It's Wednesday and Ashton Kutcher has yet to emerge from my closet with a camera crew. It would appear that I am not, in fact, being Punk'd. Sarah Palin really is the Republican's choice for Vice President of America! Tonight Governor Palin will take the stage in what will undoubtedly be the most important speech of her career. Tens of millions of people will tune in to see if she lives up to her hype as the new Queen of the GOP, or if she will fall hopelessly short. Mostly though, people will tune in to try and figure out just who in the hell is Sarah Palin. Luckily, we've started a facebook group to try and answer that question. In the last several days we've been giving Governor Palin the thorough vetting the McCain camp never gave her. Some of the things we've found are pretty shocking. And no, I'm not talking about Bristol's baby daddy. Here is a list of everything about 1/18th of the things you really need to know about the good Governor. • The Alaska legislature is investigating whether Governor Palin improperly fired Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. E-mails from her administration are now being withheld since she is pulling a dubyah and citing executive privilege. The Alaska legislature is looking to release the finding of their investigation in early November (just in time for the election!) but Palin is now refusing to testify unless the whole thing is turned over to a state review board... that Palin herself appointed. In a related note: In 1997, Palin was almost recalled as mayor of Wasilla after she abruptly fired the city police chief and library director. (from Hat Thief) • Governor Palin's resume as a reformer includes being one of three directors of the the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc." She also backed the now famous "bridge to nowhere" and hired a former employee of Jack Abramoff to secure earmarks for Wasilla. • Until 2002 Sarah Palin's husband Todd Palin was a registered member of Alaska Independence Party. Just to clarify, that's independence from America. Sarah was apparently never a member, but she has been spotted at their wild secessionist pig roasts, or whatever... • Just to provide equal time here, David Frum, a neoconservative author and commentator says "Ms. Palin's experience in government makes Barack Obama look like George C. Marshall". But wait! There's more!

So this is the future of the Republican party you are looking at: a future in which national security has bumped down the list of priorities behind abortion politics, gender politics, and energy politics. Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and probably a shrewd one. It's not nearly so clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one.

• She has "stood up to Washington" by joining the American Petroleum Institute and four other business groups in suing the bush administration to reverse the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species. • Finally, If you haven't already heard, Sarah Palin's unwed, teenage daughter is pregnant. This, on it's own, really isn't relevant. Barack Obama has noted that his mother had him when she was 18. He's clearly turned out ok. So what is relevant? Sarah Palin is an advocate of abstinence-only education. So while Sarah Palin promises "unconditional love and support" for her daughter, she advocates teaching our nation's children that "sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects" and that "bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society". So Palin thinks her daughter is destroying America? In a related note: Palin personally slashed the budget of shelters for troubled youths in Alaska, including a transitional home for teenage mothers. She souonds like a really nice lady. That's all I can think of right now but I'm sure there is something else. Leave us a comment and let me know what I forgot.