The Palinontological McCain Campaign

A progressive military blogger observes how the right-wing military blogosphere looks more and more like a Jonestown compound every day on the subject of Sarah Palin's command-and-control, and he tries a little deprogramming:

[A]s any responsible military analyst understands, it's the State Attorney Adjutant Generals who command the National Guard units, it is the White House who federalizes them and sends them overseas, and it is the Pentagon who equips and sustains the National Guard units. Not the governors. It's beyond shameful to see my right-wing brethren lower their qualifications for the White House so much for the sake of political expediency. You can do so much better, guys. Just admit it, this is not the person you want a heart-beat away from the White House - especially not with a 72-year old former cancer patient.

Now if you'll pardon me, I'm going to prepare for my next job as Secretary of Defense. Because, as you see, I've lived near Arlington for nearly a decade now and I have had a military blog for four years. That makes me qualified - using the Palin standard.

These questions kept resurfacing for me during last night's GOP festivities: if Sarah Palin is the executive they kept lining up at the closest media microphone to tout, then what do they need with Senator John McCain? Why not just swap spots on the ticket? Why not make her the real executive and put him in the VP advisory role? One can only stretch the executive logic so far before it snaps and recoils.