Its easy to feel outrage at the spurious nonsense issued by Republican talking heads since the Palin nomination. But imagine how they feel. Forced to make bogus claims of  command authority by virtue of Palin's titular role as leader of the Alaska National Guard; required to fabricate international diplomatic experience due solely to the geographic proximity of Alaska and Russia; obliged to take moral umbrage over imagined sexism when Palin's job qualifications are legitimately questioned. Who would want that job? Yet, that is the unfortunate lot of these Republican surrogates. Like it or not, they, like their Democratic counterparts, are tethered to the party, are committed to it, and, in most cases, pay the bills based to some degree by its success. Don't for a minute think they don't realize they sound ridiculous. Can you imagine how angry they are with the McCain campaign? The Noonan/Murphy live-mic moment manifests it.

In the end, the selection of Palin underscores the dire straits of the GOP. Apparently, its Presidential nominee thinks this is the best it can offer. Is it? From an electoral standpoint, possibly, though not likely. Nevertheless, I suspect that this will create enormous morale problems and dissatisfaction within the party that will damage it on election day.