There are plenty of things to worry about in today's New York Times story on Sarah Palin's tenure in government. Patronage. Secrecy. Obstructionism. Palin says she's all about reform, but a lot of her methods come from a political playbook we already know and hate. One of the more anxious-making passages:

"Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business [Ed. a convenient way to bypass FOIA requests by journalists, BTW]; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records. Rick Steiner, a University of Alaska professor, sought the e-mail messages of state scientists who had examined the effect of global warming on polar bears. (Ms. Palin said the scientists had found no ill effects, and she has sued the federal government to block the listing of the bears as endangered.) An administration official told Mr. Steiner that his request would cost $468,784 to process. When Mr. Steiner finally obtained the e-mail messages - through a federal records request - he discovered that state scientists had in fact agreed that the bears were in danger, records show. "Their secrecy is off the charts," Mr. Steiner said.

Sound familiar? Sure it does. She's devious and obfuscatory. People close to her are under subpeona and she fails to recall things when it's convenient. She dislikes talking to the press and...she hunts. She's Dick Cheney in a skirt! [NYT, with a rare DownDo picture of Palin] (Last Palin post, I promise. Unless she pulls out of the race before midnight.)