The Absence Of Policy

After viewing it live and twice on TV Ross weighs in on Palin's speech:

Instead of opening new vistas for conservative politics, it reinforced the perception - which is unfair, but not all that unfair - that the only thing John McCain's GOP has to offer on the domestic front is a big yes to drilling, an end to earmarks, and a big no to Obama's tax increases. It's possible that this is enough of a message to win this Presidential election; it's definitely not enough of a message to rebuild the GOP over the long haul. Sarah Palin gave the kind of speech she had to give, and good for her. But I hope she has some other kinds of speeches in her.

I feel for Ross as I feel for serious conservative foreign policy thinkers right now. This pick is so unserious in so many ways it is as much an insult to intelligent conservatives as it is to the rest of the country.

And I have one nagging question: we are told she is a reformer. Can anyone tell me anything she has actually reformed?

Yes, she won against an aging, decrepit corrupt Republican party establishment on populist boilerplate. But this was simply in her own self-interest as a rising Pentecostalist politician. Yes, she championed new ethical standards for pols - but her record in that matter is no different than Obama's, only he did it on a national stage. She then gave everyone in the state a big check from oil revenues. I could do that. So could you.

Is that it? The more I reflect on this decision by McCain, the more insane and reckless and shallow it gets. I've always respected McCain, even when I disagreed with him. I find it very hard to square that with this decision.