The New York Times reports that Caribou Barbie, far from being a "reformer" could hardly wait to engage in the sort of back-room politics she has publicly decried.  The story begins with:

WASILLA, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal. So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as one of her qualifications for running the roughly $2 million agency. Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

...and it just keeps getting better. If you liked the Bush-Cheney White House and the Alberto Gonzales Justice Department, you will LOVE Sarah Palin's Alaska.   There is no daylight visible between Bush-Cheney and McCain-Palin, either in the policies they support or in their personal behavior.

h/t Thomas C on DailyKOS.