Comments on: Sarah Palin to resign

Sarah Palin to resign

Stewriffic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:58:18 -0800

By: Gungho

Gungho — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:59:32 -0800

Why? No one seems to say why?

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:00:02 -0800

“Ms. Palin made the statement after returning from a recent unannounced trip to Argentina.”

By: nevercalm

nevercalm — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:30 -0800

By: danb

danb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:33 -0800

Are you suggesting that she's giving up politics for steak? Because that sounds reasonable enough to me!

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:41 -0800

On a friday of a long holiday weekend, no less. Please let there be more to this.

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:55 -0800

So this pretty much derails any future political aspirations......right?

By: Tomorrowful

Tomorrowful — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:02:22 -0800

Why? No one seems to say why? That's because she didn't give a reason. Which is incredibly weird - even if it's a little BSy, resigning pols tend to say something like "To focus on my family" or "to spend more time with my dying wife" or "because I need to focus on my chilli recipe." Her total lack of explanation is... well, freaky.

By: Electrius

Electrius — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:02:36 -0800

Wait, when? Is she just not seeking re-election or is she actually resigning the post of governor? When is this "governor's picnic"??

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:03:57 -0800

Shit. I told her not to do this. The public must understand that ours is a love story. For the ages. She didn't want to hear it, of course, and tried to go back to her husband. But I warned her; you can't go back. Ever.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:04:19 -0800

I guess Vanity Fair hurt hooh po widdow feeewuns.

By: echo target

echo target — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:04:20 -0800

"Leaving office" makes it sound like it's effective immediately, but who knows. We all will, soon enough

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:04:22 -0800

Either she's running in 2012, or she's trying to capitalize on the recent Vanity Fair article and portray herself as a colossal victim. Or, less likely and even better, someone's got something on her and it's coming out any minute.... Naw. Even better would be she's running in 2012 and someone's got something on her and is sitting on it until then.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:05:11 -0800

Wow. These last few weeks have been crazy-go-nuts. Might this have been the result of fallout from the Vanity Fair article?

By: Justinian

Justinian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:05:32 -0800

I was about to get all OH NO YOU DINT about putting a smiley emoticon on the FPP but then I realized it was winking! Winking like Sarah Palin! And now I think it's brilliant.

By: ook

ook — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:05:34 -0800

~~Palin 2012~~

By: oaf

oaf — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:06:18 -0800

The NYT is saying she will transfer power to the lieutenant governor by the end of the month.

By: Heliochrome85

Heliochrome85 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:06:56 -0800

apparently, middle america demands more PALIN!

By: Heliochrome85

Heliochrome85 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:04 -0800

god knows i dont.

By: Stewriffic

Stewriffic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:09 -0800

Justinian: I'm glad you got it. ;-)

By: milarepa

milarepa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:11 -0800

This is fishy.

By: Tomorrowful

Tomorrowful — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:14 -0800

I saw the ;-) in the title of this post and thought, ugh, it's some kind of silly joke-thing, or maybe she said "I'll resign when and only when pigs fly" and somebody strapped a hog to a hang-glider so lulz. But... no. Really is Sarah Palin quitting, abruptly and without explanation.

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:23 -0800

I defer to someone more smarty than me on this, but wouldnt not finishing out her one term as Governor pretty much make a presidential bid for her poisonous? Is there a precedent for this?

By: grounded

grounded — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:27 -0800

Why should we believe her? The woman lies about everything.

By: Tenuki

Tenuki — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:44 -0800

Fox News offer her a better job?

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:47 -0800

You know, Sanford did say that he had "crossed lines" with other women. And I'm sure he and Palin have been in the same gatherings on quite a few occasions the last few years.

By: chasing

chasing — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:08:04 -0800

She's probably taking a job at Fox. It's hard work actually being a politician. You've gotta do things and know stuff. TV commentator? So much better. And more lucrative. And she's got to jump on a job while her stock's up and their offering the big bux.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:08:48 -0800

Perhaps now, having had time to reflect on the media coverage of the presidential campaign, she realized, You know what, I am too gosh-darn incompetent to run a state government! Those folks were right! Thank God I didn't become vice-president!

By: Lipstick Thespian

Lipstick Thespian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:08:49 -0800

We Win! Ding-Dong, The Stupiid Witch is Dead! Now she'll have time for that newspaper-reading tutor!

By: benzenedream

benzenedream — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:08:54 -0800

Imagine that, Palin gave their version to Fox News:

Todd Palin told FOX News that his wife will concentrate on "doing the things for Alaska and the country" that she is passionate about and can not do as governor with the limitation and constant opposition she deals with within the state.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:41 -0800

Or, Ted Stevens' love-child, you betcha!

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:41 -0800

The New York Times article actually stated some kind of reason -- they say that she sait it was because of "a desire to affect change outside of government."

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:44 -0800

How weird. If she's resigning to focus on a run for prez in 2012, isn't it usually better to do that as a sitting governer, and not a Fox talking head? I mean, what

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:45 -0800

Please, please, please let there be a colossal scandal in the offing. I need to dust off my schadenfreude.

By: wsp

wsp — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:55 -0800

Huh. I didn't see that coming.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:10:03 -0800

She just realized she can see the universe from her house.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:10:22 -0800

Did we really need a smiley face on this? Granted, DRILL BABY DRILL made me want to drill holes in people's heads, but.. Yeah. No explanation. Can she really be trying to combine a "The media hates me :(" with "I just want to do whats right for America" into "I quit so that they can stop picking me so I can run the country?" No... just.. no.. doesn't make... . sense... yet maybe it would to people who wore "DRILL BABY DRILL" buttons? Something's so weird about this. I wonder what shoe was/is about to drop.

By: Biblio

Biblio — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:10:37 -0800

It turns out she was actually born in Kenya!

By: contrariwise

contrariwise — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:11:13 -0800

Apparently keeping an eye on Russia and being Governor was a bit much for her.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:11:32 -0800

I certainly can't recall any example of someone resigning their current office, much less a first-term Governorship, to run for President. It sounds crazy. But then again, this is Sarah Palin we're talking about.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:11:59 -0800

a desire to affect change outside of government Whatever happened to 'I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities'?

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:12:02 -0800

nevercalm - probably both and it won't hurt her. I give at week until we hear how the lefty Nobama Hitler drove her out during his relentless campaign to destroy America (which, in case you haven't heard, is over.) I'm starting to think this repub/Limbaugh meme about American being over is their way of dealing with their party being over. I'd say she picked the holiday weekend because she wanted no news competition. By the way, if I recall correctly, that lake she was standing in front of for the speech has no fish. Thanks in large part to her hard work on the part of the great state of Alaska.

By: whoaali

whoaali — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:12:52 -0800

This is pretty surprising, I mean Palin has survived a lot of controversies and I mean a lot. I can't imagine what would make her resign without even putting up a fight first.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:13:08 -0800

I don't generally think of myself as a gossip-hound, but in the wake of the Sanford saga and how that went from a mildly strange event to an outright tragic drama, all I can think of right now, RE Sarah Palin, is: PLEASE let there be dirt!

By: Biblio

Biblio — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:13:21 -0800

It's also possible the whole "Trig is Bristol's baby" rumor was actually true.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:15:12 -0800

Already being discussed in the open Palin thread. But, I guess conversation will continue here.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:16:10 -0800

I saw this post and thought it was one of those joke news pages where you could type in someone's name and their fake crimes, but confirmed it on MSNBC and CNN. What a way to kick off the holiday weekend. Yeehaw.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:16:39 -0800

Fox News offer her a better job? Please Lord, I hope so. That's something I would pledge money to- the Put Sarah Palin On TV to Keep Her Out of the White House fund.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:16:59 -0800

I suspect that Rush is stepping down to run for president, and they need to fill his spot... and, now that I've made that joke, I've scared myself...

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:17:02 -0800

CNN stated that it had to do with focusing on her (no doubt ghost-written) book and her 2012 aspirations.

By: djduckie

djduckie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:17:14 -0800

Dear Mrs. palin, thank you for getting out of politics. now i never want to see or hear from you ever again. This is my only wish. However i do want your not-so-son-in-law Levi "Hockey" Johnson to continue to write editorials for somethingawful.com . He is way more entertaining and interesting then you will ever be.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:17:58 -0800

I am watching a tape of the press conference. Wow. She's all over the place. Hyped-up. Rambling. "The national media has been gunning for this point guard; I've had my eye on the basket all this time; it's time to pass the ball; I can do better outside of government; horrible things said about my son Trig; we need more Trigs in this world; kudos to the brave soliders in Kosovo, etc." Very strange, indeed.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:19:51 -0800

your not-so-son-in-law Levi "Hockey" Johnson ... 49 Minutes With Levi Johnston -- "In town for a few days, the most famous father in Wasilla talks about his possible TV fame and tattoo removal."

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:20:09 -0800

If journalism is the first draft of histroy, what's the first draft of journalism? This: "By leaving office early, Ms. Palin will be able to travel around the country more freely and not have to deal with the constraints of being a governor." -- New York Times That's the best you could do, NYT? Really? Dontcha think maybe if that was the reason, they wouldn't drop the bombshell announcement at 4 p.m. on a holiday Friday? There's definitely something afoot with the ethics investigations. Can't wait.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:20:29 -0800

Seriously though, she's resigning to devote all her time to footrace training.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:21:24 -0800

*fingers crossed for affair with Levi Johnston*

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:21:38 -0800

"The national media has been gunning for this point guard; I've had my eye on the basket all this time; it's time to pass the ball; Pass the ball? But you just left the game, you idiot. What the hell?

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:21:48 -0800

Quitter.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:22:20 -0800

Shorter Palin: I'm dumping this two-bit state Governorship so I can work on winning the Presidency while my wingnut base still likes me. Screw you, Alaska!

By: Krrrlson

Krrrlson — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:22:36 -0800

It's a classic trick to lure Obama out of hiding. Tomorrow, McCain will supposedly die of a heart attack. While Palin is being transported from a final press conference to her house, Obama and his goons will try to ambush her SUV, not realizing that McCain is actually the driver. Michael Steele will shield the SUV with the Republican campaign bus until Obama is out in the open, allowing for his capture by McCain and Steele. What the Republicans fail to consider, however, is that Obama has planted an explosive device inside Joe Lieberman...

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:23:33 -0800

I defer to someone more smarty than me on this, but wouldnt not finishing out her one term as Governor pretty much make a presidential bid for her poisonous? It really hurt Obama as Senator. The smiley face references the winking she did during the debates.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:25:05 -0800

It is David Letterman's fault!

By: nevercalm

nevercalm — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:25:24 -0800

July 3rd is now "Independence from Sarah Palin" day!

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:39 -0800

July 3rd is now "Independence from Sarah Palin" day! Stolen annnnnd thank you. :)

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:55 -0800

It's also possible the whole "Trig is Bristol's baby" rumor was actually true. My first thought, but "a desire to affect change outside of government" points to FOX. Also I guess the math on Bristol's baby output doesn't quite work unless she got busy on Track or whatever immediately after the first.

By: adamrice

adamrice — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:58 -0800

Oh man, I can see it now. Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck on a show together, shooting crazy-beams at guests out of their eyes. Don't cross the streams!

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:27:00 -0800

Meaning I stole it just now. Wasnt accusing you.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:27:46 -0800

I certainly can't recall any example of someone resigning their current office, much less a first-term Governorship, to run for President. Bob Dole can. Bob Dole! Bob Dole! Bob Dole.... Also, this is great news -- FOR JOHN MCCAIN!!!!!

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:27:54 -0800

It really hurt Obama as Senator. Obama didn't quit his job midway, he was promoted.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:28:25 -0800

Don't fuck up, fuck off! Hooray!

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:28:45 -0800

I get the stepping down to focus on 2012. But doing so in mid-2009? Really? It just seems so danged early. Then again, it's got its own sort of brilliance to it, in that she can remove herself from the public eye for a while. People in this country have short memories. You watch. She'll reappear in a year or so, polished and with a shiny new image, ready to ascend to the throne, and few in the GOP will remember (or they'll conveniently choose to forget) that she was such a trainwreck.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:29:34 -0800

Oh, and FWIW, Tina Fey is a lovely comedienne, but she's not half the woman my SP* is in the sack. *Special Person. ;-)

By: spalin

spalin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:29:49 -0800

i'm so darned pround of how i cleaned up alaska but now i'm gonna run for governor of metafilter so we can clean it up too

By: contessa

contessa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:30:06 -0800

Whatever the reason, it will be crazy. Because bitch is crazy.

By: Free word order!

Free word order! — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:03 -0800

The only way to stop Palin threads was to remove the source. Thanks pb!

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:16 -0800

Wow. Someone has been holding on to that spalin sock-puppet for a while.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:25 -0800

Huh. The FoxNews front page PALIN QUITS image links to a story about Michael Jackson.

By: photoslob

photoslob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:45 -0800

Let's hope there isn't a sex tape behind all of this....

By: greekphilosophy

greekphilosophy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:32:08 -0800

I kind of love that Lt. Gov. Parnell shares a last name with another SNL actor. Secret ploy for NBC to take over Alaska and let Tina Fey do the job she was born to do?

By: gman

gman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:32:23 -0800

i'm so darned pround of how i cleaned up alaska but now i'm gonna run for governor of metafilter so we can clean it up too posted by spalin You waited 8 months to say that?

By: mazola

mazola — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:32:43 -0800

Look on the bright side, if she ever becomes President she might only hold the job for a year or two until something better comes up.

By: donnagirl

donnagirl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:32:47 -0800

OK, weird, she just twittered "We'll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election... this is in Alaska's best interest, my family's happy... it is good, stay tuned" 'decision to not seek re-election' is an odd way to phrase "I quit. Now."

By: verb

verb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:33:51 -0800

Either she's running in 2012, or she's trying to capitalize on the recent Vanity Fair article and portray herself as a colossal victim.

My money's on both. My money is also on, "She did this without input from the national republican party leadership, or anyone outside of her circle of admirers." I'm no fan of Obama-is-a-genius fluffing, but the man did demonstrate that playing the long, steady game in a presidential race makes you look smart and reliable. When your opponent is behaving erratically, it's doubled. If Palin is thinking 2012 (and I think she is), I don't believe she grasps that. Short-term tactical thinking ("Control the news cycle!"), ironically, that got her the VP slot on the McCain ticket.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:35:09 -0800

Ten to one someone has offered her a primetime tv talk show.

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:35:12 -0800

She probably has a better job offer, and public service was just a ladder for her.

By: infini

infini — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:35:20 -0800

now the weird ad I saw on the Asia times website yesterday (might still be there, its the box in the middle currently showing matrimonials) makes sense - ugly flashing mortgage pig style box ad asking "click here if you like Palin" oh yes, its gonna be Palin vs Obama next, who else do the GoP have, tbh?

By: grounded

grounded — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:35:45 -0800

Wait... you can't be serious. Sarah Palin gave a press conference?

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:36:52 -0800

Andrea Mitchell is reporting on MSNBC that her sources say Palin is sick of politics and is quitting to raise her family. Mitchell also mentioned that Palin told her top backers two weeks ago that she's had it. Sorry no link yet.

By: donnagirl

donnagirl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:37:25 -0800

Huh. The FoxNews front page PALIN QUITS image links to a story about Michael Jackson. Sarah Palin killed the King of Pop.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:38:04 -0800

To be honest, I think "I QUIT" ("Why?") "I WILL TELL YOU IN AN HOUR, OR SIX" is an awesome tactic to keep the media and public on their toes into the evening news cycle (eastern time zones, at least).

By: Earl the Polliwog

Earl the Polliwog — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:38:36 -0800

Sarah Palin 2012: Hey, She Might Quit Again, Then It Wouldn't Be So Bad

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:38:41 -0800

Sarah Palin killed the King of Pop. Her work here is done.

By: SteveInMaine

SteveInMaine — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:38:48 -0800

I watched the press conference as long as I could stomach it (about 2 minutes), and the line that stuck with me is when she said "the world needs more Trigs." Maybe she's pregnant.

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:39:24 -0800

Of all the outcomes of this development, the one I hope for the most is also the least likely - that Sarah Palin just goes the fuck away and we don't have to keep hearing about her. I don't want to see her on FOX News. I don't want to see her anywhere. Just go and stay gone, Sarah. If she must stick around in the national eye, please, please, please let it be for a scandal. The timing of this news kind of has me thinking this might be the case. If she can't kill the GOP with a disastrous run in 2012, the least she can do is rip off another huge hunk of credibility on her way out the door. Wise and generous Odin, please let something horrible and embarrassing slip out over the weekend. Please let it finish off the neoconservative movement once and for all. I don't ask much of you, Allfather, but I could really use a week of fun news after all of last week's celebrity carnage. However, "effect change outside of government" sounds a hell of a lot like "focus on SarahPAC" or lobbying or some such. Smokey backroom maneuvering to further strip out the already laughably facile environmental regulations in Alaska, boosting candidates who share her terrifying worldview and all of that charming stuff. I'd be more confident in such a theory if Palin wasn't so addicted to attention. So, I guess this is all a long way of saying that nothing this horrible woman does or thinks makes any sense to me, including this bizarre, abrupt resignation. I'm tired of living in a nation where she's relevant, so please let this be Palin's quiet departure from the public eye or the prelude to a spectacular national flameout.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:39:34 -0800

Let's assume she's going to prep for 2012. Who the heck pays for it? She has a PAC and rich idiots who lurve her donate and she gets paid from that? No conflict of interest there. This latest generation of career politicians is fundamentally corrupt. Give me the good old days of rich oligarchs dabbling in civics on the side.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:39:37 -0800

News reports are that this isn't in preparation for 2012 but rather that she is done with politics, or at least running for elected office.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:39:55 -0800

Howls of celebration could be heard across Alaska...

By: lodurr

lodurr — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:41:04 -0800

my wife's been convinced from day one that Palin is probably bipolar. her first reaction is that this is the product of a manic swing.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:42:06 -0800

By: wuwei

wuwei — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:42:51 -0800

lodurr, Palin did seem a little edgy during the news conference.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:43:10 -0800

... that said, i think this probably means she nailed down* a gig at Fox. -- *Though, considering who we're talking about, I'd be willing to make a small wager that she doesn't actually have it nailed down yet, and somehow in her deluded way sees this as a way to close the deal.

By: gman

gman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:43:19 -0800

OK, weird, she just twittered "We'll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election... Is that what they call it when she speaks?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:44:06 -0800

This may actually be very bad news. As a politician, Sarah Palin is accountable. As a regular citizen, like Rush Limbaugh, you doesn't have to answer to anyone, 'cept those she chooses to answer to, which is exactly her style.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:44:20 -0800

Or maybe she'll start a TV ministry!

By: greekphilosophy

greekphilosophy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:45:12 -0800

You don resign prematurely for a big paycheck. You resign prematurely because something awful has happened or is about to happen.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:45:13 -0800

You know, Sanford did say that he had "crossed lines" with other women. And I'm sure he and Palin have been in the same gatherings on quite a few occasions the last few years. Ewww. That's the last thing politics needs right now.

By: netbros

netbros — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:12 -0800

Next up: Dancing With The Stars

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:25 -0800

The FoxNews front page PALIN QUITS image links to a story about Michael Jackson. The kid is not my son.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:50 -0800

She's resigning early to start planning for her 2012 election bid because she's a MAVERICK, and that's what MAVERICKS do, they get in there and get all MAVERICKY with it.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:47:07 -0800

This is fishy. In her own words during this announcement: "Only dead fish go with the flow." What?

By: lodurr

lodurr — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:47:30 -0800

You don resign prematurely for a big paycheck. No, I don't, and you don't. But this isn't about us.

By: found missing

found missing — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:47:33 -0800

On Wednesday, Jeopardy had a category called "Leave Brittany Alone". awesome; but what's the connection to this thread?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:48:33 -0800

"Life is about choices... I choose to work on a path for fruitfulness and productivity...Life is too short to compromise time and resources... I think a problem in our country today is apathy....only dead fish go with the flow...Productive fulfilled people know where to put their assets.... I won't do this from the governor's desk ... I've never believed anyone needs a title to do this...." *

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:48:57 -0800

I have a strong hunch that she's saving the big next-step press conference for Independence Day.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:49:35 -0800

Seriously, Mark Sanford is having a good day. Maybe not Gary-Condit-on-September-11 good, but good.

By: toxic

toxic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:50:22 -0800

Palin's full statement spins it as "I'm not seeking a second term, so rather than become a lam(er) duck, I'm handing control of this ~~trainwreck~~ state to my 2nd in command on July 26. He will be running for re-election in 2010". The context is that she didn't stand a chance to win in 2010, so to keep a Republican in power, the party machine showed her the door, in an effort to put the word "incumbent" next to their candidate in 2010. The stats show that incumbents have a significant advantage, for whatever reason. or... Someone's got something on her, and it'll stay quiet as long as she stays out of political office. Given the timing of the recent VF piece, this isn't entirely out of the question. If she turns up on Fox News's payroll or as a lobbyist, this will seem even more likely. or... She's getting ready to lay the groundwork for a national campaign. But, if the cabal at the center of the GOP really dislikes her as much as they purport to, this seems misguided. or... Someone's got something on her that's going to come out anyway, and she's just getting ahead of the problem. Me, I just want her to go away, and stay away. I care where. I don't even care why.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:52:53 -0800

Talking Points Memo has the full speech by Palin.

By: qxntpqbbbqxl

qxntpqbbbqxl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:54:17 -0800

It's just like the good old days! *sniff* How I missed her hackneyed stunts

By: john m

john m — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:54:25 -0800

"We've seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that," said John Weaver, a longtime friend and confidant of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party's presidential nominee in 2008 whose of selection of Palin catapulted the first-term Alaska governor to national prominence. *

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:55:21 -0800

For what it's worth on a day when I suspect rumour and innuedo are flying thick.

By: tula

tula — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:56:08 -0800

Guess she was all lipstick and no pitbull.

By: Kadin2048

Kadin2048 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:57:07 -0800

GuyZero: "…She has a PAC and rich idiots who lurve her donate and she gets paid from that? … Give me the good old days of rich oligarchs dabbling in civics on the side." They still are; they've just outsourced it to pros.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:57:54 -0800

When I first heard this news I thought it was a bad thing because it seemed pretty clear to me that it meant she was going to focus full time on raisin money for her PAC and her run in 2012. But if she really can't take the spotlight anymore and has decided to go back under the rock from out of which she metaphorically crawled, that would be fantastic.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:58:53 -0800

Talking Points Memo has the full speech by Palin. Video is also here.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:59:57 -0800

Listening to the TPM video, what I hear is that she has been kicked out by powers greater than her. She is phrasing it as much as possible to sound as though she is the one who has made the decision, as though she is doing this as a pro-active measure. I think that she has in no uncertain terms been told to fuck off and die. And probably that she had best do this or they will sue her ass off.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:30 -0800

She really, really, really hates the people of Iran and feels MJ dying wasn't bad enough for them?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:44 -0800

"Rumors of an 'iceberg scandal' have been circulating. Resignation is certainly out of character for Sarah Palin. Senator Mark Begich had a meeting with Sarah Palin two days ago with no mention of her leaving office. Palin's press secretary, David Murrow had posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, 'David Murrow is considering life's ironies.' He was hired less than a month ago. Yesterday he wrote, 'There's gonna be some fireworks this weekend!'" *

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:20 -0800

Ten to one someone has offered her a primetime tv talk show. I was thinking more of a sitcom for her. Maybe a role on Parks and Recreation.

By: moxiedoll

moxiedoll — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:24 -0800

That basketball shit is priceless.

By: Lizard People

Lizard People — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:30 -0800

Listening to the TPM video, what I hear is that she has been kicked out by powers greater than her. You could say that.

By: Oyéah

Oyéah — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:03:27 -0800

It's gonna be, one or a couple of things. I am going Letterman on you Mefites... 10. She is moving from Alaska, because it is North Korea's closest US target. 9. She actually thinks she will be President Of The US. 8. She took all that Republican wardrobe back, and is having a long running yard sale, and will make more money with less work, than being Governor. 7. She is pregnant with disabled twins, and has decided to terminate the pregnancy. 6. She has a better job offer, with an oil company, that will take her to Dubai. 5. Her youngest daughter is pregnant. 4. Her youngest daughter is pregnant. 3. Her youngest daughter is pregnant. 2. Both her daughters are pregnant. 1. She has been paid to vacate the Republican spotlight, for good, at any level of play, by shadow players so powerful, that she can only comply.

By: ~

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:03:30 -0800

*grabs popcorn and a seat*

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:03:31 -0800

Jeez, FOX is a cesspool on this story and CNN is useless. I'm getting better news updates and commentary right here on MeFi.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:03:48 -0800

"We'll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election... this is in Alaska's best interest, my family's happy... it is good, stay tuned'" It's obvious: the Alaskan Independence Party is ready to make their move. They are going to secede from the union on July 4th (for the symbolism) and they've asked Mrs. Palin to be Alaskan President.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:06:36 -0800

"Play her off, keyboard cat" set to the video of her resignation speech in 3... 2... 1...

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:06:54 -0800

When the AIP says they could "accept Commonwealth status," does that mean they become Britain's problem?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:08:18 -0800

The GOP really is undergoing a slow-motion implosion, isn't it?

By: photoslob

photoslob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:08:45 -0800

her first reaction is that this is the product of a manic swing. This could be post-partum related. If only she had eaten Trig's placenta.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:08:51 -0800

Pass the ball? But you just left the game, you idiot. What the hell? I expect she meant that she'd somehow accidentally ingested a basketball and she was soon going to drop it off at the pool.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:08:53 -0800

She's making a move on those recently vacated positions in infomercials or as ~~King~~ Queen of Pop.

By: opsin

opsin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:09:15 -0800

"The world needs more Trigs, not fewer." Oh, god no. It's a truly dreadful name, and the last thing we need is more of them! I would be gleeful at the fact that she's going to be out of office, but at the same time, that she apparently feels she can affect a change more effectively means she obviously has something planned, which terrifies me! Either that or she wants to get out of their before the next scandal hits. Has she done something we don't know about yet? Or is the bridge catching up with her? (Oh please, oh please, oh please!)

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:11:30 -0800

I totally agree with five fresh fish.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:12:47 -0800

I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO. SUCK IT REPUBLICANS! No politician resigns their Gubernatorial post to run for president or higher office. This is either due to serious health reasons, scandal, to avoid hard of actual hard work of governance, or to get a major payday. Or some combination of the last three. Cause Sarah sure looks healthy to me. And that is what this is. A fucking payday. She is getting a job on Fox. God bless the Republicans and their sheer Idiocratic predictability. She doesn't give two shits about doing her job or serving the people or any of that shit. She was and has always been a megalomaniacal fuck-wad. The state of Alaska is about to go down the toilet and she knows it. She did her best to put it there. Just like she ran Wasila into the ground. When the chips are down and going get's tough the modern Republican will, when they can't blame somebody else, always turn tail and run away like a little — and mean this the gender neutral pejorative sense — bitch, and secure a fat paycheck for themselves. And Sarah after you completely flame out as an untalented moron on Fuax, PLEASE, PLEASE run as a third party candidate, Sarah. Oh. Dear god please.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:13:35 -0800

The GOP really is undergoing a slow-motion implosion, isn't it? Not so slow motion.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:13:55 -0800

As she quoted Gen. MacArthur: "We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction." No disrepect to the General, but what the hell does that even mean? We are not losing. We are winning in another direction. I am not stealing. I am giving in another direction. I am not puking. I'm drinking in another direction. I'm not gay. I'm straight in another direction. I didn't crash. I backed up away from the tree at great speed... in another direction. I'm not insane. I'm differently normal. I'm not shouting! I'm whispering very loudly!

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:14:25 -0800

~~hard of~~

By: jaybeans

jaybeans — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:15:36 -0800

http://bobsworth.dreamhosters.com/keyboardcat/index.php?id=9f9YQMbQMn0&start=21

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:16:15 -0800

darkstar: "The GOP really is undergoing a slow-motion implosion, isn't it?" Is there anything that we can do to help them speed things up a little?

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:20:29 -0800

Watching her resignation speech, I can't help but go back to my initial asessment of her. She's crazy and stupid. Taking her seriously as a viable candidate on the national stage is delusional. My guess is that even if she had never been picked for VP, she wouldn't have finished out her term as Governor.At the time she was picked by McCain, there was already ample evidence that she was not up to the job of running a state. If anything the national attention probably bought her a few extra months.

By: jaybeans

jaybeans — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:20:45 -0800

My overeagerness made me jump the gun. Here's a proper link: Keyboard cat

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:20:52 -0800

God, I don't know. I want very, very much to believe there's an epic scandal motivating this crazy-assed move, but my money is on an early but seriously calculated bid for the presidency. Seriously. In spite of her many, many shortcomings, one of the things I recall from the bio info we got last year is that she's a tenacious overachiever. She had, what, 48 hours to prep for the vp nomination? Most career politicians spend months or even years preparing for that kind of exposure. Can you imagine if she's actually planning on spending the next 12-18 months with a tight crew of political tutors and image consultants, out of the sight and mind of the press and public? What it would be like if she reemerged, Eliza Doolittle-like, to suddenly be this smart, charming politician who genuinely knows her shit? I mean, I really want to believe that she's an unstable moron, but it would be foolish, I think to underestimate her. She got her ass handed to her last year, but even a moron can see how ridiculously popular she was with a whole bunch of people; arguably more popular than the guy to whom she was supposed to be playing second chair. I wouldn't put it past her to pull a political phoenix move, frankly. But I hope like hell I'm completely wrong.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:20:54 -0800

If there's one thing that would assist her in 2012, it's having less experience. She's not running and so she quit. She's an ambitious woman who's always had her eye on a bigger prize and has done everything she can to get there. She finally hit a wall. Someone got through to her and made it clear she has nowhere to go but down, so she's quitting instead of stagnating in a position that she always saw as a stepping stone. My guess is that this is the first time she's listened to someone outside her circle of enablers. Doesn't mean she followed their advice, but she figured out that only in her head was she viable in 2012, or ever.

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:21:31 -0800

Who the heck pays for it? She has a PAC and rich idiots who lurve her donate and she gets paid from that? The "Christianists" among us who want to see more God in government. She's their dog in this fight, compared to the other Republican front-runners. Well, her and Huckabee.

By: shadow vector

shadow vector — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:21:50 -0800

Well, nothing is certain yet, but if in fact this horrible woman's chances of one day assuming the Presidency have now dropped from 0.0001% to zero, we should all raise a glass to the Republic. Its future has brightened considerably.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:22:03 -0800

Is there anything that we can do to help them speed things up a little? Pass Universal Health Care, Card Check, Diffuse Iran or Korea purely with diplomacy, stimulate the economy, enact tougher enviromental and financial regulation....

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:24:33 -0800

Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, dooonnnneeeee

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:24:54 -0800

Keep in mind that she's still in legal debt from the numerous ethics complaints against her; she didn't raise anywhere near the cool half-mill in bills that she has outstanding. That big paycheck that she's supposed to get from her ghost-written "memoirs" will probably be a one-shot deal; it will have to last for a long time. Her in-state popularity has nowhere to go but down. And I think that she's just smart enough to know that it's a hell of a long time, politically speaking, to the 2012 GOP convention. All it will take will be another [yuppie-spawn-sport-du-jour] mom who can talk in a down-home accent a little more coherently, and has a tighter leash on their pubescent spawn, and all of a sudden her sell-by date has come and gone (if it hasn't already with this semi-coherent rant of hers). There will be only so many times that she can get away with shoving her kids in front of the camera, then whining that some yahoo has made fun of them, before even her most rabid supporters get tired of that shtick too. Her chances of expanding beyond her base are slim to nil, as there are too many GOP people who are genuinely alarmed about her gaining the Oval Office or being one heartbeat away from it; say what you will about Reagan or W, they rewarded loyalty among their handlers and cronies, but Palin's political path is too cluttered with former staffers and allies that she kicked to the curb when it became convenient or they offended her in some trivial way. I think that the unexpected traction of the Vanity Fair article--which really didn't have anything particularly new or interesting to say--rattled her. She's getting out while the getting's good.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:25:08 -0800

America's Lil' Hitler, mark my words.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:27:11 -0800

Okay, so which GOP celebrity will be NEXT week's trainwreck? (And as much as it astonishes me, Keyboard Cat is STILL awesome.)

By: jsonic

jsonic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:28:10 -0800

Palin's political stances on the issues aren't really different from her fellow conservative GOPers, yet people who dislike her really HATE Palin in a way that they don't hate other Republicans. I see a very similar hate for Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton that exceeds the hate their opponents have for other Democrats. Regardless of one's political stance, there's something very disturbing about the unrestrained personal hatred for these ladies.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:28:32 -0800

Ms Palin has never been a serious threat except to the degree that she represents the prototype for what the next genuine Republican threat shall be. In other words, she's the (Dan Quayle), who was far too moronic for even the Democrats to lose an election to, to some future George W Bush, a moron they lost to twice. But what do I know? I'm Canadian ... but I can see America from my kitchen, as long as there's not too much smog.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:30:59 -0800

Keep in mind that she's still in legal debt from the numerous ethics complaints against her; she didn't raise anywhere near the cool half-mill in bills that she has outstanding. That would explain why she mentions how Alaska is flushing millions of dollars. She substitutes "Alaska" for her own self, time and again.

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:31:39 -0800

Regardless of one's political stance, there's something very disturbing about the unrestrained personal hatred for these ladies. Actually, in this case, I'm leaning toward how there may just be something very disturbing about this particular lady.

By: opsin

opsin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:31:59 -0800

If it does turn out that she's basically finished, and off the global (hellm even local) political scene, I will be first to start singing 'ding-dong, the witch is dead'.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:32:31 -0800

<> Oh Sarah, You've got some es'palin to do! <> My money is not the Nat. Enquirer story about Track hitting the Oxy hard. And not for bad skin ifyouknowwhatImean.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:33:30 -0800

apparently metafilter strips out the little used but occasionally neccessary /rickyricardo.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:33:49 -0800

One thing that has always struck me about Obama is that he seems to be the right person at the right time for America. Following on the heels of the disastrous Bush administration, it's almost like Obama was custom made to try and clean up the mess. Imagine if Gore or Kerry were President, Obama would be seen as an excellent future choice, because shit wouldn't have got as bad as it did. Palin seems like the same sort of person, but on the opposite end. Should America be in the mood that it was at the end of the Carter administration, I'd fully expect to see Palin on the scene and winning. Her ra, ra, ra speech style would work well in that situation.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:33:54 -0800

Palin's political stances on the issues aren't really different from her fellow conservative GOPers, yet people who dislike her really HATE Palin in a way that they don't hate other Republicans. Actually, not so for me. I do have a little sympathy for Palin, because she's obviously risen to her level of incompetence. And she may be a bit unhinged, I don't know. But she's obviously the example of an archetype I'm well familiar with: the good old boy that could bloviate a bit and so got in way over his head. I reserve much stronger feelings of actual loathing for people like Gingrich, Inhofe and others who are surely "competent" and intelligent, but grossly wrong and hypocritical, etc.

By: JohnR

JohnR — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:35:16 -0800

Who wants to be Governor, when you can be the antichrist. This involves money and tv.

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:35:20 -0800

I will be first to start singing 'ding-dong, the witch is dead'. I don't hold hostility to Palin at all. She is the perfect embodiment of the political hopes of millions of Americans. Largely mis-educated dumbasses, yes, but they think they know what's right for them & their country.

By: GilloD

GilloD — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:37:03 -0800

Finding out someone likes Sarah Palin is like finding out they have Herpes. It doesn't really change who they are, it just makes them. Different.

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:37:13 -0800

But she's obviously the example of an archetype I'm well familiar with: the good old boy that could bloviate a bit and so got in way over his head.

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:38:27 -0800

I really want to believe that she's an unstable moron, but it would be foolish, I think to underestimate her. I totally understand where this sentiment comes from, but really....no. Go back and look at the election. She was not that popular. She was exciting. not the same thing. Remember how the homemade signs people were holding up at the convention were immediately proven to be fake? Remember how the "larger crowds" she brought to McCain' campaign consisted the complete bottom-of-the barrell wingnut dregs of The far right, none of whom had any political capital? Remember the complete and total political ass-handing-to that The Obama campaign dished out to the GOP? Feel free to Underestimate away. To extend her hoop metaphor, She scored a flashy 3-pointer with her speech at the convention, and every other shot has clanged awkardly off the rim.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:38:31 -0800

Bananarama has a comment.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:39:19 -0800

You silly deluded Mefites. Sarah Palin's bizarrely timed resignation is just a long, long string of efforts on behalf of the universe. Haven't you been paying attention? First, they killed Ed McMahon. That didn't do it, so SC Gov. Mark Sanford gets caught with his Argentinean mistress and whole tawdry downfall. Sanford didn't do it, so Farrah Fawcett had to go. Then, the King of Pop himself... complete with ensuing worldwide media deluge. The purpose of this latest WTF media moment is just to put the icing on the cake, and completely seal the deal -- insuring that nobody ever again has to pay a whit of attention to Kate Gosselin and her child-whoring, attention-seeking, media spectacle self. Who + Who + Whatever, amirite?

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:40:31 -0800

Regardless of one's political stance, there's something very disturbing about the unrestrained personal hatred for these ladies. I see what you did there. You simultaneously conflated and addled brained moron like Palin in with competent intelligent and shrewed experienced politicians like Pelosi and Clinton with an effort to make it see like anybody who recognizes Palin for the abject cynical failure of so-called conservative principles as some sort of pathological sexist. Yeah. Well. BZZZZZZZZZT. Try again.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:40:33 -0800

Either she's running in 2012, or she's trying to capitalize on the recent Vanity Fair article and portray herself as a colossal victim. Or, less likely and even better, someone's got something on her and it's coming out any minute.... posted by nevercalm at 4:01 PM She just couldn't stand not being on the front page of Metafilter.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:43:38 -0800

allen.spaulding: "Doesn't mean she followed their advice, but she figured out that only in her head was she viable in 2012, or ever." I agree she's a long shot (for now) but I don't think she's that much of a long shot. To land the Rep nomination, at least. Look, McCain lost, but I think few people honestly believe that whatever support the ticket had had nothing whatsoever to do with Palin's involvement. She's clearly incapable, but remember that "low-information voters" are most voters, and that the American system of primaries (and comparatively endless campaigns) helps facilitate the "vote for a person, not policies" effect. Moreover I feel people are generally rather bad at evaluating future events, or speculating on what might happen. You know, in the way that people imagine a series of random coin flips to contain much fewer streaks than an actual series of coin flips will usually have. If you don't believe me: it's July 2005. I predict that in four years, a black dude will be president and gay people will be able to get married in Iowa, but not California. Seem likely?

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:45:21 -0800

"I'd say she picked the holiday weekend because she wanted no news competition. " She picked the holiday weekend to bury the story, because some other news cycle will overtake her story by Monday. That's the only reason someone releases news like this on a Friday of a holiday weekend, or even just a Friday afternoon on a regular weekend. The Bush administration did it a lot. Obama does it, too. It's a very old, well-tested strategy, and she may be many things, but Sarah Palin is not ignorant about political strategy. She may not be all that good at it sometimes, but she does study it.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:45:22 -0800

I really want to believe that she's an unstable moron, but it would be foolish, I think to underestimate her. Since when do powerful morons NOT leave swaths of destruction in their idiotic wake? History is rife with examples of morons that excell at nothing but personal ambition. It doesn't take brains. Just stupider people to do what you say. And there is no shortage of them in this world. Nobody is underestimating her capacity to reap wrath and ruin. Except perhaps the Republican party.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:46:34 -0800

You won't have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore...

By: jayder

jayder — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:47:22 -0800

As I pointed out last November, Jack Balkin predicted that Sarah Palin would end up as a talk show host. (The prediction is at the very end of the blog entry I linked to.)

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:47:38 -0800

I'm with tkchrist. If ever a field was made in which powerful morons could succeed, it's politics.

By: FireballForever

FireballForever — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:48:37 -0800

i'm so darned pround of how i cleaned up alaska but now i'm gonna run for governor of metafilter so we can clean it up too posted by spalin I want my five dollars back.

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:48:48 -0800

The truth is, a nice little one family rambler just became available in Galt's Gulch, and the Palins thought this was a perfect time for them to disappear from the scene. We'll all be sorry when whatever important thing it was they did grinds to a halt.

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:48:57 -0800

I am watching this video of this speech and wondering if I did not accidentally drink a pint glass worth of liquid DMT a couple minutes ago.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:49:58 -0800

If she runs in 2012 the primaries are going to eat her alive. The quitter. The one term governor and mayor who ran away from her states problems. The 2008 Presidential VP nominee who threw her running mate under the bus and lost to a Black liberal with a funny name. Yup. Palin the Quitter. Oh god. PLEASE. Make it so.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:50:08 -0800

I would think that a talk show (on Fox, presumably) would doom whatever chances of a future campaign she has left. They used her very carefully in the last campaign, never putting her in situations where she could mess up too badly. With a talk show, there would be hours and hours and hours collected in which she mangles questions, answers, and generally says very very foolish things. It would be like an ammo store for her future opponents. No, if she's "preparing" for a 2012 run, that just means aerobics and botox.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:50:09 -0800

Guess she was all lipstick and no pitbull. Snap!

By: mistersquid

mistersquid — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:51:08 -0800

At 4:24:

These troops and their important missions, now there is where truly the worthy causes are in this world and that's where our public resources should be, our public priority. We have time and resources spent on that, not on this superficial, wasteful, political bloodsport. So may we all learn from them. Really we just gotta put first things first, and first thing's first, as governor, I love my job and I love Alaska and it hurts to make this choice but I'm doing what's best for Alaska and I have explained why.

Something is in the works (reference to "political bloodsport") and the news will be bad enough to damage some of her political allies. The comment "So may we all learn from them" is a call out so pathetic it's unlikely to move the conscience of even the most sympathetic of opponents. I have no idea what Palin has involved herself in that requires her to resign so abruptly, but my guess is she violated one or another of the sacred neocon doctrines. My shadenfreude longshot fantasy is that at some point she did not "choose life".

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:51:20 -0800

Afroblanco: "What kind of a name is Trig anyway? I mean, that's just retarded." You know what, I feel I have to call you out on that. I think Sarah Palin is as politically contemptible as the next guy would, and her children sure have crazy names, but they didn't ask for their names, or to have Down syndrome. Some here will know I have a deep aversion to what I sometimes perceive as overly PC tendencies, but I strongly doubt that if Joe Biden had a kid with Down syndrome and you'd make the same joke here it would be received in quite the same way.

By: johnj

johnj — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:55:08 -0800

Andrea Mitchell saying people close to Palin tell her she is done with politics

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:55:14 -0800

"I have no idea what Palin has involved herself in that requires her to resign so abruptly, but my guess is she violated one or another of the sacred neocon doctrines. My shadenfreude longshot fantasy is that at some point she did not 'choose life'." I think they told her to lay low and stop attracting so much negative attention, and when she refused they offered her a shot at the nomination in 2012 if she would just go away for a while.

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:55:22 -0800

posted by tkchrist Yup. Palin the Quitter. Oh god. PLEASE. Make it so. Possible slogan: Failin' Palin or Failin' & Bailin' Palin

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:55:42 -0800

Aw, what am I going to do with all these Palin pancakes?

By: found missing

found missing — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:56:43 -0800

I agree with goodnewsforthe... wtf? Hey, you do realize that some people actually are insane, right? They might not appreciate your tongue in cheek username.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:57:06 -0800

In the Sanford thread, many of us wondered - after Jindal, Ensign and Sanford - which other GOP 2012 hopeful would shoot themselves in the foot with erratic or unethical behavior. I didn't seriously expect we'd only have to wait a week to get our answer.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:58:09 -0800

Toodle-oo Barbie!

By: josher71

josher71 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:58:11 -0800

You know what, I feel I have to call you out on that. I think Sarah Palin is as politically contemptible as the next guy would, and her children sure have crazy names, but they didn't ask for their names, or to have Down syndrome. Some here will know I have a deep aversion to what I sometimes perceive as overly PC tendencies, but I strongly doubt that if Joe Biden had a kid with Down syndrome and you'd make the same joke here it would be received in quite the same way. Can't favorite this one enough.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:58:47 -0800

So just saw this on Twitter: CamiloATWcom follow friday alaska governor sarah palin gets caught cheating read the story on http://www.aroundtheway.com/ I don't know what that web site is (can't see any story myself) and i don't really get what follow friday is, and no one else seems to be saying this. But it would explain it.

By: jsavimbi

jsavimbi — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:59:24 -0800

Jack Balkin predicted that Sarah Palin would end up as a talk show host Did he also predict the death of Billy Mays? This is all very fishy. Even for Alaskans.

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:00:59 -0800

Listening to the speech as I write... Oh this is painful - the pauses, the machine gun phrasing, sprinkled with buzzwords, and what appears to me to be the most insincere smile ever. She really appears to be in pain herself, and is putting on her game face. If she has been offered a job at Fox, she isn't very happy about it. Oh man, yeah, this speech is just plain awful. There are schizophrenic crackheads that are more coherent. Oh God make her stop

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:01:18 -0800

Hey, you do realize that some people actually are insane, right? They might not appreciate your tongue in cheek username. Everybody needs some good news now and then. Even those who aren't neurotypical.

By: mazola

mazola — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:02:15 -0800

So just saw this on Twitter: CamiloATWcom follow friday alaska governor sarah palin gets caught cheating read the story on http://www.aroundtheway.com/ FWIW this is also on Twitter: Late breaking news: rumor is that Sarah Palin has resigned so she can seek custody of (and name-changes for) Michael Jackson's kids.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:02:25 -0800

Whatever topic trends on Twitter, If only I had a penguin..., spammers will attach to their comments to drive people to their Web site. This one has a photo of Palin under "gossip," but, if you click on it, demands you register to read the story.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:05:37 -0800

I'm very interested as to what her motivations are for quitting but to all of those who think "surely this will be the end of her", really, beware of confirmation bias. Remember that the Democrats are in charge and will be for the foreseeable future, and the Republicans are electorally somewhat marginalized (but not as much as progressives love to think). It's not 2008 anymore. In some very real ways the climate is ripe for a Republican saviour story. "But you quit!"? Good point, but don't underestimate the amount of time between July '09 and Iowa '12: in a way, the timing is excellent. Throw in whatever she does in the next couple of years and a couple of convincing talking points to counter the quitter talk and bam, she may show up in a cape and her underwear outside of her pants, and set out to save America's Values or whatever in the face of the Big Govt Dem maelstrom. Elected president? Doubtful, but who knows. Don't write her off just yet, as good as it might feel. (This is all contingent on what her (publicly stated) motivation turns out to be, of course.)

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:06:40 -0800

I totally understand where this sentiment comes from, but really....no. Go back and look at the election. She was not that popular. She was exciting. not the same thing. Exactly. Yeah hype and popularity are not the same. She was in a way an internet candidate... targeted to a special niche. But that niche has always been a very narrow, if highly motivated, group. I think they realized it was a short lived spike when thier own usually disciplined apparatchiks stared dissing on her in those supposed unscripted "oops my mike is still on" moments. Remember? Peggy Noonan? It was only after a couple of days they scrambled to broaden her appeal to the old guard types. And it never took. Now the narrative is the Republicans never liked McCain. Which is HILARIOUS. War hero. POW. White guy. Hot wife. Hawk. Are you KIDDING me? No. The niche wingnuts who LOVED an incompetent boob like GW never liked McCain. McCain had the flaw of actually possessing a scintilla of integrity. It was Palin who killed the republicans and she'll do it again. Oh cognitive dissonance, is nothing you cannot do?

By: mazola

mazola — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:07:45 -0800

Does anyone have an English translation of the press conference yet?

By: FireballForever

FireballForever — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:08:36 -0800

Palin is still being a MAVERICK. This speech, it is not speeching as usual!

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:08:58 -0800

Here's a 2007 list of Republicans who have resigned office. None of them left to do more good outside of office, or because they were offered tony jobs with FOX news. It was all scandal, scandal, scandal. Occam's Razor says: scandal here too.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:09:14 -0800

If she is, in fact, getting a news anchor or commentator job, that might be a huge mistake for her. She'll need to at least fake like she knows and understands what she's talking about - frequently extemporaneously. When she's been allowed to speak off-the-cuff - and this press conference sounds like its pure off-the-cuff Palin - she comes across as incoherent. Two years of listening to her fail to string coherent sentences together are not going to help her. Two years of prudent and successful government would have helped her.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:09:38 -0800

Aah..thanks Astro Zombie. I'm too naive. That explains it.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:10:36 -0800

But I so hoped it was true just for the entertainment value. Anyway, hopefully the tweet Joey posted about Palin and MJs kids is true.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:11:13 -0800

Xoebe: "Oh this is painful - the pauses, the machine gun phrasing, sprinkled with buzzwords, and what appears to me to be the most insincere smile ever. She really appears to be in pain herself, and is putting on her game face. " You... haven't seen Governor Palin speak before? ;)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:11:18 -0800

Her statement says she's spent a half-mill defending herself on the ethics violation charges. In that context, I think it is very likely that she has been found with her hand in the cookie jar and has been told she needs to step down immediately. She has been kicked out and might be on the hook for some huge amounts of money. When she says she can do better operating outside the bounds of government, she means it's easier to steal when one isn't bound by laws.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:11:23 -0800

Some here will know I have a deep aversion to what I sometimes perceive as overly PC tendencies, but I strongly doubt that if Joe Biden had a kid with Down syndrome and you'd make the same joke here it would be received in quite the same way. Oh relax. Or don't relax -- you seem to enjoy having conniptions over my little joke that so offended your sensibilities. Go off and enjoy your favorites. You can thank me later for the assist.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:12:28 -0800

From Sadly, No! "Mitt Romney is popping champagne as we speak." I like to think Romney allowed himself a single, near imperceptable upwark jerk of his Zygomaticus major and minor, myself.

