Over the next few weeks, we'll learn a lot more about John McCain's choice for vice president, Sarah Palin. But I've already seen enough to be appalled, and I'm not talking about her family problems or her philosophical leanings.

Palin's a diehard conservative (against abortion, even in the case of rape; against stem-cell research; for development, oil drilling, and the teaching of intelligent design in school). She's not a ditz, though. And by standing up to the hilariously corrupt Republican establishment in Alaska - which as chair of the Alaskan Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she certainly did - she showed that she has both ethics and backbone.

But it's hard to reconcile that history with her storyline about the so-called "bridge to nowhere," a proposed bridge from the Alaska mainland to an island with a population of about 50. In her speech at the rally where she was introduced as McCain's running mate, Palin insisted that she had turned down money for the bridge. "I told Congress, thanks, but no thanks," she said.

Not exactly.

The Alaska Congressional delegation had fought for federal funding for the bridge - and during her campaign for governor, Palin supported those efforts. According to a lengthy account in the Anchorage Daily News, Palin said the bridge was essential for the prosperity of the area. The bridge became so widely ridiculed, however, that Congress deleted it from the list of projects it was funding. Significantly, according to the Daily News, Alaska got the money anyway; Congress left it up to the state to decide how to use it. But the state was to pay part of the cost of the bridge, and when the cost increased, Palin, who by then was governor, killed the project.

Chalk up the fact-twisting to politics as usual if you like. But Palin's bridge work was one of the few things John McCain could point to in her favor.

Against her: vice-presidential nominees should be qualified to be president, and Palin is not. The McCain camp has tried to make a big deal out of her administrative experience. That experience consists of six years as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population somewhere under 10,000) and 20 months as governor of Alaska, population about 670,000. (That's less than Monroe County's.)

Republicans have ridiculed Barack Obama's experience, but Obama was an Illinois state legislator for eight years, and during his three years in the Senate, he has served on the Committees on Veterans' Affairs; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Foreign Relations.

Someone - John McCain? Karl Rove? - apparently thought that despite her weak qualifications, Palin would attract women voters - particularly those who had supported Hillary Clinton. That's sexist and patronizing. And besides, if McCain really wanted to name a woman, he had plenty of qualified Republicans to choose from -Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell among them.

One thing Palin had going for her, though: Her selection would placate right-wing Republicans and fundamentalist Christians. According to numerous media reports, McCain really wanted Joe Lieberman. But Karl Rove and others objected because Lieberman is pro-choice. And so we have Sarah Palin, a candidate nowhere near ready to step into the presidency.

All of this provides a horrifying look at the way McCain's mind works - and how he would respond to pressure in the White House.

It's also an indication that the right-wing Republicanism that has ruled the White House over the past eight years would continue to run the show in a McCain presidency.