Possible Veep Replacement?

I don't know how much of this is rumor, but it's been reported that there are some back-room conversations occurring whose purposes are to determine how hard it would be to replace Gov. Sarah Palin as the V.P. choice for Sen. John McCain's campaign. Apparently, she can be replaced easily (aside from public ridicule, backpeddling, and signage production costs) up until she formally accepts the nomination in her acceptance speech at the RNC's convention.

If they decide that she has to go after that, there're waiting periods, mandatory filings, required documentation to state the reason for the switch, and possibly an internal vote among party officials. With that said, you know that the Vetting Squad is very active right now, belatedly turning up every stone in Alaska to see what crawls out. Let's look at some of the highlights so far.

• It's reported on CNN that the Governor's husband, Todd Palin, was once a member of a political party, the Alaskan Independence Party, whose primary goal is to remove Alaska from These United States. They want for it to be an independent nation, to own all their own oil rights, and to be able to drill willy-nilly in ANWR and keep every penny for it. It was the for the attempt of secession that the Civil War was fought, that over 600,000 Americans died in a battle to maintain the integrity of the U.S. The Governor attended the AIP's convention in 2000, but it is unclear as to her membership status (though the AIP claims that she was indeed a member). Bear in mind that the most effective tactic to achieve its goal would be to have its members infiltrate the American government and push the secession agenda. Is Vice President of the United States (and accordingly the President of the Senate) high enough a position?

• She is under investigation for strong-arming a Public Safety Commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law from the State Troopers. Included in her reasons is that he tasered his 10-year-old stepson. That's terrible! Of course the rest of the story is that the kid really wanted to get zapped and begged his stepdad to do it. He foolishly agreed, proceeded to set the taser to its lowest setting, had the boy get into a safe position so he wouldn't fall, then zapped him. Afterward, the kid asked to get zapped again. While this is not stellar judgment on the trooper's part, it is the kind of behavior that one sees in rural areas when boys try to peck out their Manly Men status. This is right up there with the T.V. show "Jackass" and the countless people on YouTube recording themselves getting shot with paintball guns while not wearing armor.

• Remember the Bridge to Nowhere that Gov. Palin claims to have fought against? Now there are reports surfacing that she actually campaigned for it in the first place, before the national attention was directed at Alaska. Not just rumor-filled reports, mind you. Last night, during a Q&A period with RNC committee members, they admitted that "Yes, she was for it before she was against it," but now everything's just hunky-dorey.

• And on the topic of earmarks, which she's supposedly going to fight in Washington, does she mention that her small town of Wasilla (pop. 5,469) has benefited from over $26.9 million? And that's just during her final term as mayor there. That's an average of $4,918.63 per resident.

• Well, maybe she's doing better on the family front. Well, we all know the situation with her eldest daughter, but the family is supposed to be off-limits. I think it would be fair game since much of the Republican's platform is "family values," but I'll lay off. Now the Governor herself is fair game and there is a question as to whether her eldest son was conceived in wedlock. If he were conceived on their wedding night, some calculations put his term at 7 months, 21 days. Quite a bit premature, but certainly not unheard of. I'd be curious if someone knew his birth weight...

Now, please keep in mind that Alaska is difficult to get to, and the Vetting Squad has only really had five days to look into her background. What's going to seep to the surface over the next sixty days? We have roughly 6 hours before changing the bottom half of the ticket gets really troublesome, so let's sit back and enjoy the show.