By: mygoditsbob

mygoditsbob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:12:35 -0800

So quitting her position of public trust will position her for a run for a position of greater public trust in 2012...that's just not going to fly. I guess we won't have Sarah to kick around any more.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:13:15 -0800

This is a mediocre (at best) politician from family that's not that well off, financially. She's staring at a lot of negative publicity that evidently she takes very personally (see her response to Letterman). And I really don't think she enjoys or thrives in the policy wonk arena. Plus, her poll numbers are loking bad in Alaska and GOP party insiders are making it clear that it's a toxic environment in her own party. I don't think she's totally stupid, really. She can read the writing on the wall and can see that it's not going to be a pretty picture if she tries to stay in the political spotlight. On the other hand, if she resigns now, she can earn a metric buttload of money - her family will finally be wealthy and her children will want for nothing, materially - if she resigns now at the height of her popularity. She'll make a million dollars a year on the speech circuit alone. I think she's canny enough to be able to weigh the options and see that there are far, far better things for her and her family if she's not Governor.

By: josher71

josher71 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:14:02 -0800

Afroblanco, do you think goodnewsfortheinsane is wrong in his assertion?

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:14:49 -0800

I dunno. That, even by her standards, was a rambling, blithering, incomprehensible, meandering, aimless speech. she repeated herself, didn't say why she was quitting, then twice said "I've already said why" and even descended more quickly into sports analogies than your average sportscaster, then flubbed those. She struck me as incredibly tense, flustered and a little scared. I have no idea why -- just an impression from someone who watched her give an awful lot of speeches last fall. Personally, I like the Mark Sanford theory, but only on grounds of general salaciousness. What an awesome implosion this has been, any old way.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:15:47 -0800

Can I suggest that the "are retard jokes funny" discussion might be better suited to MeTa.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:16:14 -0800

Also, I'm glad she had the good sense to line up her family in ascending order by size at the press conference.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:17:31 -0800

Oh jesus, not a MeTa thread. I actually have shit to do today. OKAY, I APOLOGIZE FOR MY JOKE WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY. I WILL NOW STOP OPPRESSING THE MENTALLY DISABLED AND/OR REPUBLICAN, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH ALL I DO THESE DAYS. So we can end this now, right?

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:18:04 -0800

Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend. That's when she decides to announce this. Nah, there's no scandal brewing. Nothing to see here. Move along. Man, this is gonna be GREAT. *pours a tall cool glass of schadenfreude, relaxes in hammock, waits for fireworks*

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:19:32 -0800

FWIW, a CNN / Opinion Research poll (phone, n=1,010, margin of error 4.5% -- they seem to run it every couple of months) from early June showed Huckabee, Palin and Romney essentially tied for top 2012 Republican candidate.

By: jabberjaw

jabberjaw — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:19:48 -0800

Oddly enough the first thing that came to mind was scientology.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:20:17 -0800

Until further information, I'm going with the theory that she's moving to media. "Done with politics" and getting away from "politics as usual" hint that she's going to have a role as a political commentator, aiding Fox or a similar outlet in painting the current administration as socialistic, misguided, and fiscally irresponsible. She wouldn't have to have the burden of a complete show to run - and that's wise, because she's a shockingly bad extemporaneous speaker, and because even people who like her would go mad hearing her vocal delivery style at length - in fact, as a commentator, she could be completely scripted and rehearsed and still appear every night. She'd be able to spin her departure from the governor's office as a truly independent and ethical person's rejection of a fundamentally corrupt system, and she'd have a few years to hammer that message into American living rooms before announcing her 2012 candidacy. That could be a pretty brilliant strategy, overall. I'd be very surprised if Palin hasn't been accosted by political consultants eager to remake her image since last November. I think there are those who see her as a viable property that didn't get the right packaging from a McCain campaign. If this is "Go rogue, go to the media, build a base, then get back into politics as a legitimized 'outsider' and exploit your name recognition' - then I can't say it's a crazy plan. But they must never, ever let her go off book. I'll be really interested to see what the reasons are, but this doesn't smell like scandal. Media is the likeliest explanation.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:20:48 -0800

Change is EFFECTED. Sarah Palin is affected Greetings from Alaska, where this is anyone is talking about. I'll pass on the best gossip later.

By: josher71

josher71 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:20:58 -0800

Afroblanco, Yes.

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:21:08 -0800

Can I suggest that the "are retard jokes funny" discussion might be better suited to MeTa. No way, man. Everybody over there is crazy.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:21:42 -0800

Quit being a Palin, Afroblanco.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:22:17 -0800

I don't get the "moving to a commentator job" theory. She's a very bad extemporaneous speaker. She'd be awful as a talking head.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:22:48 -0800

Also, I'm glad she had the good sense to line up her family in ascending order by size at the press conference. [singing] So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodni-ight Our mom's a ditz, her ponytail's too ti-ight

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:23:10 -0800

"The stats show that incumbents have a significant advantage, for whatever reason." Inertia.

By: gofargogo

gofargogo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:23:26 -0800

Let's say I'm Fox News, or a cabal (NOT CABALIST) of rich right-wing media financiers. And then let's say that I'm feeling nervous that Limbaugh/Hannity etc are not having the political impact they used to, they're only speaking to their base and most rational opposition won't even talk to them anymore. What I'd need is a MAVERICK (tm)! A maverick who can start campaigning for 2012, today! Well, tomorrow, cause that would be patriotic. And then spend the next 3 years campaigning against obama. Wouldn't cost too much, because you're not actually trying to get Palin elected, just keep her in the national political eye. Kinda like what Cheney was doing, but nobody likes Cheney, at least with Palin it would get covered on TMZ and the like...Then you could start a reality show covering the whole thing called Road to the Right House.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:24:12 -0800

Yep ... she is a quitter. She's leaving office during a time when Alaska is facing challenges. If she's leaving to remake herself, so as to pursue national office in 2012, she's one selfish person. A true leaders leads ... during flush times; during difficult times.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:24:33 -0800

[singing] So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodni-ight Our mom's a ditz, her ponytail's too ti-ight She didn't have confidence in confidence alone.

By: graventy

graventy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:25:55 -0800

OH MAN PLEASE tell me that this is a misguided attempt at preparing for a run in 2012, and after a long weekend of political advisers telling her that resigning is the worst possible thing she could do politically she rolls up to a podium Monday and announces that it was all an Independence Day joke and of course she wouldn't resign and good golly we got work to do in Alaska.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:27:17 -0800

Andrea Mitchell: "She has told her supporters she is out of politics, period." [video | 01:03]

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:30:56 -0800

I think she is desperately trying to avoid being bankrupted by a lawsuit caused by her or her husband engaging in criminal activities while she was Governor. She can see the lawsuit coming down the pike, and understands that being a criminal politician is liable to end up costing her much more than if she is merely a criminal private citizen. What she doesn't understand is that she can't dodge actions committed while she was Governor by not being Governor when the lawsuit is started: she is on the hook for what was done while she was in power, regardless her current status. Alternatively, the GOP Powers That Be have seen this coming down the pike, and are desperately distancing the party from the lawsuit that will be headlining next week's news. They've pushed her off the boat in hopes of saving their sinking ship. I am confident this has nothing to do with getting a media job and nothing to do with 2012 plans. Listen to the speech several times and read the statement on her government website. This is all about the ethics probes.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:31:52 -0800

"She has told her supporters she is out of politics, period." And Brett Farve is done with football.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:32:52 -0800

No, no, no, no....if she wanted a stab at running for President she would continue to serve the state and then announce she was not seeking a second term-- just as Romney did. It makes zero sense to just up and quit the job she was elected to-- this is breaking the contract she made with the voters. They elected her and she promised to do the job. Perhaps being Governor is just no fun for her anymore. She never liked doing the real work-- she had a city manager come in to do the actual job when she was elected Mayor of Wasilla. Sarah doesn't like the "facts and figures" and hard shit like that. She likes smiling and waving, the eternal beauty pageant contestant. I think Sarah's dream job is probably First Lady-- being photographed in stylish clothing, showing off the kids, giving away her secret recipe for perfect Moose stew. The problem is that Todd is not Presidential material. So if I had to guess, I think there might be a job with FOX-- but it will have to be seriously dumbed down for her. Not a nightly deal (too much to memorize) but possibly a weekly thing. She could probably manage a half-hour scripted interview/editorial to be read off a teleprompter.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:34:06 -0800

She's a very bad extemporaneous speaker. She'd be awful as a talking head. She's actually not a bad speaker, she's just ignorant. By that I mean, she can string words together competently enough, but she doesn't have any command of the actual theories and facts behind the platitudes she repeats. That really matters not a whit for a talk show host though. Put her in a Bill O'Reilly style show, where she controls the mics and guests, etc, she'd have no problems.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:34:14 -0800

Two years of listening to her fail to string coherent sentences together are not going to help her. Two years of prudent and successful government would have helped her. Yeah, like that was possible.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:34:32 -0800

a ~~MAVERICK~~ STUPID COW (tm)! A ~~maverick~~ stupid cow who can start campaigning for 2012, today! synonymized that for you.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:34:50 -0800

This cannot be a setup for a run for President. The only thing she had going for her was that she was an actual sitting governor, now she won't even have that. It's more likely that the tumble in oil prices is going to mean massive massive deficits for Alaska because the moron took all the windfall surplus oil profits and gave it back as tax breaks (where have we seen this disastrous move before?) so now she's going to do what she does best - create massive debt making herself popular then run like hell when the waiter comes with the bill. It's more likely that Fox has offered her millions to be the latest shepherd to lead the flock against their own interests in rallies for the corporate agenda du jour.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:35:20 -0800

I think she's canny enough to be able to weigh the options and see that there are far, far better things for her and her family if she's not Governor. Sure. Which she could do in less than a year when her term is up. And if she actually finished her term and completed her, ahem, initiatives, she would be in a much, much, much, better position to leverage herself for nearly any other career. At least in a long term sense. But 'ol Sarah has never been much of a strategerist. It doesn't make sense just to shoot for a payday right this second unless there is something pressuring her to leave office to make her desperate for that payday. It's seems like too big a gamble.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:35:22 -0800

I totally want this thread in my Recent Activity.

By: peacay

peacay — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:35:50 -0800

I guess it doesn't have to be a single thing. Ethics scandal plus being fed up with the recent press plus poll numbers plus belief that Obama is locked in until '16. Maybe she does have a/some fox gig(s) and she can help bring out the ghosted book and maybe she's keeping half an eye on having a crack at the senate seat - is that next year? So she can set up for the future tilt at prez. But impending scandal or impeachment that she can't plow through in the usual lying manner are the most likely reasons I guess. More than the Internet candidate, SP is the reality show contestant.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:36:34 -0800

I'm picturing kind of a show like The Factor, but with a more 'female' touch. Lots of glurge-y human interest stories about how jesus cured someone's planter's warts or whatever mixed with scare stories about how democrats and gays and immigrants are destroying traditional american culture. Just make it all about Guns, God and Gays and she's in her comfort zone.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:36:37 -0800

I think she's canny enough ENOUGH WITH THE SEXISM srsly.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:38:47 -0800

Ladies and gents, I present to you ... white Oprah. You heard it here first. Well, actually, you heard it from Tiny Fey on SNL. But I think that's what will really happen.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:39:53 -0800

I've listened to her speech several times, and I think it can best be summed up thus:

“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”

She is nearly incoherent. It's a stream-of-consciousness babble that most of the time is devoid of grammar and meaning.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:41:19 -0800

Like iamkimiam, my Recent Activity just isn't ...recent enough And for the record, I don't see a talk show. I see a sit-com. "That's So Palin!" wherein each episode revolves around a family conflict solved with conservative homilies.

By: saturnine

saturnine — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:41:28 -0800

I present to you ... white Oprah. Dina Lohan will be really mad if this turns out to be true.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:42:25 -0800

Based on that speech, I'm thinking she was forced out.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:42:50 -0800

I present to you ... white Oprah. I never thought I'd say this, but: You're not watching enough Tyra. Palin is waaay more Tyra. Oprah's at least superficially non-judgmental.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:44:17 -0800

Ladies and gents, I present to you ... white Oprah. Hmmm yes, except that: a) Oprah can speak intelligently and clearly b) Oprah can listen and respond to what was actually said Sadly, Palin has neither of these skills.

By: gac

gac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:44:30 -0800

solved with conservative homilies I am picturing a segment at the end where some key characters from the episode break the fourth wall to teach a lesson, G.I. Joe style. "And knowing (wink) is half the battle!"

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:44:50 -0800

Oh oh oh! can we lock Tyra and Palin in a room together and just film the rest? We can run it every July 4th!

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:45:51 -0800

Self-nitpick: I see the poll I mentioned was conducted in May but released in June

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:46:05 -0800

she can string words together competently enough I disagree; not without a script. She produces speech that has the quality of sounding like she's stringing words together competently - singsongy and animated and definitely holds one's attention - but when you read the transcripts, you don't find many complete sentences. When you do, they're run-ons. And they are composed of words and phrases which don't represent a comprehensive framework in which the ideas fit. None of that would be a problem if she were in a scripted role.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:46:19 -0800

I am picturing a segment at the end where some key characters from the episode break the fourth wall to teach a lesson, G.I. Joe style. "And knowing (wink) is half the battle!" Can it also be a variety show with republican stars singing slightly altered showtunes? "I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say No (To Less Taxation!)"

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:48:07 -0800

I WILL NOW STOP OPPRESSING THE MENTALLY DISABLED AND/OR REPUBLICAN Afroblanco, I feel I have to call you out on that redundancy.

By: jamstigator

jamstigator — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:49:06 -0800

I'm guessing a scandal discovered by another Republican, who told Palin that eventually a liberal will discover [unknown_scandal] too, soooo....get out. Now. Or something like that. But since I can't just blame this on a random unknown person or event, and since Sarah Palin can probably see it from her bathroom, I blame....CANADA! Blame Canada! *Queue South Park music*

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:51:15 -0800

I think she's canny enough ENOUGH WITH THE SEXISM srsly. Was that sarcasm? It's so hard to tell on the Blue, sometimes I'm assuming it's sarcasm, since you just posted a comment calling her a "stupid cow".

By: fcummins

fcummins — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:51:18 -0800

I don't want this woman to disappear! I like watching her. I love her speeches. Man, her video conference is unbelievable. I think I may have a crush. ouch

By: palliser

palliser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:51:32 -0800

I can't understand what she's saying. I can never understand what she's saying. Her speech patterns are, for me, in the uncanny valley of language. It's so disturbing to hear English words, arranged according (mostly) to English rules of grammar, but with no meaning to me. It's a facsimile of language, but not so cartoonish a facsimile ("blah blah blah," for instance) that it's clearly meant to be a facsimile. It's like I'm in a dream where people are speaking, and it seems to be English, but I can't understand them. Like I've had a traumatic brain injury and can no longer parse language for meaning. It's terrible to me to listen to her.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:51:56 -0800

I hope she didn't pay David Frum too much to write that speech for her.

By: PuppyCat

PuppyCat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:52:32 -0800

She wore that outfit during the campaign. Must be out of mis-appropriated funds.

By: fcummins

fcummins — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:53:31 -0800

Metafilter: the uncanny valley of language.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:53:38 -0800

So, any bets on who's the next GOP star to go supernova?

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:54:00 -0800

You're not watching enough Tyra. Any Tyra is too much Tyra, just like any Palin is too much Palin.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:54:14 -0800

Sarah Palin has only served two-and-a-half years as governor, with half of that campaigning and media whoreing... ... another nine months pregnant... ...and almost all the rest of the time drawing a salary for being at home. Still waiting to see what kind of elected official she might be, if she actually... you know... served. Apparently, she must've felt that the accusations of not being experienced enough to be President won't matter a few years down the road, when she's just as inexperienced as before, with the additional benefit of being more out-of-touch?!

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:54:38 -0800

As interesting as it is to speculate that she's prepping for a 2012 run and is having handlers ready her for her big day, do keep in mind that one of the repeating themes in the Vanity Fair piece was that this person doesn't listen to anyone. She couldn't accept interview prep for Katie "Softball" Couric without pissing off everyone around her for not wanting to listen to advice. She doesn't do guidance. She knows best, always. Whatever her reasons for her resignation, I highly doubt there's some Xtreem Makeover team in play here. TV show deal, book tour, talking head for hire, maybe a 2012 run (which would be hilarious because, as tkchrist pointed out, the fact that she abruptly resigned during her term as governor would be awesome fuel for destruction during the primaries). Personally, I like Mitheral's theory best. It's got this Jericho feel to it that I love. Sarah Palin in fatigues, backed up by a few dozen camo-clad rednecks with deer rifles, shouting into a bullhorn at a phalanx of state troopers surrounding their mountain compound, an upside-down American flag flying high.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:54:57 -0800

"I'm going with the theory that she's moving to media." I don't see this as her new employers would want to ride the wave of free advertising that comes from her quitting and wouldn't let her quit on Friday afternoon of a long weekend.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:55:38 -0800

Palliser, I love the "uncanny valley of language" metaphor. (Listening to Dutch is like that for me, too. It seems like I should understand it, but I don't, and the expectation of comprehension makes my incomprehension even more jarring than simply hearing a language that's totally incognate.)

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:55:56 -0800

Sarah Palin has only served two-and-a-half years as governor, with half of that campaigning and media whoreing...... another nine months pregnant... It is possible to do one's job while pregnant, you know.

By: Decimask

Decimask — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:57:07 -0800

> It is possible to do one's job while pregnant, you know. But is it possible to do one's job while Palin?

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:58:12 -0800

So, any bets on who's the next GOP star to go supernova? Someone forgets to charge Romney and he slowly shuts down during a big public speech like HAL in 2001. (Listening to Dutch is like that for me, too. It seems like I should understand it, but I don't, and the expectation of comprehension makes my incomprehension even more jarring than simply hearing a language that's totally incognate.) Ahem

By: steef

steef — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:59:36 -0800

Drawing on my encyclopedic knowledge of movies and TV, I have to suggest that Governor Palin has somehow discovered that there is, at this moment, a dinosaur-killer-sized asteroid on a collision course with Earth, and the world's governments are suppressing the story until they can build giant, subterranean arks for us (a select few), and a couple of giraffes (the VIP giraffes), to ride it out in. Alternately, the same plot, but you can substitute "alien mothership" for "asteroid".

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:59:37 -0800

"It is possible to do one's job while pregnant, you know" This. Plus didn't she catch flack for borderline endangerment from her actions (job over kid) when her baby was born?

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:02:12 -0800

I don't see this as her new employers would want to ride the wave of free advertising that comes from her quitting and wouldn't let her quit on Friday afternoon of a long weekend. I see the point. On the other hand, by resigning on a Friday and waiting until the start of the fall TV season to announcing something new, you're dividing the stories (she resigned, she's got a new show) instead of linking them, and possibly limiting the negative from the first to affect the second. So you get to launch your new brand in an unsullied state.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:04:12 -0800

LOL, Whelk! Oh, and while I'm at it, I loved the Lute Cat. Prithee, Lute Cat, playest thou the good Governor Palin hence!

By: Weebot

Weebot — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:04:14 -0800

billyfleetwood: A small nitpick, but homemade signs at nearly every political rally during the last election weren't homemade, not just the RNC. The Obama campaign wouldn't let you in if you brought your own sign.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:04:22 -0800

Go off and enjoy your favorites. You can thank me later for the assist. God, please just go somewhere else.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:06:58 -0800

Lute Cat is going to end up being my A Christmas Carol. Nothing I do will ever be has well-loved or known as a displeased cat in a ruff, strumming people to their doom.

By: Ms. Saint

Ms. Saint — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:06:59 -0800

Man, it would be so fantastic if she started her own party. They could call it the Freedom 'Merrica Party and their central platform for 2012 could be "But his middle name is Hussein!!!!" Although, I bet the Freedom 'Merrica Party would have too many infights and eventually split over just how many exclamation points should be used there.

By: mazola

mazola — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:07:30 -0800

Drawing on my encyclopedic knowledge of movies and TV, I have to suggest that Governor Palin has somehow discovered that there is, at this moment, a dinosaur-killer-sized asteroid on a collision course with Earth, and the world's governments are suppressing the story until they can build giant, subterranean arks for us (a select few), and a couple of giraffes (the VIP giraffes), to ride it out in. Based on my knowledge of movies I was thinking Palin was gearing up to run back and forth across the country for the next three and half years.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:07:44 -0800

Mike Allen writes a 'close friend' of Palin says she plans to write a book, 'considers' running in 2012.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:09:16 -0800

I would love to see an analysis that breaks down and evaluates all her claims in her press conference on what she's accomplished.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:10:18 -0800

Plus didn't she catch flack for borderline endangerment from her actions (job over kid) when her baby was born? I hope that she's just belately come to realize what having a special needs child is actually going to mean for her and her family, and made, for once, a reasonable choice to bow out. Who knows, maybe Trig is having some medical difficulties that prompted this. I hope she's a better mother than she is *anything* else.

By: verb

verb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:10:49 -0800

"Play her off, keyboard cat" set to the video of her resignation speech in 3... 2... 1...

It's like a new Rule 34.

By: toni_jean

toni_jean — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:13:24 -0800

A few things: 1. Politicians should stop visiting Argentina. 2. I love it when Palin is in the news because I can use the word Maverick. 3. Maybe she is pregnant with Gov. Mark Sanford's love child.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:14:18 -0800

Drill, baby, drill, Palin Cat.

By: gman

gman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:15:12 -0800

Go off and enjoy your favorites. You can thank me later for the assist. God, please just go somewhere else. Like Sudan. The starving children of Sudan would love you to assist them.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:17:42 -0800

Andrea Mitchell saying people close to Palin tell her she is done with politics Andrea Mitchell is done with politics?

By: sloe

sloe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:17:47 -0800

"We can all learn from our selfless, selfless troops. They are bold and they don't give up and they take a stand and they know that life is short so they choose not to waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than self and to build up their families and their states and our great country." And the what you have learned after deep reflection on this... is to quit? o.O This whole event has such an urgency to it that it hard to see it as being motivated by anything other than scandal. I understand SP may be pathologically adverse to any kind of preparation, but surely if the wolves weren't already at the door, she could have found the time to handle this a little bit better.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:19:45 -0800

God this still makes no sense. The more I cipher on it the more my noggin gets to puzzl'n. The oddest thing is the automatic adoption of the narrative. What she plans on doing next. Not: why the fuck did a sitting governor up and desert her post in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the depression? And since when does the loyal opposition, when disastrously defeated and out gunned, just allow one of their stars to up and quit? Strategically, from a political point of view, it makes no sense at all. Which is why I return to my original premise. Palin doesn't give a shit about anything but herself and she is screwing her party. Again. And judging by the morons over at Redstate and LGF they just think this is awesome,, godblesshersoul, and how dare liberals assume it's because of scandal. becuase, you know, gubermint is done broke. Becuase. Like. If a democrat ran away in the last eight months of their term they would, like, respect that personal choice and shit.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:20:52 -0800

Can't resist a silly derail: The Whelk, in his linked comment: "[Dutch is] *almost* readable until you run into some unnatural entwining of Ks and Js and Is" So what you're saying is when you look, it seems you understand? That's not very pleasant, I hear. Or... als je kijkt, het lijkt alsof je het begrijpt? Dat schijnt niet fijn te zijn. :)

By: jamjam

jamjam — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:23:02 -0800

I've listened to her speech several times, and I think it can best be summed up thus: “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously” Her new speech writer is... Noam Chomsky?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:24:21 -0800

Whelk, Lute Cat would make excellent Christmas Cards. If you ever do this, put me down for a box. Just sayin'.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:26:22 -0800

So what you're saying is when you look, it seems you understand? That's not very pleasant, I hear. Or... als je kijkt, het lijkt alsof je het begrijpt? Dat schijnt niet fijn te zijn. :) Gah! the flashbacks. Yeah, the feeling that I *should* know what's being written hits hard against the fact that I can't make heads or tails outta it and the occasional helpful english-ish or german-ish word doesn't help. Darkstar, you see it on the front or inside?

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:26:42 -0800

There's a poll up on redstate, asking the question "Why did Sarah Palin resign?" and the winner by a 6 point margin is: "Scandal coming".

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:27:44 -0800

posted by Afroblanco So we can end this now, right? No, we cannot. You first must open a MetaTalk thread to apologize profusely to everyone who may have been offended, and then you must swear to never do it again, while the Grand Mufti of MetaFilter combs through your entire posting history to look for other transgressions with which he will denounce you and your membership here. Then--and only then--will he loudly decree for you to go away and never come back.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:27:56 -0800

On the Front. Too cool to be hidden inside! Maybe a blurb on the inside that says something about playing off the old year. But maybe that's too predictable...

By: Justinian

Justinian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:30:49 -0800

Palin looked completely frazzled at the press conference. I have to say that I hope it is a scandal because the other explanation, to me, is that she recently received some bad news having to do with her family (cancer etc). If you'd just had enough of the crap or you were planning to run for president why would your speech come across like you were a lilting-voiced spun out tweaker?

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:32:22 -0800

why would your speech come across like you were a lilting-voiced spun out tweaker? Dude, she's from Wasilla. She IS a spun out tweaker.

By: You Should See the Other Guy

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:33:10 -0800

I hope her head falls off!

By: Mikey-San

Mikey-San — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:33:13 -0800

oh god oh god please get a show on a fox news oh god please posted by jstewart at 9:30 PM on July 3 [+] [!]

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:33:15 -0800

There's a poll up on redstate, asking the question "Why did Sarah Palin resign?" and the winner by a 6 point margin is: "Scandal coming". Oh. A liberal media hatchet job. A trumped up scandal. And she has such class and panache that she just ain't gonna dignify such pinko slander with so much as a howdy-do. Not our blessed Sarah. Why. Why she is just like Margaret Thatcher our Sarah. Such grace. Such resolve. Jeebus those people are fucking hypocritical paranoid idiots. Sigh. This has got to stop. I can't get any work done with all this juicy distraction. I can't stand the tension.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:35:44 -0800

Some are wondering if this is a shrewd move to just "cash in" on her recent fame/notoriety. She can now hit the lecture circuit, she can publish her book, appear on FOX News and she can attract crowds to raise money for other Republican candidates across the country.

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:36:20 -0800

Shit Sandwich. To go.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:37:42 -0800

"It is possible to do one's job while pregnant, you know." ...but usually not by working from home pretty much all the time.

"312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business."

It's not that she was pregnant, exactly. It's that she spent practically her entire administration preoccupied and phoning-it-in. Given that context, having the Lt. Governor take over for her should change practically nothing. Sounds like they were already doing most of the job -- you know... the one based in Juneau -- anyway.

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:37:48 -0800

posted by fourcheesemac She IS a spun out tweaker. No, she's a pitbull with lipstick! She said so herself!

By: Ron Thanagar

Ron Thanagar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:41:29 -0800

QUITTER.

By: azpenguin

azpenguin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:42:38 -0800

Seen on Twitter: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? The pitbull doesn't quit."

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:43:39 -0800

posted by Blazecock Pileon God, please just go somewhere else. You first. And take your Hitler references with you.

By: carter

carter — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:44:21 -0800

I'm just watching a re-run of the statement. It's babble. It's like some dam has eroded and collapsed in her mind.

By: maryh

maryh — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:44:41 -0800

I PREDICT: 1) The national GOP joins forces with Scientology thugs to intimidate Palin into resigning, a turn of events secretly desired by 2) the Religious Right, who hope to give her as much media exposure as a martyred Christianist commentator as possible in order to 3) make her a credible outsider candidate for whatever crazyass independent party they come up with for 2012; 4) the national GOP sheds the Religious Right only to find themselves saddled with an embarrassingly public debt to the Scientologists (and I'll throw in the Moonies, too), just as 5) the Religious Right gains just enough support to split the vote in the Democrats favor, thus ensuring 6) a final deathblow to that lumbering behemoth, Reaganism. Of course, we'll all be eating wall paper glue for sustenance by then. And I ALSO PREDICT that our wallpaper glue eating period will be remembered fondly as "the good old days" by conservatives in the distant future. /criswell

By: readery

readery — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:45:00 -0800

She used "we" alot and did seem frazzled (or more so than usual), I'm betting on pregnant or Todd is in trouble or some combination thereof. In any event it may take awhile for the story to come out. Her parents and kids didn't know about her last pregnancy until she was 7 months along.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:46:32 -0800

Todd is Trig's daddy, but Sarah ain't the mommy. Maybe. As good as any other speculation.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:47:11 -0800

Or vice versa. There, my money's on the table.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:47:29 -0800

You first. And take your Hitler references with you. Flagged and moved on.

By: cj_

cj_ — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:48:32 -0800

I wish there were a way to add threads to your recent activity without leaving pointless comments.

By: darth_tedious

darth_tedious — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:48:49 -0800

Sure, she can see the Oval Office from her house... but she can also see the writing on the wall. I'd guess that something huge is about to break, and/or, that people are telling her that something huge *might* break, unless she hits the trail. My assumption, when I'd heard the news, was that she'd bailed because she'd foreseen that Alaska's financial mess, and her ethics messes, were just going to weaken her position over time, and she wanted to make a beeline for the money and the airtime. Having seen a few seconds of her speech, I now strongly suspect that her departure is a matter of urgency and desperation, and probably not her own idea.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:50:26 -0800

I wish Afroblanco, Blazecock, mattdidthat, and whoever the hell else is flopping their dicks about would STFU. And also that I could update Recent Activity without leaving comments.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:52:12 -0800

At what point in the Sanford thread did some enterprising reporter break the scandal? It was a day or two in, right? This could be a very entertaining holiday weekend...

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:52:14 -0800

I can't believe I'm the first to post . Ding dong, the witch is dead. Or something that rhymes with witch. Of course, she will re-emerge as a Media Public Nuisance, cashing in on her undeserved fame, but if it were possible to run a Presidential Campaign from that position, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck would be well ahead of her right now. And Oprah Winfrey would already be President. I hope she's a better mother than she is *anything* else. When she refused to interrupt an out-of-state pre-campaign political speech when her water broke, that single incident made me believe she is a TERRIBLE mother. I wished the crazy rumor about her covering for her daughter was true just because it reflected BETTER on her as a mother. And Letterman's tastelessness aside, it appears more likely that her second daughter will give birth before her 18th birthday than her youngest child will survive to his 6th. The long-term historic view of Sarah Palin will probably be summed up in one word: Psychotic.

By: AzzaMcKazza

AzzaMcKazza — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:53:53 -0800

Cue John Ziegler on the scene blaming the media in 3....2.....1.....

By: Ron Thanagar

Ron Thanagar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:54:31 -0800

BALIN' PALIN!

By: Dr. Zira

Dr. Zira — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:55:36 -0800

I'm befuddled by this "only dead fish go with the flow" metaphor. She's comparing herself to a salmon? A delicious salmon? It's like the best episode of River Monsters ever!

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:55:43 -0800

And she timed her announcement to make sure it was AFTER Letterman taped his Friday show.

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:56:32 -0800

Only dead fish go with the flow, unless you're a maverick pitbull with lipstick!

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:57:03 -0800

Check out the animal sounds in the background of her resignation speech! It sounds like some turkeys are being slaughtered again -- or celebrating.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:58:48 -0800

Just saw Bill Press giving it to some Republican Strategist on Hardball a little while ago. The GOP dude said something like "the Republicans are in great shape!" Press pointed out the "delusional" thinking, noting that Obama is at 64% popularity with Republicans are at generationally-low levels of party ID, the Dems have a 50 vote margin in the House and 60 votes in the Senate, the Dems lead polls on every major issue including National Security, and now we've seen three GOP stars flame out in recent days. "If this means the GOP is in good shape," he said, "I'm an astronaut."

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:58:51 -0800

My money's on an affair with Todd Palin's business partner.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:00:54 -0800

Check out the animal sounds in the background of her resignation speech! It sounds like some turkeys are being slaughtered again -- or celebrating. That's pig's wings flapping. They're not quite flying yet, but they're doing some sort of high-stepping dance right now.

By: Inspector.Gadget

Inspector.Gadget — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:01:38 -0800

Palin is a loathsome idiot, but I hope the silver lining to having to hear about here yet again is that her disabled child will have more parental attention.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:02:15 -0800

When she refused to interrupt an out-of-state pre-campaign political speech when her water broke, that single incident made me believe she is a TERRIBLE mother. Why would that be the thing to concern you? Women don't immediately go into labor when their water breaks. Sure it's a hint that things are about to get moving, but it happens to women in all sorts of places and situations, and you don't have to drop everything that second and run. And since she'd had several pregnancies before, I'm certainly willing to believe that she was comfortable with the process and aware of her own body's timetable.

By: maryh

maryh — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:04:32 -0800

I'm befuddled by this "only dead fish go with the flow" metaphor. My husband just pointed out the title of Jim Hightower's brand new book, Swim against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow. That's Even Dead Fish, not Only Dead Fish, you incompetent cribber.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:04:48 -0800

And she timed her announcement to make sure it was AFTER Letterman taped his Friday show. Her announcement came at 3:30 p.m. (Eastern). I believe that Letterman tapes The Late Show at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern).

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:07:17 -0800

"Lessons I, Sarah Palin, Have Learned" (an abridged version of her speech): 1. Determination and sacrifice for public service are important, so I'm quitting. 2. It would be a waste of money and other resources for me to remain Governor. 3. It will be better for the state of Alaska (and everyone else) if I'm not Governor. 4. The Lieutenant Governor can do this job just fine - you don't need me around. 5. Fulfilling my obligations to the people of Alaska is similar to being a dead fish drifting downstream. 6. The best basketball point guard is one who quits the game 3/4 of the way down the court.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:07:19 -0800

Yeah, I finally got to watch the actual speech just now. That is a scared woman. She's racing through her talking points, appearing distracted and uncomfortable, and looking ashen and sleep-deprived. Her reasons make no sense, and she piles several irrational explanations one on top of the other, several times, as if trying to convince herself or others. Todd looks sheepish and anxious. The kids look like they'd rather be anywhere else. And if you were going to "stage" a proper resignation speech with enough time (and you were Sarah Palin) you'd dress to kill and not do it staring into the sun with animal noises all around you. Something smells like blood in the water.

By: DaddyNewt

DaddyNewt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:07:22 -0800

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together ... mass hysteria."

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:07:29 -0800

Whoa. I hope that's photoshopped.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:08:37 -0800

Yeah, but Miko, I don't know any woman who would get on an airplane for a 6 hour flight with their water breaking. That is nuts.

By: thermonuclear.jive.turkey

thermonuclear.jive.turkey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:09:05 -0800

Right now I'm reading Nixonland. Nixon was Eisenhower's VP, he ran against JFK in 1960 and lost, then ran for California governor in 1962 and lost. Everyone wrote his political obituary, especially after a nasty post-election press conference; not to mention the obituary of the GOP on a Federal level. There were a l-o-o-o-n-g list of reasons why he was fundamentally unelectable. The media, the thinking electorate, and other members of his own party totally dismissed him. Well, Nixon spent the next few years after that, keeping himself in the public eye. He'd make speeches. He'd write columns and editorials. He wrote a book. He traveled abroad. And he campaigned for other Republicans, networking and making himself visible, and along with a team of experts, speechwriters and consultants to polish his image. In 1962, people thought it was fundamentally impossible for him to be elected - for anything. But in 1968 people were clamoring for him. The Huffington Post quotes Nick Ayers, head of the Republican Governor's Association, saying "Part of her decision is she wants to spend more time campaigning for candidates". For that matter she plans to write a book too. And the idea of her running in 2012 is not new. Don't kid yourself. All she needs to do is get the right handlers, push the right people's buttons the right way, and she can get on the ticket. And into the White House. It CAN happen. Don't kid yourself. And I say that with trepidation... BTW Nixon, like him or loathe him, was a lot more savvy than Sarah Palin...

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:09:17 -0800

Oh come on now, that's just cruel.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:09:41 -0800

I feel really sorry for the mods who should've been enjoying a lovely July 4th weekend but now have to deal with another Palin thread.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:10:21 -0800

My money's on an affair with Todd Palin's business partner. Oh, I forgot all about that. Scott Richter [previously] who sought to have his divorce records sealed at the time of Palin's VP run.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:11:23 -0800

I feel really sorry for the mods who should've been enjoying a lovely July 4th weekend but now have to deal with another Palin thread. At least Holden Karnofsky isn't involved in this!

By: gman

gman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:12:25 -0800

I feel really sorry for the mods who should've been enjoying a lovely July 4th weekend but now have to deal with another Palin thread. So do they.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:13:33 -0800

Yeah, but Miko, I don't know any woman who would get on an airplane for a 6 hour flight with their water breaking. That is nuts. A lot of people pointed to this as proof that she wasn't really pregnant, that the baby was Bristol's. I doubt it. I think she wanted to get home and have the baby with the doctor who she'd been working with. She'd had a bunch of babies already and I'm sure was comfortable with the risks, as a lot of mothers are when they have multiple children. Would I do it? Nah, no way. But then I haven't had a bunch of children, and am not pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy, and it's none of my business what she chose to do about it. I don't think one can extrapolate from this event that she'd be a terrible mother.

By: fermion

fermion — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:13:34 -0800

I'm betting on pregnant or Todd is in trouble or some combination thereof. My father's theory is that Todd is pregnant. And not by Sarah.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:13:43 -0800

The GOP's release of all that email scuttlebutt earlier this week would indicate that they really want to dissociate themselves from her. I predict that there are criminal charges pending. Someone's likely to be heading to jail. Not sure if it would be her or The Todd.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:14:21 -0800

Is there anyway to send cortex a beer over TCP/IP?

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:14:46 -0800

Right now I'm reading Nixonland. Then you should be able to see that while Nixon was a paranoid megalomaniac, he wasn't an ignorant fucking moron.

By: thermonuclear.jive.turkey

thermonuclear.jive.turkey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:15:38 -0800

... and one more comment about Nixonland - there are many examples in the book of elections across the US in those turbulent days of the 1960's (mayor of a particular city, governor of a particular state etc.). The same pattern would arise ... you'd get two candidates: one, a smart, experienced, straightforward legislator, versus an unintelligent hack who spouts less-than-truthful nonsense, who panders to the most base elements of the electorate. Guess which candidate gets elected? Consistently, time and time again? The point of Nixonland is that Richard Nixon understood the way the political winds were blowing, and he spent years putting in the groundwork to turn himself into the candidate to reap the benefits when the time came.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:18:10 -0800

Her brother speaks out. He blames the time spent on the ethics complaints and bad media. But that doesn't explain this sudden and weird way of announcing it.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:18:32 -0800

It is medically not advised to fly *at all* in the last few weeks of pregnancy, let alone with your water breaking, let alone with a special needs delivery, let alone when you're in a major city with a serious NICU facility and at the end of the 6 hour flight and two hour drive is a two-bit regional medical center, familiar doctor or not. I'm not saying this proves she's a terrible mother (her eldest daughter's early pregnancy says all I need to know about that). But it proves she is either as stupid as everyone says, or crazy, or hoped the pregnancy would end "tragically" (which is sort of evil, I know). She strikes me as deeply narcissistic, and the way she uses her kids as political props (constantly, all of them, but especially "the world needs more" Trig) reminds me of a classic Mommy Dearest type.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:19:21 -0800

Sources say embezzlement.

By: thermonuclear.jive.turkey

thermonuclear.jive.turkey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:19:21 -0800

Re: Devils Rancher - read my second comment - Palin just needs to know (or be told how to) push people's buttons. Yes Palin is no Nixon. But she doesn't have to be smart to get elected. Just tell people what they want to hear. Pander to their fears, their prejudices, their desires. Mouth the party line. Then they WILL vote for her.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:20:16 -0800

Women don't immediately go into labor when their water breaks. Sure it's a hint that things are about to get moving, but it happens to women in all sorts of places and situations, and you don't have to drop everything that second and run. It wasn't that she didn't drop everything. She had the signs of early labor before her scheduled speech, yet she decided to go on and give the speech at the conference. Then instead of going to a local hospital she chose to travel for 15 hours (at 36 weeks!) before obtaining medical treatment. The risk of infection with a ruptured membrane is a significant concern in that state, which is why everyone gave her so much shit about it.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:20:27 -0800

Who's Sarah Palin? ...oh right, some veep wannabe. Whatever happened to her?

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:20:46 -0800

Whoa. I hope that's photoshopped Nope. It's pretty much exactly what one sees at about the 7:20-40 mark in the video I watched (MSNBC's, not YT). Probably just the onset of obesity, however.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:22:43 -0800

DKos linked to a story yesterday that contained emails between Palin and Steve Schmidt. I wondered at the time how they could have gotten them. This sudden resignation-without-a-reason smells like scandal about to drop. Connection?

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:23:24 -0800

Ooh, can we maybe skip the is-Palin-a-rotten-mother discussion? Like, just go here and ctrl-F / command-F for "mother" or "trig" or "water broke" and just relive the glory once more. That ground's been trod but good, and in the epic-est of all epic longboat threads.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:23:49 -0800

Kibitzing about her pregnancy and what she did bothers me from a feminist angle. It's none of my business. I don't know what she and her doctor have talked about. I know what is generally said to women about flying during pregancy, drinking during pregnancy, running during pregnancy, taking karate during pregnancy, etc. I know the general advice. I also know that women and doctors routinely take general advice and risk into account, and they make decisions they feel are right for their individual cases. I don't know enough about Sarah Palin's individual case. I think you can look at her children and her family and use the outcomes we can see as a means of judging her aptitude as a parent. It really bothers me, though, no matter what doctors generally say about flying during pregnancy, to assume that it wasn't an agreement between her and her doctor, knowing she was a political figure, to accept the risk of her flying in order to be delivered by people who are familiar with her case, given all the risks of the pregnancy they already understood.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:24:18 -0800

ericbDKos linked to a story yesterday that contained emails between Palin and Steve Schmidt. I wondered at the time how they could have gotten them. Those e-mails were from the Vanity Fair article -- the subject of this FPP.

By: rkent

rkent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:24:41 -0800

Palin just needs to know (or be told how to) push people's buttons. See, now, I think in fact that is just about all in the world that Sarah Palin is good at already. Almost every single sentence she utters is about getting the troops riled up. Hell, half the time they're not even full sentences, just strings of buzzwords. What she needs to get into the Nixonian zone (not really, but at least for appearances) is to learn about four cogent sentences on each of the major issues of the day, including one simple action item that she thinks the government should do. Then, she could hack the banal network news interviews and gain the grudging respect of the pundit class. Even this it seems like may be too tall an order for her, though she did really pull one out against Biden in the VP debate - you never know. I think she's got button-pushing down pat though.

By: You Should See the Other Guy

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:26:45 -0800

Please leave her alone! She's looking north to the future!

By: mpls2

mpls2 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:01 -0800

Should America be in the mood that it was at the end of the Carter administration, I'd fully expect to see Palin on the scene and winning. Her ra, ra, ra speech style would work well in that situation. Sarah Palin is Ronald Reagan with a vagina.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:19 -0800

May I say that the MeTa thread in no way compensates me for the current lack of juicy detail about this latest GOP drahma? Where is the enterprising reporter with the incriminating photos, already? Where is the wronged and passively-aggressive spousal interviews at the mailbox? Where are the han-handed cover-up statements from her spokesperson? Hop to, people, the weekend is already under way! My holiday isn't going to celebrate itself!

By: deliquescent

deliquescent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:41 -0800

Sarah who now?

By: adipocere

adipocere — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:51 -0800

On a more serious note, there's an additional potential explanation. Beyond a scandal, or being offered a more solid (and perhaps more appropriate) job elsewhere, and so forth, let's posit the Vanity Fair piece as having some valid points. If she really does have Narcissistic Personality Disorder (or Borderline, for that matter), this is precisely the kind of drama move that fits in with it. Especially the timing of it, which will make the Independence Day 2009 weekend that Weekend About Palin. "I'm not getting enough attention!" This would be followed by further odd moves, apparently self-destructive, made with blinkworthy reasoning, to attract additional attention. It is an armchair diagnosis, to be sure, but all of the psychologists I worked for sat in chairs with arms, as well. Short of getting her on a couch or forcing her to take an MMPI, behavior is all we have. This could be the beginning of a serious career meltdown.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:28:13 -0800

*han-handed --> ham-handed

By: reverend cuttle

reverend cuttle — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:31:30 -0800

I too have posted in this thread.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:32:46 -0800

There is one thing I am 99.9% certain that Palin intends to do... FUNDRAISING. Lots of fundraising appearances, most likely, for the Republican candidates in 2010. She very well might make it a fulltime thing between now and then. Why? Because it's arguably what the Republican Party needs most out of her right now... and just as arguably what she needs for any of her political aspirations in the future. One of the reasons that Obama won the Presidency is that he did such a great job fundraising for the Democrats in the prior election cycles. That helped win him a lot of support within the Democratic Party that all the other candidates -- with exception of Hillary -- did not have. Money makes a big difference. Kerry probably would've won if he wasn't outspent about 2-1 by a combination of Bush's own fundraising and by the various independent attack ad groups. Money isn't necessarily how you win elections, but if your opponent has a weakness, it gives you greater opportunity to exploit it. Likewise, if you have a weakness, you can put forward a message that oftentimes makes that weakness look like a trivial, petty attack and more "politics as usual." The fact is, much of the time when we hear accusations of someone engaging in "politics as usual", its in the form of a paid campaign ad. I think that the Republicans are scared silly about the possibility that the Democrats might be able to keep raising more money than they have been able to. Sarah Palin is, most likely, their solution to this. My hope, frankly, is that President Obama will find ways to convince a lot of those that are disillusioned about the various compromises and relative lack-of-progress on some fronts, that he is going to come through for them, given enough time and support, and that he will hold his base together, and, when the time comes, he will get out there, tour the country, speak a lot, and get a whole lotta people to keep donating. Yes, campaign fundraising is sad, banal, and prone to corruption. But ignoring the realities won't minimize the fundraising efforts of the Republican Party, or make the bills go away. Ultimately, if we're not the ones paying the bills, someone else surely will be. We simply cannot afford to not stay engaged in the process, because as disappointing as the Democrats can oftentimes be, at least the *potential* for change exists. If we want that potential to continue to exist, we have to hold onto the House and Senate, if not expand our base of support. And yes, that will require money to do. You can't ignore Red States for decades and then expect to change that overnight with a "fifty state plan" which doesn't actually bring the candidate to all fifty states. President Obama is pretty busy in the White House right now, but he's needed just as badly in Kansas, Arizona, West Virginia, Texas... and really anywhere where people don't believe that government can do things that might actually help them every now and then.

By: deliquescent

deliquescent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:33:11 -0800

aw damn, just saw smedleyman's "who's sarah palin" comment. I even did a "sarah who" search on the page to make sure it hadn't been done. Just goes to show that in a 380 comment thread, every easy one liner has been taken. Sarah Palin Tall? Looks like she's imPalin her political career? Um... I'll stop now.

By: Max Power

Max Power — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:39:49 -0800

when reality TV meets politics, you get this kind of garbage. i imagine Alaska is breathing a sigh of relief. somewhere, jerry springer is taking a bow.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:42:14 -0800

I love commenting in threads like this because anything even halfway witty garners like ten favorites. (except this)

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:42:52 -0800

Change is EFFECTED. Sarah Palin is affected no change is effected ronald reagan's down home mannerisms were affected sarah palin is just f'd

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:44:04 -0800

The Palins are not going to be fund-raising, they are not going to have a TV show, they are not going to run for President. One of them is going to go to jail. Someone uncovered something big this past week. The GOP has stabbed her in the back by releasing the emails. She has been forced out of her position. Some big, big shit is about to hit the fan. The Palins did not get into politics for the benefit of the people of Alaska. They got into politics to make a shitton of money. And they've been caught. IMO, YMMV, but early next week I think we'll see I'm right.

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:45:40 -0800

According to this article, Sarah wants to become the face of the Republican Party. If the GOP supports that, they really need to lay off the crack.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:48:48 -0800

Because, after all, no one has called Mark Sanford a bad father, right? Palin made her kids into props and her motherly virtues a supposed qualification for office. Her supporters harp on it constantly. She knows the meaning of "you reap what you sow.". She is a Christian, as she and her fans never cease reminding us. I see no particular sexism in throwing her bullshit back in her lying face.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:50:57 -0800

One of them is going to go to jail. I knew there had to be a real reason and this would be great if it were true. Is it being discussed online anywhere? With any semblance of facts around that?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:53:38 -0800

Actually, last October or so I encouraged my Wii-owning friend to make a Sarah Palin Mii, so that "when we play in a year I can say 'Sarah Palin... now who was that again?'". Wishful thinking probably, still.

