Palin and McCain carry on the Republican tradition of lying, obstruction, bad decisions, abuse of power, and hypocrisy

Thank you John McCain for your VP nomination. You couldn't have served up an easier more inept target than Sarah Palin. In just 20 months as Governor, Palin has shown she is truly in the Republican religious right wing conservative mode of hypocrisy, corruption, abuse of power, and cronyism.

Palin used a line item veto to slash funding for teen mothers - a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.

Palin slashed $1.1 million in funding for a program that would provide "young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives" and help teen moms "become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families."

McCain and Palin opposed funding to prevent teen pregnancies.

McCain has opposed Senate proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs. In 2006, McCain voted against a proposal to send $100 million to communities for teen-pregnancy prevention programs that would have included sex education about contraceptives. In 2005, McCain opposed a proposal that would have spent tens of millions of dollars to pay for pregnancy prevention programs other than abstinence-only education, including education on emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill. The bill also would have required insurance companies that cover Viagra to also pay for prescription contraception.

Palin abused power by trying to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons. She then fired an official for his refusal to act inappropriately, LIED about it and continues to lie about it.

In summary, Palin 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.

These are not the traits or temperament you want in someone who could hold the executive power of the federal government... that is unless you're an authoritarian and condone abuse of power, as so many Republicans do.

The McCain campaign is trying to use tactics to stall the release of a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation on Palin

... an investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.