Craps

Given St. John's well-known love of throwing the dice the NYT's frequently dopey Roger Cohen goes with the apt methaphor:

I know one thing: this is no time for further gambling. John McCain rolled the dice on Sarah Palin. I’m grateful to Bob Rice of Tangent Capital for pointing out that the actuarial risk, based on mortality tables, of Palin becoming president if the Republican ticket wins the election is about 1 in 6 or 7.

That’s the same odds as your birthday falling on a Wednesday, or being delayed on two consecutive flights into Newark airport. Is America ready for that?

The lesson of the last eight years is this: when power is a passport to gamble, people can end up seriously broke or seriously dead.

Standard actuarial tables aside, questions about McCain's physical health (including yesterday's bizarre episode) raise the stakes even further. Unless Sarah the Librarian Killer comes out tonight and blows everyone away with her grasp of the issues this nation will be royally screwed if she gets in to office.

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