By: eatyourcellphone

eatyourcellphone — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:53:55 -0800

If you libtards can stop having gay sex with each other for five minutes, you can go to Rapture Ready and get the real low-down on Sarah: It seems to me she's just let go of one leg to sink her teeth into the other. Sarah Palin is not a quitter. Like the rest of us, she hates the direction of Washington and she's just made herself available to fully oppose the policy-making. Let the Kool-aid drunks wag their heads and gossip about how she just blew it. What else do we expect from them? You know...she needs a break. This will be good for her. The libs won't leave her alone - it's been 8 mos since the election and they're still knocking her every opportunity they get. Me thinks they're scared... Sarah Palin will fully oppose the policy-making! Better be afraid, libs!

By: DU

DU — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:54:01 -0800

Those e-mails were from the Vanity Fair article Ummm....that doesn't explain anything. My point is, someone leaked extremely sensitive (Schmidt admitted that the AIP thing was very serious), high-level emails. Who knows what else is in there or a fellow-traveller thereof.

By: unSane

unSane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:54:08 -0800

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:54:38 -0800

Sarah Palin is Ronald Reagan with a vagina. No, Ronald Reagan was kind of charming.

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:56:20 -0800

Even if you hate babies, you can point to that little timeline as proof that she is a terrible human being. There were two flights - if something had happened on one of those flights, then the plane would had to have been diverted at tremendous inconvenience to everyone on board, including the crews, and screwed up connection schedules for other flyers. And you don't always get a hotel voucher if you have to sleep in the airport after your flight lands in Billings, Montana, instead of going on to Seattle. Presumably, if she spoke to people about flying while pregnant, let alone in labor, these concerns would come up. I have to assume she brushed them away like she does everything that has to do with, you know, other people. My own theory is that she is so utterly unable to deal with people who have not already proved their loyalty that she could think of nothing but getting to her own personal doctor who could be trusted to ... whatever the heck it is she thinks she needs. I get tired of people saying she knows what buttons to push and she's clever and so forth - she has a few things that she might say, she says them loud and long, and when those things don't work she plays the victim. And agreed with all the comments about her attitude. Palin seems to love nothing more than standing up in front of people saying stuff (with zero regard for truth, reason, or accountability.) She did not look happy, or like she felt safe. I would love to think she's really out of public life for good, but I can't worrying that the whole quitting thing and the weirdly timed announcement are all new examples of her being bone-headed and bullheaded in ways that seem so stupid and wrong while we watch, and yet won't hurt her in the slightest because later on she'll just get up in front of people and say other stuff that warms the hearts of her base and desperate base and we're right back to her being the hottie repub and all that crap.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:56:41 -0800

but seriously - she's 45 - she doesn't have to press for 2012 if she doesn't want to - and it may well be that she's figured out that she'd lose to obama and she wouldn't get a 2nd chance no, she could wait until 2024 if she really wanted to it was my impression from reading nixonland is that it took nixon a few years after 1960 to realize that he could take another shot at it no, she's ducking out before the shit hits the fan - and even if it's her shit hitting it, the fact is that she's not going to have microphones shoved in her face every day to explain it if she's not governor - and i don't think it's a scandal, because if it was going to blow up in her face, i would think she'd resign a lot sooner than july 26th no, she's going to come up with her version of what ronald reagan called "the speech" - and she's going to give it at fundraisers and political gatherings - and she's going to work on her presentation and her policies and her professionalism she probably realizes she won't be ready in 2012, and it's not going to be a great year for her party anyway so, she's going to work for the party and work on the party - and if it gets her into the nomination in 2016 or 2020, fine - if it doesn't - well, she's still helped the cause and made some money

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:57:21 -0800

Bradblog says that there is an embezzlement scandal brewing with possible federal indictments associated with the use of building materials for the Palin's house while the Wasilla Sports Complex was being built, during her tenure as mayor. If this is indeed the case, I hope they have a more competent prosecutorial staff than the team that went after Stevens for nearly the same thing. Because, damn. That was painful to watch.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:58:13 -0800

If she really does have Narcissistic Personality Disorder (or Borderline, for that matter), this is precisely the kind of drama move that fits in with it... This could be the beginning of a serious career meltdown. I came thisclose to conjecturing the same thing in the same terms but didn't want to discuss psychiatric definitions. (What about "bad mother"? Yeah, I'm an awful person. BTW Dave didn't tape today, he does 2 shows on Monday, one of which airs Friday) As for career, that's already a puddle on the ground; she's just opening her campaign to replace Michael Jackson as America's Most Batshit Crazy Celebrity. And Jay Rosen on Twitter made a great quote while coining the perfect phrase (emphasis mine): "There's bullshit and there's pit bullshit. Palin's hatred for the English sentence is source code for all her resentments." But I PREDICT this will not improve her chances of ever becoming President unless the Teabag Militias stage a successful military coup and need a figurehead.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:58:29 -0800

well this COMMENT is kinda charming. isn't it ? Oh FYI, I'm about to eat my FIRST HAMBURGER EVER. What can I expect?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:59:32 -0800

Sources say embezzlement. Bradblog says that there is an embezzlement scandal brewing... ThinkProgress and the Daily Beast on the embezzlement story.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:59:46 -0800

My money (such as it is) rests on impending federal indictment(s). That was a terrified person trying her gosh darn best to mask it in that "press conference." I suppose we'll see soon enough. Prison's too good for her narcissistic opportunism and unethical/illegal bush-league bullshit. Good fucking riddance.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:00:07 -0800

1. We really don't know whether Ronald Reagan did, in fact, have a penis. It's not a pretty image, but there it is. 2. RE: "Sarah Palin is not a quitter." It never ceases to amaze me how cognitive dissonance works. YOU JUST SAW HER QUIT ON NATIONAL T.V.! What more do you need?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:00:31 -0800

Gungho: "Why? No one seems to say why?" I feel the first comment in this thread is still the best so far.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:02:06 -0800

Trig = Checkers?

By: sneebler

sneebler — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:02:14 -0800

They played part of her speech on CBC while we were eating dinner tonight. Granted there were kids talking and so on, but all I heard was a crazy person ranting about something I couldn't follow. Crazy in a nice way, maybe, but not making much sense.

By: Go Banana

Go Banana — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:03:00 -0800

I think it's great when something like this happens because it totally justifies CNN's entire existence. Everyone swings into action, they get to make up tonnes of fab new slogans, talk it over a billion different ways...good times! Especially since we just got a massive new TV. Does it make me a giant loser that I'm excited to watch the fallout all night? Wait, don't answer that. And no, I don't think Anderson Cooper is sexy.

By: scody

scody — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:03:51 -0800

Fools! Don't you see? Obviously this means Raul Malo is getting The Mavericks together again! This is great news for ~~John McCain~~ alt-country!

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:04:29 -0800

First time in the history of the universe that "Sarah Palin" and "pulled out early" have been used in the same sentence.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:04:50 -0800

Ummm....that doesn't explain anything. My point is, someone leaked extremely sensitive (Schmidt admitted that the AIP thing was very serious), high-level emails. Who knows what else is in there or a fellow-traveller thereof. I hear ya'. BTW -- McCain And Palin Personally Approved Internal Email Hunt For Leakers, Campaign Manager Says.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:06:32 -0800

... Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex built during her tenure as Mayor. Both structures, it is said, feature the "same windows, same wood, same products.... This is hilarious, if it is true. I can't wait to see the pictures.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:06:45 -0800

Newspaper columnists give Gov. Palin dubious honor. Gov. Sarah Palin receives Sitting Duck Award.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:07:28 -0800

Here's a list of progressive Alaska blogs to follow for news. None have anything substantially new yet, but anything breaking locally will likely show up in these blogs first: http://www.progressivealaska.blogspot.com/ http://www.themudflats.net/ http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/ http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/ http://divasblueoasis.com/ These are truly small and local blogs. Show 'em some love with traffic!

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:10:41 -0800

This is all about the one-liners on twitter. Another take: "Palin quitting politics is like Ann Coulter quitting evil."

By: clearly

clearly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:10:46 -0800

I'll bet a handful of you Mefites were coaxed into seeing Transformers 2, shunning your normally infallible cultural standards... Do you remember the preview for the movie that looked like Armageddon³ with Earth getting wiped out in every way possible? When the name for that movie came up: 2012 ... did anyone else subconsciously see Sarah Palin's 2012 in front of the title? Me too! Omg.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:10:53 -0800

"We've seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that," said John Weaver...

"'Good point guards don’t quit and walk off the floor if the going gets tough,' said John Weaver, a former senior strategist for Mr. McCain. 'Today’s move falls further into the weirdness category; people don’t like a quitter.'" *

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:11:03 -0800

This is hilarious, if it is true. I can't wait to see the pictures. Well, here's the Palin house from a simple Google search, and here's a virtual tour of the sports complex. I'm looking, but not seeing, any obvious similarities from the available shots (not that there couldn't be, when you get up close).

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:11:14 -0800

But are they organic? Seriously though, thanks for the links, fourcheesemac.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:12:11 -0800

Good point guards don’t quit and walk off the floor if the going gets tough Somebody better tell Isiah Thomas. ZING!

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:12:44 -0800

""Part of her decision is she wants to spend more time campaigning for candidates," Nick Ayers, the executive director of the RGA, told Fox News." ... which sounds a lot like my suspicions being fulfilled, unfortunately. "The GOP has stabbed her in the back by releasing the emails. She has been forced out of her position. Some big, big shit is about to hit the fan." Sarah Palin has got to know by now that she has enemies in McCain's camp who are wanting to help some candidates by trying to destroy her potential. I think there are some good reasons for her choosing not being a governor in her situation, in that she is less of a lightning rod and has far less to lose that way. One of the big reasons that Obama won the presidency was that he wasn't in office long enough to have all that many skeletons in the closet. As long as she holds public office, she's a bigger target. This is especially true, given that Hollis French just announced a few days ago that he intends to run for Governor of Alaska. French oversaw the Troopergate investigation of Palin, and would be in a very unique position to really stick it to her in a campaign. She quite possibly could not afford to run against someone like him, who could quite possibly win, ruin her career and what's left of her good name in the process. So, while I would like to believe that Palin is going to jail, the emails sound more damaging than fatal. It's too much of an old issue -- and not really visible or quoteable enough -- to really stick with the public... unless, of course, you have someone like French spending millions in ads to use them against her. Her past is a weakness. French is someone uniquely suited to exploit her weaknesses. Given this scenario, leaving all that and jumping to another opportunity sounds like a good choice. You can't keep a bad turd down, I guess.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:15:23 -0800

The charge is that labor and materials were diverted from the sports complex to the Palin house, and in particular that Spenard's, Alaska's biggest building supply firm (and a supporter of Palin's campaign as well as Todd's snowmobile team) was the middle-man in a payback scheme for Sarah pushing the sports complex through. There need not be any particular similarities in design. Lumber is lumber.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:15:50 -0800

Yep. If its that embezzlement thing linked above It's PAYBACK. If this is true it looks like the GOP is finally trying to get it's ship straight. THEY leaked these emails. Which may mean they finally caught on that Palin was an albatross like I been saying all along. There will be no fund raising except with certain niche groups, which won't do the GOP any god damned good because their problem IS niche groups and I think they are seeing this. They can't get elected just counting on the kooky Konolia's of this country anymore and they sure as shit can't govern with morons like Palin running lose. All shit stirred up by the Limbaughs, Coulter and Hannity's is just making shit worse for the GOP now. The party can't be run by freak shows and the serious money power players might have finally consolidated to clean house, starting with Palin. If true this is actually bad news. Becuase it means they finally might be pulling their heads out of their asses for 2012.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:16:33 -0800

I like this little nugget from the lt. governor's statement:

Personally, I thank her for the confidence she’s placed in me, for her trust, and for her friendship. As Alaska celebrates her 50th year of statehood, I believe history will look back on Sarah Palin as one of Alaska’s great gifts to all peoples.

Yes, indeed, I'm sure the popcorn industry agrees with you on that one.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:17:58 -0800

This is the Palin's house? Well gee, how could anybody have accused them of using inappropriate, dubiously-sourced commercial windows in their house?

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:19:19 -0800

Also, I'm assuming some of McCain's inside staffers are entertaining offers from Mitt Romney. What better way to get the gig than to leak what you have on Palin to the media? Remember, this is the woman who used a Yahoo account to conduct state business under the radar, and who was dumb enough about cyber-security to make that account hackable by a Tennessee teenager. The one thing about being stupid is that no matter what you do, the stupid follows you. I do loves me some Palinfreude.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:19:50 -0800

Wow, finally watched the disturbing trainwreck of an announcement. That woman sounds so panicked, it makes you envision Werner Herzog listening to the audio track on headphones and refusing to let the rest of us hear it.

By: _dario

_dario — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:19:57 -0800

I'm getting this:

Sources close to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tell MSNBC that she is "out of politics for good."

In other news: happy 4^th of July.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:20:32 -0800

But none of this explains quitting before the end of your term. Seriously. Being governor means you got the power of the State. Quitting means your going it alone. Sanford get's busted going AWOL schtupping an Argentinian hottie on state money and he is sticking it out. Nah. Something else is going on here. It's all too weird. ARGH! I CAN'T STAND IT! What's going on!?

By: jadepearl

jadepearl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:20:56 -0800

Man, this means that Tim Pawlenty is a serious contender for the GOP.

By: mr.grum

mr.grum — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:21:05 -0800

By: mikelieman

mikelieman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:21:57 -0800

You can't keep a bad turd down, I guess. Giuliani/Palin 2012 I just threw up in my mouth a little.

By: elfgirl

elfgirl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:24:43 -0800

Well gee, how could anybody have accused them of using inappropriate, dubiously-sourced commercial windows in their house? The better to see Russia with, my dear.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:25:44 -0800

Sources close to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tell MSNBC that she is "out of politics for good. ...Now she's into politics for evil."

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:26:15 -0800

Don't explain it! Your friends don't need it and your enemies will just use it!

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:27:05 -0800

posted by markkraft You can't keep a bad turd down, I guess. Which is why she's being forced out, making a brief splash, and then flushed.

By: Combustible Edison Lighthouse

Combustible Edison Lighthouse — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:27:54 -0800

Those e-mails were from the Vanity Fair article -- the subject of this FPP. Rereading it, I don't see those emails referenced in the article at all. They came from a CBS story and an upcoming book about Palin by Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:28:05 -0800

http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/

"Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore writes, 'For weeks the rumors of a criminal investigation against the governor have been brewing. They are rumors, but are swirling fresh again with Palin's resignation. I'm holding my breath for the other "Naughty Monkey" to drop.'"*

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:28:24 -0800

And Brett Farve is done with football. Brett Favre was good at football.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:29:06 -0800

but simple weight gain also seems hard to believe... That first photo is probably heavily touched up.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:29:22 -0800

Seriously, how did Piper Palin go from this eight months ago, to this today? It's not crazy. Little girls (all children, really) show weight gain easily, because they're so short. Plus she's, what, 8 years old, almost 9? Probably about to have a growth spurt, so the body is getting ready. I used to work at a pre-teen cloting store, and little girls around 10-12 grow like weeds; all pant styles came in "long" to accommodate their long skinny legs.

By: Andrhia

Andrhia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:29:59 -0800

mr.grum: Little kids have round bellies and bad posture, and if you watch the CNN clip of the video about six minutes in, you'll see she's actually still fairly thin; the wind blowing her dress around caught her at a particularly unflattering moment in that frame, that's all. My own kids go through phases of getting fatter and then getting taller and thinning out; Piper is probably just about to shoot up a few inches, and eight months ago, she'd probably just finished growing a few inches. Nothing to see here, move along.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:41 -0800

Seriously, how did Piper Palin go from this eight months ago, to this today? Lets not do that, please. It's gross and uncalled for. Leave her kids alone.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:46 -0800

Yah, I gained and lost and regained and lost again (and regained) like 30 pounds from 8-13. Kids can have big weight swings in weird, uneven, directions

By: scody

scody — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:32:09 -0800

That woman sounds so panicked, it makes you envision Werner Herzog listening to the audio track on headphones and refusing to let the rest of us hear it. Oh please oh please oh PLEASE let Werner Herzog make a movie about Sarah Palin, oh sweet Jesus please. "What haunts me, is that in all the images of Sarah Palin that I have ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of the beauty queen. This blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in power. But for the Republican Party, this narcissist was a friend, a savior."

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:33:15 -0800

Lets not do that, please. It's gross and uncalled for. Leave her kids alone. Seconded.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:36:34 -0800

"the use of building materials for the Palin's house while the Wasilla Sports Complex was being built, during her tenure as mayor" This is pretty old stuff which was floated around during the campaign. It is, indeed, quite possible. That said, I suspect Palin might feel it's something that she can avoid a lot of the sting of, so long as she's not in office... or even in Alaska, for that matter. Quitter... not a quitter... seems to me that's the wrong way of looking at this. She's an evasive, slippery opportunist. She's going to do her utmost to walk if she faces charges, and almost certainly won't get convicted by a jury of her peers. It's pretty remarkable just how sleazy and dishonest you can be as a Republican politician, while still maintaining a viable career. If she's actually convicted of something, well... that just means she'd have a career on Fox and/or talk radio once she's released.

By: dogmom

dogmom — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:37:20 -0800

Seriously, how did Piper Palin go from this eight months ago, to this today? When my husband was 8 his mom remarried. He gained 30 pounds in less than a year due to stress-eating. I don't think it's unreasonable that little Piper has gone through a fair amount of stress in the last year or so.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:37:29 -0800

This cannot be a setup for a run for President. The only thing she had going for her was that she was an actual sitting governor, now she won't even have that. I agree it looks bad, and there is a significant chance that the party bigwigs told her in no uncertain terms that she would not be supported in a re-election or presidential nomination, nor in her lawsuits with her state. But it's possible that she will come back as a backbencher of sorts. And if Bush taught us anything, it's that a politician can be outrageously audacious and succeed on that basis alone, although it's likely to burn itself out quickly. There's only so much of "fuck you, I'm doing whatever I want" you can get by on, because soon it looks less confident and more like the actions of an autocrat. I'm not certain she won't find her inner asshole again. Newt Gingrich sure found his, and nobody thought he'd come back.

By: Combustible Edison Lighthouse

Combustible Edison Lighthouse — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:38:43 -0800

People willing to seriously discuss whether the (soon-to-be-former-) Alaska governer's eight-year-old daughter is pregnant make Birthers look positively sane in comparison.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:38:55 -0800

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:40:48 -0800

CBS: Until evidence surfaces to the contrary, it seems apparent that Sarah Palin simply decided enough was enough. Though this unorthodox move will raise further questions about her judgment, her conservative base will continue to support her no matter what she does next.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:41:35 -0800

Transcript: Palin's announcement.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:43:00 -0800

Newspaper columnists give Gov. Palin dubious honor. Gotcha Media strikes again!

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:43:01 -0800

The kid's not pregnant. Jesus Christ. This is MetaFilter, not some conservative site that proposes that Obama went to Hawaii to murder his own grandmother because she knew the truth of his birth certificate. If every 8-year-old that had a belly was pregnant, this would be an American of 17-year-old grandmothers.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:43:10 -0800

Mark Halperin's trademark shouty list-making, this one reproduced in full because it bears reproduction:

9 Pieces of "Analysis" About Sarah Palin's Decision That Are Flat-Out Totally Wrong 1. This means she can't run for president in 2012. 2. She would have been a stronger candidate for 2012 if she had stayed in office. 3. Republican primary and caucus voters in 2012 will care if she served out her term or not. 4. This means she is definitely running in 2012. 5. Making the announcement on the Friday of a holiday weekend was really stupid. 6. Until today, Palin was well positioned to run in 2012. 7. Palin made the decision not to run for re-election all of the sudden. 8. Palin's rhetoric about the politics of personal destruction was not heartfelt. 9. Palin's ambition is limited to electoral politics.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:44:25 -0800

OK, I totally fucking hate the Fourth of July because my mouth-breathing neighbors do appalling amplified yard-karaoke of Today's Hot Country songs and bug my dogs by firing off repeated nerve-shattering artillery barrages that make Bastogne sound like a peace rally. But this thread is cheering me right up. Thanks for tossing chum in the water of my secret Christmas place Sarah Palin.

By: jayder

jayder — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:44:46 -0800

Seriously, how did Piper Palin go from this eight months ago, to this today? It's not unheard-of for an eight year old to be pregnant. Especially an eight year old with little adult supervision, as Palin's children seem to be. Lets not do that, please. It's gross and uncalled for. Leave her kids alone. Jesus Christ, please shut up. There's nothing shameful about a teen, er, single-digit, being pregnant, therefore there's nothing wrong with talking about it.

By: jayder

jayder — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:47:05 -0800

It's not unheard-of for an eight year old to be pregnant.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:47:22 -0800

There's nothing shameful about a teen, er, single-digit, being pregnant, therefore there's nothing wrong with talking about it. I presume you are being humorous here. Because, obviously, the issue is not one of shame, but grotesque, idle speculation about a very young child whose only part in this spectacle is the accident of having a political troll for a mother. Let's not make guesses about children without some actual evidence, and, even then, let's be enormously cautious about it.

By: jayder

jayder — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:47:35 -0800

Whoops, that didn't work.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:47:35 -0800

I wish all the mods a safe and happy Post-Palin and I hope they're all in comfy chairs in pleasant surroundings with loved ones and cold beers and maybe a spliff or three for afterward.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:48:35 -0800

It's pretty remarkable just how sleazy and dishonest you can be as a Republican politician, while still maintaining a viable career. Well, it's important to remember how corrupt the Democrats get after they get real powerful, too. All the Republicans like to talk about corrupt unions and their ties to Democrats, and there's some of that, but it's really not relevant anymore. Clinton opened the door to corporate sponsorship of the party, and no matter what Obama does he can't seem to shake it. We're at the point where there is a revolving door between the corporate world and the government, and nobody seems capable of stopping it, or really that interested. And I'm willing to give these guys a chance, but Goldman Sachs might as well have their own office in the White House despite all Obama's talk about getting rid of lobbyists and undue influence. Yes, Palin is like a walking freakshow of politics. She may have even convinced herself she was in it for the right reasons at one point, but she sold out so quickly it's hard to see what else might have motivated her. But she is only a slightly exaggerated example of what's going on all over the place all the time.

By: marsha56

marsha56 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:48:40 -0800

For those following along at home the most likely scandal, if there is a scandal, involves allegations that Sarah Palin had a contracting firm build her half million dollar house for free in return for a juicy government contract to build some sort of sports complex. A ginormous sports complex that put her town deep in debt. From Max Blumenthal at the Daily Beast: Just months before Palin left city hall to campaign for governor, she awarded a contract to SBS to help build the $13 million Wasilla Sports Complex. The most expensive building project in Wasilla history, the complex cost the city an additional $1.3 million in legal fees and threw it into severe long-term debt. For SBS, however, the bloated and bungled project was a cash cow.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:48:59 -0800

There's nothing shameful about a teen, er, single-digit, being pregnant... ???

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:49:14 -0800

Failing that, an extended-stay in a top-class exhaustion clinic with regular doses of morphine and attractive, well-trained nurses.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:50:49 -0800

460 some comments - we do get pathetic sometimes

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:51:06 -0800

a top-class exhaustion clinic with regular doses of morphine and attractive, well-trained nurses. Ooh, one for me too, please. And can it be a porn film too?

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:51:39 -0800

Ooh, sign me up for that deal, The Whelk!

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:52:08 -0800

jinx Astro Zombie.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:53:14 -0800

Hell, caddis, I'm just killing time before dinner. And this beats anything on tv.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:53:15 -0800

JINXcrap

By: Decimask

Decimask — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:53:18 -0800

> 460 some comments - we do get pathetic sometimes I call it "snarkkake".

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:54:08 -0800

"same windows, same wood, same products.... To be fair, I live in a town similar in size to Wasilla and any house built the same year is going to have the "same windows, same wood, same products....

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:54:14 -0800

I don't think the scandal will be the SBS sleaziness. That has been known for ages and is not enough to force her into this panicked, unprepared jump. And besides, Stevens did the same thing and got away with it. I think it's going to prove to be something much bigger. And I think it won't be Sarah who is gonna swing: it'll be Todd.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:54:42 -0800

cj_: "I wish there were a way to add threads to your recent activity without leaving pointless comments." "You can favorite it and it'll show up on your My Favorites tabs in RA."

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:55:49 -0800

I think it's going to prove to be something much bigger. And I think it won't be Sarah who is gonna swing: it'll be Todd. What do you mean?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:56:21 -0800

five fresh fish: Anything to back that up?

By: mr.grum

mr.grum — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:57:21 -0800

Good lord, I asked if it could be a medical condition, which would have been a reasonable cause for resigning as governor, I specifically said that a pregnancy would be hard to believe since that seemed to be what the second link was hinting at and I wanted to distance myself from that speculation. The point was a medical problem somewhere in the family would be an obvious reason to want to spend more time with ones family and Palin's experience with the press might make her reticent to discuss those details. I asked about Piper because the pictures haven't been retouched, I watched the video feed, and it struck me as a big change in someone close to her and since Piper was set aside from the rest of her daughters at the conference I wondered if there was reason for it. I happily accept the wisdom of those who are familiar with childhood weight gain since it is not an area I am familiar with. It seemed like a drastic change to my eyes and my limited experience with children, if it isn't, so be it and there is nothing more to be said. In a thread rife with rampant speculation I hardly think suggesting Palin may have felt the need to resign out of concern for her family is the worst thing that has been said, and pretending she doesn't have a family or family concerns is ridiculous.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:58:34 -0800

That's terrible satire jayder.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:58:48 -0800

Seriously, how did Piper Palin go from this eight months ago, to this today? Could she have a serious medical condition? That seems like an insane amount of weight to put on in such a short amount of time otherwise, and it seems to be carried oddly as well. She is only eight, so I can't imagine it's the second link's hinted at possibility of a pregnancy, but simple weight gain also seems hard to believe... You know, when Repub commentators made fun of Chelsea Clinton, they were replusive shitheads. Guess what? Mocking the Palin kids because you don't like their politician parent puts you in the same fuckhead territory as Limbaugh et al.

By: felch

felch — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:58:53 -0800

Everyone's complicating things. The only thing at issue here is the American public's gullibility. It's the ultimate test. I would like to say I have hope with confidence, but I don't. I have hope because thinking it's possible is too horrible to think about. President Palin is not unpossible.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:01:35 -0800

Speculate about Palin all you want, but leave her kid out it is the point, especially when you're not familiar with how a child's body can change in odd ways as they grow, before leveling out.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:01:47 -0800

Nothing at all to back up my gut feeling that it's Todd. But Sarah's been awful busy this past year, while Todd has had ample opportunity to get up to mischief. The guy has been way too involved in his wife's business, being CC'd on emails that are supposed to be only between fellow politicians. He doesn't respect the boundaries. He is, in short, sleazy. And if he's going to jail, someone's got to look after the kids. And Sarah can't do that and govern at the same time.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:01:52 -0800

Ambinder: What Palin's Really Up To. (Hint: She Wants To Fight.)

Assuming there is no scandal shoe about to drop, to understand what Gov. Sarah Palin is doing, we ought to begin by taking her at her word. I readily admit that her statement today wasn't terribly clear, which is quite telling itself: she doesn't quite know why she is doing what she's doing, ALL CAPS notwithstanding. She can't explain it to herself, and so she certainly can't explain it to others. But it's not that complicated to get the gist: she's "not retreating," she's advancing. Palin, in Alaska, is a sitting duck for the people and forces she believes are ruining the country. She can't fight back -- she can't protect her family, her values, her worldview -- while she's governor. At the same time, her desire, perhaps conscious, perhaps not, to get into the mix -- to be invited to the fancy Washington dinners, to be courted by these very forces -- is irresistably pulling her towards the very fight she seeks.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:02:29 -0800

There is also that Alaskan Independence Party thing. Todd was big into that. Who knows what kind of treasonous things they've been up to.

By: vac2003

vac2003 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:04:42 -0800

By: tastydonuts

tastydonuts — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:05:17 -0800

I can't help but keep checking Wikipedia, hoping that someone will just update her damn entry with "porno dungeon" as the explanation for her resignation, so that I can go on with my day without worrying that she's pulling some crazy shit that none of us can even imagine that's going to result in her 2012 candidacy. I'm switching from coffee to whiskey.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:05:31 -0800

I read Ambinder religiously. And then I infer the exact opposite of his stated conclusion(s) and find it to be a net gain. Just sayin'.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:07:37 -0800

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:09:24 -0800

And if he's going to jail, someone's got to look after the kids. And Sarah can't do that and govern at the same time. You had me up to there.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:09:55 -0800

"Well, it's important to remember how corrupt the Democrats get after they get real powerful, too." Absolutely... but normally, they have the decency to take their lumps and lay low... .they usually don't get a high paying career as a lobbyist / author / pundit / public speaker / talk radio host afterwards.

By: vibrotronica

vibrotronica — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:15:56 -0800

Doesn't need elected office to make change? She's raising her own army.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:18:48 -0800

Absolutely... but normally, they have the decency to take their lumps and lay low... .they usually don't get a high paying career as a lobbyist / author / pundit / public speaker / talk radio host afterwards. Yeah. I'm trying to remember. Jerry Springer was only a mayor. Shit, Bill Clinton could have toured with Bono and U2 if he wanted to and been up to his bulbous gin-soaked nose in teen aged girls but even that pervert showed a small degree of restraint and class. But look at all the sleazoid republican has-beens on the talking head circuit or still otherwise in play.

By: mdonley

mdonley — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:19:07 -0800

She's moving her house to Russia, which she can see from her backyard, so she stays outside US jurisdiction.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:21:03 -0800

These Republican Governors sure know how to celebrate their holidays, I'll give them that. Up next: Pawlenty celebrates Labor Day by biting the head off a live rat.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:22:17 -0800

Man, I read the transcript but hadn't seen the video until just now. I think most likely the party told her not to run for re-election, and she is taking her ball and going home. But what really struck me was her body language, her sense of conviction in her own self-defense, her entirely self-centered slice of life she passes on, and her arrogantly glib demeanor in the face of so many problems of her own creation. I think she's a sociopath. Maybe. When you fall out of the target zone for the sociopath you see right through them. Ted Bundy had all this charisma he supposedly put on for many women — he worked at it his whole life. But most men when they met him would be really creeped out and get really bad vibes.

By: scody

scody — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:24:42 -0800

I finally watched as much of the press conference as I could stand, and aside from from practically hyperventilating from tension throughout the whole thing, what the hell is with the lunatical use of the royal "we"? She sounds like Maggie Thatcher making an appearance inn Lil' Abner: "We are passin' the ball fer the victory of th' team... we are goin' to affect change outside of politics... we look forward to swearin' in Sean Parnell." If that woman's not a clinical narcissist in the midst of a full-on breakdown, I will personally pay everyone on Metafilter the princely sum of one dollar.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:26:38 -0800

Can I get an advance Scody? Cheap beer is my friend.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:26:43 -0800

On the one hand, I sort of hope that Palin suffers a temporary mental incapacity, just to get her out of the way in a non-lethal fashion; on the other hand, I could sure use that dollar.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:27:26 -0800

"Which is why she's being forced out, making a brief splash, and then flushed." I think a lot of Republicans *wish* she'd be unceremoniously flushed, but the thing is, she's going to be powerfully influential, whether she's electable or not. If she's forced to transition from a viable candidate to a public speaker / fundraiser / rightwing media idol, she's *STILL* going to be someone that the rest of the party leaders will have to defer to. And yes... she'll still have her own army. She's not going away. Why should she? She only stands to become wealthier, more powerful, and more influential, whether she's electable or not. Do you *really* think that her followers will leave her because Todd did something bad? (Sure, she almost certainly would've known about it... but she'd never have to admit that fact.) If Todd gets convicted, she can do an interview, shed a few crocodile tears about how hard it has been for her and the family, and her fans will love her for it.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:29:28 -0800

Failing that, an extended-stay in a top-class exhaustion clinic with regular doses of morphine and attractive, well-trained nurses. Something like this?

By: Mick

Mick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:30:36 -0800

So, any bets on who's the next GOP star to go supernova? Newt Gingrich once again does something despicable to end his marriage. Only this time, people notice.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:35:45 -0800

Absolutely... but normally, they have the decency to take their lumps and lay low... .they usually don't get a high paying career as a lobbyist / author / pundit / public speaker / talk radio host afterwards. Well, I don't know if that's a distinction with a difference. And I'm know a hell of a lot of politicians vacillate between public office and lobbying/corporate boardrooms in both parties. In any event, the Republicans have long been the party, since Nixon at least, which openly embraces big business and works against non-religious "social" causes, i.e., we the people, although Nixon wasn't as tied in to business as Reagan. They have definitely succeeded for a while on the pure bellicose, alpha-dominance level of discourse. All these things are conducive to corruption, and I think they sort of adopted the idea all through the ranks that politics was dirty so play to win, not to be nice, because the causes used as propaganda (War on Terror, abortion, gay marriage, etc.) were greater than the game they had to play. In this context everything is justified - war, torture, profiteering, religion and government intertwining, and it's hardly surprising that it leads there. There is something a bit dangerous about the core ideals the party has grouped around right now, if they can't move past it. Seeing Palin go might be a good sign, if they can make it stick. But the Democrats try to play the role of the hero of the people, of the way out of the darkness, the leader of the common man. It's a difficult role in politics, especially because so many of them are corrupt, so it's really just a role to play a lot of the time. But we have this sort of good cop/bad cop dichotomy going. Or frat guy/nerd. Whatever. It's clear when you get high enough up the ladder, you are not the same person when you started, and money and power are always the driving forces in Washington DC.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:38:14 -0800

"Newt Gingrich once again does something despicable to end his marriage." So, did Newt do a McCain, or did McCain do a Newt?! In any event, Newt was clearly a callous, immature, insensitive lout... and judging from McCain, the American people are pretty forgiving of that fact. It's like Sarkozy and Berlusconi. They get extra votes for sheer unmitigated quasi-masculine gall. Want any falafel balls with that?!

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:41:02 -0800

The most expensive building project in Wasilla history, the complex cost the city an additional $1.3 million in legal fees and threw it into severe long-term debt. One of the things about that stupid sports complex that stuck in my head-- other than the fact that the city needed a new sewer system far more than they needed an ice hockey rink-- was that they built it on land that they didn't own yet-- hence the legal fees. Somebody-- perhaps the mayor of the town?-- might have looked into nailing down the land rights before they rushed into building the complex. This is why S. Palin had no business being Mayor-- much less Governor or anything higher-- because she doesn't care about the details.

By: oaf

oaf — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:43:05 -0800

The charge is that labor and materials were diverted from the sports complex to the Palin house, and in particular that Spenard's, Alaska's biggest building supply firm There's a huge sports-complex-sized embezzlement of savings at Spenard's!

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:44:36 -0800

"I don't know if that's a distinction with a difference." The difference is that corrupt former politicians shouldn't be idolized, because it helps encourage further corruption and degrades trust in government. (Yeah, yeah... hopelessly idealistic of me, I know.)

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:45:20 -0800

These Republican Governors sure know how to celebrate their holidays, I'll give them that. I've been wondering how George W. will spent his first post-presidential 4th of July. I picture the world's saddest barbecue, where none of the guests show up and Barney the dog vomits on the lawn.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:45:48 -0800

But let's be clear, I'm not saying there is no difference between parties. I'm not sure we're getting the house cleaning we need for the country to really work again, however, and if we let the greedy fucks screw it all up again, then things could get a lot worse than what we're dealing with at this moment. I hope Palin leaving is a positive sign, but it's still business as usual.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:46:10 -0800

Josh Marshall: Either Palin is resigning ahead of some titanic scandal (which should emerge in short order if it exists) or her resignation was triggered by an even more extreme mental instability than we'd previously suspected.

By: Flex1970

Flex1970 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:46:12 -0800

Resign? She's a quitter.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:46:34 -0800

"because she doesn't care about the details" Why care about the details of job you don't show up to perform?!

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:50:13 -0800

Maybe Sarah Palin decided that the best way she could serve Alaska was to leave it, thereby becoming a major liability for the other 49 states...

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:50:56 -0800

I've been wondering how George W. will spent his first post-presidential 4th of July. "...the middle-of-nowhere town of Woodward..."

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:50:59 -0800

They get extra votes for sheer unmitigated quasi-masculine ~~gall~~ gaul. FTFY

By: A dead Quaker

A dead Quaker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:54:29 -0800

I found it difficult to watch that speech because I kept trying to figure out a way to reword her sentences so that they made grammatical sense to me--and before I could do that for any one sentence, she'd say something else that needed fixing. Argh. The only thing missing was the phrase "U.S. Americans".

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:57:28 -0800

And people were saying Idiocracy was just mean spirited projection.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:58:06 -0800

The difference is that corrupt former politicians shouldn't be idolized, because it helps encourage further corruption and degrades trust in government. I was sort of hoping she'd stick around for a while, because it wasn't helping the party. But it probably wouldn't be so hot for a lot of people in Alaska to have her flail about for another 18 months. I agree they shouldn't be idolized, but the Dems have a love affair with Bill Clinton, and it's not because he did things by the book. The scandalized pols don't usually go away completely, unless they stabbed very powerful people in the back. They just work in the background. But, yeah, Republicans seem to be pretty Machiavellian about it and will parade those guys around far longer than I'd expect. That has changed. Nixon was so hedged in he had to quit, and nobody ever asked him to come back.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:59:24 -0800

I can report that at the Independence Day festivities in the small Native Alaskan town where I spend my summers, when Palin's resignation was announced this afternoon a mighty cheer went up and there was a standing ovation led by an elder. She is despised by Alaska Natives, in general.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:00:59 -0800

While gaul might be more suitable for Sarkozy, Merriam-Webster says...

Main Entry:
gall
Pronunciation:
    \ˈgȯl\ 
Function:
    noun 
Etymology:
    Middle English, from Old English gealla; akin to Greek cholē, cholos gall, wrath, Old English geolu yellow — more at yellow
Date:
    before 12th century

1 a: bile ; especially : bile obtained from an animal and used in the arts or medicine b: something bitter to endure c: bitterness of spirit : rancor

2: brazen boldness coupled with impudent assurance and insolence

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:01:55 -0800

"...the middle-of-nowhere town of Woodward..." Oh dear. Best quote from that article: "'At first, I thought, President Bush, July 4, no way is he even available,' [the event promoter] said." Guess again, sweetheart.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:03:05 -0800

And the fur keeps flying...FiredogLake hears that "a criminal indictment is pending authorization."

By: docpops

docpops — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:03:12 -0800

fourcheesemac - by Native Alaskans, do you mean Haida, Tlingit, etc., or folks who have lived there 1-2+ generations? (not snarking)

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:06:15 -0800

Cut and run? Whodathunk?

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:06:53 -0800

Agreed: the most memorable aspect of the conference was the breathy, panicked, and disjointed delivery. Perhaps I'm being swayed with those of you who hold the "scandal" or "mental breakdown" theories.

By: cortex

cortex — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:08:16 -0800

While gaul might be more suitable for Sarkozy, Merriam-Webster says.. That would be what makes it a joke, yes.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:08:28 -0800

That whooshing sound you heard was the joke passing you by, markkraft.

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:08:54 -0800

In retrospect, this shouldn't be surprising - Palin attended 5 colleges before graduating. She's probably just looking to run a different state now.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:09:21 -0800

Most recently, she has seen a crash in fundraising efforts. Last week, the Palin shrine, Conservatives4Palin, concluded a weeklong effort to raise $500,000 for Palin's legal bils, having reached only 21% of their goal.

Uh. Oh. You see where this is going don't you. Plain couldn't raise 500K in a week? With all the supposed power over the swooning mass of wingnuts she has? I was at local fund raiser for a frigg'n after school soccer program that raised 650K in three hours.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:09:56 -0800

Jinx!

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:11:15 -0800

From the transcript: Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America and America's mission is to give us billions of dollars in return We work tirelessly for Alaskans. except when we quit We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to HELP people every time you drive an SUV, God claps his hands Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude”[...]Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – unlike the "Bridge to Nowhere" dollars which were good, harmless dollars...dollars that were as cuddly as a newborn kitten. It may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. and I am not a quitter, so I am not quitting now. I'm just quitting the job. But I'm not quitting you, Alaska! I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either. My children tell me all the time, "Mommy, we can't let you waste millions of Alaskan money. You can waste a few hundreds, but not millions. we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, Above all they don't quit. Just like I am not quitting. we NEED hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! What we don't want is any of them above average Americans. If I can be Governor, so can Jane from the Nail Salon and Buddy from the Bait 'n tackle. America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good. Any moment now, I swear. North to the Future. Coming to a cineplex near you.

By: Kiablokirk

Kiablokirk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:13:41 -0800

Maybe this isn't timed for the 4th of July, or because there's a possible corruption indictment coming, or because her affair with Mark Sanford is certain to come to light in the wake of the present media scrutiny, or because the secret codes Thomas Jefferson left in certain founding documents that prove that Palin actually has another six heads we can't see and is thus the beast are being decoded right now... Perhaps she did this at this exact moment because the Daily Show just went on a two week break and by the time they come back making fun of her won't be quite as relevant? Damnit, Jon, way to desert us in our hour of need...

By: Avenger

Avenger — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:13:46 -0800

I just got back from FreeRepublic (*dusts off the crazy*) and I'm actually surprised at the level of nuanced discourse over there. About 50% are traditional "HAW HAW Sarah is only giving the libs a false sense of security before she PWNS THEM!!!" and the other half are saying "No, actually this is really bizzare and she is probably finished because of this." I'm actually surprised that freepers are capable of dissenting from their fantasy land that much before the "NO U R A TRAITOR" knives come out.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:14:30 -0800

In a just universe, Palin woke up this morning, found herself in the Governor's mansion, and realized "Wow, I just unbelievably far out of my depth here", and quit. In this, the real world, it's much more likely she's quitting simply to avoid jail time. But another possibility: a couple of weeks ago, Letterman joked that Palin's second daughter got "knocked up", and Palin went ape-shit ballistic. But suppose it's true? - There are rumors that her eldest HAD to join the miltary, to avoid jail. - Her second kid got pregnant at seventeen. - If her third kid is In Trouble, maybe it's finally dawned on Palin that her family is paying the price for her ambition.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:16:59 -0800

I was at local fund raiser for a frigg'n after school soccer program that raised 650K in three hours. Good god, man. Where do your kid(s) go to school?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:19:17 -0800

AsYouKnow Bob: But that doesn't explain the panicked, unprepared goodbye speech, nor does it explain why the GOP released emails. Perhaps the criminal charges are going to involve something between her/Todd, embezzlement, and the Alaskan Independence Party. Or maybe they're involved in something treasonous committed by the AIP — I don't know if the AIP is completely wingnut, but the crazies have been crawling out of the woodwork ever since Obama got elected. Maybe the AIP is responsible for all the pipeline explosions that have been going on up North (but I think most/all of that has been in Canada.)

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:20:39 -0800

From the Oxdown gazette: Her legal bills are approaching 2/3 of a million dollars. Much, if not almost all, of her legal bills stem from her own conduct as governor, and over issues having to do what her daughter's son's father is strongly suspected of holding over the family. Can anyone make sense of this? Specifically the part that says "over issues having to do what [Levi] is strongly suspected of holding over the family.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:20:48 -0800

Good god, man. Where do your kid(s) go to school? It's a region wide program called SCORES.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:32:12 -0800

Dear President Bush, I hope you are doing well. We still appreciate you out here, and admire the work you did to keep us free. Every year near Gerlach, Nevada, we have a large camp gathering around Labor Day weekend... sort of like Boy Scouts or Campfire Girls! We would love it if you could show up, be our guest, and maybe say a few words... we'll provide free koolade and homemade brownies all weekend. Maybe afterwards, we can all go desert snipe hunting!

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:33:00 -0800

From the transcript: We broke ground on the new prison. aefgreav Sorry, I grasped desperately at the keyboard while I fell out of my chair. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? You list a new prison as one of your accomplishments? I mean, I'm sure it is an accomplishment ... of some kind ... but not one you're supposed to tell people about. And trumpet loudly. In your resignation speech. Holy fuck. "How ya'll doing. I'm your new governor, and I gotta tell you, I just took a WICKED SHIT about an hour ago. Big fat hairy banana. Whoooo-ey! You guys ever take a shit so big that it made your pants fit better? All right, who's got the first question in this here press conference...?"

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:35:39 -0800

"Where is the enterprising reporter with the incriminating photos, already?" I know if I had those pictures I'd be sitting on them until after the weekend. "The point was a medical problem somewhere in the family would be an obvious reason to want to spend more time with ones family and Palin's experience with the press might make her reticent to discuss those details." This doesn't track for me with Palin. She's already got a Down syndrome child and a teenage mother in her family mix. Unless she's dying of cancer or something I can't see a family medical problem causing her to resign. And she would have given that reason even if she didn't get into details.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:36:08 -0800

A sudden charitable thought just popped into my head: Palin's been put through the wringers ever since she hit the big-time. And this past couple weeks she's been through the Letterman issue, a GOP backstabbing, a kid that has probably shipped out to Afghanistan, a blogger who has raised some $5K to get emails via FOIA, mounting legal bills that are probably more than she's earned since becoming Governor, a pending FBI investigation into SBS wrongdoings, and so on and so forth. Perhaps it all just got to her — which would be completely understandable — and she had a mental breakdown yesterday and decided to Just. Fucking. Bail. A sleepless night, a hastily-called private press conference, and she's just outta there. To hell with it. And why bother with a prepared speech: it's not like anyone is really going to treat her fairly anyway, so fuck it. Just. Fuck. It. And actually, I hope that's what it all comes down to. No one needs that much shit in their lives. Her kids will be better off, Alaskans will be better off, and she'll be better off. Everyone wins when Sarah Palin steps down.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:36:32 -0800

[Keyboard Cat is] like a new Rule 34. Jerk him off, goatse cat!

By: dances_with_sneetches

dances_with_sneetches — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:36:40 -0800

The Tom Davises of the world will never forgive her.

By: ~

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:38:38 -0800

If she goes to jail, it will be sad to look down from Canada, and no longer see her looking back at us.

By: notreally

notreally — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:43:56 -0800

And yet tens of millions of people marched off to the polls and voted for her and Johnny. That is scarier than Sarah will ever be.

By: rdr

rdr — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:44:16 -0800

The house stuff was out during the campaign. Maybe not the specific facts but there was enough that I wondered when it was going to drop. I guess an indictment would change it from a case of obvious corruption to a case of documented and obvious corruption.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:44:31 -0800

Still nothing that's a lock but it's starting to firm up that the problem is embezzlement of building supplies for her house.

By: donpedro

donpedro — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:44:41 -0800

Isn't that more like "westward from Canada?" Or even "northwest," considering damn near all y'all live within spitting distance of the border?

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:48:09 -0800

t's starting to firm up that the problem is embezzlement of building supplies for her house. That seems like weak sauce for a Republican governor. A little off the top? You can't finesse that? Come aaaaahhhhn. That ain't no scandal. Tough it out, sister! It's gotta be something more significant that that. That wouldn't drive out the likes of her.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:49:14 -0800

And actually, I hope that's what it all comes down to. No one needs that much shit in their lives. OH, NO YOU DON'T, FFF. Don't you go soft on us now. Look this woman was attempting to skate into potentially the most powerful position on the planet (McCain would never last all four years) on nothing but her looks, bigotry, and a bible. She would have had her nasty ignorant, vindictive, little fingers on the big red button that could end human civilization as we know it. Heck. She was attempting to be the most powerful person in the history of life in this Universe (that we know of) and was slathering at the chance. You want that kind of power? It comes with price. And she reaps what she sews my friend. Had she been a kind, compassionate, considerate person with a real track record of selfless service then she get's a break. But she wanted POWER with out doing one selfless thing to deserve it. Fuck her and the horse she rode in on.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:54:33 -0800

Ok...stay with me...Sarah Palin and George Bush are members of The Family, right? And The Family has regular meetings. So, it's not Mark Sanford's love child she's carrying, it's the Son of George. It brings the end times. Yea and verily shall the seas boil, and the land shake her inhabitants into lakes of fire. The rise of the AntiChrist is nigh! Or ya know, she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Either way, I've stocked up on popcorn.

By: stagewhisper

stagewhisper — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:55:36 -0800

If it's the house that's finally putting the nails in her coffin (or stake through her heart, whatevs) it's a scandal that has been brewing since at least last October. Here's a thread from Democratic Underground that compiles it all. (With a bonus photo!)

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:57:12 -0800

Wow -- after watching her terrified performance, all I can say is no way was this a voluntary, calculated move. I hope that we get to find out what the scandal is. It would be really anticlimactic if her resignation meant we never found out who held the knife to her throat.

