Palin's clothes and the missing link

Ms. Sarah Palin, erstwhile guv of Alaska, is today defending the RNC's purchase of clothing and accessories in the amount of $150K or so, the purpose of which was to make her look "hot" on the campaign trail. Well, she didn't actually say that. She'd probably say she was "hot" enough.

Actually, she didn't say that, either. But in an interview with the Chicago Tribune yesterday, she "disputed accounts of her accepting $150,000 worth of designer clothing from the Republican Party."

She also said the media's coverage of this flap has been sexist and unfair. Poor Sarah. I mean, the clothes she got, she said, weren't even worth $150,000, and she hasn't worn most of them, and "If only people knew how frugal we are."

Ha, ha.

The RNC has provided the documentation for the purchases in its financial disclosure forms. So, sorry Sarah, there's no "disputing" the value of the stuff you got.

Then, to make matters worse, McCain said he buys his own clothes! Oh, my god. I don't think they love each other anymore. You know how, when McCain is asked about her qualifications, he kinda grits his teeth and stutters out, "She is so qualified!" And when they were interviewed on NBC, their body language said "Yuk!" and they could barely look at each other.


It gets weirder. Steven Benen, writing at the Washington Monthly, references a story from The New York Times that brought up a new question: "Why don't the numbers add up?"

"Some of the fashion experts consulted Wednesday, for instance, about the $150,000 in purchases that appeared on Federal Election Commission records were puzzled by where all of that money had gone, given what they had seen of Ms. Palin's wardrobe.

"Consider also the $4,902.45 charge at Atelier New York, a high-end men's store, presumably for Ms. Palin's husband, Todd, the famous First Dude.

"Karlo Steele, an owner there, said he had gone through the store's receipts for September, twice, and found no sales that matched that amount, nor any combination of sales that added up to the total. Because the store carries aggressively directional men's wear, he caters to a small clientele and knows most of his customers by name, as well as the history of their purchases... 'We have no recollection of that sale and no idea what they are talking about,' Mr. Steel said."

Then there's the charge of $98 "at a high-end children's boutique in Minneapolis, but after going through their receipts, the store owners found no record of the sale."


The whole scenario is very weird.

And maybe, ultimately, none of this has to do with anything, except, in the words of the McCain campaign, it goes to "character" - the character of Ms. Palin. And that's why she tried to pacify the troops with her lame defense that the clothing was not worth $150,000 and she had hardly worn any of it. She's just a plain ol' hockey mom, you know.

Won't work. You see, Ms. Palin is that born-again, evangelical Christian who believes in Jesus and, well, like, you know, god put her in the governor's seat, and, well, like, god now wants her in Washington so she can help people come to Jesus and just remake the country in god's image, like, you know, a real Christian nation, and like, well, change the whole world before it's too late and Jesus comes back and all those non-saved and Jews will burn in hell forever.

So, like, well, you know, it doesn't look too good if the vp candidate is dressed to kill, or too hot, I mean, like, you know, what would Jesus say? And if her fans should come to think she's an elitist, wow, like, that wouldn't be good dontcha know.


Not to worry. She can go back to wearing boots and mukluks and shooting mooses up thar in the boonies where the troops are growing a bit pissed because of all her shenanigans that are now, for the first time, being made public. Give it about 12 more days.