Two more points, just too good to ignore, about the various Sarah Palin controversies:

* Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to GOP presidential candidate John McCain, said today that all the TV talk about whether Palin was properly vetted her before being tapped as McCain's running mate "is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States." First of all, Mr. Schmidt, there's nothing "faux" about Palin's alarming lack of experience, her strong-arm tactics against the Alaska state police commissioner, her outright lie that she opposed Alaska's infamous "bridge to nowhere" project and the fact that, despite her anti-sex education/pro-abstinence position, she has a pregnant and unwed 17-year-old daughter. More importantly, though, what the hell does any of this have to do with Palin being "the first female Republican nominee for vice president"? Is Mr. Schmidt suggesting that Democrats and news commentators are going after Palin solely because she's a woman? That no such criticisms would exist if she were a man? Baloney. Men throughout U.S. political history have been punching bags amid many similar scandals, and nothing being said about Palin has been tied to her gender. It's been tied only to her fitness - or lack of fitness - to hold the No.2 job in the U.S. government.

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in one of five morning TV appearances today, said Palin is qualified to be vice president (and, ultimately, president) because she has managed a city. That would be Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,500. Well, say this much for Rudy: At least he managed to get through the comment with a straight face.