Buffett Wisdom and a Palin Note

Warren Buffett was cited this morning as a believer in the three I's of the economic cycle. First come the Innovators; then the Imitators; and finally the Idiots. It is your guess as to where we are at this moment. (Hint, the first two don't count.)

The latest word from Arizona is that Gov. Sarah Palin will be released from the Witness Protection Program in order to debate Joe Biden on national TV Thursday evening. Further appearances may be made, but only if accompanied by Federal Marshall John McCain. Fred Thompson, former Republican candidate and Law and Order DA, admitted on CNN this morning that there was a possibility that Ms. Palin had been micro-managed.

Has Palin been the victim of a vicious media attack? There is no question that she has been placed under the proverbial magnifying glass in the last month. But we should also remember that nearly every voter in the lower forty eight had never even heard of her a month ago. These people do have some right to know as much as possible about an individual who has a 1 in 3 chance to become president of the United States. The skinny on Biden and McCain has been floating around for years and Obama's garbage can has been thoroughly sifted for nineteen months now. All the real dirt, the half truths, and the lies are out there to be studied. Issues like McCain's censure for his involvement in the Keating Five Scandal, Obama's poor pastoral choice, and Biden's unzipped mouth have been ground up, assimilated, and and for the most part discarded as significant campaign considerations. Palin's background is a catch-up target and unfortunately for Republicans some of it is still going to be current on election day. McCain and his people clearly knew this when they nominated an unknown and they will have to live with it.