Isn't a reformer required to go a new way, to always try a different approach, and to forever refuse the natural perks of office in each and every way?
Just because you're technically allowed a benefit doesn't mean you have to take it.
Sarah Palin is no reformer.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel and many of the trips were to and from their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.
The most disturbing part about Palin as McCain's pick is that McCain picked her!
He is no longer the maverick he once claimed to be, and he's now proven himself to merely be yet another eager lapdog for a Republican party that loves power but hates the details of governance -- their motto should be: "We only tear down good things; We build nothing but electoral college wins."
What sort of legacy can McCain now expect from the harsh judgment of history?
Win or lose, John McCain will spend the rest of his life defending Sarah Palin -- a woman his original maverick personality would have scorned and forsaken instead of propping her up as a cipher for national leadership.
Not a very pretty picture. This is where she will trip up. She says one thing but the facts show something else. She better be quiet. Not saying anything is better than making up more things.
I agree her on-the-record decisions and policies will likely break her, Anne, and that's the best way to handle her conservative threat to our ordinary liberty. We need to stand up and speak out before all is lost.