Hey, Alaska! This is who your next Senator may be. (And Republicans? She wants to be your nominee in 2012)

I've always hated the expression "white trash." It's always seemed to have a racist undercurrent, that being trash is just assumed when you aren't white so trashy people who are white need a qualifier. I'm not crazy about "trailer trash" either, because it implies that the mere face of living in a mobile home makes you somehow less worthy.

But since Sarah Palin is likely to appoint herself to replace convicted felon Ted Stevens in the Senate and give herself a national stage for the next four years, I think we need to come up with an appropriate term for someone as, well, trashy as Sarah Palin. In Yiddish we could call her shtik dreck, which as with most Yiddishisms, has a lovely onomatopoaeic quality to it. But we need an expression that will play in the heartland where Wasilla's answer to Leona Helmsley is likely to seek support for her 2012 run against Barack Obama.

Because what else but "trash", "shtik dreck", or the ever-popular "POS" can you use to describe this:

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Being a beauty queen from Wasilla is sort of like being the King of Liechtenstein, but Palin is still behaving as if she's the prettiest girl in high school, and when she saw a chance to lay in a nice wardrobe for her beloved First Dude and get 8-year-old Piper a Louis Vuitton handbag using McCain campaign money, she took it. If the Republicans allow this woman to get their party's nomination in 2012, then we'll know they're truly insane. This woman spent $50,000 of Alaska taxpayer money redecorating the governor's mansion in her home state. Imagine how much money Sarah Palin, screeching on the floor of the Senate for four years about fiscal responsibility, if she got hold of the White House, would spend on decorating and evening wear for her entire family.