By: muckster

muckster — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:58:01 -0800

Rumors of an embezzlement scandal involving Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex (via)

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:58:56 -0800

Or we could just take her at her word that she wants to "effect positive change outside government at this point in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities." Who among us hasn't felt that urge from time to time?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:14 -0800

Had she been a kind, compassionate, considerate person with a real track record of selfless service then she get's a break. But she wanted POWER with out doing one selfless thing to deserve it. Fuck her and the horse she rode in on. Note for BB, carried over from the MeTa thread: See that there? It's actually highly unlikely that tkchrist intends to indicate that he desires coitus with Sarah Palin and her horse. A fine example of "fuck" usually not indicating an actual sex act. tkchrist: Palin wouldn't reap what she sews, she'd wear it. And while seeing Palin nailed to the cross might make one feel good for a few minutes (and send a certain type of Republican into paroxysms of religious ecstasy and probably result in the founding of a new church — take, eat: this is my placenta, which is birthed for you: this do in remembrance of me), she and her family have been beat up pretty good, and the oncoming criminal investigations are going to continue to deliver some brutal blows. By the time it's all said and done, I think she'll have paid a price equal to the value of the infamy she has purchased.

By: Garak

Garak — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:37 -0800

Whatever happened to 'I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities'? I wish someone could take this comment, print it out, roll it up, and slap Palin silly with it.

By: orme

orme — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:01:11 -0800

What's the record for post with most comments?

By: Gravitus

Gravitus — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:01:41 -0800

five fresh fish: "A sudden charitable thought just popped into my head: Palin's been put through the wringers ever since she hit the big-time. And this past couple weeks she's been through the Letterman issue, a GOP backstabbing, a kid that has probably shipped out to Afghanistan, a blogger who has raised some $5K to get emails via FOIA, mounting legal bills that are probably more than she's earned since becoming Governor, a pending FBI investigation into SBS wrongdoings, and so on and so forth. Perhaps it all just got to her — which would be completely understandable — and she had a mental breakdown yesterday and decided to Just. Fucking. Bail. A sleepless night, a hastily-called private press conference, and she's just outta there. To hell with it. And why bother with a prepared speech: it's not like anyone is really going to treat her fairly anyway, so fuck it. Just. Fuck. It. And actually, I hope that's what it all comes down to. No one needs that much shit in their lives. Her kids will be better off, Alaskans will be better off, and she'll be better off. Everyone wins when Sarah Palin steps down." And to think this lady wanted to be the V.P. of our country!! She can't properly handle loading a dump into the toilet, let alone the requirements of the V.P. position, never mind her state which has less people in it than the city I live in. I have no pity for the lady as she brought this crap on herself with the winking, Joe six pack and other horrible lines that completely escape me at this point. The people I know really got bent with the Joe Six pack line. That is insulting to the average 12 pack before dinner crowd. How dare she!1!!!!

By: ilana

ilana — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:05:36 -0800

Play her off, Keyboard 'Crats.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:06:57 -0800

Note for BB, carried over from the MeTa thread: See that there? It's actually highly unlikely that tkchrist intends to indicate that he desires coitus with Sarah Palin and her horse. A fine example of "fuck" usually not indicating an actual sex act. HEY! God damn it dont go drag'n me into your messes like some bullet proof vest. I ain't modifying, apologizing, or making excuses for the words I use in regards to Sarah Palin. Or her horse. Besides. How do you know I don't want to actually fuck Sarah Palin's horse?

By: painquale

painquale — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:07:50 -0800

I saw "485 comments" as I was skimming down the blue, and before I registered what the post was about the thought immediately flicked through my mind: "what the hell? Is sixcolors back?" Nope, it's Sarah Palin! Close enough. Happy 4th, everyone!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:08:33 -0800

Because I know you're much more interested in her moose, tkchrist.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:10:07 -0800

A fucking moose.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:10:46 -0800

What's the record for post with most comments? Somewhere north of 5000. We ain't getting anywhere near that.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:13:16 -0800

Eh, the Sanford link popped over a thousand comments. But then, he kept adding fuel to that fire, himself.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:13:17 -0800

Here's a thread from Democratic Underground that compiles it all. (With a bonus photo!) You know if I was to have my career destroyed and possibly go to jail it would NOT BE FOR A HOUSE THAT LOOKED LIKE A NINE YEAR OLD DESIGNED IT IN SIM CITY. It would at least have floor to ceiling ballistic glass windows, a basilica, turrets, an observatory, be made of five foot by five foot soap stone and teak, and have an underground submarine base.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:13:48 -0800

Oddly enough it was our first Palin thread, with 5555 comments. But we still don't stand a chance.

By: Ron Thanagar

Ron Thanagar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:14:14 -0800

Those windows in Palin's house look like just like skybox windows. Too funny and kinda tasteless to boot.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:15:37 -0800

What's the record for post with most comments? The first thread bout Sarah Palin, 5555 comments. LOAD AT YOUR OWN RISK. A fine example of "fuck" usually not indicating an actual sex act. That statement is different from "Fuck them both with jagged glass". There's probably an argument to be made about the use of the phrase "fuck her" and misogynistic overtones but I'm content to let others make it, if they like, in the MetaTalk thread.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:19:17 -0800

It would at least have floor to ceiling ballistic glass windows, a basilica, turrets, an observatory, be made of five foot by five foot soap stone and teak, and have an underground submarine base. You sat in the back of the classroom in 4th grade drawing those all day long, didn't you? So did I, except mine were computers with RADAR displays and automated weapon systems attached to them.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:19:19 -0800

There's probably an argument to be made about the use of the phrase "fuck her" and misogynistic overtones but I'm content to let others make it, if they like, in the MetaTalk thread. Yeah. I am too. It'll go about as well as the whole "bitch" thing.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:19:38 -0800

Until photos of Todd fucking a horse while the entire family does lines off the Stallion's back (yes, it's a guy horse, that's how the Todd rolls) I'm going to sit back and watch the entire season of Tru Blood for the first time. Am I the first one to make a "Buffy The Vampire Helper" joke? I can't be. also it kinda shoots one of my comic ideas in the foot. Also I had a hamburger for the first time ever. Also there is a fly in my apartment. Also Also Also

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:21:50 -0800

You sat in the back of the classroom in 4th grade drawing those all day long, didn't you? 4th grade. Um. Yeah. It was 4th grade. I mean it would be ludicrous to draw that kind of stuff now, wouldn't it. Heh. Ludicrous. ...oh fantasy Dr. Doom castle you will be mine one day. you will be mine.

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:22:23 -0800

Sorry, I grasped desperately at the keyboard while I fell out of my chair. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? You list a new prison as one of your accomplishments? Well, it /is/ new public infrastructure, and that stuff doesn't just appear out of thin air, unless you're playing a Sim game.

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:24:06 -0800

I agree with Miko that the construction scandal seems too small time. It's been in the works for a while; perhaps people's lips are loosening due to her resignation.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:24:07 -0800

unless you're playing a Sim game. Like their house.

By: The Confessor

The Confessor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:24:08 -0800

I'm with tkchrist on this; the house looks like a frickin' slot machine!

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:28:52 -0800

orme: "What's the record for post with most comments?" In the thousands, possibly tne BoingBoing Disappears Violet Blue longboat.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:29:39 -0800

whoop, disregard.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:32:51 -0800

I agree with Miko that the construction scandal seems too small time. So did the one about Ted Stevens, but look what that cost him. Besides Wasilla is small town and small town politics can be pretty bloody. Nothing better to do, might as well tear somebody a new one.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:33:03 -0800

You know it it turns out one of her kids, or she, has cancer or something I am gonna feel like SUCH an asshole. So. Good night.

By: blueberry

blueberry — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:39:36 -0800

“I think Sarah Palin is on the verge of becoming the Miami Vice of American politics: Something a lot of people once thought was cool and then 20 years later look back, shake their heads and just kind of laugh,” quipped Republican media consultant Todd Harris. —Palin resignation splits GOP, Politico.com

By: ericost

ericost — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:43:17 -0800

it it turns out one of her kids, or she, has cancer or something I am gonna feel like SUCH an asshole. Don't let the lack of cancer in her family stop you.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:44:28 -0800

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:45:48 -0800

Anyone wanna lay odds that Sanford holds a press conference tomorrow? Losing the limelight must be driving him nuts. I'd make a joke about Sanford's nuts, but it would probably be considered misandronist.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:45:51 -0800

"What's the record for post with most comments?" This thread isn't even close. It hasn't even started to slow down on reload yet.

By: Askiba

Askiba — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:47:57 -0800

Something a lot of people once thought was cool and then 20 years later look back, shake their heads and just kind of laugh, Riight. I'm laughing right now. Let's see what happens in 20 years.

By: scody

scody — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:51:12 -0800

the Miami Vice of American politics: Something a lot of people once thought was cool and then 20 years later look back, shake their heads and just kind of laugh, This is nuts. There's no way that anyone liked Miami Vice non-ironically at the time.

By: orme

orme — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:53:19 -0800

5555? Whoa. Ok, forget I asked.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:57:50 -0800

Palin alone has now accounted for over 6000 comments on the Blue. She ought to get a cookie or something for that.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:03:33 -0800

There's no way that anyone liked Miami Vice non-ironically at the time. Man this made me feel old. And I was only like 10 when that show was on the air. Also, fuck yeah Miami Vice was fucking awesome.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:06:21 -0800

Anyone wanna lay odds that Sanford holds a press conference tomorrow? Losing the limelight must be driving him nuts. Nah, I think somebody got it through his head that he should shut the hell up and lie low for a while. Sanford may want the limelight, but his handlers are probably sighing with relief over Palin.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:13:40 -0800

The Piper bit is already a complete canard. Really, can we just stop pretending that we really believe that her mothering skills have anything to do with her ability to do her job? When scandal racked male politicians quit and say that they want to spend more time with their family we accept it as a flimsy excuse but Palin does it and suddenly the entire internet says "oh thank god she can focus on what her real priority should be, her children." While we're at it, let's stop acting like her children are somehow indicative of her personal failures at being a mother. Because they are enlisted in the military after a troubled youth, or teen moms, or developmentally disabled? Frankly, here's the litmus - apply any of these situations to your own family. Or an inner-city family. Sure, she's a hypocrite, her values are absurd. But why reproduce the very bogus "values" she espouses in order to get digs in about the lives of her kids? A teenager isn't a bad person, or a failure, or a slut because she has a baby. Or because he joins the military to figure out his life. I shudder to think what people would say about her kids had she been in office. It couldn't have been worse than the bizarre, tortured "Chelsea Clinton is ugly" years, followed by the equally egregious "The Bush twins are drunken sluts" period. Let's hold Sarah Palin accountable for her actions, her words and her broken promises and leave her "duties" as a mother out of it. She wasn't elected to be Mom of Alaska.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:18:14 -0800

There's no way that anyone liked Miami Vice non-ironically at the time. Not only did I like Miami Vice non-ironically, I had a t-shirt with a picture of a mouse dressed like Sonny Crockett. The t-shirt read "Miami Mice" at the bottom. I wore it to the skating rink when my Garfield shirtdress was dirty. You can imagine how incredibly popular I was.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:26:23 -0800

I tried watching her "press conference" and it gave me an irregular, rapid heartbeat and vibrating eyeballs. I also seem to have chewed several of my own teeth off. The well developed tweaker early warning radar in my head lit up like a Fresno hooker on welfare check day. Using the tried and true Burroughsian cut-up methodology of randomly clicking hither and tither on the video position bar - shockingly it made even less sense. No easy scrying there, no readily found moments like "Terrorist... war... for... oil..." as you'd easily find upon cutting up any given Bush speech - simply the most inane stream of meaningless bullshit like "I... quit... basketball... fish... float... we... I... more... we... I... I... Moose..."

By: hippybear

hippybear — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:27:06 -0800

I got to love Miami Vice twice, because it was on during my high school years, which coincided with the rise and domination of Phil Collins, which had a symbiotic parasitic relationship with Miami Vice, and mix in the MTV visuals (which had never really been applied to television drama before) and then the whole pastel clothing thing... Yikes. It was actually quite groundbreaking, which is easy to forget today. Mann's masterly use of color and music was evident even then. But then, I was in West Germany (as it was then known) from 1986-87, and during that time, Miami Vice had finally been dubbed into German and was debuting. It completely swept up the country I was living in, once again. Very strange to live through that twice, but it was a very powerful show.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:31:10 -0800

Not only did I like Miami Vice non-ironically, I had a t-shirt with a picture of a mouse dressed like Sonny Crockett. The t-shirt read "Miami Mice" at the bottom. I wore it to the skating rink when my Garfield shirtdress was dirty. Damnit. I used to have those comics. Miami Mice was awesome. A) Because they probably shouldn't have been selling that stuff to kids and B) You couldn't reliably purchase Weirdo or Robert Crumb comix when you were 12, because that was totally verboten to sell to kids just based on the covers alone.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:32:15 -0800

fourcheesemac - by Native Alaskans, do you mean Haida, Tlingit, etc. - docpops Native as in Iñupiat (Eskimo). I was here last summer when Palin came to town for Nalukataq, along with daughter Willow, and where I got to meet her very briefly (it's a common pilgrimage for Alaska politicians -- Lisa Murkowski was here last week for this year's). At the time, she was not yet a star. Alaskans generally liked her because she hunted and fished (things that make you recognizable as a human being in these parts) and because she was a professing Christian, as are most Native Alaskans, though this is usually tempered compared to Anglo and lower-48 fundamentalists with bad memories of missionization and a more tolerant and syncretic attitude about belief in general. The story of her flight home from Houston to deliver baby Trig was well known and widely told around here back then, not exactly admiringly, but with a sense of "see, she's really Alaskan, tough as nails and a little bit crazy." When she was selected for VP, my Native friends briefly thought it was pretty cool that an Alaskan hunter was on the ticket, although Obama already had the upper hand electorally in Native (Indian and Eskimo) communities throughout the state. And Alaskans I know -- Native and not -- generally understood the difference between being the governor of a state of 600K people and being president of the US much more clearly than lower-48ers. But within weeks, her lousy record on Native issues (plus Todd's exaggerated claims to a Yup'ik identity) started to get eviscerated in email chain letters and posts on Native blogs. By November, the Native vote went *substantially* for Obama -- I'm guessing close to 75-80 percent in the Eskimo villages of the North Slope voted Obama (and I think this was true across Native Alaska), and my one Republican Native friend (an ex-Marine and gun rights advocate, as are most Eskimos for reasons that make perfect sense if you hunt for subsistence) told me he was afraid to even mention his politics around his friends and family. (Another Iñupiat friend said to me: "It's simple, Eskimos have to vote for the Black guy.") And most recently, her "rural affairs" adviser John Moller has drawn major fire for limiting Native subsistence fishing in the lower Yukon while giving commercial fisheries every break they ask for -- leading to actual *starvation* concerns for Yukon Natives this coming winter (the fish you put up now feeds you all winter). This is felt as a deep affront by all Alaska Natives, not just the Yukon fishermen. You do not interfere in subsistence hunting and fishing up here without paying a price -- as the great Eskimo statesman and political activist Eben Hopson once said, in response to attempts to strangle Native subsistence hunting rights 40 years ago, "hunger knows no laws." Native Americans in general, and in Alaska certainly, are very strongly patriotic. July 4 is a big holiday here, and the record of Eskimo and Indian military service and bravery going back to WWII is unsurpassed. But there is no love of the federal government in these parts, and never has been, and not much more love for the state government either. Eskimos, in particular, are proud Americans, yes, but also sovereign people living and still subsisting on their traditional lands. They take great pride in having managed to keep it that way, in contrast to what happened to Native people in the lower 48 beginning much earlier. The North Slope is not a reservation. It's the sovereign homeland of the Iñupiat tribe. I'm telling you true: one of the most respected and senior Elders in this community (and a good friend of mine), upon hearing the announcement of Palin's resignation at today's July 4th games, got up on the roof of his truck (this is a 75 year old man with a cane) and led a cheering crowd in a standing ovation. It was a sight to behold. If I were Sarah Palin, I'd resign a second time after seeing that.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:35:44 -0800

The well developed tweaker early warning radar in my head lit up like a Fresno hooker on welfare check day. You are not the first person to say she was tweaking. I watched it, she didn't really look like someone who was obviously tweaking. It just strikes me as the nervousness of someone who is lying through their teeth.

By: Partario

Partario — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:38:35 -0800

What exactly is an "iceberg scandal"??

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:40:22 -0800

> Perhaps she did this at this exact moment because the Daily Show just went on a two week break and by the time they come back making fun of her won't be quite as relevant? But instead, this gives them the entire week from the 20th-24th to remind everyone she is a quitter. And to do so with more details surfacing about what she has done, etc. When they show up on the 20th, there would be two weeks (hopefully) of some sort of real coverage of what has happened, giving them even more material. This may be their reasoning to pick now, but it would be very flawed reasoning (but par for the course for the Palin team). > That wouldn't drive out the likes of her. No, if it was a single incident, it wouldn't. But if this is a tip of the iceberg event (the term thrown around already), illustrating 7+ years of collusion, embezzlement, etc. They may have a much bigger roster on her, but as the other rumors are circulating, it sounds like the fact that her house has the same building supplies that were ordered for the sports complex will be the news soundbite. Ted Stevens had some weird funny money stuff going on, but it sounds like atleast he made sure that while they were using the same contractors to build his house, they didn't use the same materials as the poorly managed and town bankrupting sports complex project. There is probably going to be some other much bigger things happening also, but "stealing from her own town to build her vacation home" is not going to resonate well with small town values crowd / message.

By: device55

device55 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:41:34 -0800

Thank you for that. In your honor I will add an extra cheese to my mac n' cheese recipe.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:41:54 -0800

"*han-handed --> ham-handed" Dude, Greedo shot first, just accept it. Perhaps French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his adviser Johnny Hallyday suggested she resign.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:43:09 -0800

What exactly is an "iceberg scandal"?? Far more lurking beneath the surface than what is readily apparent. On preview, what that other guy said.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:43:32 -0800

I agree, empath, about the nervousness but I don't think that it was necessarily because she was lying. She had that my-world-is-caving-in-and-my-stomach-is-in-knotts-but-the-show-must-go-on demeanor. And I don't think that she was lying any more than usual. The explanation that she gave for stepping down wasn't a lie as much as it was a non-explanation. She's got issues.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:49:51 -0800

"Here's the thing though... Chelsea Clinton is ugly, the Bush Twins are drunken sluts and Sarah Palin used her hockey mom crap to get an extra vote or two." People are responsible for themselves and their own actions, so their kids should not be fair game in that way. And even so - beauty is often subjective. And in any case there's plastic surgery even if she's not a great person in other ways, and she is intelligent and charming and not at all deserving of attacks, any more than Palin's kids deserve flak just for her pinning on the 'motherhood' badge. ...yeah, there's no other shoe dropping there though.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:51:35 -0800

I just realized that Palin's timing is taking attention away from this weekend's "Tea Party 2" protests, giving the Teabaggers less coverage from the legitimate media and less promotion time on FauxNews. And what is the first question most reporters are going to ask every yokel at the Tea Party? "What do you think about Sarah Palin?" And if this Big Brew-haha attracts bigger crowds than the TaxDay events, that can now be dismissed as a "one-time Sarah Tribute" and not as a "growing movement". Glenn Beck must be privately crying like a baby right now, and if Sarah expects a starring role in the Right Wing Media Machine, she's going to have at least one (maybe several) principal players working against her. And it'll be even worse if any solid scandal breaks before Monday. We may have Sarah to thank for sinking not just her own career but also damaging an entire FauxMovement.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:53:02 -0800

I forgot to mention that this same Elder also led his dance group in an invited performance at Obama's inaugural parade, performing a song especially composed for the new President. The Obama campaign's efforts to reach out to Native communities throughout the campaign and right up to the inauguration itself (backed by actual Native-sensitive policy decisions since taking office, unbelievably!) were unbelievably serious and played a part in his ability to take Western states like Colorado and New Mexico and Washington (and to compete in the Dakotas and Arizona and Montana, for that matter -- he was even relatively close in Alaska, all things considered). People like Palin take Native voters for granted, pander to them if they acknowledge them at all, and stab them in the back with policy choices when they see advantages in doing so, as they usually do when they serve their big business interests in timber, mining, and fisheries. She's an old-school Western politician in this respect. And she and Arizona good old boy McCain got beaten by a community organizer who saw that Western state republicans took Native voters for granted, presumed they wouldn't bother to turn out, and paid only lip service to their interests if they mentioned them at all. (Note that Barack Obama mentioned "First Americans" or "Native Americans" in nearly every speech where he listed groups of constituents to whom he was appealing for support.) Barack "Black Eagle" Obama was made an honorary member of the Crow Nation last summer. Over 100 tribal leaders formally endorsed him. I knew field campaign workers focusing on the Native community outreach efforts of the campaign, and they were serious and well funded. Being a small town mayor is sort of like being a community organizer, except you have no sense of what a "community" is. Or how to organize one.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:04:08 -0800

fourcheesemac, thank you for your illuminating comments-- with all the speculation and chatter in this thread, they were a refreshing, welcome and informative report from the front lines. (Flagged as fantastic, btw.)

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:04:50 -0800

Sorry, "were" = "are"

By: stargell

stargell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:08:13 -0800

If true this is actually bad news. Becuase it means they finally might be pulling their heads out of their asses for 2012. I, for one, would love for the Republicans to pull their heads out of their asses and offer a reasoned, intelligent, well-spoken, well-educated, well-rounded, worldly candidate. Informed, intelligent debate makes the republic stronger. And that's been the greatest failing of the Republican party in over the past 15 years.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:18:01 -0800

Palin's resignation speech written as vers libre.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:19:02 -0800

I guess abandoning your State of the Union is kinda like being a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities. Which you have abandoned. Also.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:20:49 -0800

Since Eisenhower, I'd say.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:28:01 -0800

One of Palin's first National TV Appearances (albeit to a small audience that was not necessarily HER target market) was when Craig Ferguson, before he truly became an American citizen, was campaigning for "Honorary Citizenship" around the country and she did a video granting him Alaska's. Ferg may have been the first to publicly credit her for a "naughty librarian" look, but to me, she looked a little crazy-behind-the-nerd-glasses even then. She never appeared attractive to me, but I'm mostly asexual these days. But even Tina Fey, Palin's TV doppelganger, has kind of a "crazy cat lady" look to me. By comparison, Nancy Pelosi looks more like a Librarian, albeit not a 'naughty' one, Hillary Clinton is very plain and a little masculine (but more attractive to me than any of Bill's other women) and grown-up Chelsea is not ugly, but somewhat 'homely' yet less so than Sarah Jessica Parker or Tori Spelling, and much better without the aggressively curly hair. And Michelle Obama looks like a schoolteacher, but she occasionally puts out a crazy-lady look that saves the tabloids a lot of photoshop work. As far as her kids, or Palin's kids, I don't pay any attention to what they look like so have zero opinion. Equal time for the male politicos: Barack Obama could bleach his skin white and hang around a Klan meeting and nobody would notice. Shirtless, he's less flabby than Schwarzennegger, who is not aging well, and Joe Biden always comes across like he's enjoying the Vice Presidency the way most men his age enjoy their first years of retirement. Newt Gingrich has become the Uncle you don't let your kids hang around, Huckabee looks too much like his name, and Mitt Romney resembles a corporate middle-manager trying too hard to look like he's ready for a promotion. And Al Franken and Barney Frank look like brothers, which is especially weird.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:28:23 -0800

simply the most inane stream of meaningless bullshit like "I... quit... basketball... fish... float... we... I... more... we... I... I... Moose..." "We... all... float... down... here..."

By: @troy

@troy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:31:43 -0800

Yeah, the Republican Party left me with its Southern Strategy. 'course, I was 5 at the time . . . Perhaps the pivot was 1965, with Goldwater winning the party's nominaton over Rockefeller.

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:32:31 -0800

"I'm not seeking a second term, so rather than become a lam(er) duck, I'm handing control of this trainwreck state to my 2nd in command on July 26. He will be running for re-election in 2010". So, Sarah Palin's last day in politics is July 25th. She'll be packing her things in boxes while I celebrate me ratcheting up another year on this globe. For me, this is the best birthday gift ever.

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:33:04 -0800

Partario: "What exactly is an "iceberg scandal"??" One that, like the infamous 'berg of 1912, upends an initially-stunning and heavily-hyped vessel with Victorian mores but an underbelly of working-class angst -- a vessel that founders because it sailed too hastily into unforgiving waters (with very poor damage control) in a greedily ambitious bid for power and glory? Alvy Ampersand: "Far more lurking beneath the surface than what is readily apparent." Or that. That also makes sense.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:38:15 -0800

"What exactly is an "iceberg scandal"??" One that drowns some young jerk a few hours after he was hanging over the prow of the ship with a rich girl yelling that he's "KING OF THE WORLD!!" which is not that bad an analogy for Palin.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:45:28 -0800

It's the republican version of making a big fuss about arugula.

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:59:29 -0800

According to her Wikipedia page, this is not the first time she's used these excuses. Governor Murkowski appointed Palin to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She chaired the Commission beginning in 2003, serving as Ethics Supervisor. Palin resigned in January 2004, protesting what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members. This sounds a little like her 'the government is wasting your money' spiel, doesn't it? I read an article a while back (danged if I can find it now) which argued that the real reason she quit the Commission was that the job was simply too much work for her. The author made the point that if one is the Ethics Supervisor and one encounters ethics violations committed by the people one is supposed to be supervising, the logical course of action is to expose and correct them, not to quit. Wikipedia also says: In 2004, Palin told the Anchorage Daily News that she had decided not to run for the U.S. Senate that year, against the Republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski, because her teenage son opposed it. Palin said, "How could I be the team mom if I was a U.S. Senator?" Again, I hear similarities to today's pre-resignation speech.

By: Partario

Partario — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:05:44 -0800

I had no idea I was setting up so many zingers.

By: scody

scody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:09:12 -0800

Truly, Sarah Palin has come a long way. When she ran for vice president, she frequently became disjointed and garbled when she departed from her prepared remarks. Now the prepared remarks are incoherent, too.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:14:42 -0800

I, for one, would love for the Republicans to pull their heads out of their asses and offer a reasoned, intelligent, well-spoken, well-educated, well-rounded, worldly candidate. Informed, intelligent debate makes the republic stronger. And that's been the greatest failing of the Republican party in over the past 15 years. But do we really want two conservative political parties?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:24:35 -0800

Sen. Murkowski's statement on Palin's resignation:

“I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded.”

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:10:14 -0800

I excitedly await the auto-tuned version of this breaking news

By: arcolz

arcolz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:15:54 -0800

600+ comments, and no one is wondering why Pixar hasn't made a film starring a female Alaskan governor! Next thing you know, her weird-windowed house is floating away towards Russia.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:16:57 -0800

I would just like to thank Sarah Palin for providing a jumping off point to some excellent snarky MeFi entertainment this Friday night. She gives good thread.

By: elwoodwiles

elwoodwiles — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:27:43 -0800

But do we really want two conservative political parties? Hell's yes. Split the vote.

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:00:04 -0800

[Comment removed. Gravitus, I takes a lot in this context to breach the no-go barrier, but that did it. You need to cut the shit, not just here but in askme as well.]

By: flotson

flotson — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:21:42 -0800

My sources say YES. I'm going with "pregant" are there prizes? oh that's right, she's leaving office

By: flotson

flotson — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:22:26 -0800

wait maybe its a trick

By: davar

davar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:44:17 -0800

July 1 she twittered: Congratulations to Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan as he is sworn in today! I look forward to working with him. Does that indiciate that she had no plans of resigning two days before she did?

By: bardic

bardic — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:52:52 -0800

James Wolcott: "But to pretend that it's Alaska's welfare that's uppermost in her mind and she can do more in a civilian capacity than serving as the actual fucking governor of the state, is a bit stretchy. And releasing such a bombshell announcement on the Friday of a holiday weekend is a calculated news-dump move, not a brilliant PR coup."

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:38:35 -0800

At this point, there's so much crazy talk about this that if it's simply an embezzlement thing, I'm going to be seriously disappointed. I'm expecting aliens to start beaming her up to run FoxNews Beetelgeuse any minute now!

By: markkraft

markkraft — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:42:27 -0800

i think though much of it for the kids had to do with recently seeing their baby brother trigg mocked and ridiculed by some pretty mean spirited adults recently and by the way i sure wish folks could ever understand all that we can learn all of us from someone like trigg i know he needs me but i know that i need him even more and what a child can offer to set priorities right trigg is my speechwriter and chief political consultant know that time is precious the world needs more triggs not fewer

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:05:08 -0800

I like to watch.

By: hooptycritter

hooptycritter — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:49:11 -0800

Proof that the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists. I prayed to its noodlieness to smite the wench and she resigns. Absolute bullet-proof proof. and a ag of chips.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:51:05 -0800

Jesus Christ, please shut up. There's nothing shameful about a teen, er, single-digit, being pregnant, therefore there's nothing wrong with talking about it Sure. But there's something very deeply shameful about someone that young being made pregnant. And then there's the fact that many people would regard her just being pregnant as deeply shameful, whatever you happen to think about it. And then consider the ammunition that crap like that provides to Paln and her defenders. (I mean, how many people have actually made fun of Trig for being a Down's Syndrome child? It doesn't take many.) The likelihood in this case is vanishingly small, of course -- anyone who spends any time around small kids knows that's a normal look for a small child's body. In fact, though, there's a lot that's shameful about flaunting baseless speculations. Consider the damage it does to the case and cause of people who oppose Palin, and the potential damage to Piper. So just f*cking knock it off.

By: sour cream

sour cream — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:00:24 -0800

Why? No one seems to say why? Maybe she discovered that taking care of a disabled child requires more time and energy than she imagined? Nah, that's too wacky, even for her standards.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:12:38 -0800

mr.grum: Little kids have round bellies and bad posture, and if you watch the CNN clip of the video about six minutes in, you'll see she's actually still fairly thin; the wind blowing her dress around caught her at a particularly unflattering moment in that frame, that's all. Exactly. I was just coming in to say that, speaking from personal experience as a former eight-year-old girl who often wore dresses like that, that cotton fabric is stiff, and little girls' dresses often don't have waists, and thus dresses like that don't flutter so much as "billow", and...well, updrafts happen.

By: jhc

jhc — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:21:09 -0800

Barack Obama could bleach his skin white and hang around a Klan meeting and nobody would notice. Actually I think that might raise *some* comment.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:21:12 -0800

"Billow" Palin is a terrible name.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:36:57 -0800

Not if he signed in as "Bubba."

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:34:41 -0800

Fourcheesemac, thank you so much for your illuminating and thoughtful comments. In a thread full of speculation, it was nice to get some tangible information and solid analysis from a first-hand observer of Alaskan politics and a community most of us know very little about.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:43:58 -0800

... Does that indiciate that she had no plans of resigning two days before she did? She was for governing before she was against it.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:53:42 -0800

Her "You're not going to have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore" speech was not only disjointed but also disengenuous after her nastiness during the campaign. Who got the wingnut base fired up about pallin' around with terrorists more than Sarah Palin? She absolutely revelled in rolling around in the mud as long as she was the one on top. But now all those nasty ethics complaints that have cost her so much money are interfering with her governing and David Letterman suggesting that her teenage daughter got knocked up was just not only an insult to women and girls everywhere, but also way over the top. It's not going to be politics as usual any more. Besides, trust her--it will be better for Alaska if she quits.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:53:58 -0800

But at another point she invoked a military quotation, misattributing it to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, in what seemed to be an effort to wave aside any suggestion that she was abandoning the fight. “He said, ‘We’re not retreating; we are advancing in another direction,’ ” she said. (The remark was actually said by Maj. Gen. Oliver Prince Smith.) You have to laugh at her complete and utter ineptitude. My husband's theory is that she resigned so that the new Governor could pardon her or Todd, as the need arises. Hey, it's as good a theory as any.

By: I Foody

I Foody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:58:18 -0800

I watched her speech. Then I ctrl-f'd for cocaine and then meth. It reminded me a lot of the save by the bell episode where Jesse Spano was on caffine pills and had the I'm so excited I'm so excited I'm so scared break down. You all disappoint me.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:04:05 -0800

The text, as posted on Gov. Palin's official website (here), uses 2,549 words and 18 exclamation points. Lincoln freed the slaves with 719 words and nary an exclamation; Mr. Jefferson declared our independence in 1,322 words and, again, no exclamation points. Nixon resigned the presidency in 1,796 words -- still no exclamation points. Gov. Palin capitalized words at random - whole words, like "TO," "HELP," and "AND," and the first letter of "Troops." HELP! Yep, could be a subconscious cry for help-- or could just be Palin's usual crap-- feverishly emotional ineptitude.

By: mikelieman

mikelieman — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:08:00 -0800

Can anyone make sense of this? Specifically the part that says "over issues having to do what [Levi] is strongly suspected of holding over the family. Well, let's consider for a moment how Levi's mom was busted dealing meth... (And we'll just keep the rest of this post an INTERNAL dialogue)

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:16:49 -0800

Can anyone make sense of this? Specifically the part that says "over issues having to do what [Levi] is strongly suspected of holding over the family. I KNEW IT. So is there going to be a follow-up presser today, or what?

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:17:18 -0800

Also from Paul Begala's op ed at the above link: She put her son's name in quotations marks. Why? Who knows. Maybe "Trig" is not his real name? Maybe his real name is even more controversial. Hot Tub Love Child Palin I Suck At Math And Other Hard Stuff Palin Future POTUS Offspring Palin This Space For Sell Palin Independent Alaska Palin

By: freshundz

freshundz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:20:49 -0800

The important thing to remember here is that Palin has a tremendous number of supporters, specifically but not limited to the republican base, and nobody can rally them the way she can. As long as this is the case she is solid gold to the republican party and anybody she endorses. Im sure whatever she will be doing from here on will be political and extremely lucrative for her.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:23:24 -0800

I Foody: "I ctrl-f'd for cocaine and then meth. It reminded me a lot of the save by the bell episode where Jesse Spano was on caffine pills and had the I'm so excited I'm so excited I'm so scared break down. You all disappoint me." You could CTRL-F for "tweak". If you insist.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:27:17 -0800

@Gravy -- the original context of that quote is interesting. A more literate person might mean something by it.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:33:15 -0800

Sources close to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tell MSNBC that she is "out of politics for good." Well that much is obvious. Let's just hope it's also for-ever.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:40:37 -0800

The third in line for the governor, and the man expected to step into Parnell's shoes is Commissioner of Corrections, Joe Schmidt. He was appointed, accompanied by a few raised eyebrows, to the #3 spot in February of this year. His other claim to fame? He dated the governor when they both went to Wasilla High. He replaced embattled Attorney General Talis Colberg, who stepped down under allegations of mishandling the Troopergate investigation and telling state employees that they didn't need to comply with legislative subpoenas. So the guy who ran the prisons will now be LT. Governor...and in the Great(ly corrupted) State of Alaska the Number 2 guy has a good chance of advancing when the Number 1 guy gets indicted. Boy, Palin's shenanigans sure have shone a powerful spotlight on Alaska, and what has been revealed hasn't been very pretty. Seems like any greedy jackass can get her/himself elected and then steal with impunity.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:41:36 -0800

Her tweaking appearance is probably due to having drunk waaaaaay too much coffee in the preceding sixteen hours. Her decision to quit/her being forced to quit was made late on the 2nd. A sleepless night and too much coffee the next morning would make anyone seem a bit tweaky.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:42:37 -0800

The "making fun of a special needs baby" brouhaha a la Wonkette - it was not about Trig, simply making fun of a Palin sycophant. For resignation reactions from a few Alaska blogs: The Mudflats Diva's Blue Oasis Progressive Alaska The Immoral Minority Fiery Blazing Handbasket

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:57:58 -0800

If she is, in fact, getting a news anchor or commentator job, that might be a huge mistake for her. She'll need to at least fake like she knows and understands what she's talking about - frequently extemporaneously. When she's been allowed to speak off-the-cuff - and this press conference sounds like its pure off-the-cuff Palin - she comes across as incoherent.

I imagine that it would be on Fox, in which case coherence is clearly not a job requirement.

By: docpops

docpops — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:03:33 -0800

fourcheesemac, where do babies come from? Seriously, that was more illuminating than quite a few New Yorker essays I remember. Thanks.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:11:01 -0800

she can string words together competently enough

I'm sorry, I thought I was in the Sarah Palin thread. Could someone please direct me to the Sarah Palin thread? Thanks.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:20:48 -0800

FOX "News" op ed:

Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska is a brilliant liberating move for her career, and a potential turning point for the national conservative movement.

The editorial goes on to list all the brilliant things she can accomplish now that she is liberated from the onerous job of being Governor. For example

She should also lead the nation's mothers to oppose mandating replacement of incandescent light bulbs with the new mercury poison gas bulbs.

It is news to me that the nation's mothers are so opposed to replacing their light bulbs. However that sounds like a nice, nutty niche for her to nestle into.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:21:09 -0800

Sarah is perfectly intelligible. If you have aural dyslexia.

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:26:56 -0800

the new mercury poison gas bulbs. Goddammit, I knew if I stayed around this thread long enough I was going to see something that made me so angry I was going to have to punch someone in the face. Good thing there's no mail delivery today or I might end up popping the postman, and that's a Federal charge.

By: Danf

Danf — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:27:49 -0800

I spend 36 ours off the net and look what happens! Can't people behave themselves while I am gone?

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:30:20 -0800

new mercury poison gas bulbs "Bob, I don't care if he's your brother-in-law. If you want your lightbulbs to sell, you need someone else to do their branding."

By: verb

verb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:31:42 -0800

I told my wife about the news of Palin's resignation, and she narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. I won't believe it until she's dead." From the moment Palin winked during the debate, my wife and her friends have been very open about their desire to destroy her with fire. It's kind of shocking how many women I know really really hated her 'flirty folksy' routine.

By: verb

verb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:39:52 -0800

Hmmm. Just to clarify, I'm not doing an "I hope she dies" shout-out or anything. I don't. I just think that it's interesting that the people who seem to really, really despise Palin are the people who she was supposed to have such resonance with. Women, native Alaskans...

By: 445supermag

445supermag — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:40:55 -0800

Palin alone has now accounted for over 6000 comments on the Blue. She ought to get a cookie or something for that. posted by darkstar at 9:57 PM on July 3 [+] [!] Hey admins, how about giving the whole Palin family free mefi membership? I can see the FPPs now: Our own Sarah Palin (LipstickPitBull) has a new project where she does a mashup of the constitution...

By: bardic

bardic — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:40:57 -0800

"As long as this is the case she is solid gold to the republican party and anybody she endorses." Excuse me? First, there might be another shoe to drop. Pre-holiday weekend news conference? She was trying to do this quietly as possible (albeit that's impossible). Best case scenario: there is no scandal, she's simply a) not cut-out for politics (i.e., can't be bothered to finish even one term as governor) and/or b) fucking insane. I truly doubt any future Republican candidate will try to garner favor with her or honestly care very much at all what she says or thinks. Sure, she still has supporters. But the RNC types have turned on her (many of them did so last year). A populist, grassroots Palin organization for smaller government? Her version of DailyKos? That and three bucks will get you a latte. This whole damn thing is just so strange. I'm convinced there has to be some breaking news we'll hear about Monday, perhaps having to do with the announcement of a Federal indictment against her or her husband. But if I'm wrong, well, then it's obvious that Sarah Palin isn't fit for public service in any capacity, not even dog-catcher. Ya know why? She fucking gave up a governorship. Wish I could put that more philosophically or something, but WTF? This is exact opposite of leadership, this is tucking your tail between your legs and running away. The Republicans trying to spin this as a good move are amusing as ever, however.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:41:53 -0800

Secret Life of Gravy: "FOX "News" op ed: " and we quote,

And because of the long distance and her family, as well as governing, responsibilities, she canÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t get down to the lower-48 enough to build her national political presence.

Firstly, I'm not sure what encoding scheme has a 38 byte apostrophe. Secondly, how could someone really believe that any kind of political presence building would counter a failed governorship? Even William Kristol, neo-conservativism's favorite rose-tinted brain, stumbled:

"I am real surprised. It is real unconventional," William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, told FOX News. "It would make sense to finish the governorship and then run for president in 2012.

By: DU

DU — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:42:41 -0800

I don't understand why people are saying she can come back from this "because Nixon did". Who is going to vote for another Nixon?

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:44:50 -0800

We really don't know whether Ronald Reagan did, in fact, have a penis.

Speak for yourself.

By: jb

jb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:47:35 -0800

There's no way that anyone liked Miami Vice non-ironically at the time. Not only did I like Miami Vice non-ironically, I had a t-shirt with a picture of a mouse dressed like Sonny Crockett. The t-shirt read "Miami Mice" at the bottom. I wore it to the skating rink when my Garfield shirtdress was dirty. You can imagine how incredibly popular I was. posted by LeeJay at 1:18 AM on July 4 I think I used to have the same shirt, or knew someone who did. Only it had both mice - and I was just a couple of years too young to actually watch Miami Vice, so this shirt was how I got to know it.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:53:19 -0800

Good thing there's no mail delivery today or I might end up popping the postman, and that's a Federal charge. "Popping the postman" has been added to list of possible Palin paternity theories.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:04:46 -0800

SLoG's link is dead for me (LOL, "sarah-palin-outsmarts-left" yields "Page cannot be found"), so I clicked on the "Opinion" tab and chose the Krauthammer link... and starting to rd teh comment hair... feelz furnny... tickles... cchhrrgrrllphpttpttt You people just make your statements but then do not have any reasons to support the arguments that your point of worldview lead you to conclude you want to enforce on everyone with your elitistism. But YOU deep down know SARAH belongs in our nations CAPITALS forever but you want to play the politics of PRESEASONAL DESCRIPTION. On preview, oh, there it is, complete with the promised angstroms, dipthongs and logical-nots. Knots. Whatever.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:05:59 -0800

Sarah Palin is such solid gold that she can't even muster up enough donations from her rabid fan base to cover her legal costs for the ethics investigations.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:08:58 -0800

Anderson Cooper takes on Meg Stapleton, spokesperson for Palin.

By: krautland

krautland — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:09:48 -0800

well, the lipstick has obviously come off the pig.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:10:52 -0800

Also, boo_radley, her gubernorship was totally NOT failed, like duh, she listed all the accomplishments in her speech. She's knocking off early. She'll pop the postman and by Labor Day she'll be gestating her plan to oh forget it...

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:14:12 -0800

It appears that the GOP was completely surprised by her announcement, which is the same as adultery in their book, and that means she is leaving conservative politics. My guess is that her family probably abandoned her one by one, especially since the nation turned left. Conservatives always take their family loyalty for granted, because they bullshit their conservatism that way.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:17:22 -0800

DU at 11:42 AM: Who is going to vote for another Nixon? 50-some million Americans voted for George Bush even after his disasterous first term. There are many, many "low-information" voters.

By: LMGM

LMGM — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:19:20 -0800

Señor Whelk: This hamburger you speak of, it vibrates? LeeJay : Not only did I like Miami Vice non-ironically, I had a t-shirt with a picture of a mouse dressed like Sonny Crockett. The t-shirt read "Miami Mice" at the bottom. I wore it to the skating rink when my Garfield shirtdress was dirty. You can imagine how incredibly popular I was. Actually, if you're twenty-something right now and wear that over some shiny leggings and inappropriate second-hand neon pumps, you're smoldering hipster-bait. Considering donating it to needy american-apparel junkies in your neighborhood. As for this Palin silliness: I've been spending the past week transcribing interviews that I recorded in French, in noisy restaurants and terraces, with an emphasis on preserving pauses, vocabulary slips, sentence fragments, and mid-sentence shifts in the transcript (for research reasons). So, upon watching Palin produce another Markov-chain meander through the English language, I really want to dedicate some time into providing a transcript of her speech that preserves all of the halting and humming and hawing and stream-of-consciousness-y-ness. However, it takes me 10 minutes to transcribe one minute of my own interviews, so you kids will just have to imagine what that sort of transcript would look like. Terrifying and hilarious, is my guess.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:19:54 -0800

Shorter Palin: When the going gets rough, quit!

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:20:14 -0800

Who is going to vote for another Nixon? Well, if that's all there is to the question: Same kind of people who voted the second time for the first Nixon. People like my father, who will (today) tell you something to the effect of 'I never trusted him farther than I can throw him.' But who didn't have a very quick answer when asked why he voted for him. (He ended up retreating to some variation on the 'X was a commie" canard.) We can take some consolation from the fact that as arrogant, narcissistic, paranoid and ethically challenged as he was, Nixon was also a really smart guy. Spoke in complete sentences and gave long complex answers that actually ended up being on point, and shit like that.

By: pointilist

pointilist — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:23:08 -0800

the lipstick has obviously come off the pig. I don't think I am strong enough to avoid using this one.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:26:10 -0800

Just to be sure we're all on the same page, is "low information voter" the polite way to say "dumbfuck"?

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:26:57 -0800

The Governor said that she can effect positive change outside government Indeed, Governor Palin can effect positive change merely by being outside government.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:35:19 -0800

Just to be sure we're all on the same page, is "low information voter" the polite way to say "dumbfuck"? posted by five fresh fish at 12:26 PM on July 4 Well, it's the current polite euphemism, yeah. There are millions of people with no idea at all about what's going on in the larger world, but who still feel that it's their civic duty to vote. It's much like how the word "conservative" is the polite way to talk about somebody who's really, really stupid.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:35:39 -0800

From 2 Parse.com:

At the same time, Palin is facing the same problem as many other governors: the states are facing a crunch, and without help from the federal government are going to have to make drastic cuts in services or raise taxes. In Alaska, the downturn – and the drop in the price of oil – has lead to a deficit of nearly $3 billion over the next two years, with little chance of recovery until the price of oil goes back up. By resigning in the middle of this year, she gets to avoid the painful cuts in government services or raises in tax rates that will be needed to keep the state functioning.

I can see where this is going. When she does run in 2012, she can claim "When I was Governor of Alaska, I gave each and every Alaskan a check for $3,000, but now Governor X has decided to keep all of your tax money for himself!" I was just outside watering the tomatoes and I kept thinking back to her resignation speech when she said that the world needs more Trigs and the country needs more average Americans. This is a major song-and-dance theme of the Republican party-- Joe the Plumber and Jack Six Pack should run the government. Why? I guess because this is supposed to lead to less incompetence. "Average guy is not shrewd enough to be corrupt." Interesting idea but as we see with Wasilla Housewife #1 (who had to lie on her application to be mayor because she had no applicable work experience) electing average Jane means electing Someone Who Hasn't a Clue. Then you end up building a Sports Complex on land you don't legally own. I'm not saying Joe the Plumber can't learn on the job, however if Joe the Plumber was any good at managing he would probably be Joe Who Owns His Own Business, or Joe the Manager.

By: freshundz

freshundz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:39:18 -0800

Best case scenario: there is no scandal, she's simply a) not cut-out for politics (i.e., can't be bothered to finish even one term as governor) and/or b) fucking insane. I truly doubt any future Republican candidate will try to garner favor with her or honestly care very much at all what she says or thinks. Maybe your right, but if you think that the conservative base is making its decisions based on who is articulate, reasoning, and competent than you must have be living in a different country than I am. At the very least, Palin can continue to be a lightening rod for conservatives who believe in a liberal media conspiracy or whatever. We certainly haven't seen the last of her.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:39:25 -0800

"When scandal racked male politicians quit and say that they want to spend more time with their family we accept it as a flimsy excuse but Palin does it and suddenly the entire internet says 'oh thank god she can focus on what her real priority should be, her children.' " I thought Palin didn't give "spend more time with my family" as an excuse.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:40:05 -0800

I watched the first couple seasons of Miami Vice last summer on Hulu, after completely missing it when I was a kid, and, really, it's okay. The rock-video editing and heavy reliance on musical cues has dated it in a really interesting way, and it's one of the most influential shows of either its genre or its era. Yeah, it's wildly over-the-top, and it verged into self-parody in its later years, but, yeah, that's the '80s, that's television, that's America. Happy Fourth of July.

By: ob

ob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:46:37 -0800

I'm just here to say that Miami Vice was great. I really don't want to write anything about Sarah Palin as I consider her a waste of words, but sticking up for Miami Vice is important to me.

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:06:10 -0800

This is a major song-and-dance theme of the Republican party-- Joe the Plumber and Jack Six Pack should run the government. Why? I guess because this is supposed to lead to less incompetence. "Average guy is not shrewd enough to be corrupt." I think the game plan is that since the GOP only represents money directly, they need to disguise this fact and pander to the simpler folks who vote based on whether or not they personally like the person AND can admit it to their kids (ie, as a church goer). The added benefit is that they get to control the candidate too, who is too incompetent to handle the job themselves.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:14:54 -0800

Yeah, Miami Vice was awesome. Remember the Papa Legba episode? When Crocket and Tubbs were investigating Haitian gangsters who laundered money by moving it out of the country in coffins, and Tubbs went undercover and tried to infiltrate the Haitians but his fake-ass accent tipped them off and he was turned into a zombie with blowfish poison? Man that was awesome. Still doesn't explain how a police detective makes enough money for a sports car and a yacht, but hey. It's Miami, right? The city gives you a sports cars and a yacht when you turn 18. Or so I believed in 1985 anyway.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:15:41 -0800

Hell's yes. Split the vote. posted by elwoodwiles My joke, I think you did not get it.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:17:08 -0800

The main thing I'd point out about Sarah Palin's dazzlingly incoherent farewell is that it's pretty clear she wrote it herself. The proof is in the punctuation. The transcript was posted to her official Web site earlier today. The style is closer to a high schooler's angry diary entry than to an official speech. I've read a lot of speech transcripts. They tend to have fewer words in all capital letters. And fewer things in quotation marks that aren't actually, you know, quotes. And I've never seen an official speech transcript, written by an actual speechwriter, that contains this: *((Gotta put First Things First))*

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:19:12 -0800

Crockett was a former college sports star, and then he was in Vietnam. I figured that one or both of those might have allowed for some extra income on the side. Yeah, that means he's crooked. Of course he's crooked.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:25:56 -0800

Still doesn't explain how a police detective makes enough money for a sports car and a yacht, but hey. The Ferrari was the PD's. I am ashamed to know this.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:27:51 -0800

Looks like someone went into the transcript and cleaned up a lot of the all caps and unnecessary quotes. Anyone have a link to the original version?

