Although plenty of Palin-pundits have weighed in on the ex-Alaska governor's bus since the "family vacation" and/or potential campaign roll-out began last week, we've got to hand it to Politico for producing the best reporting of the vehicle we've seen yet. It seems the high-speed parade is a huge menace on the roads, breaking traffic laws and, after narrowly avoiding mowing down a biker, a potential threat to life and limb:

But her entourage — both the three-vehicle motorcade that includes the bus and the smaller, two-SUV version she uses for smaller events — hasn’t been very respectful of the traffic laws. They speed. They run red lights and stop signs. They make last-second lane changes to get off the highway, sometimes without signaling.

Palin’s two-SUV caravan did 52 miles per hour in a 35 zone as it peeled away from the hosts’ neighborhood. Both cars blew through a stop sign about a mile later. They did 70 mph in a 55 mph zone on I-95 — and then, after they got off, without signaling, flew right past a flashing sign informing them they were going 45 mph in a 35 mph zone. ... On Tuesday, the bus nearly hit a biker turning off of Pine Street in Philadelphia.

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Erik Hayden