I thought McCain was the next Bush. I said so, like countless others,
on this blog. More war. More debt while keeping taxes low and mocking
the Democrats who want to pay down that debt. No vision regarding the
energy issue. Or education. Or health care. More fear. Less solutions.
No call for sacrifice where it really counts in terms of America's
consumption. More favored treatment for American corporations. More
foxes called to guard the henhouse in terms of our government's
regulatory stewardship. And on and on. The Bush Nightmare, chapter
three.

But McCain is not Bush. No matter what you think of McCain, you can't
pin that on him. Now Palin? Palin is Bush. What helped propel Bush
into the White House was not only some effective electoral
nullification. It was his lack of a record in public office. The
governorship of Texas is one of the more ceremonial of all the
governorships in this country. The state legislature calls the shots.
Bush came into power with less foreign policy experience than Barack
Obama has now. And was "elected" to two terms. Bush had no foreign
policy record to examine. He had only his father's rich friends and
their stranglehold on the Republican National Committee to call upon.
It proved to be more than enough.

Bush was elected and, of course, allowed a cast of neocon savages to
take over from there. We knew next to nothing about Bush and even less
about how Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Ashcroft, Gonzalez,
Paddington, Bolton, et al would manage the world post 9/11.

We know nothing about Sarah Palin. Nothing. Which is not anywhere near
enough information to elevate her to the position whereby she would
succeed McCain if he died in office or suffered a catastrophic
illness. At 72 years of age and in questionable health, McCain's
fitness to coach a high school football team would be in doubt, let
alone the grueling reality of the presidency of this country.

John McCain is, statistically, more likely to die or suffer some
catastrophic illness during his first term than any other man that has
sought the office. Who would succeed him? George Bush would succeed
him. Someone with no record. No experience. Only question marks.
Everywhere. Forget about the fact that Palin looks a lot like a really
attractive TV star I know. Underneath all the Tina, she's George.