G.W. Bush In A Dress, Palin Doesn't Pass The Smell Test?

The New York Times has an excellent article about Sarah Palin's questionable behavior in Alaska, Once Elected, [Sarah] Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes.

Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Who does this sound like? Is she trying to hide something? Why conduct state business with a personal email address?

Consider another couple of quotes from the Times article:

As she assembled her cabinet and made other state appointments, those with insider credentials were now on the outs. But a new pattern became clear. She surrounded herself with people she has known since grade school and members of her church.

And:

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Harriet Miers? Browny? Regent University class of 1985? One of the countless other embarrassingly unqualified appointees? 

Imagine if you will the Palin Administration, a cabinet of Palin's friends from her basketball team. Why not appoint members of the choir in the Justice Department?

I used to work at a company that had a born again evangelical vice president.  This guy made a habit of hiring straight from his evangelical church. This was a really bad idea because the people he hired were unqualified and overwhelmed by their roles. I can't imagine how awkward it must have been for this guy to go to church and face his hires after he had to fire them for incompetence. 

At least Sarah Palin keeps an open mind, right? Nope.

[I]n 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book “Daddy’s Roommate” on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.

“Sarah said she didn’t need to read that stuff,” Ms. Chase said. “It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn’t even read it.”

“I’m still proud of Sarah,” she added, “but she scares the bejeebers out of me.”

That's the type of Solomon-like judgement and open mindedness that I look for in a leader. The more I read of Palin the more I think she is the Bush to McCain's Cheney. I really encourage all Palin supporters to educate themselves about this woman before supporting her.