Categorical Aperitif

As the mooseburgers continue to hit the fan regarding the seemingly bizarre selection of seemingly unvetted Sarah Palin to be John McCain's soul running mate, inveterate right-watcher Max Blumenthal offers the best explanation of McCain's choice so far—"best" in the sense that it makes the McCain campaign's decision-making look like the result of something other than impulse or incompetence, anyway:

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

[...]

The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain's Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while [Focus on the Family chairman James] Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice. If Dobson's enthusiasm for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the support of the Christian right's single most influential figure.

So: the Palin choice seems to be St. McMaverick's final pander to the fundie right. Gosh, if they weren't all so professedly "pro-life," I'd almost think they were hoping that the 72-year-old McCain would win in November and then kack off shortly after, leaving a younger, girlier version of George W. Bush with most of a term to keep dragging us toward the Bronze-Age theocracy that is their El Dorado.