By: plastic_animals

plastic_animals — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:31:18 -0800

TPM saved a copy of the original.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:35:02 -0800

Mystery Solved! Lulz.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:37:00 -0800

I loved Miami Vice until Crockett and Tubbs ruined it by switching to darker colors. I totally wore no socks for a full year. That was fun.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:40:55 -0800

Admittedly, this is the Mefi liberal-echo-chamber/reality-based-community, but, even so: there are more people in this Palin post defending Miami Vice than there are defending Sarah Palin.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:42:54 -0800

The thing I don't understand is all this talk of "her base". I mean, really now, who sees Sarah Palin, and thinks: "This person should be the president of the United States, the job once held by Washington and Lincoln." Isn't it obvious at a glance that she's an ill-educated, stupid, crazy fool? ON HER BEST DAY, my local PTA would shunt her off to the decorations committee, and keep her far, far away from, say, the curriculum advisory committee or the budget committee, or from anything that actually mattered. Who would support Palin when there are there about 50 million people better qualified for the job? I get that America has lots of disaffected, angry people who (for some reason) seem to think that more conservatism is the answer to their problems; but really - this trainwreck is the answer to their disaffection?

By: empath

empath — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:48:17 -0800

Sarah Palin's Base

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:48:41 -0800

Many of my relatives Down South were salivating at the idea that Sarah Palin would get to become Veep. One of them said "McCain's not a real conservative...I'm only voting for the ticket to get President Palin when McCain dies." Lots of people in that area like Palin. It's probably a cultural affinity thing, mostly. Well, that and the fact that Obama is African American didn't help with them, either.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:50:22 -0800

Still doesn't explain how a police detective makes enough money for a sports car and a yacht, but hey. To be fair, Crockett and Tubbs were undercover vice officers. The police provided the car, and Sonny lived in his boat, which was likely a cheaper purchase than trying to get a condo in Miami which could reflect his cover. That's also why they got to wear the cool clothes, etc. I have no idea whether the police provided the crocodile or not.

By: scody

scody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:53:11 -0800

She should also lead the nation's mothers to oppose mandating replacement of incandescent light bulbs with the new mercury poison gas bulbs. Truly, life imitates The Onion. Also: screw the nation's fathers, as well as the nation's aunts and uncles! They deserve to be poisoned by those Liberal Poison Vaccine OMG Autism Bulbs!

By: gofargogo

gofargogo — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:55:22 -0800

The crocodile was his team's mascot from his sports days, if I'm remembering correctly. And I also think the boats (remember he had a cigarette boat too!) and cars were all PD impounds that were used to maintain his under cover status. (yes, I too loved MV un-ironically, although a bit secretly during my elementary/jr. high days)

By: freshundz

freshundz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:56:53 -0800

Isn't it obvious at a glance that she's an ill-educated, stupid, crazy fool? Yes, its obvious, or at least its obvious thats she's way over her head. But thats not the point. Who can take Rush Limbaugh seriously or Fox news? The reality is that the mob is rarely motivated by reason and is very easily manipulated by their emotions. Sarah Palin was chosen for her emotional appeal and that is what will continue to keep her in the public eye.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:58:30 -0800

Cars and Boats in Miami Vice.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:40 -0800

As best as I can work out, this stuff that the Freepers are gobbling is a parody work by a talk-radio commentator who is genuinely conservative but hates Sarah Palin. However, the Freepers are unable to detect the parody.

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:01:14 -0800

It's much like how the word "conservative" is the polite way to talk about somebody who's really, really stupid. Hold up. Palin's pretty odious and the neocons have screwed our country roundly, but that doesn't mean that whole political wing is without merit. I dare you to demonstrate that George Will is "really, really stupid," for instance. It's an easy mistake to make, considering how the most redonkulous conservatives tend to be the loudest, but we've gotta keep in mind that there are folks all over the political spectrum who give issues serious thought and genuinely want the best for our nation. After all, the most whacktarded liberals also tend to be the loudest. I'd warrant PETA's done more harm than good to the animal rights movement, for example. We may not agree with their methods or ideology, but that doesn't make every conservative "stupid."

By: Ron Thanagar

Ron Thanagar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:08:26 -0800

English philosopher John Stuart Mill: "Not all conservatives are stupid people, but most stupid people are conservatives."

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:13:24 -0800

Sarah Palin's Base . OH Ya! I was taught by a builder and I watch Bobby Flay on FNTV. Don’t EVER get into comparing apples with apples. Give them something different. What the flying fuck? Also, the "Imagine no liberals" smiley face donation ad at the top of the page is priceless.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:14:32 -0800

Thanks for the kind words y'all.

By: empath

empath — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:15:50 -0800

that doesn't make every conservative "stupid." I think Mitch Daniels from Indiana seems like a decent enough governor. He doesn't have enough crazy to get national attention as a Republican, though.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:17:36 -0800

I dare you to demonstrate that platypuses bear live young.

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:22:12 -0800

'Winners never quit, and quitters never win' is the most fundamental political axiom next to Tip O'Neill's 'all politics is local'. She hit 0 for 2. She mentioned her children but no mention of First Dude in the speech. I wonder about that. Gingrich looks to be the party hope for '12. Why? He's the only one who can convince people to vote against their own interests with their eyes open and their heads nodding 'yes', which seems to be a knock-out criterion for Republican presidential candidacy. I don't think Gingrich would let Palin carry his water, especially after she threw McCain under the bus. With a 1-in-5 identification as Republicans, the right wing is in far worse shit now than the Democrats were at any time in the last eight years, and so is consolidating power. Palin has no future where toeing the line and teamwork rank as first-order attributes in the GOP. Pawlenty and Romney are at best VP candidate grade. I believe in some Conservative principles like untrammelled Constitutional rights and smaller government, but I won't buy its perversion by Sarah Palin and her ilk, too numerous and noisome to mention. Short version - Barack's the man until 2016.

By: theora55

theora55 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:39:54 -0800

The whole "who's baby is whose" rumor-mongering is kind of vile and belongs to whatever the counterpart is to the freepers. I do most sincerely hope MeFi is not a counterpart to freerepublic. Maybe there's a horrible scandal brewing, but until there's actual information, it's just the sort of mean, petty crap that Limbaugh and his ilk indulge in. She says she's resigning to do good stuff for Alaska and America. It seems to me that elected office is much the most effective way to do good stuff. The media are totally buffalo'ed by this and are speculating about whether it will hurt her chance to run for national office. Are you freaking kidding me??? She's the governor of a wealthy oil-rich state, and is resigning in a very publicity-seeking way. I'm glad to have her out, but if I were a citizen of AK, I'd be pissed as hell at this behavior in an elected official. It's such a bizarre action, and reeks of being a stunt. She used the Letterman episode (which left them both looking pretty bad) to grab publicity. She's the darling of a narrow branch of the Right, but I can't see her having a serious political future. At least I hope not.

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:49:02 -0800

We may not agree with their methods or ideology, but that doesn't make every conservative "stupid." That's not the point. Stupid people are those who vote for their enemy's interests, against their own (and everyone else's), such as voting against public education funding with five kids in the system and no alternatives. This is extremely common. On a relative scale the stupid "smart" conservatives are those who think that their success is proof of their conservative political beliefs. It's hard to top that kind of anecdotalism, because they're invested by it, but then stupider people come along and are easily persuaded by it.

By: vibrotronica

vibrotronica — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:51:56 -0800

The best episode of Miami Vice was the one where Crockett was in love with this chick who might be evil. One night, he's with her, and he leaves Tubbs without backup, and Tubbs gets his ass kicked by the bad guys with whom the chick may or may not be affiliated. Then Tubbs shows up at her apartment, and Crockett opens the door, and Tubbs takes off his sunglasses to reveal his swollen, bruised face and silent, accusing stare. That shit was fucking awesome.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:00:26 -0800

I'm going to have go against the majority opinion on this thread and on MeFi itself. Sledge Hammer! was so much better than Miami Vice.

By: device55

device55 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:06:40 -0800

Sledge Hammer! was awesome on a stick.

By: jayder

jayder — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:10:20 -0800

One thing I love about Palin is that she was proof that, under the right circumstances, I could succeed in national electoral politics. I've no illusions about my intelligence, interpersonal skills or political gifts, and until she came along, I knew that there was no chance that I could ever become president. But after watching Palin's performance in the public eye, even with my dismal view of myself, I allowed that I could do better. I would be more coherent in my speeches, I would be a quicker study on the issues that national politicians have to know, I would listen to my smart advisors and take their advice, I wouldn't act like a giggly sorority girl in my conversations with comedians posing as world leaders. In short, compared to Palin, I would be a dream candidate. Now that she has bowed out, it casts all that into doubt. Palin's apparent admission that she doesn't have what it takes for high level politics is letting the air out of my inflated self-esteem that resulted from Palin's elevation to political stardom.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:11:36 -0800

Of course Sledge Hammer! was great, but I always thought it was spoofing Dirty Harry more than Miami Vice, right down to having a catch-phrase and everything.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:15:38 -0800

theora55, I think you're right but wrong. Here is my thinking, which is admittedly as half-assed as anyone else's, so sprinkle liberally with salt... "She's the governor of a wealthy oil-rich state, and is resigning in a very publicity-seeking way... It's such a bizarre action, and reeks of being a stunt." Not really. This is all strange and sudden, i.e. there weren't murmurings online, there weren't lead-ups like "inside sources say a top GOP official will be making a big announcement later this week..." -- there wasn't the build-up that one would expect with an intentional, publicity-seeking effort. She picked a Friday afternoon (the worst day of the week), one that happens to be a federal holiday, on possibly one of the slowest news weekends on the whole calendar... I mean, even the Friday of Thanksgiving, people are at least home inside watching football on television, not out grilling in the backyard and going to water parks and parades, far away from TV and internet. Even my 10-year-old niece knows that if you want publicity, you don't drop news on a Friday afternoon, right? So by her choice of dates, we can probably deduce that Sarah Palin is praying that this gets washed away by the Michael Jackson memorial, Mark Sanford's eventual resignation, and whatever other madness might come down the pike in the next two or three days. So, going on that presumption, then we can assume Palin's goal is to minimize, not maximize, the publicity. My gut says this isn't something that she's doing of her own free will. I'm of the camp that a dark shadowy someone sat her down recently and said, "You're resigning on Friday." There are lots of possible reasons. The negative ones:

There is a real scandal lurking, and it's going to break soon (a la The State holding onto Sanford's emails d'amore).
There is a real scandal lurking, and it might not be poised to break right now, but enough people know about it to know that it will likely break sometime... ergo it's better to get ahead of it and deflate the problem than wait for the shoe to drop.
Consider alongside this that the cries for Sanford's resignation are getting louder and louder, and his wife's statements colder and shrewder, and you have to know that he's likely to step down before month's end. So you have the Ensign and Sanford scandals breaking within days of each other... the GOP's public perception is already in the toilet... they have to be considering the strategy of reframing the summer of 2009 as a housecleaning. Why not flush all the floaters at the same time, and then identify some new "rising stars," prepare for a Brand New Day, starting with the 2010 midterms, which should provide them some Congressional gains if history is any indicator? (And I do think this would have to be coming from above, like RNC level. Palin is so nakedly ambitious that I can't imagine she really cares about what's good for Alaska, or what her colleagues or party leaders at the state level think of her)

The possible positive motivations are that she wants to go promote her book and/or go out on the campaign trail on behalf of GOP candidates. Or that her family is broke and she can make more money as a private citizen than she can as governor of Alaska. Or that she's going to have some carefully-scripted talking-head publicity role on Fox. But if any of these were the case, then she needs more eyes on her, not fewer. She needs to enter the new venture with her credibility up; she needs her image boosted... not damaged by ill-timed bizarre ramblings about magnets and high school basketball, at a strangely empty press conference.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:24:33 -0800

Crockett / Tubbs 2012

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:30:21 -0800

Marisa Stole, Sledge was definitely a parody of Dirty Harry in particular and conservatism in general, but the important thing was that it aired directly opposite Miami Vice.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:35:37 -0800

The cached original version of her resignation speech is actually pretty readable-- if you've devoted as much time as I have to reading Courtney Love's blog and twitter posts. I finally got around to watching her speech-- as opposed to trying to read it-- and I have to disagree with those who thought she came off as panicky. I see instead a woman who has just had it break upon her like a thunderclap that she can get rich and be a star, be a celebrity, without having to deal with all the day to day annoyances of having an actual job or actual responsiblities. She wants to be famous for nothing but spouting platitudes, she wants to do her book tour, she wants applauding crowds; she doesn't want to be stuck in an office having to read her office manager's assessment of what needs to be on the agenda for the next meeting regarding with sewage regulations. She wants to be the Paris Hilton of the right, spotlit and powerful, but without necessarily having to do any kind of serious work. I see a woman making a jailbreak, and a bit giddy at the prospect of being able to walk away from all the regulations and contraints (and in particular the consequences of breaking those regulations) and head off to greener, freer pastures. She wants to be lionzed, she wants the aura of power, but she's too impatient to be bothered with the ordinary dull mechanics of government. She thinks she's figured out a way to do that-- to have an audience without genuine responsiblity. Also, we must take a moment to thank MV for giving to the mainstream the carefully managed stubble look. Rawr.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:45:17 -0800

Actually, you know what I'd do if I were her advisor? I'd say that her future lies in doing a reality show-- "Sarah's America"-- where each week she visits one of those great hard working families that she's always going on about. They'll show her around the farm, or whatever, and talk about God, and they'll be a prayer session at the end. Seriously, you could sell this on the evangelical networks and maybe even whatever network Jon and Kate are on. Sarah and Todd could be the new reality TV celeb couple. I'm serious. I'm copyrighting the idea at this very moment!

By: ob

ob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:45:44 -0800

Furthermore, it was thanks to Miami Vice that I was able to look sharp by sporting a jacket with rolled-up sleeves and loafers for my date with Laura Bishop when I was twelve.

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:50:56 -0800

You know, with Sarah Palin being so politically tone-deaf and impervious to all good advice, it's not hard to believe that she could be thinking that resigning the day before the 4th of July would garner her more publicity than normal. Perhaps, in her mind, she imagines that "Real America" would be out with their families or teabagging with friends and all they're going to talk about is Sarah Palin-- how mavericky, shrewd and brave she is. I still think it's a scandal rearing its head and coming into Sarah's air space, but who knows.

By: milarepa

milarepa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:55:39 -0800

Jokeefe, for god's sake, please don't mention your idea EVER AGAIN! Reading it was perhaps the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me and I have been to Missouri. Please ask the mods to delete your comment. This genie must go back in its bottle.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:00:18 -0800

"Saramerica"... Saherica... Amsarica... Masserica... Sarah, America and Me... Sarah's Restaurant Massacree (think of the casseroles... the gelatin desserts...)

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:01:19 -0800

and is very easily manipulated by their emotions. Good thing that never happens on Metafilter.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:02:14 -0800

I dare you to demonstrate that George Will is "really, really stupid," for instance. Dare, accepted.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:02:30 -0800

Sorry milarepa-- this time next year when I'm rolling around on my ill-gotten pile of American TV royalty dollars, I'll be laughing at your feeble attempt to stop me.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:05:22 -0800

*thinks of spinoff and merch... Sarah's special line of Wit and Wisdom fridge magnets... a kid's clothing line... special segments with Bristol talking about how be a fashionable teen mom....

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:07:58 -0800

Mrs. Palin's glasses are from the new Sarah line, by Ragged Glory. Exclusively at Wal-Mart Optical.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:12:02 -0800

Oh, crap. 'Faded Glory' is the Walmart house brand. 'Ragged Glory' is a Neil Young record.

By: milarepa

milarepa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:12:34 -0800

Oh my god make it stop!!!

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:14:12 -0800

Oh, crap. 'Faded Glory' is the Walmart house brand. 'Ragged Glory' is a Neil Young record. Also, I should've probably worked a Made-in-China gag in there somewhere, in addition to the obvious faded-glory one.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:14:23 -0800

Actually, you know what I'd do if I were her advisor? I'd say that her future lies in doing a reality show-- "Sarah's America"... Howard Kurtz, Washington Post: "Is there something more to Palin's stunning decision? A reality show or Fox punditry perch in the offing? It's too early to tell."

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:16:37 -0800

I believe in some Conservative principles like untrammelled Constitutional rights and smaller government Those may be "c"onservative principles, but they have never been "C"onservative principles.

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:23:10 -0800

Thanks there, Saxon Kane, for your Wad.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:25:12 -0800

"Sarah's America" "Sar & Todd Plus God" I wanna cut.

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:27:24 -0800

Saxon Kane - Wow. That was an embarrassing article. The benefit of my doubt expired around this sentence - Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote. I don't think it impugns the man's body of work or his overall intelligence, but geez. Yuck.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:27:31 -0800

"This Sarah Life"

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:32:42 -0800

America's GOP Talent?

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:33:54 -0800

She could host. Or judge.

By: Mirror-Universe Optimus Chyme

Mirror-Universe Optimus Chyme — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:33:57 -0800

She faked left and then went end around RIGHT. She is standing in the end zone giving the left the finger and they don’t even realize she scored. How KEWL!

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:34:20 -0800

What's the difference between a pitbull going for a walk and Sarah Palin? The pitbull has a plan.

By: HumuloneRanger

HumuloneRanger — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:34:59 -0800

"Saramerica" "Saramurrikah" FTFY.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:40:50 -0800

So by her choice of dates, we can probably deduce that Sarah Palin is praying that this gets washed away by the Michael Jackson memorial, Mark Sanford's eventual resignation, and whatever other madness might come down the pike in the next two or three days like the death of Steve McNair.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:42:58 -0800

Also, the kiddie show, "Palin's Pals." Think 'Manger Babies' meets 'Pryor's Place' and you've pretty much got it.

By: cropshy

cropshy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:27 -0800

Can we have a separate Miami Vice thread?

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:54 -0800

From noted genius Bill Kristol: "If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today? It's an enormous gamble - but it could be a shrewd one. After all, she's freeing herself from the duties of the governorship. Now she can do her book, give speeches, travel the country and the world, campaign for others, meet people, get more educated on the issues - and without being criticized for neglecting her duties in Alaska. I suppose she'll take a hit for leaving the governorship early - but how much of one? She's probably accomplished most of what she was going to get done as governor, and is leaving a sympatico lieutenant governor in charge. And haven't conservatives been lamenting the lack of a national leader? Well, now she'll try to be that. She may not succeed. Everything rests on her talents, and on her performance. She'll be under intense and hostile scrutiny, and she'll have to perform well. All in all, it's going to be a high-wire act. The odds are against her pulling it off. But I wouldn't bet against it." This guy wrote for the New York Times, remember. America's paper of record. The Grey Lady. "The odds are against her pulling it off. But I wouldn't bet against it." From this we can conclude that Palin is well and truly fucked, and we don't ever have to worry about her again. Thank you, Bill Kristol, for your terrible gift of antiprophesy.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:48:17 -0800

Moose Whisperer. Palin vs. Wild. Ice Road Fuckers. I'm sorry.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:56:48 -0800

Holy shit, why didn't I see it earlier? Levi is an ex-high-school athlete from a family of meth dealers. Track's the son of the richest family in town, and looking for revenge against the judge who sent him to Iraq. Each week, this redneck odd couple comes together to solve crime and kick ass. Coming this fall to Fox, Wasilla Vice.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:58:26 -0800

I see instead a woman who has just had it break upon her like a thunderclap that she can get rich and be a star, be a celebrity, without having to deal with all the day to day annoyances of having an actual job or actual responsiblities. She wants to be famous for nothing but spouting platitudes, she wants to do her book tour, she wants applauding crowds; she doesn't want to be stuck in an office having to read her office manager's assessment of what needs to be on the agenda for the next meeting regarding with sewage regulations. She wants to be the Paris Hilton of the right, spotlit and powerful, but without necessarily having to do any kind of serious work. I see a woman making a jailbreak, and a bit giddy at the prospect of being able to walk away from all the regulations and contraints (and in particular the consequences of breaking those regulations) and head off to greener, freer pastures. She wants to be lionzed, she wants the aura of power, but she's too impatient to be bothered with the ordinary dull mechanics of government. She thinks she's figured out a way to do that-- to have an audience without genuine responsiblity. Just had to repeat jokeefe's comment. I'm convinced that this is about her cashing in on her celebrity while minimizing the hassles of actual responsibility in public service. She will soon be a millionaire because of this. It's the American Dream, baby!

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:07:51 -0800

Oh, and: 1. Loki 2. The Lok-shee 3. She-mo-Lok-aho-witz 4. She of the snakish temper 5. The Loke de Meowr 6. Lokums 7. Li'l Lokitty 8. Loke-Fu 9. Little Biscuit-Head

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:09:02 -0800

Dangit...wrong thread. Supposed to go in the MeTa, where it would have been MUCH more relevant.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:09:46 -0800

"The odds are against her pulling it off. But I wouldn't bet against it." In addition to being a useless pundit, Bill Kristol is evidently a lousy gambler as well.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:12:18 -0800

Yeah, when it comes to gambling, Bill Bennett's really your go-to conservative.

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:13:22 -0800

(Before last year, I might've said John McCain.)

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:23:13 -0800

1. John McCain 2. Cainy 3. Wooby 4. John! No! 7. Grouchypuss 8. Sour McSour 9. Chimpunk 10. Zany Cainy 11. Little Biscuit-Head

By: merelyglib

merelyglib — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:23:51 -0800

I wish there were a way to add threads to your recent activity without leaving pointless comments. posted by cj_ at 8:48 PM on July 3 [2 favorites -] Favorite added! [!]

By: fingers_of_fire

fingers_of_fire — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:31:50 -0800

there's still no way to save your place in a thread other than posting a comment, right?

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:32:42 -0800

The more I think about this, this more I think that maybe she is just going for the cash-grab. You know, speaking engagements, book tour, whore-of-the-month kinda thing. If that's the case, it just gives the lie to what a sham the whole neocon "good, honest work ethic" idea is to its very purveyors. It's all end-of-the-world-culture-war until I can get mine, then it's fuck you very much. (This is not an attempt to slander true conservatives - just the loudmouth rabble-rousing pseudo conservatives we've seen so much of these last ten years.)

By: box

box — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:35:36 -0800

You can save a link (in your bookmarks or on del.icio.us or to a text file or the clipboard or whatever) to the individual comment (if memory serves, these are called anchors in html). Some folks use favorites as placemarks, too.

By: SuperSquirrel

SuperSquirrel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:43:19 -0800

Or if you're using FF/Greasemonkey, this script: Metafilter Scroll Tag.

By: netbros

netbros — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:44:34 -0800

The real menace in dealing with a toddler all day is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a toddler. — paraphrased from Jean Kerr

By: dogmom

dogmom — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:47:13 -0800

Can we have a separate Miami Vice thread? I agree. My fond memories of Miami Vice are in danger of being tainted by Palin, you betcha. AAAAAAAUUUUGH! It's happening already! (also, I'm off to a bbq and needed a placeholder)

By: RakDaddy

RakDaddy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:47:26 -0800

This guy wrote for the New York Times, remember. America's paper of record. The Grey Lady. ...who fired his ass after two years, according to Scott Horton in the Daily Beast. But, I digress. Five bucks down for "the other shoe yet to drop," with a few more on "Dark Powers showing her the door." I hope and pray to all deities and saints that Sarah Palin will do the noble thing and simply go the hell away.

By: RakDaddy

RakDaddy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:49:34 -0800

Sorry, one year. At least Palin lasted in her job longer than Kristol did at his.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:54:25 -0800

This thread is in danger of turning into just people commenting to keep thier Recent History fresh. He said, ironically Also my comment count is now 1819, here are some things that happened in 1819 * January 2 – The Panic of 1819 (the first major financial crisis in the United States) begins. * January 17 – Simón Bolívar proclaims the Republic of Gran Colombia. * January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. * January 29 – Sir Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. * February 2 – The Supreme Court under John Marshall rules in favor of Dartmouth College in the famous Dartmouth College v. Woodward case, allowing Dartmouth to keep its charter and remain a private institution. * February 15 – The United States House of Representatives agrees to the Tallmadge Amendment barring slaves from the new state of Missouri (the opening vote in a controversy that leads to the Missouri Compromise). * February 22 – Spain cedes Florida to the United States (see Adams-Onís Treaty). * March 6 – McCulloch v. Maryland: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Bank of the United States is constitutional. * May 22 – The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrives at Liverpool, England on June 20. * August 16 – Peterloo Massacre: The cavalry charges into a crowd of protesters in Manchester, UK, resulting in 11 deaths and over 400 injuries. * September 20 – The Carlsbad Decree is issued throughout the German Confederation. * December 14 – Alabama is admitted as the 22nd U.S. state. None of which has anything to do with Ms. Palin. Thank you.

By: device55

device55 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:02:40 -0800

Do you folks not see the "subscribe" link right up there next to the post date?

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:08:33 -0800

This thread is in danger of turning into just people commenting to keep thier Recent History fresh. That's not how Recent Activity works. It updates when anyone comments in a thread you've commented in. That's how I saw your comment, despite it having been 116 earlier than last one.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:28:38 -0800

nj_subgenius: It wasn't intended as a personal attack. But U.S. Conservatives (at least in my lifetime) have rarely been champions of Constitutional rights or smaller government. You can maybe make a case that championing smaller government is an inherently small-c conservative ideal, but "untrammelled Constitutional rights"? Not unless you think of ACLU and other similar groups as "conservative."

By: jayder

jayder — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:31:33 -0800

Do you folks not see the "subscribe" link right up there next to the post date? That doesn't fulfill the same function as dropping a comment in the thread, does it? I thought the subscribe link is for people using RSS readers. It has no connection with making this thread appear in your recent activity. (Or does it?)

By: tylermoody

tylermoody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:38:39 -0800

Can we MeTa the thread-tracking and get back to the schadenfreude?

By: device55

device55 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:38:58 -0800

It is an RSS feed of all comments on the feed. All major browsers now have RSS readers built in (usually called "live bookmarks" or whatever). The browser checks the feed in the background, if a new comment appears, you'll see it listed as an unread item on your bookmark.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:47:13 -0800

Can we MeTa the thread-tracking and get back to the schadenfreude? "Is she in jail?!" he asked, voice dripping with sweet, golden hope.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:49:22 -0800

Can we have a separate Miami Vice thread? You betcha! *wink*

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:50:37 -0800

Not unless you think of ACLU and other similar groups as "conservative." In a purely literal sense, the ACLU is conservative. Their reason for being is to, in fact, conserve the protections guaranteed to ALL US citizens by the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Amendments to the US Constitution. Not just those citizens who express popular viewpoints. It's a twisted country that we grew up into that mouth-breathers on the "right" can paint the ACLU as a radical, anti-American "special" interest group and largely get away with it.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:51:41 -0800

There are few things greater than having updates to all your current MeFi hotspots of interest at one click, called Recent Activity. Sure, you can subscribe, bookmark, favorite and whatever else (I do all of these things as well) but for the simple cost of posting a meaningful/less comment, I can get JUST the things I care about in one window, WITHOUT my favorited threads in the mix (since these are usually two distinct groups, oddly enough). And with the ability to collapse the less interesting threads (thank you Greasemonkey), I can see only the updates I'm interested in, in order of most recently updated, with a beautiful blue background. But wait, there's more...For the simple cost of another publicly shared thought, you can actually modify your Recent Activity list to update "since your most recent comment" with strategically placed bookmarks at pivotal points of public dialogue, for reasons known only by you. This allows you to return to a particular point in a thread at your chosen special moment in time. Just thought I'd share that, in case anybody else finds it useful. Especially in speculative Palin threads full of meta-commentary. Until Monday!

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:09:00 -0800

MetaFilter: Reading it was perhaps the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me and I have been to Missouri.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:11:52 -0800

Parasailin' With Sarah Palin! And Joe the Plumber!

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:23:12 -0800

I was just reading the freepers comments about Sarah's announcement (I know, I know--it's the Fourth of Fucking July but I've already done the parade thing and the barbecue thing so reading the Freepers' comments seems to be the perfect penance for having such a grand day) and it struck me that perhaps there actually is a parallel universe where Sarah Speak makes sense: I listened to her entire announcement. It was honorable, it was direct, and it punctuated the insane politics of our day...it also punctuated her personal commitment to fight, and to do so when it would not distract further from her job as Governor and the foundation she has built there. I am proud of her and support her. She is a great American. I think Sarah has just turned, like a fed-up mama Bear, on her detractors. She has put things in order, she has left them in the hands of capable people, and she has now turned to face her enemies directly. ...and I think they are going to be sorry. We have smelled the fear in them for a long time. Good on her! I believe she will assist others greatly in 2010, and will run herself in 2012...and she has my full support. GO SARAH GO! The only thing that I can even vaguely relate to is the last line and I don't think that the poster and I would come very close to agreeing on what we mean when we say those words to Sarah Palin.

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:34:57 -0800

Saxon Kane: Nothing personal perceived or issued, but you don't add to the comment response. Metafilter seems to me to be more about content than keywords and you'd be well advised to consider all ideas expressed in a post or reply. Personally I despise the Republican party. I'm a Democrat who believes in a strong defense and the right to bear arms, among other things that don't fall under liberal orthodoxy. Takes all kinds, yours included, and there's plenty of room for the both of us.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:36:09 -0800

ONLY DEAD FISH GO WITH THE FLOW.......I am swimming with Sarahcudah! Oh, Jeez.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:36:17 -0800

The Quittah from Wasilla!

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:46:12 -0800

Wow, she's flaming out even more.

By: scody

scody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:57:39 -0800

I think Sarah has just turned, like a fed-up mama Bear, on her detractors. She has put things in order, she has left them in the hands of capable people, and she has now turned to face her enemies directly. ...and I think they are going to be sorry. We have smelled the fear in them for a long time. You liberals are gonna rue the day you ever underestimated Sarah Palin! So... START RUING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

By: drezdn

drezdn — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:02:54 -0800

If she runs for president I hope the Republicans running against her make up Palin:2013-2015 bumper stickers.

By: Monsters

Monsters — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:06:54 -0800

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:13:25 -0800

From Sarah Palin's Facebook post: And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. Sure, if by 'honorable' you mean 'necessary' and by 'higher calling' you mean the top of a mountain peak in Appalachia after a good, long hike.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:13:55 -0800

Wow, she's flaming out even more. A Facebook message that reveals nothing, but instead says exactly what she said when she resigned, only with more words, and a snippy little jab at "the media". Why do genuinely unpleasant, stupid people who insist on getting attention complain the loudest when it happens? What did "the media" do to her? She appears out of nowhere, making a bewildering resignation speech with the vaguest of explanations, and when "the media" scratches its collective head wondering what that was all about, she goes off on a screed about how they don't "get it". She sounds like a high school senior complaining about "society". What a child. I did like this part though:

I've never thought I needed a title before one's name to forge progress in America. I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint.

So let's see - developing independent and renewable energy sources, increasing the military apparatus, but cutting spending. Five plus five equals seven. Lovely. It's this piercing logic that made Wasilla the place it is today.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:18:44 -0800

Huh? I'm still puzzling over the "update" Palin posted to Facebook. (WTF? Since when do our elected officials post their press releases and statements to Facebook??) (thanks for the link, nj_subgenius at 7:46 PM ) It looks like Palin doesn't really seem distinguish between {deciding not to run for re-election in 2010} and {quitting the term she's been elected to} - and she certainly doesn't seem to grasp the magnitude of that difference.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:18:53 -0800

MetaFilter: Reading it was perhaps the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me and I have been to Missouri. If you read this and thought, "That's silly, how bad could Missouri be?" -- then you, my friend, have never been to Missouri.

By: Green With You

Green With You — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:20:09 -0800

She meant 'drill for more oil' for greater energy independance and gut non-national security spending for fiscal restraint.

By: contessa

contessa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:20:45 -0800

And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. Oh Sarah, you silly clown-lady, nobody is holding you to a higher standard. It's the fact that you can't even live up to average standards that makes us adore you so.

By: scody

scody — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:21:51 -0800

And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term Yes, because "countless other" governors have left office after a mere 30 months in office for ~~pending federal indictments~~ a "higher calling" all the time. But no one mentions that, do they? Huh? Where's the coverage of the literally dozens of governors who resigned just last year? You haven't heard about it, because The Liberal Media refuses to report on it. QED, freedom-lovers! less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I assume this means she's getting Fox News to pay for her next $150,000 wardrobe, rather than the RNC.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:22:48 -0800

Missouri is a perfectly fine state. Home of Tom Sawyer, Bill Burroughs, gateway to the west. C'mon now. Don't be slamming Missouri.

By: Decimask

Decimask — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:27:02 -0800

> there's still no way to save your place in a thread other than posting a comment, righ Sure there is. Bookmark the last comment you read before leaving. Easy peasy.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:44:22 -0800

I wish there were a way to add threads to your recent activity without leaving pointless comments. posted by cj_ at 8:48 PM on July 3 [2 favorites -] Favorite added! [!] posted by merelyglib at 2:23 PM on July 4 [+] [!] What they said.

By: chambers

chambers — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:48:02 -0800

Mrs. Palin, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent statement were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

By: Edwahd

Edwahd — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:52:50 -0800

812 comments (705 new)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:01:39 -0800

Zina Saunder's take. Zina's the one that does the great daily watercolours of political figures.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:04:18 -0800

812 comments (705 new) Yeah, but half of them are about Miami Vice.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:21:03 -0800

Personally, I think the United States has been "ready" for a woman Veep or President for at least a couple of decades. Sarah Palin's true blue supporters notwithstanding, what the country is not yet ready for is 14 year old girl holding one of those offices. Though, since I have been saying for a while that most Cons have the mentality of an 8 year old boy (see GWB, 43rd President), maybe this is a step up?

By: Talanvor

Talanvor — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:21:38 -0800

I have a theory. Palin is an android, and this is the latest version of her Turing test. I'm not sure if it failed or not.

By: julen

julen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:23:37 -0800

I think you are all being tremendously unfair. Since the Alaskan people undoubtedly want(ed) her as Governor for life, she is doing them a big favor by leaving her term early. She's just helping them adjust to a time when she's living in Washington for eight years, and only working from her home in Alaska five or six months out of the year. She's a good mom, making sure her Alaskan charges learn to share with the country. I mean for goodness' gosh darn sake! She gives and gives and gives and gives, and it's someone else's turn to take and take and take. She's like a modern-day saint, what with what she's put up with the media - criticism unlike any other politician has ever gotten, especially female politicians, and she's born it with a stiff upper lip and nary a complaint. Now, NOW, when she needs a way to support energy conservation and fiscal responsibility, expecting her to stay in office where she has direct influence over an executive budget and decisions made on behalf of a large number or natural resources seems ludicrous. Everybody knows you can effect change through writing a book and lecturing right thinking people far bettter than dealing with lawmakers, vetoing stupid laws, introducing new laws, refining a budget, and managing the economic downtimes. It boils down to this: She's out, people, so we don't get to talk about her anymore on our terms; we should just ignore what is happening on the other side of the curtain, and be glad to get our brief shimmering glimpses of her as she reminds us of how awesome it would be if she was president.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:40:36 -0800

Anderson Cooper doesn't understand what the Samuel Langhorn Hell is going on with Meg Stapleton's basketball analogy.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:40:44 -0800

Also, we must take a moment to thank MV for giving to the mainstream the carefully managed stubble look. Rawr. Indeed. I shall be eternally greatful to Mr Johnson for removing the burden of shaving every day.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:47:30 -0800

And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. lolwut I'm pretty sure it's a veiled dig at Barack Obama, who resigned his Senate seat last year. In terms Mrs. Palin can understand: Leaving the Senate to become President is sort of like resigning from your position as Governor for no clear reason, except it's totally not like that at all.

By: spiderskull

spiderskull — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:05:45 -0800

Ha, James Urbaniak summarizes the Palin speech quite nicely.

By: Glee

Glee — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:08:09 -0800

» It looks like Palin doesn't really seem distinguish between {deciding not to run for re-election in 2010} and {quitting the term she's been elected to} - and she certainly doesn't seem to grasp the magnitude of that difference. Yeah, bizarre. I don't know much about American politics, but how can this behaviour not destroy her chances of ever becoming president? Future campaign reporter: So, given your service record: if you become president and during your presidency decide not to run for a second term, will you just quit and hand over the keys to your Vice President? Or indeed if re-elected, will you simply bail on the homestretch to avoid the risk of any "lame duck" business? Palin: *((FIRST ~~THINGS~~HIGHER CALLINGS ~~HIGHER~~FIRST!))* Is there any scenario where abandoning her post without any (legible) explanation can work to her advantage in future politics?

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:13:20 -0800

Is there any scenario where abandoning her post without any (legible) explanation can work to her advantage in future politics? Possibly!* The next three years are going to be a lousy time to be a governor. State tax revenues are way down, thanks to the recession, so budgets are being slashed, programs are being cut, and states are having to do wildly unpopular things like cutting teacher salaries and the like. By dropping out now, Palin gets to avoid any responsibility for all that ugly stuff, and imply that if she were still running things, she'd be cutting taxes and handing out a free unicorn to every family. *The downside, of course, is that it makes her look irresponsible, erratic, and unpredictable. Or mavericky, if you like.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:13:34 -0800

Hey, I just remembered - - last month, Palin's supporters were trying to pressure CBS and the Late Show advertisers to DUMP LETTERMAN. How did that ever turn out, anyway?

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:15:32 -0800

First time in the history of the universe that "Sarah Palin" and "pulled out early" have been used in the same sentence. That should have been the joke that Letterman had to apologize for.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:22:08 -0800

That Anderson Cooper interview with Meg Stapleton was about as unenlightening as it could possibly be. C: So how is quitting, leadership? S: Don't you understand what a pointguard does, Anderson? C: No, I don't know about basketball or care about basketball, just politics. And don't try to tell me about dead fish floating downstream because I don't want to carry that image to lunch, either. S: (laughs heartily) Well, she's leading by having lots of other things to do as far as national security and energy independence. John McCain even said nice things about her. C: Specifically, what's she going to do? S: Anything under the sun! She had lots of offers this morning. The world is her oyster and she doesn't need a title before her name to shuck morning oysters. C: I'm going back to Iraq where politics make a bit more sense. At least they're not all with these basketball analogies and dead fish and oyster images.

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:25:17 -0800

May or may not be my final attempt to analyze Sarah Palin phenomenon: she's a stupid person who has simply been doing everything wrong from day one, but succeeding because media analysts/political ops have grossly overestimated her, assuming she's making crafty 'countermoves', being "foxy" ("stupid like a fox") primarily because she's female and how she looks. The sexism she claims is trying to destroy her really made her in the first place. But because she is so stupid (and egotistical), she'll never understand... but then, neither will the media analysts, political ops and supporters who are responsible for her 15+ minutes of fame. Her emergence as an "important woman in politics" instead of smarter women of all political philosophies, just reinforced the sexism in politics. And that's just sad.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:30:51 -0800

That Anderson Cooper interview with Meg Stapleton was about as unenlightening as it could possibly be. What a trainwreck of an interview. This Stapleton woman is either has balls of steel for giving an interview without actually knowing what's going on or she's as confused as everyone else is. Or both. Either way, what a f'ing useless interview. Wow.

By: Glee

Glee — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:33:54 -0800

By dropping out now, Palin gets to avoid any responsibility for all that ugly stuff, and imply that if she were still running things, she'd be cutting taxes and handing out a free unicorn to every family. Could she be that daft? I mean it does make some kind of Bizarro sense, I guess. Especially since her farewell speech was incoherent ramblings surrounding a laundry list of all the wonderful things she/"we" did for Alaska and the country. Now I picture a "Mission Accomplished" banner spanning Alaska.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:47:25 -0800

Cillizza: For those people who doubted whether the Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) resignation decision yesterday was freighted with 2012 presidential implications, we present two pieces of evidence.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:47:37 -0800

That Anderson Cooper interview was great for a few reasons. One, it's the first time I've ever seen a newscaster flatly admit that they know nothing about sports and tacitly note that sports analogies may well be facile when it comes to explaining the nuance of politics. Two, everything about his tone and body language screamed that he really just wanted to ask "For the record, is Sarah Palin on medication?" And three, not even Palin's spokesperson can polish the turd that was her latest Maverratick performance.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:59:47 -0800

The point guard analogy makes sense if you realize that what her spokesperson is saying is that Palin will be politicking in Europe for a year so she'll be a first round draft pick next year* (plus to skirt certain draft rules) . *Unless if she's picked by Minnesota.

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:02:46 -0800

Could she be that daft? That's MY working theory. Any 'thinking' she may have done (in a no-scandal set of circumstances) is probably based on the realization that the other most-mentioned 2012 Presidential contenders, Romney, Huckabee, Gingrich, do not currently hold elected office and she thought that put her at a campaigning disadvantage. It's a stupid reason, which is consistent with my theory. And the Cooper/Stapleton interview also backed up my contention about the stupidity and sexism that made Palin a political star. Anyone with any basketball knowledge can destroy the 'point guard' analogy by pointing out that point guards are supposed to be team players and Palin is NOT a team player. Who's on her 'team' that she is passing to? Nobody.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:09:37 -0800

Mitheral, I didn't mean she used family as a reason for quitting. My phrasing was weird but by "does it" I meant "quit", not "quit and use family as the reason".

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:48:43 -0800

Missouri is a perfectly fine state. Home of Tom Sawyer, Bill Burroughs, gateway to the west. C'mon now. Don't be slamming Missouri. In 1901, two academics from Oxford visited Versailles. While there, they decided to search the palace grounds for the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's private pleasure house. They lost their way, and began to feel oppressed by strange feelings of darkness, heaviness and gloom. Before finding the chateau, they saw several strange figures, and later concluded that they had experienced a time slip. I had a similar experience entering a Wal-Mart near Fort Leonard Wood a few years ago, is all I'm saying.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:50:09 -0800

AP: Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:55:20 -0800

Palin's lawyers:

On July 3rd, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin announced her intent to resign her gubernatorial duties and transfer the powers of Governor to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Almost immediately afterwards, several unscrupulous people have asserted false and defamatory allegations that the "real" reasons for Governor Palin's resignation stem from an alleged criminal investigation pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex. This canard was first floated by Democrat operatives in September 2008 during the national campaign and followed up by sympathetic Democratic writers. It was easily rebutted then as one of many fabrications about Sarah Palin. Just as power abhors a vacuum, modern journalism apparently abhors any type of due diligence and fact checking before scurrilous allegations are repeated as fact.

(PDF)

By: Glee

Glee — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:02:13 -0800

If this really is Palin laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign, it has to be among the top five most ham-fisted platform-building excercises in contemporary political history. Her speech writer were obviously nowhere near that "speech" (a pretty important one, where she had to explain why it's ok to suddenly quit something she was elected to do). And on one hand Palin waxes theological about her higher calling, on the other her spokesperson Anderson rambles on about shucking oysters. So no one in her staff was in the loop. Except her private attorney, according to WaPo's Cillizza (who goodnewsfortheinsane linked to):

... her private attorney -- Thomas Van Flein -- released a four-page statement seeking to quash rumors that the Alaska governor's decision to resign was motivated by ethics problems.

Go Team Palin. Bang up job, you consummate professionals you. (On preview, apologies wendell! I intended to attribute, the ~~dog ate~~browser submitted the post by itself before I had the chance.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:05:20 -0800

WaPo: If White House Is Her Goal, Palin’s Route Is Risky

[I]f some of her supporters are correct in surmising what she is doing — turning full time to preparing herself, after a tough year, for a presidential campaign in 2012 — it represents a huge gamble, even by the standards of a politician whose short career has been shaped by huge gambles.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:12:53 -0800

I'm happy about this. Alaska will be better off with practically anyone else in the governor's office. Palin will probably never get elected to a significant political position again. A 2012 presidential run wouldn't worry me a bit and would provide us all with endless amusement. And there's the possibility that there'll be some enjoyable revelations coming to us in the next little while to explain this sudden resignation. Rejoice and relax, people! Palin is comedy gold and she'll be around for a long time, affording us many yuks.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:18:55 -0800

If she's resigning "for a higher calling," perhaps the eschaton is upon us, and she is merely doing Alaska the courtesy of arranging to have governance transferred in an orderly fashion before she is whisked on up to heaven.

By: educatedslacker

educatedslacker — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:19:24 -0800

Ok, I've been totally out of touch with the news the last two days because my wife and I are on vacation. The only reason I decided to fire up the laptop now was because I couldn't fall asleep and decided to check out the ol' 'Filter and see what I've missed. I'm so sad that I'm so late to the party. :( That said, I didn't have a single problem understanding anything that she said in her speech. However, I spent most of the day hanging out by the pool reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and a bit of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, so I think I was primed for her stream-of-consciousness rambling. Happy birthday, America. I hope you enjoy your present.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:32:26 -0800

perhaps the eschaton is upon us If this is the Big E, where's my cornucopia machine?

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:43:05 -0800

I dunno, where are the Jonas Brothers?

By: stagewhisper

stagewhisper — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:46:52 -0800

I ponder the pro-Palin freeper comments and read the (stray) positive editorials about Ms. Palin's speech, and, as noted above, all I can think of is this. placeholder so I can sleep

By: mazola

mazola — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:53:42 -0800

I think she's going to use the excitement generated from this announcement as a springboard to a bid to become Governor of Alaska in 2010.

By: jschu

jschu — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:55:01 -0800

Re: the Anderson Cooper interview, I simply can't believe that someone who misuses the word literally, as in "the world is literally her oyster," has a job as a political spokesperson. Horrifying.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:10:16 -0800

Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:11:27 -0800

Re: the Cooper interview and the basketball analogy: I don't know a whole lot about basketball, either, but I do know that typically when you pass the ball to another player, you don't run off the court immediately afterward.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15:48 -0800

I have been trying for ages now to come up with a joke around 'nothing but net', and coming up empty.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:16:31 -0800

My god. What the holy fuck? This just gets more fucking insane -- what the hell is up with the Meg Stapleton interview? Are they taking crazy pills in the Alaska Governor's Mansion? She can do anything, but she has no plans. She's not up for doing politics as usual, like having a plan before you quit your job. A plan would only hold her back, apparently. She's a great political leader because she quits her political job because of politics. She's going to do anything because the world is "literally" her oyster, but again, no plans, because it's all about driving to the hoop or something. (Goddamn I hate adverb misuse. It ~~LITERALLY~~ makes my head explode.) The basketball analogy is the most fucking inept piece of shit I've ever heard. Everything that comes out of Palin's mouth or the mouths of her peons is so goddamn stupid it makes my brain cry. While it would be amusing to see her get her little ego crushed by losing in the presidential primary, she is so toxic to any sort of intelligent debate that I think I may kill myself if she continues to be in the public spotlight. On other subjects... It's a twisted country that we grew up into that mouth-breathers on the "right" can paint the ACLU as a radical, anti-American "special" interest group and largely get away with it. posted by psmealey Yes, agreed, 100%. Saxon Kane: Nothing personal perceived or issued, but you don't add to the comment response. I don't really understand what that statement means. Metafilter seems to me to be more about content than keywords and you'd be well advised to consider all ideas expressed in a post or reply. Huh? Were you just telling me that I don't understand how to make a post to Metafilter? Personally I despise the Republican party. I'm a Democrat who believes in a strong defense and the right to bear arms, among other things that don't fall under liberal orthodoxy. Takes all kinds, yours included, and there's plenty of room for the both of us. posted by nj_subgenius I'm not exactly sure what "kind" you think I am. My original point, which was perhaps too snarky?, was that, in the United States, people who claim to be "Conservative" may pay lip service to smaller government and Constitutional rights, but usually that means gutting non-military spending and making sure the executive office (when occupied by a Republican) can do whatever it wants in order to "protect our freedoms," even if it comes at the cost of said freedoms. I wasn't saying that those things are bad things -- in fact, I generally agree with them. Also, I'm not sure how "a strong defense" does not fit under "liberal orthodoxy." I don't think anyone in the government or any professed liberals (besides maybe peace-and-love hippies) thinks that the US shouldn't have a strong defense. The difference is what is meant by "defense." The Bush administration made it pretty clear what they believed a strong defense was: preemptive wars to secure energy resources, expanding military presence throughout the globe, unilateral action that disregards international standards for ethical behavior. I would argue that those actions decrease our national security rather than increase it. I believe a strong defense means (in no particular order) 1) strong diplomatic relations with other democratic nations; 2) a demonstrated track record of ethical behavior, including the promotion of human rights and social justice at home and abroad; 3) a robust, well-supported, well-trained military with high morale, cutting edge technology, and flexible tactics; 4) a commitment to multilateral cooperation with other democratic nations; 5) a general committment to global disarmament and the securing of WMDs; 6) support for international law that binds all nations, including our own; 7) minimal military presence in sovereign nations, except when asked for as support and part of an international force subject to specific terms of engagement and departure dates and under the general aegis of the democratically elected government of said nation; 8) a well-developed network of human intelligence that cooperates with our allies. And probably some other things.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:16:56 -0800

BREAKING NEWS: Governor Bobby Jindal has resigned. The governor cited his desire to form a national conservative coalition to build the World's Largest Ball of Twine. "It would be easy for me to quit resigning and just... just sit here and be the governor and suchlike and all, but as they say: only a dead possum gets wrapped around the truck axel, literally. Going forward is like retreating in reverse - and I am no quitter." Bill Kristol has described the move as "genius - like Alexander thwarting the Parthians".

