FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

The Vanity Fair article on the Queen of Wasilla has the shivs going in the front for a change. And I have to say Steve Schmidt demonstrates once again defeating Bill Kristol in a battle of wits is only a few neurons tougher than vanquishing Jonah Goldberg or Dick Morris.

After Kristol accuses Schmidt of impugning the competency of the Palin, who Kristol thought adding to the ticket would be awesome beforehand, the firing back commenced:

Asked about the accusation, Schmidt fired back in an e-mail: “I'm sure John McCain would be president today if only Bill Kristol had been in charge of the campaign.”

“After all, his management of [former Vice President] Dan Quayle’s public image as his chief of staff is still something that takes your breath away,” Schmidt continued. “His attack on me is categorically false.”

That's some awesome smack, the best part being Schmidt is unquestionably accurate and it is also something rarely pointed out as being completely Kristol's doing (or undoing). When it comes to bringing GOP elected officials to the very laughable and representational reflection of the Peter Principle no one has done better than Bill Kristol.

...as early as June 29th, two months before McCain chose her, Kristol predicted on “Fox News Sunday” that “McCain’s going to put Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, on the ticket.” He described her as “fantastic,” saying that she could go one-on-one against Obama in basketball, and possibly siphon off Hillary Clinton’s supporters. He pointed out that she was a “mother of five” and a reformer. “Go for the gold here with Sarah Palin,” he said. The moderator, Chris Wallace, finally had to ask Kristol, “Can we please get off Sarah Palin?”

The next day, however, Kristol was still talking about Palin on Fox. “She could be both an effective Vice-Presidential candidate and an effective President,” he said. “She’s young, energetic.” On a subsequent “Fox News Sunday,” Kristol again pushed Palin when asked whom McCain should pick: “Sarah Palin, whom I’ve only met once but I was awfully impressed by—a genuine reformer, defeated the establishment up there. It would be pretty wild to pick a young female Alaska governor, and I think, you know, McCain might as well go for it.”

On July 22nd, again on Fox, Kristol referred to Palin as “my heartthrob.” He declared, “I don’t know if I can make it through the next three months without her on the ticket.”

Dan Quayle & Sarah Palin, heckuva job Bill.