presidential Election.  President McCain will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetary on Friday, after lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

President Palin's Press Office released a statement this morning expressing her anticipation at meeting "not just one, but a whole Boatload of World Bigwigs" at the G8 Summit, a forum to discuss world issues such as Global Warming and Ecomonic Policy, and to respond to the rising threat of International Terrorism.  In advance of a meeting of the United Nations Security Council meeting next month, 
the G8 is expected to take up the subject of recent Iranian attacks and boardings of third country-flagged merchant vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf.

"I can't wait until Bristol and Levi meet Medvedev, or Putin--whichever guy is really in charge over there in the Soviet Union," stated the President during a news conference yesterday.  "You know, my home state Alaska is just across the water from them!"

When asked whether she would attend the funeral of the President, she effused confidently that Todd could cover the function as part of his new duties as the "First Dude."  "Besides, funerals are pretty boring, if you know what I mean."

Questioned about the recent crisis in Iran, where hardline factions had seized power in support of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President Palin responded: "Who?"

Reporters reminded the President that the Iranians were now directly threatening to board U. S. flagged vessels after having finally admitted to developing several nuclear devices over the last several years in an undisclosed location, with information provided by the father of the Pakistani nuclear program, A. Q. Quan.

Asked whether she was up to task of facing down Iran and forwarding the interests and equities of the G8 member nations, President Palin detailed her experience as a "Hockey Mom," "ice fisherman," her love of "Moose burgers, riding my snowmobile with Track and the other kids," and talking shop "with the other PTA moms" as reasons why the country should have every confidence in her performance at the Summit. 

"I tell ya, I don't think this is going to be much different than those city council meetings I used to run, first as senior City Council Member, then as Mayor, back in Wasilla," stated the President sharply.  "You gotta look those guys across the table in the eye, tell them you're not going to back down even if you are a woman, and that's how you get what you came for. I need your full support, you gotta tell them, or else."

President Palin's "executive experience" first as Mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska (pop: approx 9400), then as Governor of Alaska for twenty months has been cited by most pundits as being the deciding factor in the 2008 Presidential Race. Nonetheless, some Democratic critics have maintained that her experience did not make her fit to be VP, let alone President.

This emergency meeting of the G8, expected to lead the global response to Iranian aggression and support for terrorism throughout the Islamic world, will be the first test of the new President.

"Me and Grover [Norquist] were up real late last night, studying maps and stuff," Palin stated at her press conference.  "Grover has been helping me alot.  We just gotta talk tough, he says, be stern, you know--not let them know you're sweatin', and tell them what we want.  Diplomacy 101.  I do the same thing with my kids." 

The Iranian dictator's increasingly bellicose language over the last two weeks, and threatening activities such as the Arabian Gulf boardings,  have been thought by some Washington insiders and Middle East experts to be a developing effort to test the new U. S. administration, following the departure of the Bush team after eight years in office.

"You know, I thank God everyday for kind souls like Grover," Palin added.  "He helped me be ready on Day One, thank God.  Here's looking at you, Grover!"

When pressed about details on whether Israel would be discussed at the Summit, the President responded: "Israel?  Oh, yeah.  I think I met with some of those...uh,...Israelies, sometime the week of the Republican Convention.  They sure seemed like really really nice people to me."

Other topics such as future plans for the U. S. occupation of Iraq, the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the depressed housing market, the recent slump in stock prices, and the rising cost of daily items for families such as food and fuel were discussed at the press conference.  President Palin's response: "Yeah, I know those are all real important things.  I gotta be giving them some thought.  It takes time.  But I'll get there, just you wait and see.  You know, 'cause I'm a reformer.  That's always been the way it is with me.  Reform, reform, reform.  That's me.  The American people deserve to know what they're getting in a President."

Is it just me?  Am I hallucinating or is it actually there?  I don't really trust myself.  That's why I'm throwing it out to you guys to set me straight. 

Watching the Repub Convention tonight, it all seems a little...robotic.  I don't know...like everyone is going through the motions.  The mud and red meat are flat, (Thompson's "liberalest least experienced candidate" line was obvious and trite, for example) and the jokes corny and unfunny.  Maybe I'm still buzzing from last week's DemCon show or maybe it's this whole Gustav/civic responsibility thing.  I can't shake the sense that the night feels...staged.  Not real.  Fabricated.  True or not true?

Tell me I'm crazy.  Or not.