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I know I'm right and it's not because Barack Obama has made the same point--that it's not about him, the candidate, but about the electorate--; it's because he's re-enforced the point, that he understands how the process works, with his selection of Joe Biden as the Vice Presidential candidate.
And this is where my hubris comes in. You see, because I'm right about the presidential selection process, I'm going to argue that what Barack Obama has started in choosing Joe Biden should be continued by returning to the Vice President the powers that position was originally assigned--i.e. to serve as the presiding officer of the Senate.
Ironically, the designation of Sarah Palin for that position actually illuminates the fact that, not only is Joe Biden emminently qualified by his many years of legislative experience, but, in addition to being totally unqualified, Sarah Palin demonstrates that John McCain doesn't understand what's required either.
The Vice President has no responsibilities in the area of religion, education, medicine, finance, law enforcement or international relations. So, whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified or experienced in these areas, is really irrelevant. What is relevant is that she's not only clueless about what the Vice President is supposed to do, but she's got no legislative background at all.
But, that's not Ms. Palin's fault. That's the fault of the person who's proposing to recruit her to assume a position for which she's not qualified. Why John McCain would do that, considering his own long service in the legislative trenches, is a bit of a puzzlement. But, I would argue it may well be because, McCain has spent most of his energies in the halls of Congress either promoting the interests of his current friends, or trying to subvert the agendas of those whom he considers to be his enemies. At least, that's what I deduce from the Keating Five and the Indian Nations investigation and the flawed campaign finance regulations and the MIA/POW fiasco and the promotion of the Iraq invasion, to mention just a few failed endeavors.
So, I'm not actually suprised that John McCain hasn't given a bit of thought to what qualifications a Vice President and presiding officer of the Senate ought to have. Not many people have. I think they should. If that's hubris, so be it.
That said, I do think the designation of Ms. Palin is representative of a McCain character trait that perhaps ought to be explored--if only because we've seen it exhibited by others in the last few years. That is, Ms. Palin's designation for a position for which she is patently unqualified reminds us of all those hires in the Justice Department, for example, and highlights, at least for me, that the promotion of someone beyond their skill level is really abusive.
Setting someone up to fail is abusive. Although perhaps not quite as bad, it falls into the class of behaviors traditionally referred to under the heading of "if it's inevitable, you might as well enjoy it." And while some people might quibble about whether the Vice Presidency is worth having under any condition (I think it's been compared to a bucket of warm spit), we don't usually consider a "favor" as evidence of abuse. But it is, when the favor involves the elevation of someone to a position for which they know they are unqualified and which imposes a sense of obligation to fulfill totally unrealistic expectations. As Monica Goodling, no doubt, knows full well, the result is a person whose subservience is assured by the effort to maintain some sense of honor. The recipients of unwarranted favors are bound by their own sense of guilt and their conscience--not unlike abused spouses are bound by their marriage vows.
Is there a pattern here? I think so. I also think it's important to discuss it in the context of what appears to be a characteristic of John McCain's interaction with other people, particularly women. That he's not a unique practitioner of the art of creating subservient behavior makes it perhaps even more important to discuss. After all, almost our entire military has been reduced to a condition of "volutary servitude," accounting for the oft-repeated retort to charges of inadequate support that "they voluneered." Or, in other words, the justification of abusive conditions is simply that the victims are bound by their honor to endure them.
"As you make your bed you must lie upon it" has a long tradition, because avoiding responsibility by blaming the victim is attractive. But that's what we need to change.
The selection of Ms. Palin suggests that John McCain disagrees.
Thank you for your attention to this moment of hubris.
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