No sooner had McCain dropped the bombshell, naming Sara Palin as his choice for VP, Republicans fell all over themselves to justify the logic of choosing the barely housebroken, gun-toting, moose-hunting, home-schooling mother of four … or five, if you believe Alaskans who have known Palin a lot longer than the national media.

Fred Thompson woke up from his extended stupor long enough to appear on Sunday talk shows to say that Palin is extremely qualified because she’s a mother of five. Several Republican windbags said Palin would be strong on Iraq because she has a son who is fighting there. According to William Kristol, “a star is born,” … exactly what this country needs to help us get back on track after the last eight years of wholesale government incompetence, and a war, a deficit and an economy that will bring this country to its knees. Kristol who still believes we’re succeeding in Iraq fights the war like a true neo-con—from his computer in New York. He punctuates his barely-formed, vocabulary-challenged think pieces with phrases like “our troops,” and “our boys,” and somehow believes himself to be a true patriot who is fighting the good fight. Cindy McCain threw her full support behind Palin by stating that the small-town governor with the big hair has national security experience because Alaska is close to Russia.

Let's follow this GOP logic. Since my dog is a mother of five, she's ready to be vice-president. She would be ideal actually, since she knows how to multi-task, and one of her pups loves fighting with the family cat, an Iraq like situation. And why not me for Vice President? While I wait for the call, I'll be practicing open heart surgery at the local hospital, since I live close to it.

I’ve received email from women across the political spectrum, former Hillary supporters, independents, and Republicans. They are appalled that John McCain would be willing to jeapordize the country with this reckless selection, in order to win an election.

Gail Vida Hamburg is the author of The Edge of the World, (Mirare Press, www.mirarepress.com) a novel about the impact of American foreign policy on individual lives. Her novel, Liberty Landing, inspired by John Dos Passos' U.S.A will be released in Spring 2009.