All you need to know

I think of all the things i've read about the Republican ticket over the past week, this piece, by Fred Hiatt of all people, is probably the most informative:

There was a flutter of attention when McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told a group of Post reporters and editors yesterday that his team was having to rework the vice presidential acceptance speech because the original draft, prepared before Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen, was too "masculine." While we all wondered to ourselves what might make a speech masculine or feminine, no one batted an eye at the underlying revelation: that the campaign was writing the nominee's speech before knowing who the nominee would be.

UPDATE: The point being that it informs on so many levels. First, we can confirm that, even to themselves, Republicans are virtually interchangeable. The vice-president's acceptance speech was written before the candidate had been chosen. Second, what differences do exist are seen through the gender lens. The speech, as written, was too masculine. WTF? Palin's a hunter, and by all accounts a better shot than Cheney. What could possibly have been in there that's too masculine for her to deliver? A rape joke? Finally, we also know that they don't care who sees what's behind the curtain. It's not about issues or reality, as a McCain spokesperson acknowledged this week. It's about image and narrative construction. It's all about making sure that everyone knows their roles, and plays them to the hilt. Especially that victim role they're so good at staking out whenever they get called on their bullshit.