When it comes to Sarah Palin, blame John McCain

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Sometimes Andrew Sullivan is simply on fire -- as he is here, getting to the root cause of the whole Palin phenomenon:

The WSJ and TWS have long ago lost any intellectual credibility. They use sophism to maintain power. Their cynicism and/or denial mechanisms are deeper than most mortals can imagine.

We knew that about a charlatan like Kristol and a nihilist like Rove. But what I didn't fully come to terms with, until the Palin farce, was the full extent of John McCain's recklessness and cynicism. This is worth keeping in mind through all this. The only reason we even know about Sarah Palin is John McCain.

He picked her so carelessly, and his thought process was so cynical, that he should stand in the dock of public opinion before Palin does. Her vanity led her to say yes to his crazy offer. But he gave her that chance. And in the end, she is his responsibility.

These points have been made before, of course, and by many -- both about right-wing media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard and about McCain's responsibility for picking Palin in the first place, but Andrew puts it extremely well here. Make sure to read his post in full.

There is a good deal of blame to go around when it comes to Palin, and a lot of worthy targets -- Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Palin herself, among many others -- but it was McCain who made the decision to put her on his ticket and to give her that national platform. He may not have known quite what he was getting into, and unleashing upon America, but the responsibility, ultimately, is his.