Sarah Palin In Charge...

Sarah Palin truly is not a Washington insider. Per Think Progress, she told a local television station in Colorado (in response to a question from a third grader), that the Vice President is "in charge of the U.S. Senate, so if they want to they, can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes."

It is true that the Vice President is technically the President of the Senate. (Remember Dick Cheney's creative assertion that this makes him a member of the Legislative Branch--and, therefore, not subject to routine government oversight of his handling of classified material?) But under the Constitution, that job begins and ends with breaking tie votes.

The fact of the matter: No one is "in charge" of the Senate, a place where every single member has the ability to gum up the works. Which reminds me of the time that Adam Clymer of the New York Times asked then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell why he aspired to be major league baseball commissioner, a job that would put him at the mercy of 32* rich, egotistical maniacs.

Mitchell smiled and answered: "Only 32?"*

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: *Sharp-eyed commenter Phantom notes:

Not to nitpick guys (inlcuding you, KT), but there are only 30 MLB franchises. There are 32 NFL franchises.

My mistake, not Mitchell's. I'm sure he would have known that.