Layers of idiocy

The big bloggers have all picked up on this bit from a Palin piece running on ABC News' site this morning.

As to whether another pursuit for national office, as when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House less than a year ago, would result in the same political blood sport [opposition research and accusations of ethics violations], Palin said there was a difference between the White House and what she had experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

"I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.

There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.

There is more wrong with this that that there is no Department of Law in the federal government. There is in the Alaskan government, so it could be an honest slip on her part. As Steve Benen points out, the real problem with that statement is in what she thinks a federal "Department of Law" can do.

It's tempting to think Palin may have been referring to the Justice Department, but it's not "in the White House," and it doesn't have the authority to "throw out" charges against the president. Maybe she's thinking of the White House Counsel's Office, but again, it has the ability to defend against allegations, not "look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out."

She clearly shares the Bush/Cheney idea of a royal president who can do whatever he/she wants and who is above the law and constitution.

I see one more thing wrong with her statement. Unless the author of the piece (Kate Snow) is misreporting it, the discussion was about running for office, not holding office. Palin doesn't appear to understand the distinction. Even if there was an all powerful Department of Law in the White House that could stop investigations and prosecutions, it would not be at the beck and call of everyone running for office, it would not have the power to stop political campaigns from conducting opposition research, and it would not have the power to stop people from making accusations. On that last point, her recent ham-handed effort to silence Shannyn Moore is clear evidence that she does believe executives have the power to stop people from making accusations or even from reporting that someone made accusations.

Palin's ego, idiocy, and sense of martyrdom are like an onion; every time you peel away one layer, you find another layer of ego, idiocy, and sense of martyrdom underneath.