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Today I am older — by exactly one week, actually — than Abraham Lincoln was when he died.

If I were to fulfill my youthful ambition to surpass Lincoln in the history books now, I suppose the historians would have to put an asterisk next to my name, with a footnote explaining that Lincoln set all his records in a shorter season.

Some have suggested that I should just concede that Lincoln was a better man than I am. Perhaps that’s true, but I still hold a pretty high opinion of myself, and I hate to let it go.

Back in 1970, Senator Roman Hruska, a Republican from Nebraska, defended a disappointing Nixon Supreme Court nominee whom critics had branded a mediocrity. Hruska said:

Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.

I believe John McCain was thinking like Hruska when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate: he was catering to us mediocre people; expecting us to feel honored that he’d picked someone just like us. But I think he made a mistake.

Americans want Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos on the Supreme Court. We want Jeffersons, Roosevelts and Lincolns in the White House. We want the very best, and we aspire to be better, ourselves. We hold a pretty high opinion of ourselves, you see.

This wild maverick can’t be tamed:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official “duty station” is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.

The governor’s daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.

Sounds like a mainstream Bush-era Republican to me!

It turns out that, when talking about the Republican ticket, the views of Republican pundits evolve over time. The Daily Show remembers things that “real” news organizations conveniently forget. (Warning: crude humor.)