THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

What do Rosa Brooks and Bob Herbert have in common? Each, with one column this week, shows that the Republican candidates for President and Vice President are totally unfit for the job. First Rosa Brooks reminds us of the great stain of the Old Fart, what most Republicans would call a badge of honor, the Keating 5.

Once upon a time, a politician took campaign contributions and favors from a friendly constituent who happened to run a savings and loan association. The contributions were generous: They came to about $200,000 in today's dollars, and on top of that there were several free vacations for the politician and his family, along with private jet trips and other perks. The politician voted repeatedly against congressional efforts to tighten regulation of S&Ls, and in 1987, when he learned that his constituent's S&L was the target of a federal investigation, he met with regulators in an effort to get them to back off.

That politician was John McCain, and his generous friend was Charles Keating, head of Lincoln Savings & Loan. While he was courting McCain and other senators and urging them to oppose tougher regulation of S&Ls, Keating was also investing his depositors' federally insured savings in risky ventures. When those lost money, Keating tried to hide the losses from regulators by inducing his customers to switch from insured accounts to uninsured (and worthless) bonds issued by Lincoln's near-bankrupt parent company. In 1989, it went belly up -- and more than 20,000 Lincoln customers saw their savings vanish.

After dodging this bullet, St John went on to become a Republican powerhouse in the battle for deregulation so the entire US economy could enjoy what happened to the S & L industry.

Bob Herbert may seem to have an easier job of it until you realize how many people are looking at this election through Kool-Aid goggles. Nevertheless he does a fine job displaying the many incompetencies of CinderSarah.

The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews.

But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling.

The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing. You wouldn’t put an unqualified pilot in the cockpit of a jetliner. The potential for catastrophe is far, far greater with an unqualified president.

This lack of qualifications can not be repeated too often, some people need the repetition.

Add up the two and if your reaction is not "Holy Shit!" give me a call, I have several leftover bridges I am trying to sell.