Trashing Sarah Palin

I got the following from a dear friend, who titled her email "we could have gotten someone more evil than Bush." Now, I didn't like Sarah Palin from the first day, but I have to admit, this feeding frenzy on her is pretty unseemly and the word "evil" is grossly misused. I heard all the stuff below on TV and I agree with those who criticize McCain aides for going out of their way to try and embarrass Palin this way. As for McCain being "offended" by her spending, that sounds absurd. The guy lives like a king. I'm sure he's no stranger to Neiman Marcus and I'm sure his wife, the heiress, doesn't shop at a consignment shop. And even if Sarah Palin did go a bit wild on her shopping trip, that's hardly a serious reflection on her leadership abilities (and it wasn't taxpayer money, it was RNC money). There's plenty of substantial reasons to criticize her, should she reemerge on the national scene. For now, I think we should move on.

If the truth ever comes out, she'll make GWB look like a philanthropist with the taxpayers' money. This is from Newsweek via DailyKos:

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books. A Palin aide said: "Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin." McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.