The title of this diary - 'She spent the weekend frantically sorting through clothes' - comes straight out of the mouth of the father of the person who could have been Vice President-elect of the United States, a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on Earth.
While comical - 'She spent the weekend frantically sorting through clothes' serves as a neat bookend to the anonymous 'Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman-Marcus from coast to coast' comment from a higher-up in the McCain campaign - nonetheless the quote also raises many, many questions.
From the article :
Palin sorts clothes to see what belongs to the RNC
Associated Press
November 10, 2008
WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent part of the weekend going through her clothing to determine what belongs to the Republican Party after it spent $150,000-plus on a wardrobe for the vice presidential nominee, according to Palin's father. . . . Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest.
Palin's father, Chuck Heath, said his daughter spent the day Saturday trying to figure out what belongs to the RNC. "She was just frantically ... trying to sort stuff out," Heath said. "That's the problem, you know, the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for.
. . . RNC lawyers have been discussing with Palin whether what's left of the clothing and accessories purchased for her on the campaign trail will go to charity, back to stores or be paid for by Palin, a McCain-Palin campaign official said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the campaign hadn't authorized comment. . . .
STORY
Among the questions :
- In past elections, has America ever heard election post-mortems from the father of a presidential or VP nominee ? ( Set aside situations when one's dad is a former president. )
- 'She spent the weekend frantically sorting through clothes.' I thought those clothes were returned, or never left the airplane, or didn't exist ! Either the $ 150,000 + story is true or it isn't true.
- The article makes several references to 'RNC lawyers' - this sounds serious. Has the Republican Party lawyered up to go after Palin ?
- The silk boxers - are they 'lost' now ? Were the Palins throwing stuff out of the back of the plane on its descent to the Anchorage airport ? Is the Alaska tundra littered with high-fashion lingerie and accessories ? Does the First Gentleman need to get on his snow-machine to retrieve the items ?
Questions, questions, questions.
It's truly mind-boggling to imagine a VP nominee and current Governor of any state spending a weekend 'frantically going through clothes' - apparently under pressure of lawyers from her own party - and having her own father report this on the record to news media ( including speculating about 'lost underwear' ), but that's PRECISELY what we have here.
Sarah Palin won't be able to complain that this is some mean, unkind, nasty story from anonymous 'jerks.' This is her own father, on the record, painting a picture of Palin as a frantic Lucy Ricardo trying to eat chocolate candies as they come off an out-of-control assembly line.
Instead of going on Fox News tonight, NBC Today show tomorrow, and CNN on Wednesday, I would humbly suggest we have the makings of a Reality Trash-TV program on our hands here. Perhaps VH-1 can sign the Palin family to air their dirty laundry on a weekly basis, complete with drama, meltdowns, screaming, finger-pointing, and yelling. I suggest a title : Pallin' Around With The Palins.
Meanwhile, President-elect Obama and the next First Lady spent the day today as normal functioning adults, traveling to our nation's capital to meet with the current occupants of the White House.
UPDATE - Inspired by some of the comments in this thread, perhaps Palin can defend herself by saying, 'I told the RNC Thanks, but No Thanks to those britches to nowhere.'