If John McCain wanted

Joe Lieberman

or

Tom Ridge

for VP, he should have selected one of them. I really don't care what the GOP stalwarts say. McCain is the head of the party and he should have gotten his pick. And if party regulars don't like it, too bad.

Instead, McCain threw in a rushed selection of Sarah Palin, who while gutsy, appears to carry more baggage than a bellman at the Waldorf. She could be toast by the end of the week, killing a political career that could have soared if proper time and preparation had been devoted to readying her for the national stage.But she was just thrown out there and the media has done its job. She may well be an American original, but the drip-drip-drip of details about her personal and professional life will soon enough make it impossible to go on.

And if this is any indication of what sort of president John McCain would be, we're better off without him.

But today's thing to think about is: should a mom of five, one of them special needs and another one pregnant, try to aspire to the second highest job in the land? We'd never ask this of a man, and no one seems to be putting Todd Palin forth as a modern Mr. Mom. But should Sarah Palin simply have said "No"? If she truly is the maverick she claims to be, for the sake of her family, the sad answer is "Yes".