Gustav is now a Hurricane. Is anyone reading in harm's way?

Do you think it will have an effect on the Republican convention?

Go, Diana! Here's the statement Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette released today about John McCain's nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate (no link, received by e-mail from her office):

"The selection of Governor Palin is an insult to women. She has obviously been chosen to appeal to female voters, but she lacks both the experience and policy positions to serve as Vice-President of the United States."

"The announcement of Governor Palin's selection on John McCain's 72nd Birthday highlights the fact t hat the Vice-President must be qualified to step into the Presidency from Day One. Sarah Palin is a 2-year governor with zero foreign policy experience whose former position was mayor of a town of 9,000."

More...

A thought experiment.

Among the people whose names were bandied about as potential VP picks included Charlie Crist, elected the Governor of Florida in 2006, after 4 years as Florida's Attorney General, Tim Kaine, elected the Governor of Virginia in 2006, after 4 years as Lieutenant Governor, and Bobby Jindal, elected Governor of Louisiana after serving 3 years in Congress.

More . . .

The right wing spin machine is agog over Gov. Sarah Palin's crusading role in ethics reform.

The Washington Post reports on a conversation its reporter had today with the fired Alaska Safety Commissioner I referenced earlier:

The July firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan by Gov. Sarah Palin, who was announced as John McCain's running mate on Friday, has unearthed a stream of soap-opera-like details about Palin, her husband, her family and top state appointees. The controversy has also cut against Palin's reputation for holding an ethical line and standing up to colleagues in the Republican Party over matters of principle.

More....

The more I'm learning about Gov. Sarah Palin, and now having heard the McCain's weak justification for it, the more I'm convinced McCain just conceded the election.

McCain's political director just told Campbell Brown on CNN that Palin is qualified to be commander in chief because she was the commander of the Alaska National Guard and has a son who will be going to Iraq.

Gov. Palin is completely unqualified to stand in for a President should that need arise.

Nothing shows McCain's poor judgment as much as this choice. He picked a VP candidate he had met one time before their meeting this weekend. So much for his claim that he prides himself on having strong personal relationships with the people he surrounds himself with.

Campbell says stay tuned, we'll have more on this candidate who is "poised to become a Republican superstar." Hardly, I think she will crash and burn faster than any national candidate in recent memory.

Her complete lack of national experience matters a great deal. I can just see the next 3 am telephone call ad. America won't be laughing. If she had any good sense, she would have turned McCain's offer down and refused to be used as a pawn to grab evangelical and suburban women voters.

There are many reasons why the presidential choice in November matters. Here's one:

As of Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, at least 4,151 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

You're on your own. Play nice and please think before you post.

This is an Open Thread.

We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

Personally, I think that is about all I would say about Sarah Palin myself. But if you must, attack her crazy right wing positions, not her experience, or lack thereof.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

There has been a lot of coverage in the Left blogs about comments made by Sarah Palin about Hillary Clinton. And let me be clear, the comments are bad. But I think it is important to state precisely what the comments were. Too often the Left screams about deceptive misquotations (See Milbank, Dana), so I think it is important not to live in a glass house. So here is what Palin said, in pertinent part:

Unlike Jeralyn, I do not see an Eagelton (Palin is being investigated for the firing of her ex brother in law, who Palin claims was physically abusing her sister) or Quayle angle to Palin. Indeed, because Obama's achilles heel has been the experience issue, it seems impossible for me to imagine the experience issue will hurt Palin. It DOES hurt McCain's ability to wield it against Obama. But clearly, McCain understood that and made the choice in order to remake his message. Ed Kilgore has a terrific post on the subject:

Your turn.

(TL): Our server is overloaded. If it goes down again, our backup site is here.

Did John McCain just repeat George McGovern's fatal mistake? How long will she Palin stay on the ticket? Will McCain recover any better than McGovern?

Wouldn't it be great to have McCain do as poorly as McGovern in November.

Update: Commenters here aren't following the news. Palin: A Scandal We Can Believe In. More here.

Palin is under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power in Alaska. (Added: Not a federal investigation.)