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:19:57 -0800

"I wasn't saying that those things are bad things -- in fact, I generally agree with them." Er, by "those things" I meant "Constitutional rights" and "smaller government."

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:25:29 -0800

EMRJKC'94: It would be pretty awesome if she started some trend of Republicans resigning from office to be all mavericky and advance in a crossways direction by passing the ball to the dead fish, or whatever the hell she said. I can just imagine them falling all over each other to quit first so they could... uh... have the world as their oyster.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:42:28 -0800

I wish that this trend had caught on a bit earlier. Maybe GWB would have quit a couple of years into his second term since he was, after all, a lame duck who was just drawing his paycheck until it was time to leave office.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:46:17 -0800

Maybe Sarah and Mark and Joe and all the other twenty-percenters will go off and start their own political party. Which would be just swell, because it would let the adult political parties get back to adult work.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:46:48 -0800

You know, it would be so easy for me to continue here in my difficult job, but I'm going to do the courageous, hard-working thing and quit. Wow. I mean, I am stunned afresh at the remarkable cognitive dissonance it requires to pull off a statement like that. Has Pawlenty bitten the head off a rat yet? 'Cause I'm sill thinking that's gotta be next. He could claim it's part of his Family Values agenda or something. It makes about as much sense.

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:47:18 -0800

Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says. Huh. That was the reasonable, expected explanation for her behavior. I look forward to hearing the actual reason, in all its crazy, unexpected glory.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:47:21 -0800

Speaking of Mark Sanford, I am terribly disappointed that we did not hear more from his Hello Kitty diary today. The man greatly amused me all week, and I kinda miss him.

By: furtive

furtive — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:54:11 -0800

Someone told her about Amway.

By: flug

flug — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:57:17 -0800

I really get the impression that working the large, cheering, adoring crowds last fall got to her. I mean, being famous in Wasilla was fine, and making it as gov of Alaska was even better. But having those crowds of people just eating it up from her, all across the country--now that was the real thing. She likes that, she wants more, she thinks there's something special happening there. She doesn't really realize that it's the VP candidate's job to hand out the red meat and the party faithful are going to show up and cheer and shout no matter who does it. I mean, Cheney did it, fer chrissakes, two times around the block. And that guy's got all the charisma of a wilted turnip. Palin can turn out a pretty good red-meat type speech but really, there's nothing special there--or McCain/Palin would have steadily gained in the polls when she started doing it, instead of losing steadily as they actually did. The special person the Rs need right now is someone who can go well beyond firing up the 5% of the population who are already the party faithful. And I sure don't see Palin going there . . .

By: sloe

sloe — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:06:53 -0800

"What a trainwreck of an interview. This Stapleton woman is either has balls of steel for giving an interview without actually knowing what's going on or she's as confused as everyone else is. Or both. Either way, what a f'ing useless interview. Wow." I think that confusion is the enlightening thing from that interview - and makes it worth quite alot. Also, rare props to AC for both (almost painfully) illustrating the lack of clarification and refusing to nod sagely in agreement to some disingenuous and facile sports analogy.

By: flug

flug — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:23:05 -0800

Has Pawlenty bitten the head off a rat yet? 'Cause I'm sill thinking that's gotta be next. He could claim it's part of his Family Values agenda or something. See, it's the shortstop's JOB to bite the head off the rat and pass the rest of it to the 2nd baseman who passes it to the first baseman for a double play. And swallowing that rat's head--well, that's just as easy as swallowing those oysters first thing in the morning, because that's just what you do when the whole world's your oyster. And see--anything at all can all be easily and clearly explained using simple sports analogies such as these! Here Palin's been looking for a new speech writer and by purest luck, I'm available and clearly well qualified. It's like a match made in heaven!

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:07:49 -0800

Yahoo Answers: Will the U.S armed forces defect to Palin when she leads the right-wing coup? Also, is Dick Cheney really the mastermind behind this right-wing coup attempt that will be lead by Sarah Palin? According to my sources, there is a coup in the works involving Palin, a number of Republicans, the CIA, a few Democrats and a bunch of right-wing officers and generals of the U.S military. Ultimately, will this coup attempt be successful, or will it turn into a disaster? Actually, that's got to be a troll because it has proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, without any "urs" or "gr8s" or whatnot.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:30:29 -0800

Home of Laumeier sculpture garden, the Mobot, the Soulard market, Amighetti's, Provel, Toasted Ravioli, the Billion Bubble Beverage, Powell Hall, Johnson Shut-Ins... If you judge Misery by commingling the amenities of St. Louis (and, fine <harrumph>Kansas City</harrumph>) with the beauty (albeit bugginess/mugginess) of the Ozarks, it's not all that bad. I mean, STL has actual bagels (not the "Midwest-style" bagels that, like the word "pant" to indicate lower-body clothing, are suddenly An Accepted Situation)

By: scody

scody — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:43:06 -0800

No defense of Missouri can be complete without a mention of the finest frozen custard in the world.

By: Doktor Zed

Doktor Zed — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:02:23 -0800

In the wake of Palin's resignation announcement, the New Republic got the reaction of Palin's former friend and ex-campaign manager from her Wasilla mayoral run, Laura Chase: "She wants to be president now that she has a following. ... The thing is with Sarah, she craves adoration. And the people that were sitting there at those rallies adored her. They would walk across coals for that woman. ... Once you have a taste of that - it's like a wild dog getting a taste of rabbit. You never ever go back. Nothing is ever the same, tastes as good …" As for her base's fevered approval in response to the news, her appeal lies in her innate ability to work their resentments into hers, which are endless. She's authentically Nixonian in this respect. Probably no politician since the Trickster has tapped into right-wing ressentiment so deeply. (The echoes of "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore..." aren't accidental, either.) But unlike Nixon, if there were an iceberg scandal looming, Chase believes "She would have just said, 'Bring it on.'"

By: mattdidthat

mattdidthat — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:06:11 -0800

WARNING! SARAH PALIN HAS PUT METAFILTER ON NOTICE. Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein on Saturday warned legal action may be taken against bloggers and publications that reprint what he calls fraudulent claims. "To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," Van Flein said in a statement. "This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law." Via SFGate.

By: dogrose

dogrose — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:09:14 -0800

I look forward to hearing the actual reason, in all its crazy, unexpected glory. For the last seven years or so, every single time I thought, "There's no fucking way they'll do something that stupid" -- the leaders of my country not only met that stupidity but raised it. It all made me very, very flinchy about anticipating what any politician might do. I know, magical thinking. Funny -- it turns out that magical thinking was pretty much the only support for anything Bush et al. ever did. (I mean "funny" in the sense of "in a just world, every single one of those megalomaniacs would spend the rest of their days cuddled up next to a colony of tubifex worms in a sewer pipe.") I'm just now getting a wee glimmer of the potential joys in imagining the details of the next crazy, glorious, unexpected episode of "As the GOP Burns."

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:59:14 -0800

Aww, I wuz sidebarred. Thanks guys.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:22:19 -0800

I eagerly await the tell-all- behind-the-scenes book that one of her kids will probably write.

By: unSane

unSane — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:49:26 -0800

The craziest, most 'bull goose loony' (thanks, Begala) reason she could have resigned is the one she actually gave. It was so transparently ridiculous that no-one took it seriously and assumed there must be an iceberg. But I'm starting to think she really did resign for no readily apparent reason.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:03:04 -0800

Question for the attorneys in the audience: Given that the basis would be both factually incorrect and arguably unconstitutional, would the intimidation-lawsuits that Palin's attorney is threatening constitute Barratry? Not that it would do any good if she sued in Alaska, where that doesn't appear to be against the law, but it would be fun to know. (Don't many state bar assocs censure for barratry?)

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:13:28 -0800

The Zina Saunders cartoon five fresh fish mentions is funny as hell, but I can see from the thread that it's a little too subtle for some people. It needs a caption. Maybe something like this:

Q: What kind of a gun do you use to play Alaskan Roulette? A: An automatic.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:16:44 -0800

... as far as being 'authentically Nixonian,' I feel compelled to reiterate a point: Even a lot of fairly loyal Nixonites thought he was kind of creepy.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:34:59 -0800

From the Chris Cillizza piece linked above:

Those lines [from Palin's Facebook announcement] would fit almost perfectly into a stump speech in Iowa or New Hampshire -- two states you should expect to see Palin in sometime soon.

"Should" here presumes that she is capable of listening to and has the personal fortitude to act on sound political advice. Primary politics is a tough business: You have to spend a lot of time in cheap hotels shaking hands and having coffee with people you don't necessarily want to be with, without communicating that fact to them. It's hard work. And as we now understand better than ever, Palin is a quitter who picks up her ball and goes home when the going gets tough. So my analysis, for what it's worth, is that while we're stuck with her for a while, there's not a substantial risk of her making it through the primaries. Or past Iowa, for that matter.

By: splatta

splatta — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:56:06 -0800

WHO'S KEEPING AN EYE ON RUSSIAN NOW?!?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:31:22 -0800

And as we now understand better than ever, Palin is a quitter who picks up her ball and goes home when the going gets tough. No. What Palin is a positive attention groupie. She loves crowds that love her and can't deal with crowds or people that do not. By quitting she believes she gets to avoid the negative stuff (or at least most of it) while staying in front of the positive crowd. She's a female Rush Limbaugh, able to spin what she believes into a narrative that puts her as the star and then she's going to take that a step further and run for office again. The Republicans really fucked up. Had they been aware of Palin's appeal and been willing to use it, they would have trotted her out after 9/11 and in that atmosphere, McCain would have been begging to be her VP in 2008. Think of Palin as Obama's opposite in her ability to inspire people. American sensibilities shifted in 2008, swinging from conservative to liberal. The pendulum will probably swing back, particularly if the economy doesn't improve and when it does, Palin will be there and waiting. If the Democrats don't have a special group assigned to just watching her, accessing her strengths and constantly forming and updating her weaknesses (and they probably don't) then we're in trouble.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:35:07 -0800

The Republicans really fucked up. Had they been aware of Palin's appeal and been willing to use it, they would have trotted her out after 9/11 and in that atmosphere, McCain would have been begging to be her VP in 2008. Without the mania over Hilary Clinton, I doubt very much whether the Republicans would've even considered running a female candidate.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:38:50 -0800

I eagerly await the tell-all- behind-the-scenes book that one of her kids will probably write. Mommie Craziest?

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:44:45 -0800

WARNING! SARAH PALIN HAS PUT METAFILTER ON NOTICE. I don't think we need worry until she brings it to MeTa. Then we worry.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:47:06 -0800

Brandon Blatcher, being a positive attention junkie [did you mean that instead of 'groupie'?] and a quitter are not mutually exclusive. I agree with you that's what she is; I also think it's clear that she's impulsive and lazy, which combine to spell "quitter."

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:49:44 -0800

... and I should have added, picking up your ball and going home is, after all, a great way of getting a big hit of short-term positive attention without expending effort. (Again, attention-junkie + lazy + impulsive.)

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:53:30 -0800

...they would have trotted her out after 9/11... Well, she was still Mayor of Wasilla then, and basically unknown. (Hell, in 2001 she was just barely of Constitutional age for a Presidential ticket.)

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:00:23 -0800

OK, here's what I don't get. We have lots of smart, politically aware people here on MF - and not a single one of us understands Palin's actual stated reason for quitting. We're still waiting to hear the real reason. And yet, even in her resignation "speech", she says something like "I've already given my reasons, twice". What are we missing? Yeah, she said something about "a higher calling", but here in the reality-based community, that's not actually a "reason" for abandoning the job that you were elected to do. What are the Freepers hearing here that we're not hearing? Who thinks quitting is a desirable quality in a leader?

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:12:05 -0800

I don't think we need worry until she brings it to MeTa. Then we worry. No, then we deconstruct her arguments and claims with less effort that it takes to swat a fly, quote political philosphers she's never heard of, link to an array of her blunders on YouTube, snark, photoshop, write parodies of classic rock lyrics and the odd haiku, and in general assault that megomaniacal ego of hers like a thousand wrecking balls trained on a playhouse until, in order to preserve it, she hits the "disable my account" button, departs from the site in a huff, and complains forevermore of liberal bloggers who pal around with fancy pants elitists and employ dirty tricks like reason, humour and facts to pick on good Americans like her.

By: readery

readery — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:39:21 -0800

It is a simple as she made it out in her speech, she does not like the nuts an bolts job of being Governor(Palins's work habits from today's NYTimes), but grew to love speaking to adoring crowds. And preaching to the choir comes with an added bonus of making shitloads of money. Quote from above article: A snapshot of Ms. Palin’s activities, as viewed through her daily schedules for May of this year, suggested a governor largely focused on the ceremonial aspects of her job. On most days, there were gaps in Ms. Palin’s schedules. On May 6, for example, the only items on her schedule were a 45-minute interview with Runner’s World and a meeting with guests at the governor’s house in Juneau. On May 22, she had four items listed on her schedule: promotions at the middle school in her hometown, a book dedication ceremony, a girls’ soccer game and an event at which she and her family dropped a puck at a hockey game. All she needs now is a few cute, well fitting suits, a stirring stump speech and groups willing to pay a big speaker fee. As a potential candidate, she is worth a lot more than as a has been, and she's smart enough to know that her chances of winning against Obama in 2012 are slim. So strike while the iron is hot, make a few million bucks and Todd never has to return to the north slope or work a fishing boat again. Money is a powerful motivator. She will be cagey about her presidential run, but i don't see her being serious about it. She found being Gov more trouble than it's worth but a means to an end. And as she said, she feels she can do more out of office than in.

By: freshundz

freshundz — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:41:45 -0800

Palin can now spend her time traveling the country and whipping people into a frenzy over large government, the liberal media, family values, blah blah and probably make a fortune doing it. All these comments about being stupid and lazy are irrelevant- as if, being lazy and stupid, she couldn't have just laid low in her position and finished her term. Sure, maybe she'll just vanish into obscurity, but beware the pitchfork wielding Palin mob!

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:42:07 -0800

What are the Freepers hearing here that we're not hearing? Who thinks quitting is a desirable quality in a leader? What are the dog-whistles, IOW? Well, it's just what Kristol's saying: she's "free" to do whatever, whenever, however. She'll be a hit on tour, calling in to ~~Lush~~Rush Limbaugh every chance she gets, getting everyone het up for whatever candidate she's stumping for. The fees she could demand would be pretty stiff, since Repubs are an endangered species. They'll want her, bad. At some point she might find a sugar daddy (I can't envision any females giving her the time of day) who'll find a way to make the back room deals that make her nomination "happen". Either everyone else will implode or she'll avoid losing, much like McCain this last time around and Kerry the time before that. Then at some point she'll stab him in the back, too. Problem solved. She's going to be able to do what Limbaugh wasn't: get on TV and have enough anesthetizing power to disable most critical thinking and let the crap spew without recrimination. It won't matter if the "reality based community" rips her apart - it's just those "nastly libruls" attacking a "values based, moral, strong woman leader". And, no, this isn't leadership, even though the Palin-ites really want to believe it. They just need to feel good. This is all about bread and circuses. I'm thinking she'll collapse about as quickly as Fred Thompson did unless she can find that miracle worker, and the chances look slim.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:42:36 -0800

1. I love Alaska 2. I love my job 3. ???? 4. MID-TERM RESIGNATION!

By: hangashore

hangashore — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:43:07 -0800

dirtynumbangelboy: I have been trying for ages now to come up with a joke around 'nothing but net', and coming up empty. More like "BRICK!" or "AIR BALLLLLLLL!"

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:46:21 -0800

hee! orange swan! what do we call that treatment? MeTaBoarding?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:55:07 -0800

We have lots of smart, politically aware people here on MF - and not a single one of us understands Palin's actual stated reason for quitting. That's because she speaks a different language to reality based people. I had one Palin-loving friend exclaim "Wow, she just gave the MSM the middle finger, OMG, I love her tenacity!"

By: scalefree

scalefree — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:57:42 -0800

FBI: Palin not under investigation according to LA Times. Still could be state charges in AK but given the forcefulness of Palin camp denials, that's looking pretty unlikely too. It'd be game over if she gets charged by anybody now.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:15:54 -0800

Washington Post: Weary Palin seeks to regain control -- "Unease in spotlight, family concerns sparked decision to quit as governor."

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:22:00 -0800

Maureen Dowd: "Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy."

By: bigbigdog

bigbigdog — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:22:41 -0800

She doesn't want to be president. She wants to be queen.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:23:54 -0800

From the opening paragraph of the Washington Post article: (Bold emphasis mine.)She also wanted to shield herself and her family from the attacks that seem to have been aimed permanently at them in the 311 days since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced her as his running mate
Yes, its subtle, and maybe a compete coincidence, but did they seriously just do that? Three hundred and ELEVEN days, eh? Not 310, or 312, depending on how you count it. I can't believe we're still stuck in these metaphors and using them as such. Seems cheap and inappropriate to me.

By: mazola

mazola — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:25:38 -0800

Palin is right that politics is bloodsport. Who knows better how to play bloodsport than an expert moose hunter? And how do you get to be a successful moose hunter? You have to THINK like a moose. And a moose WOULDN'T THINK TWICE ABOUT QUITTING BEING GOVERNOR MID-TERM. It all makes sense.

By: Bonzai

Bonzai — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:25:50 -0800

Sarah Palin's farewell speech summarized down to 8 seconds.

By: jayder

jayder — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:30:11 -0800

She also wanted to shield herself and her family from the attacks that seem to have been aimed permanently at them in the 311 days since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced her as his running mate Well, it's a good thing nobody ever "aims attacks" at the President of the United States. Otherwise, people might think her resignation calls her Presidential fitness into doubt.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:46:07 -0800

Three hundred and ELEVEN days, eh? Not 310, or 312, depending on how you count it. I can't believe we're still stuck in these metaphors and using them as such. Seems cheap and inappropriate to me. I don't understand!

By: Lazlo

Lazlo — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:53:22 -0800

Well well, look who's changed her mind.

By: Doktor Zed

Doktor Zed — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:54:48 -0800

I don't understand! 311 = March 11 = the Madrid bombings!!! Only Sarah Palin - AND her Freeper supporters - can see the PATTERNS everyone else ignores!!!

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:55:51 -0800

Two hours ago, Sarah Palin made this twitter post: Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again.... So we have several possibilities here: 1. The twitter posts are entered by an intern who has been enjoying a long party weekend and who doesn't know his boss is resigning this month. 2. The twitter posts are generated according to a strictly prescheduled masterplan by a giant mainframe computer under a hatch in the Wasilla wilderness. 3. Sarah Palin is an idiot (or: Occam's Razor)

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:56:49 -0800

3/11. Nevar Forget!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:15:00 -0800

Deconstructed. The 11 things she says in her resignation speech, only in English.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:16:51 -0800

Well well, look who's changed her mind. What the hell? Just... what the hell?

By: jayder

jayder — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:18:21 -0800

Two hours ago, Sarah Palin made this twitter post: Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again.... Okay, now that is totally fucked up.

By: mazola

mazola — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:20:52 -0800

Ok, her Facebook page is the 'Ying' to Metafilter's 'Yang':

John Allen McKay Let me cut to the chase. Obama and anyone else who supports abortion (baby murder) and forces those of us (who see it as an act of Satin) to support it with out taxes are destined for Hell. That's not my opinion, but a promise from Jesus Himself. I hope Obama and all his "Groupies" who have the American Idol mentality enjoy this brief journey we experience on Earth because eternity is an awfully long time. Obama, his church and Rev. Wright are frauds. Shame on any "professing" Christian who voted for him.

Jesus wants us to tax abortions?

By: sour cream

sour cream — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:28:22 -0800

Sarah Palin's farewell speech summarized down to 8 seconds. Nice, but I want it played by bunnies! Or stuffed moose.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:31:40 -0800

An act of Satin? You can have my bed sheets when you pry them from my warm, luxurious hands!

By: gjc

gjc — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:32:40 -0800

The Republicans really fucked up. Had they been aware of Palin's appeal and been willing to use it, they would have trotted her out after 9/11 and in that atmosphere, McCain would have been begging to be her VP in 2008. Yeah, trotting out the mayor of a suburb of Anchorage, AK, would have been a brilliant move.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:33:42 -0800

Well well, look who's changed her mind. .... ...Wait, that's real?

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:37:14 -0800

It's from Palin's real Twitter account, yes. I suspect it just means that she hasn't fully internalized the fact that she's actually leaving the governor's mansion at the end of the month. That might lend some credibility to the theory that she's being forced out against her will.

By: marsha56

marsha56 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:37:23 -0800

Maureen Dowd on Palin.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:50:33 -0800

Yeah, trotting out the mayor of a suburb of Anchorage, AK, would have been a brilliant move. You're getting hung up on positions and forgetting the effect she has on the base. In the atmosphere after 9/11, she would have been worshipped as daughter of God or some shit like that. Sidenote: The City of Wasilla has a really nice looking website.

By: elfgirl

elfgirl — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:56:12 -0800

Well well, look who's changed her mind. .... ...Wait, that's real? Please maintain your seated positions until we have fully disengaged the Infinite Improbability Drive. Do not be alarmed if your perceived reality seems to be changing at an alarming rate. All is well.

By: clockzero

clockzero — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:03:04 -0800

Did McCain and Palin drink some kind of immortality potion together which had the unfortunate side effect of making them compulsively quit important duties for inscrutable and incoherent reasons?

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:17:17 -0800

...eternity is an awfully long time. So much so that time really doesn't come into account anymore.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:17:45 -0800

Something Awful apologises

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:19:04 -0800

Sidenote: The City of Wasilla has a really nice looking website. "Cancelled - Library Steering Committee7/7/2009 | 5:00 PM." Yep ... Sarah a'int gonna be banning any books no more.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:21:52 -0800

Maybe that tweet is just spin. Strictly speaking it's correct, right? She has decided not to run again.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:25:10 -0800

An act of Satin? Get A BRAIN! MORANS.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:28:40 -0800

Her last year in office would start in December, so I don't think she's really entering it, because it's July.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:34:33 -0800

It's some sort of trace-metal poisoning, isn't it? Something in the water, maybe.

By: mazola

mazola — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:39:08 -0800

I think she meant July next year. Wasn't it clear? She said it twice.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:09:29 -0800

The dog-whistling is pretty clear. Some themes lurking on or just below the surface: 1. "Good" people don't go into (or stay in) politics because they value their integrity. 2. Righteous conservatives are the perpetual victims of a godless liberal world that want to tear them down. 3. The truly noble leader is willing to fall on his/her sword for the good of all. Jesus Christ showed us how to sacrifice for his children. 4. Sometimes, being courageous means taking the harder way, even if no one appreciates you or understands you. 5. Faith and family are the two greatest things in life - even greater than the glory of high elected office. 6. Being an admirable mama bear means doing extraordinary things to protect your family. 7. You can't keep a good man/woman down, so even though I'm stepping to the side like this, I'm setting the stage for an even more amazingly redemptive comeback. 8. Smart, clever people will sometimes do unpredictable things in order to thwart their enemies, even if the wisdom of it is not immediately clear. There are several other themes present in her stream-of-consciousness speech. And they are all, despite the convoluted grammar, etc., pretty detectable if you don't actually hold her to a high standard of discursive thought. That is, despite mangling her sentences and jumping from one theme to the other, she communicates them quite clearly to people attuned to hearing and believing them about her. Now, she may well even believe all these things about herself. I suspect she does. I know a lot of folks who embrace these thmes and principles, even if they may not actually live them uot with consistency. But I strongly suspect they are enabling themes, and the real grit of why she is resigning has been mentioned before: 1. She's sick and tired of having all the responsibility and being on the hot seat as Governor for chump change in a sttate where her popularity is ever diminishing, and 2. She knows she stands to become a millionaire and a heroine if she goes on the speech / fundraising circuit, with only a fraction of the hassle and responsibility she's having to deal with now. Of course, we joke and make fun of her rambling incoherence on a superficial level as we try (and fail) to place it into the context of a rational road to the White House. But I guess, to me, she's being quite rational and it's not really hard to understand her, at all. As Ralf Dahrendorf put it: most people try to maximize their life chances while they minimize their ligatures. Sarah Palin will be an idolized millionaire this time next year, for very little trouble.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:27:04 -0800

What are we missing? Yeah, she said something about "a higher calling", but here in the reality-based community, that's not actually a "reason" for abandoning the job that you were elected to do. What are the Freepers hearing here that we're not hearing? Who thinks quitting is a desirable quality in a leader? See the beyond lunatic blog Atlas Shrugged, which hails her as, essentially, the leader of the resistance against the tyrant Obama. Geller's thoughts were put into marginally more readable form in this screed published on Worldnet. This, I think, is what her base is seeing, or hearing.

She did not quit. From what I saw of her speech before Fox inexplicably cut it off (after seven days of wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage), this is not a woman who is retiring or "cutting and running," as Hillyer put it. She is getting into the fight to save America. Palin committed herself to fighting "for our state and our country, and campaign(ing) for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops and energy independence." Obama's treasonous presidency has made this struggle necessary. Palin, like all patriotic Americans, is shocked by what is happening. Obama is destroying this country. She knows it. We all know it. We need a leader. Palin is that leader. On Friday she assumed the mantle. She delivered a campaign speech. She spoke on the eve of Independence Day about the sacrifices great Americans have made, and what our Founding Fathers fought and died for. Without naming Obama, she went after his disastrous policies, saying that "living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow," and noting that as governor she had "vetoed debt-ridden stimulus dollars." She believes in and wants to fight for free enterprise, small government and national security.

By: radgardener

radgardener — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:28:34 -0800

If she tries to play this off as a massive misunderstanding of an announcement of intent not to run for reelection, I will shit my pants.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:41:00 -0800

I think she meant July next year. Wasn't it clear? She said it twice. From her announcement: I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:41:44 -0800

Is it possible for her to quit and then change her mind and not quit? Are there rules or laws against that?

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:43:47 -0800

She doesn't want to be president. She wants to be queen. Yes. This. Exactly.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:46:42 -0800

Sarah Palin's advice last year to Hilary Clinton:

"Fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it...When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or, you know, maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, man, that doesn't do us any good. Women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country. I don't think it's, it bodes well for her -- a statement like that...It bothers me a little bit hearing her bring that attention to herself on that level."

By: found missing

found missing — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:47:54 -0800

Are there rules or laws against that? Um, yes. Haven't you ever heard of 'no anti-quitsies'?

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:49:08 -0800

Did McCain and Palin drink some kind of immortality potion together which had the unfortunate side effect of making them compulsively quit important duties for inscrutable and incoherent reasons? Actually, maybe she just remembers how well McCain suspending his campaign on the spur of the moment worked out for him last year, and she's decided to follow in his footsteps. Is it possible for her to quit and then change her mind and not quit? Are there rules or laws against that? I suspect she could change her mind up until the point where she actually signs the transfer of power to the lieutenant governor. But that would probably be even more politically disastrous than resigning in the first place.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:51:01 -0800

Did an embezzlement scandal force Sarah Palin to resign? Even the conservatives are getting a Schadenfreude frisson.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:54:36 -0800

AND NOW I AM LEAVING OFFICE FOR NO RASIN!

By: radgardener

radgardener — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:01:10 -0800

Maybe the resignation was the result of the mental breakdown, rather than the beginning. If so, yaysees on no VP Palin!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:09:16 -0800

She doesn't want to be president. She wants to be queen.
Yes. This. Exactly. Princess. Queens actually might have responsibilities.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:26:26 -0800

Regarding the initial Palin speech, Sean Cockerham, of the Anchorage Daily News, wrote a concise article that put a lot of the rambling nonsense into context, in that what had previously seemed like Jabberwocky levels of street-rat crazy, now just seemed like normal Sarah Palin street-rat crazy. Has anyone noticed all the press that John Coale is getting out of all of this...and how almost none of it mentions that he's a muckity muck in Scientology? Ok, so...here's my new theory: Scientology uses their incredibly well honed psyops to convince her that she's under attack from opponents she can't possibly defeat on her own. But..CoS can help her, they tell her. All she needs to do is spend a few weeks in a resort...say in Clearwater, Florida...and they'll get her feeling back up to par, and then, they'll help her get ready to run for the presidentlal election. They turn her into the same unstoppable android force that is Tom Cruise. She gets polished up, trained on how to think before speaking, and using the cash and people of the CoS, she rockets to the top of the Republican charts. She'll explain away the CoS as being "not at all opposed to our true faith beliefs in blah, blah, blah" and she'll be believed by the ones who want to believe, and accepted by those who would do anything to get the "nigger out of the white house". I'm telling you, if the economy doesn't get better, if more Americans go homeless and hungry, if old people start dying because they can't get medicines, if the cost of foods rise and the buying power of wages continue to go in opposite directions...if people are hungry, and hot, and angry, and poor...Scientology Sarah Palin would wipe the floor with any candidate facing her. So...there's your scary thought for the day.

By: infini

infini — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:34:25 -0800

if this goes on...

By: banished

banished — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:36:21 -0800

Lets hope this is the end of the line.

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:40:42 -0800

looking at her Twitter posts, it finally makes sense... It's like deciding, "I'm going to walk to the store" and then taking all of your clothes off. As you walk to the store, you're thinking, "Why is everyone pointing at me, haven't they seen someone walk to the store before?" In her addled mind, the big news is she decided not to run for re-election. Because she is crazy and stupid, resigning immediately was the logical next step. It does not occur to her that this will cause a giant "WTF?" to rise up across the land. I'm sure in this, as in all other things, you would have a damn near impossible time convincing her that the entire world doesn't operate exactly as it does in her head. I know people like this. Applying external logic to their actions is futile at best. None of this is an indicator of her plans for 2012. I can guarantee that decision will be as mystifying and convoluted as everything else she has done. If she does run, it will be a giant clusterfuck of craziness and stupidity. Remember the Guiliani candidacy? It will look like a well oiled political juggernaut compared to whatever The Barracuda comes up with.

By: LMGM

LMGM — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:13:46 -0800

OK, I'm not very proud of this, but: bookmark comment! (p.s. that tweet made my head feel like it was changing gears without a clutch)

By: darth_tedious

darth_tedious — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:17:03 -0800

> That's because she speaks a different language to reality based people. It's the language of Belief as Value. In this framework: 1) My values are the highest of all values. 2) The more I believe my values, the more valuable I am. 3) When someone disbelieves or disagrees with my values, he/she devalues, attacks, and endangers me. 4) Contrary evidence exists to test the strength of my beliefs and values; analysis is a seduction and temptation meant to weaken the unwary. 4) The more I have the strength to believe in my own beliefs and reject contrary evidence, the more valuable my values become, and the more valuable I become. It's Think and Grow President, a combination of the Old Testament and the sort of 20th Century positive-thinking books cherished by aspiring real estate agents.

By: gjc

gjc — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:25:45 -0800

But she wasn't the darling of the right until the right was instructed that she was, at the convention. She was a relative nobody until McCain (hardly a darling of the party himself) decided to fuck with the GOP establishment and nominate her.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:31:05 -0800

If Palin feels persecuted by fake Twitter accounts usurping her spotlight, why doesn't she just get verified, like legitimate public servants do? Has this piece by Geoffrey Dunn been linked yet? It's a good'n. "The Real Story Behind Palin's Bombshell."

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:03:52 -0800

The Geoffrey Dunn piece is interesting for what it doesn't say. Dunn predicts that her intention is to go for the 2012 nomination, and outlines some ways in which this tactic makes sense. (I think he's got a point, particularly on the fact that another year and a half of doing nothing is liable to hurt her more than resigning.) What he doesn't speculate on is whether she's actually viable for 2012. Which I find fascinating: She's more valuable alive than dead. Alive and in the hunt, she's (to paraphrase Dunn) John McCain's gift to the American news media that just keeps on giving.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:11:24 -0800

I'm sure in this, as in all other things, you would have a damn near impossible time convincing her that the entire world doesn't operate exactly as it does in her head. I know people like this. Applying external logic to their actions is futile at best. I not only know people like this, I worked for a person like this. Mentally exhausting doesn't even come close as a descriptor.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:22:40 -0800

lodurr said: "What he doesn't speculate on is whether she's actually viable for 2012. Which I find fascinating: She's more valuable alive than dead. Alive and in the hunt, she's (to paraphrase Dunn) John McCain's gift to the American news media that just keeps on giving." I think it's really to early to tell. Few people thought Obama was viable in July 2005. A lot can happen between now and the midterms. If she really busted ass and got some chits out there for November 2010, she could start to call them in when needed in January 2011... but still, that's a long time away. If you're a Romney or Huckabee though, you have to be grateful at Palin's "game plan" to leave office in order to remain active and public in the lower 48 for the next three years. She's just leveled that particular playing field, by stepping down from a high-ranking state job which she can no longer use to build party support and achievements in a way that isn't accessible to them. (She ain't runnin for the newly vacant chair of the RGA, in other words.)

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:27:17 -0800

I got lost in her speech when she said: ""Many just accept that lame duck status and they hit the road, they draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that. I promised efficiencies and effectiveness." I was like, wait, you can't milk a duck.

By: tylermoody

tylermoody — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:27:42 -0800

if Palin feels persecuted by fake Twitter accounts usurping her spotlight . . . She's probably frustrated that all the good Sarah Palin names have been taken. She's only going to get another few weeks out of 'AKGovSarahPalin'.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:28:23 -0800

The dream scenario, really, is Palin and Romney and whomever beat the shit out of each in low, unethical ways for the Republican nomination. Palin raises a shitload of money but comes not very close to the nomination. Palin runs as an independent, slurping up 15% of the vote, mostly taking it from Romney (who, having wrestled with a pig ends up smelling like shit), Romney loses big, Mondale-scale big, and Palin slowly morphs into a the lovechild of barry Goldwater and Lyndon LaRouche, only with a massive cable show.

By: Glee

Glee — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:34:53 -0800

That twitter account...It's...People were talking about the uncanny valley of language somewhere earlier.

Trying to keep up w/getting truth to u, like proof there's no "FBI scandal", here's link http://tinyurl.com/nzlae8 Thanks, AK! about 4 hours ago from web so I'll make attempt to keep up w/attaching corrected info. I head 2 West AK villages today, look forward to their busy comm fish activity! about 7 hours ago from TwitterBerry Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again.... about 7 hours ago from TwitterBerry

That! Thing. I was trying to get to sleep guvnor! YOU ARE NOT A LOLCAT. Stop freaking me out. Weirdo!

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:38:00 -0800

LOLGOV?

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:39:03 -0800

Hey, Fortuna? The Mistress Of the Wheel? She Of Super-Position? Hi. Whelk here, you gave me a boon after I dispatched that guy who was fucking up Probability a while back, remember? I'll like to call it in now. Ahem. Please strap the fortunes of Ms. Palin and Mr. Romney to your wheel and have it fall the way Rumple predicts. You can do that, right? Just temporary make him an Oracle and retroactively make his last comment a true prophecy. Just a temporary Oracle, please, we don't Rumple going bewilderingly insane like youknowwho. I know you have a bit of a reputation, but I hope you can be a lady with me. Whatya say?

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:47:08 -0800

I was like, wait, you can't milk a duck. You can milk anything that has nipples. Wait, there's a joke in here somewhere, I swear. But ducks are birds, and birds don't give milk. Oh, I screwed it up. Nevermind.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:51:57 -0800

"Palin can dish, but she can't take it. She's got a terribly thin skin."

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:58:31 -0800

I am really really really depressed about the number of fundie and right-wingnuts out there who see this as a bold and savvy move. jokeefe's link is the tip of that terrifying iceberg.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:00:19 -0800

Salon's editor-in-chief Joan Walsh: Personally, I don't think there had to be a looming scandal for Palin to make this odd decision. I think Sarah Barracuda has actually been Sarah Barraquitta, as a friend quips, for most of her life, moving through five stays at four different colleges to get her degree, leaving her oil and gas commission post after just more than a year, and now stepping down as Alaska governor because it's no longer fun. I have to admit, it could be as simple as that, and likely is. Drat! I was hoping for something really juicy.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:03:33 -0800

So...there's your scary thought for the day. You caused me to pee myself. And I am typing this from inside my closet. I shall have nightmares for weeks. Thanks. Thanks for nothing.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:06:47 -0800

I think Sarah Barracuda has actually been... Does anyone know if the original epithet was "Sarah Barracuda" or the sharper, "Sarah-cuda," like you're saying "Hemi-cuda?" I like the latter.

By: Drastic

Drastic — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:07:07 -0800

From idle conspiracy thoughts from the "John McCain's gift to us all..." bit, I think I could be convinced to give credence that this is the ongoing fallout of an genius masterplan on his part. Everyone knows that McCain was treated rather shabbily by his party in the run up to and around the 2000 elections. Lots of chatter about how he rolled over and showed his belly and gave submission grimaces and hugs to the president and whatnot, and finally the GOP rewarded him with a shot at the 2008 election as an overdue submission posture belly skritchin'. But what everyone didn't realize is that while he can hold a grudge with the best of them, his playing ball was only superficial. Inside, he was biding time, making plans, waiting his moment to inflict his revenge for feeling slighted. The '08 election gave him his moment, and he seized it. That business at the whirlwind surprise VP selection, about him being instantly impressed by Palin, her being a political soulmate and whatnot? Code. What he really meant was, he turned his lidless ever-burning eye on her and realized, here's my instrument of vengeance. When he realized that winning the election wasn't going to happen, he seized Plan B, set her up and set her on the way. Like throwing a grenade into the party that wronged him, but that's the wrong analogy--it's more like rolling a leaky cannister of zombie juice from the Return of the Living Dead. It'll be causing thoroughly destructive outbreaks periodically from now on (zombie groan: "send...more...candidates..."), leading ultimately to the GOP grimly nuking itself, which will then only make matters worse. All the while, John will be cackling safe underground. I also like the Scientology Takeover theory. I could buy into the newsletter of either, I'm not territorial about it.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:10:28 -0800

Sarah Barracuda has actually been Sarah Barraquitta Yep. I hope that 'SARAH PALIN = QUITTER' sticks. She has demonstrated time and again that she's "not up to the task" -- any of which has been put before her.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:13:42 -0800

billyfleetwood, thanks for that. That's exactly what I was trying to understand last night:

It looks like Palin doesn't really seem distinguish between {deciding not to run for re-election in 2010} and {quitting the term she's been elected to} - and she certainly doesn't seem to grasp the magnitude of that difference. posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 8:18 PM on July 4

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:16:14 -0800

billyfleetwood at 4:40, I mean.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:29:38 -0800

"Sarah Barraquitta" bumper stickers might sell well over the next week.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:35:44 -0800

Sarah Palin Threatens to Sue Entire Internet: "A snowbilly grifter who spent her entire adult life desperately trying to become a Public Figure, apparently wants her attorneys to stupidly and pointlessly threaten American practitioners of free speech regarding our public figures."

By: Glee

Glee — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:36:21 -0800

A catchy meme on her bailout.... "2012-2015 Palin/ZombieMcCain" obviously. "Alaskwutkthxbai?" Keyboard/Flute Cat pro'ly won't have the legs(?) Don Draper should really be doing this.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:39:01 -0800

Enough with the "Barraquittin" or "Quittah from Wasilla" nonsense. The only good and true pun is "Bailin' Palin" and you have to stick with it, capiche?

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:57:54 -0800

SUMMARY OF THE RESPONSES TO THE NEWS AT VARIOUS RIGHT-WING SITES "It's just a little airborne! it's still good! It's still good!"

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:00:43 -0800

I flagged Wonkette for her use of the word "twatting".

By: peacay

peacay — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:05:51 -0800

Palin obviously now supports mid-term abortions.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:11:06 -0800

"It's just a little airborne! it's still good! It's still good!" But is it on a treadmill?

By: jayder

jayder — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:32:34 -0800

Sarah Palin's self-destruction is a cautionary tale about the danger of rising too high too quickly. Her conservative defenders will never admit this, but she has been eaten alive by the media, NOT because they are out to get her, but because SHE was naive enough to feed the media's gaping maw with material that revealed her as a colossal fool. She made the mistake of believing her own publicity materials. Because she was beloved by the lowest of low-information voters, she actually believed that she was a political powerhouse. The appropriate attitude would have been to maintain her humility, take her political anointment by McCain as a one-in-a-million stroke of luck, and put her head down to make herself worthy of the hopes that people placed in her. Had she been humble after the 2008 election, stayed out of the limelight, stayed in the Alaska governor's seat, and burned the midnight oil to learn the issues she would need to know as a national political candidate, she very well could have emerged as a powerful, viable presidential candidate. Instead, she has taken the worst possible path -- treating herself right now as if she is the heir to the Republican presidential mantle, engaging in shameless public grandstanding and lowering herself to engage in put-down wars with her own grandchild's father, and deciding she is too good to serve out her one and only term as Alaska governor. She has not put her head down to work hard --- she seems to believe she is above working hard. What we are seeing is a pathological sense of entitlement. We have all known people like Sarah Palin, who once they achieve any position of any power, their megalomaniacal self-perception reveals itself to be truly horrific glory. Fortunately, her megalomania seems to have devoured her, and from this point forward she will be a nonentity except perhaps as an ultra-right wing fringe figure. After reading the Vanity Fair article about Palin, I wonder whether the seasoned advisors that she ignored are enjoying the spectacle of her self-destruction. This seems to be a classic example of someone being given enough rope to hang herself.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:48:32 -0800

She made the mistake of believing her own publicity materials. Because she was beloved by the lowest of low-information voters... Brings to mind Tracy ("A Deep Abiding Faith") Flick.

By: WhySharksMatter

WhySharksMatter — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:55:19 -0800

I definitely had to pinch myself when I first read this to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:42:07 -0800

On the Fourth of July, when Americans everywhere were celebrating our most sacred national holiday with parades and barbeques, Governor Sarah Palin was busy having me, Shannyn Moore, declared an Enemy of the State.

By: Talanvor

Talanvor — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:55:23 -0800

Um, yes. Haven't you ever heard of 'no anti-quitsies'? Surely you are trying to reference the "no take-backs" statute? However, is it possible for Palin to reverse this with a well-timed motion of the "Psych!" variety. She would probably need a megaphone to attain sufficient volume, if that is the case.

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:04:39 -0800

Oh, I hope she pretends she wasn't serious. Then Alaskans can impeach her.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:05:20 -0800

Few people thought Obama was viable in July 2005. few people knew who he was then - lots of people know who sarah palin is - more important, they know what she is - a total flake

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:40:07 -0800

Heh. The "Alaska Fund Trust" has been set up to help Palin pay off the legal bills that arose from the ethics violations. Amusingly, her use of this fund may also be an ethics violation.

By: telstar

telstar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:43:41 -0800

Does anybody else feel like this thead is nowhere near its end?

By: gofargogo

gofargogo — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:52:23 -0800

god I hope so. Now that she's not actually running for national office, I don't think I'll get tired of her insane antics.

By: jepler

jepler — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:55:49 -0800

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska said Sunday that Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to resign was largely prompted by the personal legal costs of the ethics investigations against her. (nytimes)

By: unSane

unSane — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:17:51 -0800

Worth remembering that she filed the Trooper Wooten ethics investigation against herself.

By: liza

liza — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:37:01 -0800

wow! not as long as the election night thread but waaaaay more entretaining.

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:03:14 -0800

lol

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:10:22 -0800

Interesting. The mother of the person who heads the Alaska Fund Trust embezzled from a trust. The trust is being run by Kirsten Cole, who has herself been the subject of controvery, and is also one of Palin's dear friends. Also, apparently the Palins can withdraw some $100 000+ from the fund tax-free every year ($13 000 each). One might question whether this fund is an example of a "bail out" or "socialism" or a means of dodging "personal responsibility." All things that Palin claims to be against, but relies upon. Really interesting to read the links in that blog post. I recommend the dairy scandal and the backgrounder on Cole's mother's adventures in theft.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:18:32 -0800

Tracy ("A Deep Abiding Faith") Flick . See, I don't see Plain as a Flickian character. Tracy was *smart*. Crazy, self-involved, repressed, powerfully driven, devoted only to power, laser focused, icily steeled, obsessed with public approval, but smart. She's the ultimate career politician. She's Nixon. Tracy Flick was such a beautiful caricature of the type, right down to her stormy rages and rock hard will and seething resentment. Palin is the drag queen version. All camp and no work. I can see Tracy working all night to prepapre for a speech, I can't see Palin doing the same.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:24:48 -0800

Also Tracey has that whole horribly lonely, terribly aspirational backstory which explains her ...fixations. I don't see that comin' from the Palin camp.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:30:32 -0800

And I say this as someone who sympathized a bit with Tracey Flick cause oh god what a complete authority-worshiping well-spoken wonk I was in high school who used their own well-spoken, overly-read repressed smarts against people. You put in a lot of work to do whatever you need to do to to "get ahead" and you don't understand! why! everyone! is trying! to tear! you! down! If you wanna use a Flickian comparison, Hillary "I voted for the war!" Clinton comes a lot closer. You at least get the idea they worked REALLY HARD and WANT TO WIN, OKAY?!

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:44:06 -0800

Worth remembering that she filed the Trooper Wooten ethics investigation against herself. ... in an attempt to defuse the legislative investigation already underway.

By: armage

armage — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:47:59 -0800

Comment 1000!

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:56:45 -0800

1001!

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:58:50 -0800

10/01. Nevar Forget!

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:59:32 -0800

let me tell ya'll what it's like being pale, middle class and right it's a bitch, if you don't believe listen up to my new cd sham on i got shit running through my brain so intense that i can't explain all alone in my Alaskan pain shake your booty while the press complains i'm rocking the suburbs like barack obama did i'm rocking the suburbs except that he was talented i'm rocking the suburbs i take the checks and face the facts that some reporter with computers records all my stupid cracks i'm pissed off but i'm too polite when people tell me that i'm out of line Huff and Po you made me so uptight i'm gonna wink on the show tonight i don't know how much i can take boy give me something i can fake i'm rocking the suburbs just Annie Richards did i'm rocking the suburbs except that she was talented i'm rocking the suburbs i take the checks and face the facts that some reporter with computers records all my stupid cracks in a haze these days i pull up to the stoplight i can feel that something's not right i can feel that someone's blogging me with hate and bias sending dirty vibes my way cause my ethics and my morals made some no life lefty terrist blogger mad it wasn't my idea it never was my idea i just say what i think and they never go away ya'll don't know what it's like being pale, middle class and right(3x) it gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say I QUIT i'm rocking the suburbs like barack obama did i'm rocking the suburbs except that he was talented i'm rocking the suburbs i take the checks and face the facts that some reporter with computers records all my stupid cracks i'm rocking the suburbs(2x) you'd better look out because i'm gonna say i quit with apologies to ben folds. sorry, man, i had to do it.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:59:37 -0800

Not quite 1000 up there, folks. ;) But now we are 1000 comments in and we still don't know what the hell is up with her! And now everything below this line is OVER 1000: ------------------------------------------------------------

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:59:55 -0800

only 4 thousand more to go. I believe in you Metafilter. Make it so.

By: telstar

telstar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:00:58 -0800

Is Sarah Palin the First Post-Modern Politician?

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:21:59 -0800

Does anyone know if the original epithet was "Sarah Barracuda" or the sharper, "Sarah-cuda, Pace your automotive cultural map, but the nickname was not car-themed. But she wasn't the darling of the right until the right was instructed that she was, at the convention. To some extent this is true, but I don't think she became the darling until the right saw how apoplectic the left became. Because today's Republican party has no principles or ideology more important than Does this make Democrats insane? When they saw that she did, they fell in love.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:23:22 -0800

lysdexic, as a dude who recently posted a Black Sabbath parody re: Sarracuda on a different site ("Palinoid" to be exact) I understand where you're coming from. Also. No apology needed.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:57:45 -0800

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska said Sunday that Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to resign was largely prompted by the personal legal costs of the ethics investigations against her. (nytimes) posted by jepler Does that mean Parnell's going to get a nastygram from Palin's attorneys, too?

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:28:05 -0800

OMG. I was incorrect. Palin got her final degree from the University of Idaho. In 1987. I graduated in 1986. From a college only a short drive away. I used to go to the UoI to party all the time. Um. It is entirely possible I have met and perhaps even slept with Sarah Palin. This changes everything. America, do you want somebody for president or congress who may have slept with me? Though, statistically it's going to happen eventually.

