Hurricane Gustav might be out of the way but Republican presidential nominee John McCain was hit by another storm on Tuesday, this one media-generated and swirling furiously around his vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Just hours before the Republican political festival opened, Palin disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. It also was revealed Monday that an attorney had been hired to represent Palin in a state ethics probe; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that her husband, Todd, had been arrested for drunken driving two decades ago. According to a New York Times investigation, Palin had been selected with more haste than McCain advisers initially described. Does this call to question McCain's judgment and his ability to make crucial decisions? __
