Sarah Palin's Fringe Associates

There have been hints and bits of this story floating around since shortly after Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate. Max Blumenthal and Dave Neiwert have done the investigative reporting that confirms what's what with Sarah Palin and her support of and by members of an Alaska secessionist movement that has strong ties to the white supremacist movement in the lower 48 states.

Rachel Maddow interviewed Max Blumenthal and CNN did a lengthy segment with Dave Neiwert. Rachel and Max's segment is more concise than the CNN segment but the CNN segment has more actual source material in it. Unfortunately, the CNN segment is actually spread across 2 youtube clips because of editing issues. The first CNN clip has material that the second clip edited out. The second clip repeats some of the material of the first but does have the end of the interview which the first clip does not.

Here is Maddow's interview which is a good start if you're not familiar with the topic at all.

The original Salon article is "Meet Sarah Palin's radical right-wing pals". Be sure to watch the companion video of their interview with Mark Chryson, former chair of the Alaska Independence Party and Palin's political mentor who was largely responsible for her move from the city council to the mayor's office.

After reading this and watching the videos, one is compelled to question again: what was John McCain thinking when he chose Sarah Palin as his VP running mate? A person with her small-town, petty, vindictive approach to use of power and evident ties to an organization that quite literally stands in opposition to the United States of America should never have passed any legitimate vetting process. What must Republicans such as Olympia Snowe or Jody Rell or Mitt Romney or Charlie Crist think after having been passed over for Sarah Palin?

I'm tempted to add Joe Lieberman to the list though, of course, he still pretends to be an independent Democrat. The one benefit to the McCain-Lieberman relationship is that it has finally damaged Joe's relationship with Senate Dems enough that we can say good bye and good riddance.

All of this merely confirms another aspect of what we know about John McCain. His judgment is cannot be relied on. He is erratic, tempestuous, impulsive, and the precise opposite of what this nation needs as a leader at this time.