By: LMGM

LMGM — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:13:40 -0800

The Whelk: Palin is the drag queen version. All camp and no work. If there's one thing drag queens do, it is work, honey. *snap*snap*snap*snap* (in a Z formation)

By: Kellydamnit

Kellydamnit — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:25:34 -0800

How is it she has an even weaker grasp on the first amendment now than she did back in October? If this trend continues I'd hate to think of what her constitutional knowledge is come 2012. She may actually start to think it IS the ten commandments. (if she doesn't already).

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:46:03 -0800

But ducks are birds, and birds don't give milk. Actually, some types of pigeons secrete milk. Well, milk analogue. Look, it's called milk, ok? I think the real crime Palin has committed for many of her fellow Republicans is that she's shown the more moderate voters (and, for that matter, moderate Republicans) the ugly truth underlying things like the "Southern Strategy" and "Wedge Politics" with her VP rallies. What was the Southern Strategy? Strip away the code, the dog-whistles, the polite language, sham verbiage about states' rights and so on, and what it boiled down to was: "You hate niggers? Vote for us, we'll keep 'em down." The reality of the Southern strategy is getting a lock-on on the votes of the sort of people who think dragging a black guy behind a truck until his head pops off is only maybe going a little too far. Gay marriage? Ain't got shit to do with the finer points of the Constitution, it's about appealing to the kind of voter who thinks that, outside of music and films, the only place for faggots is under the ground. That's the ugly reality of those strategies. But the important thing, and the thing even a dumb-arse like George W Bush can understand, is that the things that segment of the voting population think are utterly fucking repellent to most everyone else. There may be many Republican voters who don't think much of Affirmative Action, but most of them would not think that bringing monkeys to political rallys when your candidate is running against a black guy is an acceptable thing to do. Your moderates, your swing voters, your Reagan Democrats, that shit is just repulsive to them. So the whole Republican strategy of the last thirty-odd years has been treading a fine line between letting the queer-stomping, nigger-lynching, unChristian-hating ugly mob feel that you're on their side, to lock in a chunk of vote that the other guy can't pursue, while not doing it so overtly your own moderate wing take one look at who they're voting with, throw up, and stay home on polling day. (And also with enough deniability that calling them on it lets them get on their "Oh ho ho Mr New York Liberal you're just bigoted about the Fine Upstanding White Folks!") Palin broke that. All that coverage of the monkeys at rallies, the crazy religious shit, that rammed it in people's faces. And she loved doing it. She didn't understand it's meant to be more subtle, more nuanced. She took the reality of "the base" and rubbed Republican and US noses in it, and many of them have decided that shit does in fact stink, and now the party is broken. And, in the hearts of the people who kept this strategy running, it is, I'm guessing, all her fault.

By: the cydonian

the cydonian — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:16:26 -0800

Being a small town mayor is sort of like being a community organizer, except you have no sense of what a "community" is. Or how to organize one. Thank you. I've been waiting for someone to say something to that effect since last October. As for Palin's stated reasons, here's the deal: I've always supported people whenever they realized they were in the wrong lines of work and decided to resign. Life is too short to live someone else's dream; if you're not feeling it, time to move on. The only hitch is this: I mean that in terms of industry, not "job". You do that when you want a fresh break, not when you want to build on a career. Everything else is either hubris or cognitive dissonance.

By: like_neon

like_neon — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:20:31 -0800

With all this suing and defending going on, how is she not already broke especially now that she's facing unemployment? Her consistent lack of foresight suggests she is not the type to set aside 3 months salary for emergencies such as these. And I don't suppose she's been browsing AskMe for tips on being frugal. Now, sure she can rely on "supporter's contributions" but considering she can't even raise half of what she owes I think her supporters are going to soon tire of paying for her way to essentially sue the world (or defend herself) and not really make that vague difference she's promising. Unless she's actually promising change through lawsuits. I'm still assuming she is quitting because I seriously can't parse that Twitter post to mean anything. It could be a 180 or she could be saying something like, "I'm not quitting you librul medias, I'm just not being governor anymore! 'Sdifferent!"

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:51:02 -0800

like_neon: Todd has a really good job. And they have a salmon boat, which can bring in a serious chunk of change during the run. So in "subsistence" terms, they're quite comfortable by Alakan standards. (One probable reason she's so cavalier about the needs of genuinely rural alaskans -- the Palins are suburbanites with rural toys, it's just that in Las Vegas or LA or Westchester, they have different toys.) Anyway, I do see your point about being profligate with legal fees. But my sense is that most attorneys aren't always looking for a single payment. Especially for a small firm, a revenue stream of down-payments might be better. So they'll want her to be bringing in cash, sure, but they're not looking for a payment before they continue representation.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:04:01 -0800

(... none of the preceding really matters, of course, if she manages to satisfy the terms of her book contract. But I think it does serve as one more illustration of what a sham she is.)

By: obiwanwasabi

obiwanwasabi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:31:21 -0800

Is this the orange eating class?

By: orange swan

orange swan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:58:51 -0800

I understand she has a $2 million dollar book contract, with the manuscript due in the spring. Who knows if she'll actually manage to put her butt in a chair and cough up the required word count though. And heaven help the poor editor who has to put the book into semi-coherent shape if she does.

By: like_neon

like_neon — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:07:29 -0800

Maybe she is buckling down to get that book written? Maybe she wants plenty of time to do thorough research and gain a firm grip on issues that affect America and formulate thoughtful and insightful proposals for change? Maybe she wants to really devote some time to learn proper grammar? Maybe she wants to hunt for that unicorn that poops money?

By: Mastercheddaar

Mastercheddaar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:46:25 -0800

Now How in the hell did I miss this?!?!? Am I seriously that big of a drunk on the weekends anymore? WTF!

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:33:14 -0800

From jokeefe's Atlas Shrugs link:

I don't blame her for stepping down. How can you get anything done for your State when you're hit with lawsuits every ten seconds? I think she did the best thing for Alaska. And NOW she can spend all of her time campaigning for Presidency. There is NO ONE in the GOP that can beat Obama other than her. NO ONE. Damn, I admire this woman. And the Leftist Mafia Media Machine is scared to death of her. And they should be. If she runs, I will campaign for her. Run, Sarah, run!

I'm starting to feel sorry for her supporters. It is not unusual for a worshiped Idol to have feet of clay, but Sarah has a brain of clay, and the attention span of Labrador puppy, and the work ethic of a three-toed sloth. I can't get too outraged over her new trust fund. If idiots want to shower her with money, let them. Better the money goes to her than to someone more dangerous, someone with the ability to think and scheme and the will to follow through. Strangely enough I was thinking yesterday that perhaps she ought to become a televangelist, and this is a move in the right direction. I can see her on a stage wearing a clingy white robe and praying into a microphone, "Bless the givers, papa God, bless them mightily. Every penny they send me will come back to them tenfold as we use the money for the greater glory. Holy Jesus warm their hearts and fill them with your giving spirit so that they are moved with love to enrich your cause." Yep, standing on stage once a week in front of a worshipful crowd and babbling into a microphone should just about suit her. No nasty questions to answer, no boring meetings to attend, no exhausting homework, just adoring fans and showers of cash.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:52:03 -0800

I understand she has a $2 million dollar book contract, with the manuscript due in the spring. Who knows if she'll actually manage to put her butt in a chair and cough up the required word count though. for a small chunk of that 2 million she can hire a ghost writer - and her publisher may have even given her a list of people to call

By: educatedslacker

educatedslacker — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:55:41 -0800

And heaven help the poor editor who has to put the book into semi-coherent shape if she does. "It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times"...??? /You betcha

By: Miko

Miko — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:01:44 -0800

for a small chunk of that 2 million she can hire a ghost writer - Oh, there's no way she even got that contract without the stipulation that she'd be working with a ghostwriter. The contract may already have been awarded to the writer. This isn't even particular to Palin, it's SOP for celebrity authors of all stripes.

By: LanTao

LanTao — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:18:57 -0800

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly on how Palin lost Barnes:

There's stiff competition, but I'm comfortable describing Fred Barnes, of Weekly Standard and Fox News fame, as the nation's most hackish, reflexively partisan pundit. Pound for pound, word for word, it's hard to match Barnes' vacuity and inanity. With that in mind, it was interesting to see that even Barnes can't put a positive spin on Sarah Palin's bizarre resignation.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:20:40 -0800

Yeah, I read sometime over the weekend (in one of the many Palin articles I chugged like it was Homecoming Week at State U.) that the co-author is already attached. IIRC, she's an academic, possibly a professor? Can't recall the deets, but point is, few celebs try to go this alone... and Sarah "I Can See Russia From My House! Also! To Say!" Palin couldn't dream of it.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:21:36 -0800

If you wanna use a Flickian comparison, Hillary "I voted for the war!" Clinton comes a lot closer. You at least get the idea they worked REALLY HARD and WANT TO WIN, OKAY?! Yeah, you could say that.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:27:47 -0800

Ross Douthat has a column today about Sarah Palin that's perhaps the dumbest thing he's ever written: Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard. "Sure, Barack Obama teaches us that smart people who work really hard can get ahead. But Sarah Palin teaches us that stupid, lazy people can get lucky sometimes, too!"

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:28:32 -0800

I'm starting to think there is no big scandal coming, if only because they are denying it so hard. Usually when you know there's a scandal coming you just shut up.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:38:43 -0800

Yes, there's a co-author already signed up. From the Vanity Fair profile: [Palin has chosen] Lynn Vincent, a senior writer at the Christian-conservative World magazine, as co-author of the memoir, which is to be published next year not only by HarperCollins but also in a special edition by Zondervan, the Bible-publishing house, that may include supplemental material on faith.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:17:48 -0800

I'm afraid I have to agree with Douthat. Obama does represent the meritocratic ideal, Palin does represent the democratic ideal. Pretty much by definition.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:19:43 -0800

Thanks for the assist, orange swan. Knew I'd read it somewhere. Cheers.

By: contessa

contessa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:24:55 -0800

Here's what I don't get. Suppose just for a second you're a big Palin supporter and you buy her whole line about how all of these FOIA requests and investigations and lawsuits are eating up too much of her time and Alaska's money, so she is quitting for the good of her state. It is awfully convoluted, but remember as a Palin supporter this gobbledygook actually makes logical sense to you. Stay with me here. OK -- now let's time travel back to September & October 2008, when the GOP was trying mightily to convince us all that being the "Chief Executive of a State" was the supreme qualifier for any person wishing to attain the highest elected offices in the land. Still with me? Right. I submit that a true CEO, of any kind of organization, does not deal with any requests, investigations, whatever, personally. We are to surmise that Governor Palin's time is just so eaten up with all the minutiae of these "attacks," when in reality, there are whole teams - whole armies! - of people working for the State whose sole job is to deal with these things. It's called delegation of duty. They receive the records requests. They find and provide the information. This is what they are hired to do. If it is a particularly sticky request, a few other levels of people may get involved. However, I submit that it is likely that no more than 1% of these ever made it all the way onto the Governor's desk, for her to personally deal with. And this isn't something that is germane only to poor widdle Sarah. I'm willing to bet the Governments of the remaining 49 states also have teams of people dealing with much the same sort of thing. Sarah Palin would have us all believe that instead of achieving energy security, or whatever the fuck she's always going on about, she's in a chair in a lawyer's office day after day giving depositions for some left wing blogger's spurious lawsuit. And this has to stop! So she's stepping down because she can't be the Governor anymore if she has to do that all the time! Following the logical steps that Sarah Palin is trying to implant in her followers just doesn't compute. The CEO of the Ford Motor Company doesn't spend his day endlessly replying to letters from cranks who want to complain about the sound their windshield wipers make. The CEO of McDonald's isn't spending hour upon hour dealing with a lawsuit from somebody who found a mouse turd in their McMuffin. And the Governor of the State of Alaska is not personally, with her own efforts and her own time, filling FOIA requests and dealing first hand with legal matters. It's a giant fucking lie. It also speaks volumes to her brand of accountability. She wants power, without any checks on it whatsoever. The very fact that she brought up FOIA requests as a specific hindrance to doing her job says a lot about how Sarah Palin does her job. And it says a lot about what she thinks of the public asking for public records, which people are entitled to in this country. Or does she not understand the meaning of "democracy"?

By: JF Ptak

JF Ptak — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:35:57 -0800

In all of this Gov. Pa_in seems to forget that no matter how much you put in front of nothing, the nothing part stays the same. Anything (eg. 123,456^0) raised to the power of zero is always 1. ANd that's all we have here with this person.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:42:14 -0800

Contessa, trying to apply logic to Sarah Palin and her followers is just futile. To even try, madness and frankly, seeing that you're trying to do so makes me fear for your mental health.

By: ook

ook — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:44:18 -0800

Obama does represent the meritocratic ideal, Palin does represent the democratic ideal. Pretty much by definition. I think you mean demagogic ideal, not democratic ideal.

By: the cydonian

the cydonian — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:50:48 -0800

Um. It is entirely possible I have met and perhaps even slept with Sarah Palin. This changes everything. Metafilter: It is entirely possible that I might have hit it. _{So sorry, but it was too easy to resist! :-)}

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:55:47 -0800

Palin supporters in a nutshell: groupthink

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:58:38 -0800

Not to mention true believers. Palin isn't the problem. The followers are the problem. The One who follows Palin is the problem.

By: empath

empath — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:21:54 -0800

From jokeefe's Atlas Shrugs link: Just pointing out that Atlas Shrugged is so nuts that Little Green Footballs thinks she is too crazy to associate with.

By: contessa

contessa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:43:50 -0800

I'm starting to think there is no big scandal coming, if only because they are denying it so hard. Usually when you know there's a scandal coming you just shut up. Sure. But you're not a maverick, are you?

By: albrecht

albrecht — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:50:15 -0800

"Suppose just for a second you're a big Palin supporter and you buy her whole line about how all of these FOIA requests and investigations and lawsuits are eating up too much of her time and Alaska's money, so she is quitting for the good of her state." It's probably been pointed out several times upthread already, but the whole "I'm resigning for the good of the people because these spurious charges are too much of a distraction from my important work" argument is basically exactly the same one Nixon gave in his resignation speech. In fact, along with "spending more time with my family," I think it's pretty much the standard face-saving explanation for quitting a political job in scandal. During the whole campaign season, I was pretty sure that Sarah Palin was the female Dan Quayle, but after the subsequent revelations in the Vanity Fair piece about her power hunger, inability to trust or be trusted by her subordinates, and just plain meanness, I'm becoming more convinced that she's more like the female Nixon, but with Quayle's intelligence and political savvy.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:12:20 -0800

Atlas Shrugged is so nuts that Little Green Footballs thinks she is too crazy to associate with. Yep. Which is possibly some kind of benchmark for who or what actually constitutes Palin's fanbase at this point.

By: contessa

contessa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:23:08 -0800

albrecht, I get what you're saying, but Sarah Palin isn't your garden variety politician. Unlike Nixon or Dan Quayle, she actually believes what she's telling people, no matter what the reality of the situation is. So I think it's instructive to put ourselves inside her head (as scary a proposition as that is), and inside the head of her glaze-eyed followers, to see things from their point of view. To us, her reasons may be one of a drop-down list of standard political drop-out phrases, but to the people who think she is fresh, "real," exciting, mavericky, what have you, that stuff is the unbuttered truth.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:51:22 -0800

Run, Sarah, run! As someone else said above, I agree with this statement. Though I suspect I am using a different definition of 'run' than intended by the original writer. I'm starting to think there is no big scandal coming, if only because they are denying it so hard. Usually when you know there's a scandal coming you just shut up. Smart people shut up. Really smart people defuse it before it explodes. Then there's Palin. This is the woman who had to be smacked down, severely, from having the McCain campaign issue a statement denying (falsely) that her husband had been a member of a secessionist political party. For seven years. A party that she gave some sort of keynote address to.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:53:07 -0800

five fresh fish: "I'm afraid I have to agree with Douthat. Obama does represent the meritocratic ideal, Palin does represent the democratic ideal. Pretty much by definition." If you read RedState and other righty blogs, you see comments to this effect constantly. I see this sentiment a lot, "The MSM/Lefties/etc don't undertand, we love her because she's just like us." Personally, I wouldn't want someone like me running the country, or a hot dog stand, but for some reason, a lot of people find this personal similarity to be a irresistible selling point. George Bush managed to be a success even being a dim-witted anti-intellectual fuck-up C+ student but he had the advantage of being a millionaire whereas Palin managed to almost as successful as Bush with the additional handicap of not being born to the manor. The idea that you can get anywhere you want just through sheer ambition without any particular skills is an attractive idea to a large segment of the voting public.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:53:29 -0800

I'm becoming more convinced that she's more like the female Nixon, but with Quayle's intelligence and political savvy. I figure she is a sucking maw of rapacious need and hunger for attention and power with a concomitant hatred of anything remotely resembling criticism. And has absolutely no fucking clue how to get that power in any context more complex than backstabby local politics.

By: telstar

telstar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:54:24 -0800

Sarah Palin is the Casey Serin of politics.

By: jayder

jayder — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:55:11 -0800

Albrecht said: I'm becoming more convinced that she's more like the female Nixon, but with Quayle's intelligence and political savvy. contessa said: I think it's instructive to put ourselves inside her head (as scary a proposition as that is), and inside the head of her glaze-eyed followers, to see things from their point of view. I think both of you are right. The downside of the amazing brevity of Palin's political career, so far, is that she has not had time to learn much about the high-level political world. She doesn't know who she should trust and who she shouldn't. She doesn't know who is genuinely trying to help her and who is using her, manipulating her, or setting her up for a fall. In short, she doesn't know up from down. Whatever we may think about career politicians, there is a certain benefit in being able to spend ten years or so "under the radar," so to speak, and learn the ways of Washington, D.C., and learn what is reasonable, what isn't reasonable. I think of a U.S. Senator that I admire, Arkansas senator Blanche Lincoln, who is in the latter half of her second term in the Senate. You never hear anything about her. You never hear about presidential aspirations. She's not engaging in catfights in the media. She's not pursuing petty vendettas against political enemies. She has her head down, doing her job, and has been that way since the early nineties since she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. You can bet that Blanche Lincoln is savvy, though, and knows enough about politics and the issues, to conduct herself in a savvy and respectable fashion if she were tapped as anyone's VP nominee. Palin just hasn't been in the game long enough to know anything. The political world must be a very scary place for her. Any of us --- any of us otherwise reasonable MeFites --- if somehow catapulted to political fame without the requisite years paying our dues, might very well turn into figures of Nixonian paranoia and resort to Nixonian plotting and skulduggery. I get the feeling thatm because Palin hasn't been around long enough to know up from down in national politics, she doesn't trust anyone, has alienated the smartest people who surrounded her, she pursues this absurd little vendettas and squabbles because she thinks "that's what you do when you're a politician," and the result is this crazy disaster that is her political career. If I recall Aristotle correctly, he used the term "practical wisdom" to describe the kind of wisdom that you cannot learn by academic study, but only by emulating people who know what they are doing. "Practical wisdom" in the U.S. is gained by working hard in a long, under the radar apprenticeship in politics. By "under the radar" I don't mean that nobody's heard of you, but that you have got your head down and you are not pushing yourself to the forefront of the national political consciousness. If you do not put in those years of work, before presuming to lead the country in some top position, you will be eaten alive. The issues are too complex, the media is too bloodthirsty, and your political rivals are too treacherous for you to survive without learning practical wisdom outside of the limelight. Palin's downfall is a result of never gaining this practical wisdom.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:55:49 -0800

The idea that you can get anywhere you want just through sheer ambition without any particular skills is an attractive idea to a large segment of the voting public. It's a Disney movie come to life. Good thing Disney movies are fiction.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:57:00 -0800

She doesn't know who she should trust and who she shouldn't. More accurately, she doesn't care. It's been shown time and again she doesn't trust anyone; she knows best.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:00:49 -0800

Seconding jayder, and just adding that Plain is truly vicious in the Aristotelian sense: veering wildly from extremes of excess and deficiency with respect both to praxis (action) and pathos (how she lets things/persons/situations affect her). She's also a walking example of just about everything Plato happened to think was flawed with democracy. Everything.

By: empath

empath — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:09:05 -0800

Personally, I wouldn't want someone like me running the country, or a hot dog stand, but for some reason, a lot of people find this personal similarity to be a irresistible selling point ------------------------------------ The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. HL Mencken

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:17:17 -0800

It's a Disney movie come to life. Good thing Disney movies are fiction. It's not even that though, it's like she basically won the political Lotto of the universe. I wonder if John McCain ever called her up, or invited her to his office and tore her a new one. Because he at this point must have some misgivings about ever having anything to do with her, and must spasm and wince a bit every time he hears her name like Closeau's long suffering captain in the Pink Panther. Oh and...... ZALGO!!!!

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:26:23 -0800

I suspect someone above had it right about McCain, Skygazer: he knew his chances of winning the election were vanishingly slim at best. So he decided to give a big ol' FUC YOU to the party apparatchiks he felt had betrayed him, and the country, by nominating GWB years before. Like McCain or not, respect him or not, he is still--much like pond scum--smarter than GWB and likely wouldn't have been quite as much of a disaster over the same time period. Plus he'd have lost to Gore and wouldn't have gone WAAAAAH MOMMY SUPREMES THEY DON'T WANT TO LET ME PLAY WITH THEIR TOYS EVEN AFTER I CHEATED, but that's not the point really.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:27:00 -0800

FUCK YOU. Not k-ist. Though McCain might be.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:31:28 -0800

Atlas Shrugged is so nuts that Little Green Footballs thinks she is too crazy to associate with. LGF has actually walked back from a lot of his nuttery lately and has gotten a lot of other more nutty bloggers mad at him.

By: Dr. Zira

Dr. Zira — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:33:07 -0800

tkchrist: Do you recall a woman wearing a t-shirt with the words "I May Be Broke, But I'm Not Flat Busted." I really wish I were making that up.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:34:56 -0800

Palin broke that. All that coverage of the monkeys at rallies, the crazy religious shit, that rammed it in people's faces. And she loved doing it. She didn't understand it's meant to be more subtle, more nuanced. She took the reality of "the base" and rubbed Republican and US noses in it, and many of them have decided that shit does in fact stink, and now the party is broken. New GOP Racist Headache: "This pattern of racial remarks from grassroots Republican politicos highlights a real problem: As the party tacks right, it seems increasingly reluctant to challenge folks on its fringe for fear of offending the base—even, in this case, by failing to immediately rebuke racist supporters on a Facebook page. Let’s say that Shay’s "LOL" response was the online equivalent of nervous laughter, the kind of passive response to racist jokes that may have once been considered acceptable in pool halls and country clubs of the past. In the Internet era, it offers indelible evidence of acquiescing to something evil in our politics. There is a fear-based paralysis, a lack of moral clarity, which is in direct contradiction to their historic role as the Party of Lincoln."

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:35:38 -0800

Yeah, well talk about burning bridges coming back to barracuda you in the ass...I almost feel bad for the guy (i.e., Ole man McCain.) Really, I think David Brooks got her perfectly right when he said she was a "cancer" on the Republican Party. As, dare I say it, she's second only to GWB in the amount of damage she's done to the brand/party (and that's sayin' something).

By: jamjam

jamjam — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:41:39 -0800

I am getting a deeply satisfying feeling of turnabout and just deserts from what's happening to Sarah Palin right now. This time, Sarah sweetie, it's you down there on the ground running and twisting in utter desperation with nowhere to hide, as the media/hunters circle overhead, and soon an offal strewn patch of bloody snow will be all that's left.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:42:41 -0800

I assert democratic ideal: that the citizens have the power to elect the person they most want to have leading them. The democratic ideal says nothing about the quality of the person, just that they have the quantity of votes. Palin is an example of democratic ideals: if she can convince enough of the population to cast a vote for her, she will lead the country.

By: discountfortunecookie

discountfortunecookie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:01:48 -0800

If one does not know the true capabilities of one's opponent, then it is impossible to tell if an obvious mistake is actually a clever trap.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:22:06 -0800

That whole GOP racism thing was just stupid--"Wah! She unfriended me and kept the other guy who's really a jerk!"--but I did find one part interesting: She then spends the second half of her statement pointing a finger at the real culprits for the “web of misconception and untruths”: her political opponents at the Young Republicans. “It is a disgrace that these types of political attacks are taking place and once again, it proves that my opponents will stoop to the lowest levels to steal this election from the jaws of victory.” Shay did not respond to emails sent to her personal account requesting comment. Is there a class that you take to spin this shit? Turning the Tables 101--Learn to deflect any criticism by smearing the criticiser. MWF / 3 credits Or is this just an example of another basketball analogy--The Best Defense is a Good Offense!

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:27:51 -0800

Never interrupt your enemy when (s)he is making a mistake. Ssssh!! everyone.

By: Gravitus

Gravitus — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:59:46 -0800

If Mrs. Palin has a devious plan she is waiting to spring on the degenerates of America, I really wish she'd get on with it.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:00:32 -0800

If the real thing don't do the trick You better make up something quick You gonna burn burn burn burn it to the wick Ooooooh, barracuda? I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention Except for Bush v. Gore, Terri Shiavo, gay marriage, etc.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:52:31 -0800

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – After spending the holiday weekend with his family in Florida, Mark Sanford is apparently intent on fighting off calls for his resignation and staying in office, according to one South Carolina Republican who spoke with the governor on Monday. Richard Yow, a member of the South Carolina Republican Party executive committee from Chesterfield County, received a phone call from Sanford on Monday afternoon. Yow said he spoke to the embattled governor for ten minutes, during which Sanford asked Yow for his forgiveness. Yow said he told Sanford he could forgive him, but he told the governor that he should resign for the sake of the state and his family. Sanford, he said, rejected the idea. "He said resigning would be the easy way out," Yow told CNN.

Clearly Sanford has not gotten the memo. It's perservering that's easy! Quitting is hard!

By: rkent

rkent — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:43:49 -0800

Newest Alaskan sport: the Iquitarod.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:03:03 -0800

If Palin ever walks out of her marriage, it will be the Iquitatodd.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:22:40 -0800

The wheels are really coming off the bus: Powerline & Ace of Spades come out against Palin, followed by angry torch-wielding mobs of commenters. It is truly a thing of beauty.

It's this insane idea that if you want something to happen, you will also of course agree that it WILL happen, and if you don't agree it will happen, obviously you don't wnat it to happen. In other words, if you're cheering for one side, you must of course believe that side will win, and if you suggest our side won't win, well, gee, you must be cheering AGAINST us. It's insane. I wanted thte Giants to win against the Eagles in the playoffs, but I predicted they'd lose, because the Eagles had their number and they were coming apart at the seems. They did lose, for the reasons I guessed (I think). That did not mean I wasn't "on their side," I've been on the Giants' side all my life. But there is a mentality in the nutroots that if you dare to post a poll showing republicans down and say "we're in trouble, we need a game-changer," well, that means you're secretly rooting against our side.

It would've been nice if they came to this realization back when they were doing exactly this kind of name-calling against the 10 million of us marching against going to war in Iraq, but better late than never.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:33:58 -0800

If she's a point guard, she's the Stephon Marbury of politics.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:59:52 -0800

Governor Palin has somehow discovered that there is, at this moment, a dinosaur-killer-sized asteroid on a collision course with Earth, and the world's governments are suppressing the story Don't be alarmed, but I just discovered that this is true. But Ms. Palin was not at the event where I learned it, so I'm not sure how she would know about it. Stay tuned.

By: Bernt Pancreas

Bernt Pancreas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:19:25 -0800

Palin Hit With More Ethics Charges

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:19:31 -0800

NPR Exclusive: Republican Leaders Sound Off On Palin Decision

By: box

box — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:59:50 -0800

the Stephon Marbury of politics Does this mean I can start looking for a Sarah Palin line of clothes at Kohl's or someplace? Because, frankly, I'm amazed that hasn't happened already.

By: Decimask

Decimask — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:01:24 -0800

> I simply can't believe that someone who misuses the word literally, as in "the world is literally her oyster," has a job as a political spokesperson.

Maybe what Palin is aiming to do is slurp the world down raw in advance of the greatest bacchanal Alaska has ever seen...? Nah, probably not.

> If it is a particularly sticky request, a few other levels of people may get involved. However, I submit that it is likely that no more than 1% of these ever made it all the way onto the Governor's desk

You're assuming Sarah Palin is actually working while she's sitting at her desk. If she really is as pathologically narcissistic as pople think she is, she's probably spending 80% of her time surfing the web looking for ideologue/freepish mirrors to bask in.

By: Decimask

Decimask — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:02:22 -0800

pople = people, because I don't think Mrs. Palin is Catholic.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:06:56 -0800

Does this mean I can start looking for a Sarah Palin line of clothes at Kohl's or someplace? Steve Young's got you covered.

By: mazola

mazola — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:07:45 -0800

Sarah Palin is a good person who cares deeply for the public welfare. Unfortunately, a lot of the political information she passes along is woefully out of date.

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:07:45 -0800

Hitler finds out that Sarah Palin resigns

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:09:48 -0800

Maybe what Palin is aiming to do is slurp the world down raw in advance of the greatest bacchanal Alaska has ever seen...? Literally. Shooting animals from a helicopter is nothing compared to eating an entire planet on the half shell.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:17:18 -0800

pople I assumed this was an alternate plural form of Popple

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:17:58 -0800

If she really is as pathologically narcissistic as pople think she is, she's probably spending 80% of her time surfing the web looking for ideologue/freepish mirrors to bask in. Or feverishly hitting "Reload" to check her MeFi favorites count. Also.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:47:13 -0800

From the link Bernt Pancreas posted, above:

In February, Palin was required to pay back income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her home overlooking Lake Lucille in Wasilla. Little more than two weeks ago she was forced to pay back the State of Alaska more than $8,100.00 for nine trips taken by her children that she had improperly charged as being part of official state business.

These two ethics violations were determined to be legitimate claims against her and not just frivolous ethics violation accusations. She was actually required to pay the money back. It now looks like she may have to pay back the per diems she got while working from home, as well. If so, that will be three separate ethics violations claims against her that have been found to have merit. Just so it's clear that she's not a victim of frivolous claim activity, as she'd like everyone to believe.

By: Kellydamnit

Kellydamnit — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:30:28 -0800

No matter how many different ways people recaption that Downfall clip I can't stop watching. One of these days I'll add the original movie to my Netflix and be disappointed he's not ranting about some pop culture issue.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:53:33 -0800

re. Downfall: color me out of the loop. this is only the second one I've seen, so to me it's still funny as hell. whoever wrote it -- matching the recognizable words to consistent or same words in English was a really nice touch.

By: educatedslacker

educatedslacker — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:53:26 -0800

"If I die, I die. So be it." Now she's Apollo Creed?

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:11:54 -0800

Batboy's Batsh*t Crazy Advisory System

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:40:47 -0800

One of these days I'll add [Downfall] to my Netflix and be disappointed he's not ranting about some pop culture issue. Original. It's really a very good film.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:57:38 -0800

Bad regime though.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:04:35 -0800

Madness? THIS IS ALASKA!

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:10:50 -0800

Palin speaks to ABC News: "Palin conceded many people are still confused about why she made the decision to leave office. "You know why they're confused? I guess they cannot take something nowadays at face value," Palin said. " and... "If she were in the White House, she said, the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations. "I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said. There is no "Department of Law" at the White House. "

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:12:04 -0800

I want to see Palin run the President, with Sanford as VP. The press conferences would be legendary.

By: jamstigator

jamstigator — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:23:29 -0800

I got a qweet about this on qwitter.

By: like_neon

like_neon — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:25:01 -0800

Oh you guys are so mean. You know, the "Department of Law"! They're down the hall from the "Office of Money and Shit". Look, just ask reception, they'll know how to direct you.

By: mazola

mazola — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:48:16 -0800

Alaska has a Department of Law. Perhaps she should familiarize herself with that.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:52:51 -0800

The "Department of Law". Well, that's just classic. There's something about both Sarah Palin and George W. Bush that seems so similar, that is so frustrating. I think I've identified it: it's the utterly juvenile quality of their ignorance. It's like they have an 8th grader's understanding of the world, along with an 8th grader's sense of entitlement, certitude and laziness. While Dubya went around making fart jokes, BSing his way through book reports and jamming t.p. in the boy's room toilets, the world burned. Yet his middle-school minded clique swore he could do no wrong and lauded him with adulation just because he shouted the equivalent of "San Dimas Rules!" every now and then. Sarah Palin seems cut from the same cloth.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:55:04 -0800

I have to admit I'd have been ready to forgive pretty much everything if Palin had ended her resignation presser by throwing her hands in air and shouting "WASILLA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!"

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:03:55 -0800

Woulda hadda be basketball, cortex. Woulda hadda.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:05:54 -0800

Oh, good point. If she'd mentioned football at the end, her press conference would have been confusing.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:07:14 -0800

Not to pick nits, but getting hinky about references to a 'Department of Law' is a good example of why Palinites hate people who hate Palin. The meaning is pretty clear, after all. What we should get hinky about instead is the profoundly mistaken understanding of the US Constitution she's betrayed. Point out, for example, that any regime that protected her from "frivolous" suits would also do the same for Ford, GM, Exxon, Hoffman-Laroche, Humana, the pervert down he block, .....

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:08:23 -0800

crap, cortex, i have a full cup of coffee here. darn good thing I wasn't drinking it. i'd have to levy a frivolous lawsuit against you.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:19:20 -0800

I like this quote: "That caught people off guard. ... It's out of the box and unconventional. That's what we are as Alaskans and certainly how I am as a public servant." Yes, it is quite unconventional for a public servant to decide the best way to be a public servant is to quit her job as a public servant. Way to shift the paradigm!

By: vibrotronica

vibrotronica — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:20:23 -0800

Not to pick nits, but getting hinky about references to a 'Department of Law' is a good example of why Palinites hate people who hate Palin. The meaning is pretty clear, after all. I don't think her meaning is clear at all. Is she referring to the Justice Department or the White House Counsel? Because neither one of those can "throw out" ethics complaints. Or maybe she really doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.

By: jepler

jepler — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:23:04 -0800

What's with the Alaska Constitution's definition of free speech?

§ 5. Freedom of Speech Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:23:15 -0800

"WASILLA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!" But only if she ended it with a clap and a single high kick before backflipping of the stage.

By: mazola

mazola — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:23:38 -0800

What we should get hinky about instead is the profoundly mistaken understanding of the US Constitution she's betrayed. Agreed. I'm sure she's disappointed that her own State Department of Law seems to be geared on constraining what she can do as Governor rather than working for her to quash her adversaries.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:25:48 -0800

Yeah, the meaning isn't clear enough to extrapolate exactly what she intends to suggest, except that she thinks that some legal bureau has the power to insulate the President from legal accountability. In that regard, she may have something, because both the Dep't. of Justice and the White House Counsel have done exactly that for George Bush. It sounds like what she really wishes she had was a consigliere to fix these issues and make them go away. But the fact that her comment requires extrapolation is, in itself, somewhat telling about a certain sloppiness and lack of attention to detail. It does nothing to inspire confidence in her grasp of even the basics, much less the complexities, of national governance. Or, to the degree that she does understand it, it reveals a pernicious desire to exploit the system to avoid accountability for unethical behavior. Either way, it ain't good.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:26:46 -0800

Not to pick nits, but getting hinky about references to a 'Department of Law' is a good example of why Palinites hate people who hate Palin. The meaning is pretty clear, after all. When you're running a bureaucracy names matter, details matter. The meaning is not clear: does she mean the Department of Justice or the Office of White House Counsel? We've seen the result of a president confusing one with the other; it wasn't good.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:29:33 -0800

You know - the thingie!

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:32:57 -0800

Quick! Move that thing! ...And, that other thing!

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:33:11 -0800

The department... that has the guy - you know - the one with the hair... and they do that stuff... law stuff. think they have an office. I went there once - it had a door and maybe a desk... you know the department I'm talkin about, right?

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:45:14 -0800

But y'all are making my point for me: All the fans care about is the meaning that darkstar maps in para 1. It's clear to them that's what she means. It's even clear to her what she means. She is not speaking the same language we do. Yes, terms matter -- to us. To them, we're just being nit-picky sissy-pants holders-back of the great. Beancounters. Cost accountants. We're the people who stand in the way of greatness by willfully refusing to get the joke. Put another way, we communicate more with words, and she and her lot communicate more with symbols and implicit references to the context of the listener (a.k.a. dog-whistles). We communicate with symbols and context references, too, of course, but you can ditch most of the symbols in most of what most of us say and still have meaning. Lose the symbols and context references from what she's saying, you can't understand any of it. It's not that it doesn't make sense. It's that it doesn't make sense to us. Granted, it doesn't make one unitary kind of sense to "them", either, but that's the beauty/terror, advantage/drawback of that kind of communication: You can pack tons of powerful meaning into a small package (or a 10-minute, rambling package, yeah, I know), but you do so at the cost of imprecision. (And why am I getting the feeling I've made essentially this speech before, here?) Non-sequitur: WOMAN: What do you do? MAN: I'm a -- a cost accountant. --

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:46:53 -0800

that said, guyzero -- that thing about the coffee, that i said. you have been warned. My Sarah Palin's attorney will be in touch. that is all.

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:47:00 -0800

This from the ABC News articlealso stuck out to me , quoted above:

But when the family discussed whether she ought to leave office, it was her oldest child, son Track, who is serving in Iraq, who voted "hell, yeah." Husband Todd Palin said, "It's been a topic of discussion quietly for a while. It's never come to an, 'I can't take it anymore.' Let's vote.

Wait, so the decision of whether or not for her to continue to uphold her duties as the elected official of a state, with duties prescribed by the Alaskan constitution, came down to a family vote?

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:49:07 -0800

Oh damn. Didn't finish editing that first sentence, which should've read: This part of the ABC News Article also stuck out to me: Damn, how I wish we had a ten-minute edit window.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:52:51 -0800

... ame down to a family vote? When Sullivan was expending such effort plinking away at her, one of the things he kept focusing on was this idea of a 'family vote' on whether or not she should accept the VP slot. He kept re-iterating that this part of her story had to be at best inaccurate, and was probably a lie, based on what was known about her movements in the time frame described. I.e., there was no family vote on the veep slot. At the time I thought he was taking that part too seriously. Maybe he had a point...

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:09:26 -0800

What's with the Alaska Constitution's definition of free speech? § 5. Freedom of Speech Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right. I would guess that "being responsible for the abuse of that right" applies to speech not protected by the US Constitution, e.g., defamation, fighting words, and obscenity.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:11:36 -0800

The State Of Alaska Department Of Law is a real thing, people. She was not referring to some other department by the wrong name. That was the one part of her speech where she was not confused or making no sense. When you're criticizing someone over getting the name of a bureaucracy wrong, details matter. The meaning is clear: She said what she meant and she meant what she said. She was referring correctly to the Department Of Law, which is a real thing. I cannot stand Sarah Palin, but come on, people! (Unless myriad references and official websites have been fabricated as a ruse following her speech, in which case my hat is off to whoever pulled that off.)

By: SuperSquirrel

SuperSquirrel — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:14:41 -0800

The World Famous, did you read this comment? She wasn't talking about Alaska's Department of Law at all.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:17:21 -0800

She was referring correctly to the Department Of Law, which is a real thing. Not in the White House, no there isn't. Yes, she probably just got mixed up as she does have a Dept of Law up there and she meant whatever the White House equivalent is. But come on. A "Department of Law"? When did they let 6 year-olds name Alaskan government departments? It is an exceptionally prosaic organization title. It could be simultaneously correct (although it wasn't) and dumb.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:21:22 -0800

Not in the White House, no there isn't. Yes, she probably just got mixed up as she does have a Dept of Law up there and she meant whatever the White House equivalent is. In the universe of Palin gaffes, this one is probably the most minor ever. But come on. A "Department of Law"? When did they let 6 year-olds name Alaskan government departments? It is an exceptionally prosaic organization title. It could be simultaneously correct (although it wasn't) and dumb. Yeah. It's almost as dumb as calling a graduate school "Harvard Law School" instead of something eloquent like "The Harvard University Institute of Jurisprudence." Only a 6-year-old would name a graduate school of jurisprudence something like "Law School."

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:25:36 -0800

In the universe of Palin gaffes, this one is probably the most minor ever. That's not saying much.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:39:07 -0800

That's not saying much. It's saying a lot. It's saying that Sarah Palin is possibly the stupidest person on the face of the earth, so that making a big deal about her referring to a federal bureaucracy by the name of a state bureaucracy in her state is sort of dumb.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:39:37 -0800

Bad regime though. *shrug* At least it's an ethos.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:40:50 -0800

Ignorance is Strength!

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:42:14 -0800

A "Department of Law"? ... It is an exceptionally prosaic organization title. Me, I like that the name implies that all those other departments and agencies of Alaska's government have nothing whatsoever to do with the law.

By: Jody Tresidder

Jody Tresidder — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:48:37 -0800

It's almost as dumb as calling a graduate school "Harvard Law School" instead of something eloquent like "The Harvard University Institute of Jurisprudence." The World Famous, Killer sarcasm there! Look, you came over all folksy holier-than-thou with your original correction ["...come on, people!"]. Turns out, your original correction was based on your hasty misreading. So why not admit you were wrong - instead of sarcastically belaboring a quite different point?

By: scody

scody — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:49:43 -0800

Wait, so the decision of whether or not for her to continue to uphold her duties as the elected official of a state, with duties prescribed by the Alaskan constitution, came down to a family vote? "President Palin, how did you arrive at the decision to bomb France?" "I put it up for a family vote! I said, who all wansta blow those damn cheese-eaters offa the planet also? And I got three yeses, one hell yah, and one 'mommy, let me press the button myself'! So there's democracy in action for ya there, also."

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:55:06 -0800

The World Famous, Killer sarcasm there! Are you referring to me, or to the misuse of "that's not saying much?" So why not admit you were wrong - instead of sarcastically belaboring a quite different point? Because this is the internet, where we don't admit we're wrong, and where no gaffe can go unpunished. Didn't you read the FAQ on the opening page of the internet?

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:08:20 -0800

Not to pick nits, but getting hinky about references to a 'Department of Law' is a good example of why Palinites hate people who hate Palin. yeah, they just hate it when they call things by their wrong names and someone who actually knows something corrects them i think it's called anti-intellectualism although i have to wonder what would be so intellectual about knowledge that the average high school student who's passed civics 101 knows - that there is no "department of law" at the white house she's ignorant - and people who can't tell that she is and object to us saying so are ignorant, too

By: contessa

contessa — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:08:33 -0800

scody, I'm laughing so hard, I'm crying.

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:12:17 -0800

The Alaskan dept of law doesn't protect her from lawsuits and ethics investigations, so she really is just pulling random words out of her ass that make a sort of sense to bluff her way through whatever "gotcha" question the evil liberal media is crucifying her with. I don't think it's even a gaffe, really, because she knows that her true believers will buy it-- it sounds sort of plausible, while the media will call her on it-- proving that they're out to get her. God, I love this woman. She makes politics as much fun as the WWF was when I was 10 years old. No, it's more fun.

By: Talanvor

Talanvor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:14:56 -0800

It costs "the critics" nothing to file ethics violations lawsuits? Does anyone know what she's babbling about? I'm having a difficult time parsing her speech. Anyone have a regex script to make this sensible?

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:32:00 -0800

Now see, what we need to do is get her an interview with the Bobs... "What would you say you do here?" "Well, Bobby," she leans forward, touching a hand. " - oh, can I call you Bobby? It's not that I'm anti-intellectual, it's that I just don't care" "You-you don't care?" "It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Alaska ships a few extra barrels of oil, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bobby: I have twenty-eight different bosses right now." "I beg your pardon, twenty-eight?" "Well, maybe more, I'm not strong at math" *wink*. "All these people telling me what I'm doing wrong and what I can't do, Bob. Not what I'm doing right, not what I can do. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have fifty different people coming by to tell me about it. My only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get impeached."

By: mazola

mazola — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:34:32 -0800

I think you can be pretty sure one of the first acts of a future President Palin will be to create a Department of Law entrusted to protect the interests of the President (and SMASH ENEMIES!).

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:54:45 -0800

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PDF)

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:57:14 -0800

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:58:55 -0800

And apparently I made the all-too-common misquoting error there. Oh well. I guess I'll have to call the Department of Shakespeare.

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:59:27 -0800

It's saying that Sarah Palin is possibly the stupidest person on the face of the earth, so that making a big deal about her referring to a federal bureaucracy by the name of a state bureaucracy in her state is sort of dumb. FUN FACTS 1. The Alaska Department of Law is not in charge of protecting the governor from ethics complaints. 2. The Department of Justice in the federal government is not in charge of protecting the President from ethics complaints. 3. There is no "Department of Law" in the federal government. 4. Even if there were a Department of Law (there's not!), there is no part of the federal bureaucracy, including anything that she could have possibly conflated with Alaska's DoL, that examines ethics complaints against the President and just, hey, throws them out. TERRIFYING CONCLUSIONS 1. Sarah Palin does not know any of these things. 2. She could really have become the goddamn President. 3. People you know and love probably still want her to be President.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:10:35 -0800

3. People you know and love probably still want her to be President. I actually discussed this over the weekend with the few people I know and love who previously had stated that they wanted her to be President. They now claim that, while they no longer think she should be President, they still like her because "she is a great public speaker." (Note that "he's a great public speaker" was one of the reasons they cited for being opposed to Obama.)

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:18:10 -0800

Well, I tried. (Guess laughing at the natives is more fun [and less like work] than trying to understand them...)

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:28:05 -0800

Lodur, laughing at "natives" [which a) absolutely no one is doing here, and b) WTF does that even mean] is on a completely different planet from laughing at latest example of the willful ignorance of a woman who very well could've been president.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:32:15 -0800

By: sarahnade

sarahnade — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:32:26 -0800

I think her reference to this "Department of Law" is just another way to reinforce her "Joe Sixpack" status. Something like, "If this happened to that Ivy-League Fat Cat President of ours, he would have money and status and people who could bail him out and you'd never know about it! But we can't all be special princesses with corrupt lawyers on our payroll to dismiss such ridiculous things as ethics violations! No, some of us are soon-to-be unemployed hockey moms who just wish our families could fish in peace*! Woe is me!" *And that the media continue coming back for all that public speaking I'm about to do!

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:40:25 -0800

But you're not just laughing at her. You're laughing at people who take her seriously. Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. Well gosh, aren't I a lucky girl to have you around to tell me what I am and am not doing! Snarkiness aside, I'd like to call your attention to the fact that laughing at her is not at all the same thing as laughing at her supporters. If anything, Palin supporters worry the hell out of me. As eloquently put by Optimus a few comments above, it's fucking terrifying to think that, in spite of said willful ignorance, her proud anti-intellectualism, her hateful attitudes, her questionable ethics, her delight at turning campaign rallies into little more than lynch mobs, there are still a significant number of people who would be pleased as punch to have her as Commander-in-Chief.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:41:13 -0800

What?! No hipwader jokes yet? People, I am getting sad now. Best SP in hipwader joke gets a present from me. Come on, time is money.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:43:19 -0800

Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. I'm pretty sure I know, at least in part. I mean, I know why people mushrooms even though I can't stand 'em. Anyway, she speaks completely in dog whistles. She's like the next level of evolution for politicians. She possesses the ability to get elected and nothing else. Her base hears her speak to them even when what she's saying makes no sense out of context. She represents everything that a certain segment of people love and thus she's electable. But I don't think she has any ideology at all - I'd say she's post-ideological but it's more like she's pre-ideological. She doesn't try to sum up her beliefs in any sort of cohesive narrative beyond her Larry-the-Cable-Guy "git'r'dun" approach. She has all the superficial elements of the perfect politician but without any substance. That some people choose to believe appearances over substance isn't particularly hard to understand. I understand that the reasons I dismiss her are irrelevant to her base. But I'm not a politician and I really don't care about the people who love her. My goal isn't to talk anyone out of believing in her. I just find it funny that for all her "straight talk" rhetoric she never, ever talks straight. She's always obfuscating or speaking in code. Do I fear what she stands for or the people who woul d get her elected? Sort of - afetr all, I can always just up and move. This ain't my country. Y'all can fuck it up as much as y'all want.

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:45:39 -0800

Oh, and based on your responses, it would seem that you're also conflating "natives" with "Palin supporters." Based on her plummeting popularity in her own state, and fourcheesemac's fantastic comment earlier in the thread, you may want to rethink this position.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:45:45 -0800

But you're not just laughing at her. You're laughing at people who take her seriously. Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. Sure, it's fun, and after this I'm going to shut up and get out of the way so you can get back to it. But it doesn't do a damn thing to help you prevent it from threatening to screw up our lives in the future. I think I understand where you're coming from, but I think you're wrong on at least two counts: 1) It does matter that someone who was a Vice Presidential candidate, and has at least feinted at wanting to be a Presidential one, does not understand the structures or functions of the Federal government. It may also matter that her supporters find this endearing, or explainable, or whatever, but pointing it out is not deriding them per se. It needs to be pointed out, it's a ridiculous situation. I'm not sure you leave room to both point out that ridiculousness and respect her supporters (or whatever you want to be displayed to her supporters). 2) You haven't suggested how understanding that it's alright with Palin supporters to get the 'details wrong will help to communicate the importance of those details to them. In other words, how will understanding that they see these types of thing as picayune help "prevent it from threatening to screw up our lives in the future?"

