It hardly will move the Shock-O-Meter for most people on the Right, but since this came during what has been described as MS-NBC’s “conservative” three hours, it’s worth a look. Mike Allen of Politico, Willy Geist, and Joe Scarborough tag-team off of Vanity Fair’s ho-hum hit piece on Sarah Palin to throw a bunch of rehashed ad hominem attacks at Palin. “Joke,” “circus act,” “Dan Quayle” all appear as the three men get their 3:45 Hate in today’s show:

Mike Allen acts especially perturbed by the fact that — ohmygosh — people still actually want her to appear at fundraisers! He says this in the same tone of voice he might use in describing the Flat Earth Society or a reported chupacabra sighting.  None of these men offer a reason for Palin to go into hiding and wear a political burqa except for their ad hominems, or explain why a governor of any state doesn’t belong at fundraisers for their political party.  California just went broke; do you think these men would tell Arnold Schwarzenegger to stay home and out of fundraisers until they stop issuing IOUs?  Do you think any of these three would dare?

Patrick Hynes makes a great point about the source of the latest anti-Palin nuttiness — the McCain staffers who keep wanting to shift blame off of themselves:

Look, I worked on the McCain campaign. Palin had her shortcomings, but she also brought some incredible strengths to the campaign. And perhaps the McCain staffers who continue to trash the governor are deflecting attention away from how remarkably screwed up and dysfunctional the operation was even before the Palin pick. What I don’t understand is this: Why would anyone hire a bunch of campaign staffers after watching how viciously they are attacking their former employer?

I’m pretty sure none of the obvious sources on this story will work on national campaigns again, not after the backbiting and disloyalty they’ve put on display for the rest of the world to see.