In which our intrepid correspondent picks at the bones of John McCain’s VP pick for some humorous gristle.

He’s either a genius or an idiot. Brilliant or crazy. Political mastermind or stone crazed loon. Destined to go down in history as a real life visionary Howard Beale or the Banana Daiquiri Boy with attention deficit disorder who took down Karl Rove’s entire Republican machine with one swell foop. Could go either way. But one thing you have to give him, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain did not take the easy way out. Turns out he’s not just a Maverick, he’s a genuine riverboat gambler rolling the dice on a relative unknown as his VP nominee. Former beauty queen, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, calls herself a “hockey mom,” which means we’re in good shape if we ever need to body check Medvedev. And she looks eminently more comfortable handling a gun than the current Vice President. She may not attract all the disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters, but she could bolster Republican voting rolls by attracting Inuit Indians and fans of the “Legally Blonde” movies. If she’s able to hold her own with Joe Biden in the debates and talks tough enough to convince the Christian Right she can actually implement those far right social policies of hers, who knows? McCain’s roll of the dice may have hit a hard way pass. Then again, he might have thrown snake eyes. If he’s right, he laughs all the way to the White House. Either way, the big winner in this one is Tina Fey, who can go back to Saturday Night Live and do an impression of the VP candidate without going through tortuous make up sessions.