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:48:59 -0800

I know why people mushrooms... Woah, what the fuck kind of mushrooms am I on? I know why people like mushrooms...

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:52:39 -0800

lodurr, I do get what you're getting at, but in context (people casually riffing in a long mefi thread during a lull in the thread-starting news cycle) it's probably judging too harshly to imagine that a failure to engage the like deep structure of the political dialectic in question here is posing a substantial danger to anyone's future. The stakes in this thread are very low, and I don't think most people are taking it very seriously specifically because of that. Oh, and based on your responses, it would seem that you're also conflating "natives" with "Palin supporters." I took that not to be a conflation but a euphemism, but only lodurr knows for sure.

By: Talanvor

Talanvor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:56:43 -0800

Has she said a single thing she's going to do after leaving office? I hear a lot of vagueness about "progressing the state" (what?) and "affecting change" (buh?) but nothing that could be considered a... plan, of any kind. Maybe Dubya needs help clearing out brush?

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:57:23 -0800

But you're not just laughing at her. You're laughing at people who take her seriously. Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. I understand why they do it. They're uneducated xenophobic mouthbreathers who will worship anyone or anything they belive will give them some way to feel superior to the "elite" - of course "elite" in this case is merely the set of all people who don't wear xxl t-shirts that say for instance WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT, etc. She's merely following in the footsteps of every ignorant faux-populist ultranationalist with a chip on his shoulder and a small but dedicated army of vocal supporters, the terrible palingenetic* legacy from Jackson all the way to Wallace. They're not "evil," they may not even be stupid: they just choose not to think. *it couldn't be helped

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:59:39 -0800

Ah, I didn't consider that interpretation, Cortex. I assumed that, since we're discussing the governor of a state with a significant Native American population, he was speaking literally. If that wasn't the case, lodurr, my apologies for the confusion.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:05:27 -0800

Sarah Palin/ Larry the Cable Guy 2012! (Wouldn't that make a grand bumpersticker?) Or maybe Larry the Cable Guy should have top billing? Cuz ya know being a cable guy is a lot like being a community organizer...except with high def.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:09:20 -0800

I took that not to be a conflation but a euphemism, but only lodurr knows for sure. Personally, I think it takes a fair stretch to read my use of "the Natives" as referring to native-American Alaskans. But I'll clarify by saying that I was talking about Palin supporters. I don't really expect deep discourse (which is why I said I'd butt out), and I do get the riffing thing. But it does really fast start to smack to me of an exercise intended to reinforce the group sense of being an elite -- us doing exactly what Optimus Chyme says they're doing. (FWIW, I think he's probably right in the details, but I feel it's important to point out that what we're doing here, riffing, is the same kind of thing. Not generally as nasty or scary -- so different in quantity -- but not different in kind.) The tone gets irritating. It starts to sound like "we're so cool, they're such dolts, why don't they just get educated then they'll all agree with us?" That's a dangerous attitude. It breeds complacency and arrogance. FWIW, it's the same kind of attitude I used to see in Conservatives when I was one, in the late '70s and early '80s.

By: HumuloneRanger

HumuloneRanger — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:10:59 -0800

GuyZero: "Anyway, she speaks completely in dog whistles. She's like the next level of evolution for politicians ... Her base hears her speak to them even when what she's saying makes no sense out of context." Orwell was quite prescient when he called that duckspeak. Was I the only one who had trouble distinguishing Palin from the racket behind her on the lake?

By: wittgenstein

wittgenstein — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:19:42 -0800

Sarah Palin Is Not Stupid (previously deleted from the front page)

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:37:43 -0800

The main problem with the whole "Department of Law" thing isn't that Palin is wrong to think that there's an office in the White House which can, willy-nilly, make ethics complaints against the president just go away, it's that she thinks such an office would be a marvelous thing, and she would like to have the benefit of one.

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:59:49 -0800

of course "elite" in this case is merely the set of all people who don't wear xxl t-shirts that say for instance WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT, etc. Can we get that on the new MeFi shirts? I would wear that. It would be better than this shirt, worn by Palin pal & right-wing radio host Eddie Burke to a recent Anchorage assembly meeting.

By: scody

scody — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:01:10 -0800

Speaking as someone who has Sarah Palin supporters among her family, I can say that what she stands for (and more broadly, the brand of hard-right, populist conservatism the GOP has devolved into) absolutely doesn't solely appeal to the stupid or the uneducated. She appeals to -- indeed, she flatters! -- that segment of the population who are defined by their fears and resentments, and who are therefore deeply suspicious of anything smacking of complexities, ambiguities, and/or heterogeneity. Those fears and resentments and suspicions are not exclusive to the poorly educated. (Nor does it require high levels of intelligence or education to reject her politics.) There are plenty of educated, middle-class people who see the world in highly simplistic, anti-intellectual, black-and-white terms: Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil. This mindset contains no room for pesky things like facts or logic, nor does it contain room for broader notions of empathy or tolerance for anyone outside the "Us" category. This worldview is not fact-based; it is feeling-based. It's anti-enlightenment; it's ultramodern antimodernity. I think much of the "Sarah Palin is not Stupid" article is naive. But at its core, it contains a basic truth: people do or believe things -- even demonstrably false, ridiculous, and irrational things -- because such things make some sort of sense or serve some sort of purpose to them.

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:01:22 -0800

(dang it, I meant to italicize that first line, as it came from a comment by Optimus Chyme)

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:01:24 -0800

It does matter that someone who was a Vice Presidential candidate, and has at least feinted at wanting to be a Presidential one, does not understand the structures or functions of the Federal government. What's frightening to me, and should be downright sphincter-tightening to you folks who are actually citizens of the USA, is that I as a random Canadian non-politician have a better understanding of those structures and functions than she does. it's that she thinks such an office would be a marvelous thing Which should ratchet things up from sphincter-tightening to full on pants-shitting and hiding in a dark room rocking back and forth, clutching a photograph of JFK and saying "It's ok it'll be ok everything's ok it'll be fine yes yes everything will work out fine my precious.."

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:02:47 -0800

It would be better than this shirt, worn by Palin pal & right-wing radio host Eddie Burke to a recent Anchorage assembly meeting. For one, it wouldn't spell 'racist' as 'rascist'.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:03:15 -0800

Anyway, she speaks completely in dog whistles No, no. It's metaphors: "Terrorists, all around. Country failing" "Affect effect change in this great country of ours" "Law Department protected states' rights" But for me, this puts it nicely: "Palin, her eyes closed"

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:06:05 -0800

Silly me. I should have linked here.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:07:12 -0800

Sarah Palin Is Not Stupid Perhaps not stupid, but foolish and definitely ignorant. Anyone who still thinks she'd make a good president, however, is deeply stupid.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:09:24 -0800

darkstar: These two ethics violations were determined to be legitimate claims against her and not just frivolous ethics violation accusations. She was actually required to pay the money back. This is going back a ways, but this actually isn't true. The $8100 was a voluntary reimbursement after an ethics investigation found that there was 'no wrongdoing.' Seriously, if you read the story linked from the HuffPo piece, it says so right there. This wasn't an ethics violation, and in fact the investigation found that Palin 'followed historical practices on first family travel and that her travel requests were processed by the same administrators who processed requests for predecessors, Frank Murkowski and Tony Knowles.'

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:12:23 -0800

When Sullivan was expending such effort plinking away at her, one of the things he kept focusing on was this idea of a 'family vote' on whether or not she should accept the VP slot. He kept re-iterating that this part of her story had to be at best inaccurate, and was probably a lie, based on what was known about her movements in the time frame described. I.e., there was no family vote on the veep slot. At the time I thought he was taking that part too seriously. Maybe he had a point... One of Palin's most infuriating and yet perversely fascinating characteristics is her constant reversion to low-level, easily disprovable mendacity. Here's her account of the "vote": And finally, I polled the most important people in my life, my kids, where the count was unanimous. In response to asking, hey, do you want me to make a positive difference and fight for all our children's future from outside the governor's office? It was four yeses and one, "hell, yeah!" And the "hell, yeah!" sealed it." Palin has a total of five children. The youngest is just over one year old and has Down's Syndrome. I doubt very much he participated in this conversation. See also: the Vanity Fair article's details on her insistent lies about her history of insurance coverage and her husband's affiliation with a secessionist political party. Palin lies about things that she doesn't need to lie about and that can easily be shown to be lies. I don't like throwing psychiatric diagnoses around casually, but it some cases they can shed light on otherwise bizarre behavior. This type of dissembling -- in which someone lies compulsively and yet genuinely seems to believe their own lies without any regard for their transparency -- are entirely consistent with the diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder mentioned in the VF article.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:13:31 -0800

I think I've finally got a handle on Palin's intentions. What with the personal costs involved in defending herself against all these ethics complaints, she's discovered that she's not (yet) truly a member of the ruling class. The governorship gave her a great deal of power, but along with that power came oversight; and with oversight comes accountability. Normally a politician at her level can conduct a great deal of graft and get away with it for years, but her meteoric rise brought visibility that precluded that. So the only option left open to her is to quit her job, freeing her up from the restrictive rules that govern public servants and acquire the true wealth that is the hallmark of the ruling class. Books, speeches, membership on some corporate boards or some sweet consulting gigs, everything's an option when you're out of glare of public accountability. Once she has that she can buy her way back into the political game and use whatever fraction is needed to protect herself from accountability along the way. Underneath it all she's still that girl from the wrong side of the tracks. If she's going to overcome that & join the ranks of the Mighty & the Chosen she needs Wealth. She needs Fuck You money. This is her opening move in getting it.

By: a robot made out of meat

a robot made out of meat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:13:51 -0800

Because I want to have this thread in my RA, I will point out that the Department of Law thing isn't so crazy in some formulations. The AK AG does advise the governor, and I assume represents the state in lawsuits as well as prosecutions. As such, the dept. Law probably has spent time on her behalf. Ultimately, there's a judicial component which has to decide if allegations are substantive, although you could image an administrative ethics board version of that internal to the Executive. In such a scenario, somebody who she thinks of as analogous to the dept. Law would throw allegations out. That's a lot of ifs, and a fair amount of ignorance of both how her state and the federal government work, but not crazy. Isn't how ethics complaints get dealt with (short of a special prosecutor) by the federal government kind of complicated? IGs of many flavors and offices, PCEI, ECEI, Office of Special Cousel, Office of Personel Managment, Office of Government Ethics, and probably more. If you don't work for the DOJ or White House Counsel, I think that you can be excused from knowing how it really works.

By: graventy

graventy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:14:28 -0800

Technically, cortex, I think she already mixed her sports metaphors, unless I don't grasp the nuances of basketball. From her speech: when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it's time so the team can win!

By: a robot made out of meat

a robot made out of meat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:19:25 -0800

I'm also very sad that of all the juicy hypothesized reasons given, "crazy" and "for money" are going to be the two answers.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:20:09 -0800

But you're not just laughing at her. You're laughing at people who take her seriously. Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. I can't understand why people take her seriously. She's a liar, a hypocrite, and a phony. The very first thing almost anyone outside Alaska heard from her--"I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge to nowhere"--was a lie. She called herself a pitbull with lipstick and called Hillary Clinton a whiner, but is the first to play the victim card. She uses her family as a prop, then complains when people mention her family. She holds a press conference, then gets mad at the press for covering it. It's the same crap that mystified me about people supporting George W. Bush, who said he'd get bin Laden dead or alive and "smoke them out of their holes," then said he "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]," then lied about it. He said, "No matter what the whip count is, we’re calling for the vote" on a second UN resolution on Iraq, then punked out because he knew he would lose. I get the appeal of the homespun, plain-talkin' maverick, but I cannot understand why people don't drop their support when these people are shown time and again to be phonies and liars.

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:28:41 -0800

If you don't work for the DOJ or White House Counsel, I think that you can be excused from knowing how it really works. I think you're being extremely generous, ARMOOM. I mean, I've never been sued for an ethics violation, I've never been a mayor, or a governor, or a Vice Presidential nominee, I've never worked for the DOJ or White House Counsel, and yet I'm perfectly aware that there's no such thing as a "Department of Law" at the Federal level. We're talking a junior-high civics class level of information here, not a topic that requires an understanding of the byzantine nuances of litigation against a public official. I mean, it's as asinine a statement on her part as if she had talked about the Federal Department of Nature in reference to state parks, or the Department of Schools when referencing her education platform.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:30:59 -0800

She appeals to -- indeed, she flatters! -- that segment of the population who are defined by their fears and resentments, and who are therefore deeply suspicious of anything smacking of complexities, ambiguities, and/or heterogeneity. I love that sentence, scody! Also, shakespeherian, thanks for the info. I retract my earlier comment with regard to that particular ethics issue.

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:33:05 -0800

"But you're not just laughing at her. You're laughing at people who take her seriously. Instead of, you know, actually trying to understand why they do that. " There's something else going on here that's more important. To her supporters, who operate with the George Bush model of wanting a president who seems like them, Palin's talking about the Department of Law is more proof of her authenticity. It humanizes her. In this one respect, Douhat was sort of on to something in his NYT editorial, one that he didn't really follow through on. As a democracy, have a cultural conflict in our notion of who should lead us. Should it be someone who represents the best we have to offer (a meritocratic model)? Or someone who is just like the rest of us (the democratic model)? Personally, I want someone who is much smarter than me to run the country. But many Americans don't feel that way. That's why populist resentment runs so deep, and populist appeal is so powerful.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:33:46 -0800

"But at its core, it contains a basic truth: people do or believe things -- even demonstrably false, ridiculous, and irrational things -- because such things make some sort of sense or serve some sort of purpose to them." Yes, but that article was rather circular—no one ever believes things that don't server a purpose, and good intentions do not insulate people from being stupid. Finally, his idea that stupid people can't be elected is, well, stupid. Of course stupid people can be elected—that's the whole function of democracy. We elect them because they're just like us—Stupid!

By: scody

scody — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:37:12 -0800

I get the appeal of the homespun, plain-talkin' maverick, but I cannot understand why people don't drop their support when these people are shown time and again to be phonies and liars. But again, it requires a fact-based worldview to believe that it's important for a statement to be factually true. You and I believe such a thing, but Palin and her supporters don't. They explicitly don't care about the fact that there's not a Department of Education; they care about the emotional gist of the statement, which is "if I were president, I'd have the means to quash my enemies." That you and I care about the fact of the matter is PROOF that we are soft, liberal, elitists who are persecuting "real people" in the "real world."

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:38:01 -0800

Of course stupid people can be elected—that's the whole function of democracy. We elect them because they're just like us—Stupid! Indeed. It's pretty obvious the author of that article has never paid much attention to various members of Congress, let alone elected officials on a state or local level, if he believes that stupid people don't win elections. Stupid people get elected to public office All. The. Time.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:46:36 -0800

scody, they also think that words mean something. At least, they appear to think that they mean something when they say "words mean something", but I don't think they think those words mean what you and I think those words mean.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:47:02 -0800

I wonder if it's occurred to anyone else: Sarah Palin Is Not Stupid

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:48:19 -0800

...blah blah blah Thucydides something something rule of law blah blah strict construction...

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:08:22 -0800

This is going back a ways, but this actually isn't true. The $8100 was a voluntary reimbursement after an ethics investigation found that there was 'no wrongdoing.' She settled out to close the investigation. You don't pay back a dollar if you didn't wrongly take any in the first place.

By: shiu mai baby

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:20:06 -0800

If that's the case, scalefree, then this is my not-surprised face. I used to work for a company that regularly dealt with investigations by various states' attorneys general and DOJs. It was very important to us not to ever be found in violation of a particular set of laws, and our ~~Department of Law~~ legal division was very, very good at working out arrangements wherein we paid X dollars to contribute to a "public education fund" wink wink, nudge nudge, saynomore, in exchange for not having an official ruling of wrongdoing on the record.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:54:47 -0800

The $8100 was a voluntary reimbursement after an ethics investigation found that there was 'no wrongdoing.' Seriously, if you read the story linked from the HuffPo piece, it says so right there. This wasn't an ethics violation Firedoglake disagrees with that assessment:

Now, in fairness, by entering into a plea bargain settlement agreement with the state, and agreeing to promptly repay the ill begotten travel allowances, Palin was able to have the official record read that there was no abiding ethics violation, but the simple fact is if there was no wrongdoing, she would not have had to enter an agreement and repay the funds.

Also remember that she was found guilty of abusing her power by trying to get Wootan fired. For those of you playing along her is a guide to her lies in her farewell speech: All 5 children voted all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed (There are 18 and some are still pending) She campaigned for governor 4 years ago (it was 3) The state spent $2 million on frivolous ethics charge (it's $300,000) ...and that is not even going into all that she claims she has accomplished as she has "worked tirelessly for Alaska" achieving "smaller government" by increasing the state budget, hiring more people, and creating more offices. Then there is a the little matter of Dairygate which she claims as one of her accomplishments. Truly butter would not melt in her mouth!

By: phatkitten

phatkitten — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:04:59 -0800

WSJ: Why Palin Quit

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:06:28 -0800

But as a duly elected and highly respected (by some) public servant, it's important that we not make fun of her.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:12:12 -0800

So the WSJs reason for her quitting is that searching for ethics violations has been crowdsourced?

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:20:15 -0800

Secret Life of Gravy: Firedoglake disagrees with that assessment: I stand corrected. In my defense, the HuffPo story that stated Palin was required to pay this money linked, for evidence, directly to the ADN story that says it was voluntary and not a violation. So in conclusion: Huffington Post was right for the wrong reasons, and I was wrong for the right reasons. Or something. Anyway, thanks for the info.

By: verb

verb — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:20:21 -0800

From the WSJ article:

Her press aides say that before considering interviews, she insists that they comb through reporters' work, even if they write for a friendly, conservative publication," writes Ron Kessler of NewsMax.com.

I'm not sure that this makes me sympathetic.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:38:09 -0800

Also from WSJ:

In helping to convince Sarah Palin that her road forward in national politics would demand even more sacrifices and pain than exacted from most politicians, the media did nothing to encourage women or people of modest means to participate in politics.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:44:18 -0800

Best SP in hipwader joke gets a present from me. Come on, time is money. Hip wader? I barely know 'er! I assume that because I am the only entrant in this contest, I am also the winner.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:50:28 -0800

So just to encapsulate, on the ethics violations, it's more accurate to say that Palin has been found culpable (to some degree) in three ethics issues: 1. The Wooten affair, wherein she was formally found to have abused her power, 2. The taxes on the per diem issue, in which she was formally found to be wrong and had to pay the back taxes, 3. The travel ethics issue, in which she accepted culpability when she paid back the $8100 for her family's travel expenses. The investigation was dropped upon her paying these funds back so there was never a formal finding in that filing. A fourth ethics issue is brewing related to the per diems themselves, in which it seems she violated the law by receiving them in the first place. If this is borne out, it will be the fourth ethics violation that either she will have been found formally culpable or for which she has accepted culpability in paying the funds back. For someone who has only been in office for two years, she's not doing too well. I have to say I totally agree with her that both her family and the State of Alaska will be far better off with her stepping down as Governor.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:53:22 -0800

And again, from WSJ:

She made many mistakes after suddenly being thrust into the national spotlight last year, but hasn't merited the sneering contempt visited upon her by national reporters. She simply was not their kind of feminist -- and they disdained the politically incorrect life choices she had made.

If by 'not my kind of feminist' you mean someone who spouts obvious lies gleefully at every opportunity, and by 'politically incorrect life choices' you mean someone who is so politically incompetent that she listed living in Alaska as foreign policy experience, then yeah, I can see how my sneering contempt for her is unwarranted. Oh, no I can't. Fuck you.

By: readery

readery — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:59:56 -0800

And also from the WSJ article: Everyone in the family was weary of endless personal attacks, including mean-spirited suggestions on liberal blogs that all of her children should have been aborted and that she would run on a presidential platform promoting retardation. This is a bit heavy handed. I can't imagine someone suggesting all her children should have been aborted. Are they confusing Liberal blogs with Youtube comments? And promoting retardation? What does that even mean?

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:10:13 -0800

So the WSJs reason for her quitting is that searching for ethics violations has been crowdsourced? Is responding to FOIA requests in a governor's job description? Every politician has staff and legal counsel who are capable of responding appropriately to ethics violation charges. Unless she's a control freak who can't delegate specific tasks to people who are hired to do those tasks, she ought to have been able to govern effectively while under investigation. I'm picturing her reading and responding to every bit of correspondence, scouring all the blogs, TV shows, and newspapers, searching for things to be offended by. That's a time-killer right there. In helping to convince Sarah Palin that her road forward in national politics would demand even more sacrifices and pain than exacted from most politicians, the media did nothing to encourage women or people of modest means to participate in politics. Apparently up there on Wall Street they're not aware that women and people of modest means do participate in politics.

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:11:37 -0800

And promoting retardation? What does that even mean? posted by readery at 4:59 PM on July 7 Free subscriptions to the WSJ.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:15:33 -0800

From the WSJ, emphasis mine:

Karl Rove acknowledges the unusual battering Ms. Palin has endured in recent months, but told Fox News that GOP leaders are still puzzled by her decision. "If she wanted to escape the ethics investigations and save the taxpayers money, she's now done that," he said. Unfortunately, he added, her decision "sent a signal that if you do this kind of thing to a sitting governor like her, you can drive her out of office." But Palin friends say such commentary misses the real point. "The Beltway media can't understand someone not consumed with presidential ambition," one told me. "Maybe Sarah Palin won't run for president and maybe her family situation made it tougher to handle the barrage of attacks that come with that territory. The real issue that should be asked is why a mean-spirited system has to treat people who run like that, instead of why someone may choose not to go through it."

So, let me get this straight. Palin can't stand the heat, so she's quitting the kitchen... and it's because the system is broken. The same system that was built by K Street money, on the backs of life-long partisans like Karl Rove and Tom DeLay. The same system that Palin was happy to game for her benefit last fall when she was whipping up hateful mob scenes packed with the "low-information voters" she loves so much. Yes? This is what her confidant is saying? And Karl Rove has just grokked that if you bury a sitting governor with FOIA requests and ethics charges, you can hamstring her into stepping down. You can almost hear the lightbulb pinging on as he strokes his white cat. Goodbye, Deval Patrick. Goodbye, Phil Bredesen. Goodbye, Steve Beshear and Mike Beebe and Jim Doyle. The wingnuts are coming for you, and they have a target stencil ready for your backs in the shape of a FOIA request... and as your family drives away from the Governor's mansion, ruined and broken, they will be high-fiving and whooping and yelling, "That one... was... for SARAH."

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:23:50 -0800

For those of you playing along her is a guide to her lies in her farewell speech: All 5 children voted Trig is still a baby, so I'm guessing Jesus voted in his place.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:28:47 -0800

All whistle, no dog.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:30:04 -0800

When elected President, I will simplify the Executive Branch command structure. It will work like this: Department of Deciding What Shit to Do --> Department of Law --> Department of Doing the Shit. Seems pretty straightforward, and we'll be sure all the shit is legal, and stuff.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:36:43 -0800

And promoting retardation? What does that even mean? Might have something to do with Palin saying the "world needs more Trigs, not fewer." It was a very weird thing to say but it was also a trap that you couldn't point out how weird it was without setting yourself up for a counter-attack on how mean you were. Which, sadly, some bloggers (including someone at the Huffington Post) fell into.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:44:31 -0800

billyfleetwood said: "Trig is still a baby, so I'm guessing Jesus voted in his place." Well, God did send Trig's birth announcement, so...

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:47:05 -0800

The world needs more people to ask if you've stopped beating your wife yet.

By: contessa

contessa — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:47:39 -0800

And Karl Rove has just grokked that if you bury a sitting governor with FOIA requests and ethics charges, you can hamstring her into stepping down. You can almost hear the lightbulb pinging on as he strokes his white cat. Shoot, pineapple...that's nothing new to Karl Rove. In fact, that's his patented move.

By: AsYouKnow Bob

AsYouKnow Bob — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:02:00 -0800

pineapple at 8:15 You can almost hear the lightbulb pinging on as he strokes his white cat. Goodbye, Deval Patrick. Goodbye, Phil Bredesen. Goodbye, Steve Beshear and Mike Beebe and Jim Doyle. The wingnuts are coming for you, and they have a target stencil ready for your backs in the shape of a FOIA request... Well, yeah - except that Not-Insane governors will have hired competent staffers to deal with frivolous attacks. If a governor has any sense of balance and proportion - that is, if they're not insane narcissists - these things will be a minor nuisance, and not a OMG THEY SAID MEAN THINGS ABOUT ME reason to run away. (e.g.: Clinton, for one, survived much, much worse in the way of endless frivolous attacks by wingnuts.)

By: pointilist

pointilist — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:36:32 -0800

I don't think Rove and the Repubs learned anything new here that they didn't already know during Whitewater. I don't think the point was truly to remove Mr. Bill, just to keep him off balance and distracted. They may be feeling some satisfaction that turnabout happened to someone they don't care about.

By: pointilist

pointilist — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:38:50 -0800

on Post: Yeah, what they said.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:43:11 -0800

"And promoting retardation? What does that even mean?" I'm sorry, that was probably me. I meant "promoting stupidity, incompetence and being a fucking idjit," but I was probably drunk with revulsion derived from her stump-humper cultural tics.

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:02:08 -0800

Clinton, for one, survived much, much worse in the way of endless frivolous attacks by wingnuts. Thats because Bill Clinton had a machine in his basement that converted frivolous political attacks into $100 bills, giant plates of hotwings and 6 foot sub sandwiches. It's really the only explanation for his presidency. When Hillary ran for pres, and asked Bill to use the machine he replied, "That old thing? Aw hell. After I left office I traded it to Bono for these cool sunglasses!"

By: nooneyouknow

nooneyouknow — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:11:42 -0800

The thing that strikes me about this is the penny ante nature of her ethics violations. Stealing the per diem, travel for her kids, firing someone because they won't fire your sister's ex...that's just lame. If you're going to be corrupt, be corrupt - sell a senate seat, take bribes, accept kickbacks, shake down a children's hospital.

By: stagewhisper

stagewhisper — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:42:43 -0800

"She simply was not their kind of feminist" The only way anyone could equate Sarah Palin with feminism is if, in their minds, feminism=promotion of the under-qualified and intellectually inferior to positions of authority based primarily on gender. Oh. Wait...

By: verb

verb — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:44:55 -0800

The thing that strikes me about this is the penny ante nature of her ethics violations. Stealing the per diem, travel for her kids, firing someone because they won't fire your sister's ex...that's just lame. If you're going to be corrupt, be corrupt - sell a senate seat, take bribes, accept kickbacks, shake down a children's hospital.

Keep in mind that she is the governor of a state with a population one fourth that of the city of Chicago. There isn't as much graft to get... grafty with.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:45:45 -0800

My grandfather is a Palin fan. He's not a religious believer, nor a particularly staunch atheist, and neither recognizes nor cares about her dog-whistles to the Evangelical crowd. He's educated and comes from an engineering and chemical background; he's also pretty involved in the stock market and is quite wealthy. He likes Palin because he's a fiscal conservative, but more importantly, he likes her because liberals hate her. She's like his team's version of Hilary Clinton, Al Gore, and Alec Baldwin all rolled into one. He likes her because she gets us all riled up and pissed off, and he thinks it's funny. I find this sort of depressing, but I guess it would be worse if he actually thought she was smart.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:49:33 -0800

She simply was not their kind of feminist -- and they disdained the politically incorrect life choices she had made. In exactly what universe would a feminist criticize her life choices as politically incorrect? Feminists are all about choices, that's the fucking point. It's like they don't even know what words mean. Oh wait, we'd established that. I assume that because I am the only entrant in this contest, I am also the winner. Firstly, you assume that I am following normal people logic, when in fact I am following Palin logic which means you only win the game if you quit. You stuck it out and therefore you and the Alaskan taxpayers lose. Second, I would like to point out that this contest lasts in perpetuity so I can keep changing my mind on it. There will be no winners. I bet the gotcha journalists will have a field day with this but I am sticking to my guns. No pun contests as usual over here. How else will the ball go alongside the hoops. How? I'm going to have to ask my houseplants to vote on this one. I have an aloe plant and a jade plant. They said 'hell yes' so in this case it means the winner is me. I win. Even though I didn't do anything. I win because I did not lose. Because I quit in the middle. I'm taking my toys home now. /not high, just Palinin' around

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:59:33 -0800

The thing that strikes me about this is the penny ante nature of her ethics violations. She hasn't had time to get involved in large-scale corruption. 3 years ago she was the mayor of a small town. She's had 2 years running the fourth smallest state in the Union, population-wise 1. Until late last year she had few connections to conduct graft with or to learn it from. At heart she's still just a girl from the wrong side of the tracks with a very big dream. A dream of unchecked power, of joining the people who set the rules for others while living outside those rules themselves. 1 Tried using Wolfram Alpha to find this out, ended up getting it from Wikipedia. Go figure.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:02:39 -0800

Is responding to FOIA requests in a governor's job description? Hell no. This is something that chaps my hide. Responding to FOIA requests is not in any governor's job description. It is not in any employees' job duties in any state in the United States. The Freedom of Information Act only applies to Federal agencies. I don't expect Joe the Plumber to know this, but I do expect someone writing for the Wall Street Journal to know this. Alaska's public records are governed by their public records law. From that WSJ article: While normally useful, in the hands of political opponents FOIA requests can become a means to bog down a target in a bureaucratic quagmire, thanks to the need to comb through records and respond by a strict timetable. Guess what? In probably any state in the union anyone can make a public records request, because they are public records, created by people paid by the public doing jobs for the public. And the strict timetable? Alaska Public Records law says you have ten days to respond. FOIA gives the agencies twenty days, so the timetable would actually be less strict under the FOIA the author of the article is complaining about. *falls off soapbox*

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:23:46 -0800

Apparently up there on Wall Street they're not aware that women and people of modest means do participate in politics. ...and become President. Or at least, I'd bet a nice meal that the Obamas earned less than the Palinses every year before Obama's book came out in 04 or 05.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:23:47 -0800

3 years ago she was the mayor of a small town. Oops, she was mayor from 1996-2002, then spent a year on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (from which she also quit early). The crux of my comment still stands, though. She just hasn't had the opportunity to learn how to pull of major corruption so far.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:30:34 -0800

Or at least, I'd bet a nice meal that the Obamas earned less than the Palinses every year before Obama's book came out in 04 or 05. Michelle worked at Sidley, and that firm pays very well. Moreover, "[a]ccording to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, Michelle's salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate." She had been working for UC Hospitals since 2002, and was presumably making either a comparable salary or a greater salary in the years before she cut her hours so that she could work on the campaign. I don't know how much the Palins earned or currently earn, but I don't think I'm going out on a limb in guessing that both a public office in Wasilla, Alaska and whatever job Palin's husband had pays something less than even a first-year associate's Sidley Austin salary.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:32:06 -0800

marxchivist said: "The Freedom of Information Act only applies to Federal agencies. I don't expect Joe the Plumber to know this, but I do expect someone writing for the Wall Street Journal to know this. Alaska's public records are governed by their public records law." Just as a point of privilege: I worked very closely with state government officials for a few years, and they all used the shorthand of "FOIA" to refer to issues around state public records. The term might be a Xerox/Kleenex/Google situation at this stage. I mean, the WSJ was still wrong. But I'm willing to give Palin a pass if she said "FOIA" when she meant "Alaska state public records law." Similar to a comment upthread earlier -- she gaffes so much that I'm desensitized to something as minor as this.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:36:13 -0800

Also: my God, we need some fresh meat here... Michelle Obama's salary in Chicago? What state governments informally call open records requests? We're gnawing on third-hand scraps at this point. Someone, please break some new Palin news or we're going to start eating each other.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:39:33 -0800

He likes Palin because he's a fiscal conservative, but more importantly, he likes her because liberals hate her. I can see liking her because she pisses off the so-called American "liberals," but he's a treasonous bastard if he votes for her for that reason.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:42:58 -0800

We're gnawing on third-hand scraps at this point. Someone, please break some new Palin news or we're going to start eating each other. This is why she resigned. She's devious.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:44:48 -0800

I have a question for Mr. Rove: if Photoshop can get the governor of the biggest state in the Union to resign, can we apply it to the other states? It seems much cheaper than a recall. Wish we'd thought of using that on Mr. Bush. wait...

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:54:29 -0800

We're gnawing on third-hand scraps at this point. Someone, please break some new Palin news or we're going to start eating each other. posted by pineapple Well you're looking mighty tasty.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:58:06 -0800

Republicans by 71%-27% say they'd be likely to vote for her if she ran for president in 2012, while independents by 51%-44% would not. * _______ John Ridley of National Public Radio says she has the potential to be a Republican "kingmaker." "She was never going to be president of the United States. But who's got all the sway in the Republican Party right now? It's the political pundits; it's the talk show hosts; it's the people who are not responsible to an electorate," he said. "I would not be surprised if around 2011 people are circling around Sarah Palin, saying, 'please, anoint us for the road to the White House.' She's never going to be president but possibly a kingmaker."**

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:10:39 -0800

I can see liking her because she pisses off the so-called American "liberals," but he's a treasonous bastard if he votes for her for that reason. Someday, sometime, somebody is going to actually commit treason, and we're going to have to invent a new word for it, since "treason" is rapidly coming to mean "the act of disagreeing with me on a political or military topic." Please, the wingnuts have been abusing the term for years. Let's not follow suit.

By: contessa

contessa — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:36:52 -0800

...he likes her because liberals hate her. Do that many liberals hate Sarah Palin, though? I don't. I see her as the poster child for a certain type of folksy-fundamentalist, proudly incurious, all-hat-no-cattle, non-fact-based brand of conservative politician that, in sufficient quantities, could and would make the United States a pretty lousy place - heck, I even called her a stupid B-dash-dash-dash-dash (!!) - but hating her seems like a pretty huge waste of time and energy.

By: julen

julen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:37:19 -0800

Holy cow, I'm still steaming over that WSJ article. I just deleted a long rant, but I'm stuck with this: I wasn't aware Sarah Palin was flying the Feminist Flag, as the WSJ infers. I must confess, I'm a little shocked. I figured she was just flying the All-American SuperMom Flag (you know: she's a mom with more kids than most of you, and yet she has a high-profile super-important job and looks darned pretty! She can TOTALLY be President.) she had made for herself out of deer hide and rags from Nieman-Marcus. I know what must have happened. Someone forgot to give her the other page of the Welcome, Feminist memo. You know, the one that follows up the expectation of equal opportunities made available to us with the expectation that we will be treated, evaluated, and compensated equally. There's an implication there that if we work hard and do things the right way, we should be successful. And if we don't, then we won't be.

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:39:28 -0800

Well, we could talk about how post announcement she slipped out a statement about being "out of politics" for good and then held another press confrence where she said "she doesn't know what the future holds." All this within 3 days. That might be fun. Or, we could submit an FOIA request to find out if she has Trig in any therapy. Or request the public records from the state? What of Trig? We're told he's voting but are they working on his little motor skills at this critical stage? What about we pick on Meg? Les is sooooo dreamy!!! Why don't we have him on the news more? Surely he has thoughts on recent events. He's probably to tasteful and suave to comment. Oh, Les!

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:54:01 -0800

The only way anyone could equate Sarah Palin with feminism is if, in their minds, feminism=promotion of the under-qualified and intellectually inferior to positions of authority based primarily on gender. Oh. Wait... posted by stagewhisper I really hope that was said facetiously, otherwise it is really, really stupid.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:57:51 -0800

dirtynumbangelboy said: "Well you're looking mighty tasty." Thanks. I get that a lot. I'm also an excellent source of thiamin.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:05:33 -0800

Feminists are all about choices, that's the fucking point. If only. There's no shortage of prominent feminists who are only too happy to crap over women who make the 'wrong' choices.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:08:10 -0800

Yeah, with her wingnut celebrity, she could probably make a mint as a lobbyist for right-wing causes. I mean, in the millions of dollars over the next decade. It might be pretty hard for her to turn down a gravy train like that. Randomly, I spotted this upthread when the page got hung on a reload*, and wanted to disagree. Celebrity is actually not a great quality to have, for effective lobbying (especially when it's such polarizing fame). Behind-the-scenes influence and strong legislative relationships are far more important, and Palin has neither. She has potential on the wingnut-celeb-speaker-circuit, for sure, but as a lobbyist she'd just be a liability to clients. * THAT'S THE DEATH KNELL. WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:12:30 -0800

I would take the feminism defense of Palin as less disingenuous if I had any evidence that Palin herself acted in the interest of expanding women's choices. Saying that you're a feminist because you're a woman seems rather circular, especially when your brand of "feminism" directly results in women having fewer choices (Pay for your own rape kits, ladies). It's like when the false flag of tolerance is flown under the theory that it's somehow hypocritical to be intolerant of intolerance.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:32:54 -0800

Someday, sometime, somebody is going to actually commit treason, and we're going to have to invent a new word for it, since "treason" is rapidly coming to mean "the act of disagreeing with me on a political or military topic." Please, the wingnuts have been abusing the term for years. Let's not follow suit. Then what is a more appropriate word for the type of person that would elect an incompetent nincompoop to spite his fellow citizens? We need a word for people who act against their own best interests, let alone the best interest of their country. A word that has a similar sort of meaning as "treason" (thus ruling out words like "dumbass" and "Republican" and so on.)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:36:05 -0800

if I had any evidence that Palin herself acted in the interest of expanding women's choices Palin's last act: A proposal to require parental notice or consent before a female younger than 18 could have an abortion was certified Thursday by the state so that its backers can seek enough signatures to get the initiative before voters next year. Because that's what will best serve America's meth and rape capital. That and $1200 rape kits. You betcha!

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:36:36 -0800

How about adapting the "cutting off your nose to spite your face" proverb to merely "facespiter" (or "nosecutter")

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:40:49 -0800

Well, we could talk about how post announcement she slipped out a statement about being "out of politics" for good and then held another press confrence where she said "she doesn't know what the future holds." All this within 3 days. The mind boggles. THAT'S THE DEATH KNELL. WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END. S̙͕̟͙̹̟̬̙̫̚Ḩ͔̠̰̺͈̝̘͍̫͂̋͘E̙̗ͦͭͪ̋ͦ̑̊ͮ ̨̙͚̜̀̍͊ͣ̾͞͞C̶̛̺͇̪͕̎̀Ō̸̷̦̳͔̰ͥ͆̀ͪ̈͒ͩ̚͝M͐ͧ̄̈̓̾ͨ̒͏̟̼̗͙̝ͅẼ̱̩̥̯̻̞̘̚͟S̪̲̫̄ͩ́̀

By: darkstar

darkstar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:22:50 -0800

Or we could talk about how she says she left her job to pursue a higher calling in helping out the country in a role other than the AK Governorship, yet when asked for specifics, both she and her spokesperson say she has no specific plans. There's another mind boggler for ya, you betcha! Meanwhile, Hitler did not take the news of her resignation too well...(Youtube)

By: lenny70

lenny70 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:41:00 -0800

"Department of Law" sigh. If I was an adviser to Sarah Palin, I would have her watch a couple of seasons of The West Wing. Forget books and articles and political essays. Just sit back, grab a case of beer, and marathon through the episodes. Good god woman. I am an immigrant from the Middle East living in Canada, I didn't go to high school in North America, and I have never set foot in the US, and even I know there is no "Department of Law" in the Federal government.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:02:05 -0800

If I was an adviser to Sarah Palin, I would have her watch a couple of seasons of The West Wing. I say this as both a huge West Wing fan and someone who knows his stuff fairly well from firsthand experience when it comes to the Federal Government: The West Wing will teach you that the DOJ is not called the Department Of Law and a few other very basic technicalities of nomenclature, but beyond that, it's pretty difficult to discern which aspects of the U.S. government (i.e., White House, Congress, the Judiciary) are being accurately represented and which are portrayed so far from the way they are that they are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Someone well-versed in The West Wing will certainly know more about Washington than Sarah Palin. But I would not recommend it as an educational tool.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:13:19 -0800

Today show interview.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:43:31 -0800

he likes her because liberals hate her. Yeah I see this a lot in comments on other web sites. Stuff like "It's so funny to see the libs turn blue in the face with rage when her name is mentioned." If there is a more juvenile approach to politics, I don't know what it can be. Yesterday in the parking lot at the gym I saw a car with three bumper stickers (a very nice car that was clean inside and out) I (heart) Global Warming! I'm a Republican...because not everyone can be on welfare. McCain/Palin (with McCain's name removed.) Unfortunately for them this strategy is flawed because Liberal thinkers are not enraged by her. See I think that there are a lot of people in this country who ARE enraged by the sight of Obama but personally Palin just inspires me with a mix of feelings: Glee at her wacky shenanigans, disgust at her bold-faced lies and abysmal ignorance, and deep puzzlement as to why anyone would want to elect her to political office where she has real power over their lives. I'm not enraged by her because I don't take her seriously enough. Now if she was elected President and started pulling crap that affected me, I might muster up some rage. As to the feminist issue, I think WSJ defines Feminist as any woman who isn't content to be either a single woman working in a coffee shop or a housewife whose life revolves around husband and kids. Someone, please break some new Palin news or we're going to start eating each other. Ok, here ya go: Stormy Daniels, the porn star who is mulling a Senate run in Louisiana against Sen. David Vitter, wants to get together with Sarah Palin.

“As a woman who is often criticized and dismissed by the media I obviously can relate to Governor Palin on many levels,” Daniels said in a statement. “Given this I am very interested to hear what she has to say about the challenges women like ourselves who are not afraid to display our sexuality face when it comes to being taken seriously as leaders. [...]if our values are not backed by the responsibility to make the tough choices and to understand the consequences of our actions then we are doomed to failure as a society."

I can see why Stormy Daniels would think they have something in common-- both have used their bodies in the past to obtain money and approval, but I think Stormy might be a little too mature for Palin. Stormy thinks that you should think about the consequences of your actions. I think Palin is more of an "act now, think about it later" kind of girl.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:55:33 -0800

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:06:26 -0800

"Sexuality face"?

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:23:36 -0800

You are meant to read that as the challenges women face when they display their sexuality.

By: stagewhisper

stagewhisper — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:59:57 -0800

Saxon Kane -yes I was being completely sarcastic. Internet delivery is tough!

By: SassHat

SassHat — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:48:18 -0800

If only. There's no shortage of prominent feminists who are only too happy to crap over women who make the 'wrong' choices. No shortage, hey? Guess this vast quantity of unnamed 'prominent feminists' should get a memo that they're doing it wrong. You know, when they "crap over" all those "women". You know, who make "choices". Choices which are, according to these 'prominent feminists', 'wrong'. We can surmise, however, that the 'choices' these 'women' make are actually 'right', because the 'prominent feminists' are just 'crapping over' the 'women'. And not, say, supporting the 'choices' that the 'women' 'made'. It's a shame that there isn't a 'shortage' of these kinds of 'prominent feminists' who do such an unfeminist thing. It would sure make life easier on 'women', if we had a 'prominent feminist' 'shortage', amirite? Then they could 'make' 'choices' without having 'prominent feminists' 'crap over' them. Where do I sign up to get rid of these 'prominent feminists'? As a non-prominent feminist, I think I should get a 'choice' in this. Which no 'prominent feminists' can 'crap over'. Because that would be unfeminist.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:54:22 -0800

...he likes her because liberals hate her... ...See I think that there are a lot of people in this country who ARE enraged by the sight of Obama... That's pretty much it in a nutshell. (ha!) 'Libruls' don't actually have to say anything to get someone mad. There's massive projection at work here.

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:29:35 -0800

Just had the realization that if Wes Anderson ever made a horror movie...Sarah Palin would have to be the main character.

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:55:39 -0800

You are meant to read that as the challenges women face when they display their sexuality. Thank you! (Though I still like my parsing better!)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:34:58 -0800

The one thing I have to admire about Palin is that she can apparently put in a solid day's work when she has to. Working a fishing boat is no easy picnic, and there she is up to her armpits in it. That's pretty cool.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:45:03 -0800

Working a fishing boat is no easy picnic, and there she is up to her armpits in it. Dude, it's a photo op. Do you think she didn't take the kids and go home as soon as the cameras left? I was genuinely impressed that she could do the physical work that she did while on camera and not be totally beaten down by it and winded. But the thing was a publicity stunt, not a day job. I guess it did demonstrate that, while she is a quitter, she is not completely lazy when it comes to certain types of physical activity.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:51:52 -0800

I think the mudflats blogger commented on the absolutely pristine nature of her raingear, in this context. Though, to be fair, the RNC may have bought them for her.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:03:08 -0800

I think WSJ defines Feminist as any woman who isn't content to be either a single woman working in a coffee shop or a housewife whose life revolves around husband and kids. I thought the point of feminism was that women should have the choice to do whatever they want, and be paid equally for it? A woman who makes the choice to stay home and raise kids is no less a feminist than Hilary Clinton.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:39:49 -0800

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:42:11 -0800

dirtynumbangelboy: You have fallen into a logical fallacy concerning my criticism of the stodgy WSJ. Just because I think it is ridiculous that WSJ describes Palin as a "Feminist" solely based on the fact that she is a Governor (an unusual job for a woman in the pre-Feminist era) does NOT mean that feminists, including myself, condemn any woman who wishes to play a traditional role. It just means I think it is ridiculous they are calling her a "Feminist" without regard to her views on the role of women. For all we know she thinks women should be seen but not heard. She certainly hasn't been very vocal on the rights of women. I know she belongs to a church that thinks women should be subject to men and I also know she is against the right to terminate a pregnancy.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:08:20 -0800

CNN Poll: Support for Sarah Palin is Unchanged More than seven in 10 Republicans said they would be likely to vote for Palin for the presidency. That number drops to 34 percent among independents and to 17 percent among Democrats. [bangs head repeatedly against keyboard] posted by orange swan Luckily, only, what, 25% of the population is identifying as Republicans these days? And the 17% of Dems are probably all PUMAs.

By: found missing

found missing — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:25:28 -0800

Are puma's older women who seek younger lovers? I can never keep up with the lingo of you kids.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:09:10 -0800

CNN Poll: Support for Sarah Palin is Unchanged More than seven in 10 Republicans said they would be likely to vote for Palin for the presidency. That number drops to 34 percent among independents and to 17 percent among Democrats. 1. It's a cable TV poll. 2. They phoned people. 3. They only polled 1000 people. 4. We don't know how many of those self-identified as Democrats. 5. We don't know how many of those are actually Democrats. 6. The sample error rate is +/- 3%. 7. We don't need to pay serious attention to cable TV polls with small samples and lame methodology about hypothetical events more than two years in the future...remember how Obama was going to lose Iowa....and win New Hampshire by a landslide.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:18:56 -0800

Maureen Dowd's latest is quite funny: Sarah’s Secret Diary

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:29:32 -0800

[irresponsible speculation] I notice that lodurr said this way back in the thread, but I just heard an excerpt from Palin's ABC interview. She sounds just as breathless as she did during the press conference, talking rapidly, words rushing over one another, disconnected and fragmented. It really does remind me of listening to bipolar people in their manic phase. There really might be something to that theory.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:34:05 -0800

Here's a post from before the election called "Why Sarah Palin is Not Bipolar," which kind of fails to make its case:

The symptoms of mania include excessive risk taking, hypersexuality, reckless financial spending, gambling or investments, and incoherently rapid and disjointed speech. Another common bipolar symptom is grandiosity, a grossly inflated sense of one's abilities and entitlements. Governor Palin has a very happy and successful marriage, her personal finances have been scrutinized and found above reproach through the VP vetting process, she has maintained a successful career, and does not abuse alcohol or drugs....Governor Palin is a hard working, high functioning politician, with views some do not share....

Well...all the evidence that she's "a hard working and high functioning politician" has just burned up in a blaze of giddy hyperfocus, leaving only....er...the manic behavior.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:37:39 -0800

DailyKos also touched on the idea in 2008.

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:59:54 -0800

Internet speculation regarding someone's placement on the various DSM-IV axes is kind of unsavory, regardless of how batshitinsane that person may be.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:01:05 -0800

It is David Letterman's fault! Watch: Letterman Takes On Palin Resignation: Something I Said?

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:22:54 -0800

She called herself a pitbull with lipstick and called Hillary Clinton a whiner, but is the first to play the victim card. Sarah Palin's advice last year to Hilary Clinton: "Fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it... Palin: My whining is different than Hillary Clinton’s.

Since announcing that she would resign as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin (R) has been blaming her decision on the “mainstream media” and political operatives who accused her of “all sorts of frivolous ethics violations.” Ironically, Palin last year criticized Hillary Clinton for complaining about being put under “a sharper microscope,” saying that when there is “any kind of perceived whine” coming from a “woman candidate,” she thinks, “Man that doesn’t do us any good.” Time’s Jay Newton-Small asked Palin about this contradiction in a new interview. Palin replied that she’s totally different than Clinton because the accusations she’s facing are way worse:
What I said was, it doesn’t do her or anybody else any good to whine about the criticism. And that’s why I’m trying to make it clear that the criticism, I invite that. But freedom of speech and that invitation to constructively criticize a public servant is a lot different than the allowance to lie, to continually falsely accuse a public servant when they have proven over and over again that they have not done what the accuser is saying they did. It doesn’t cost them a dime to continue to accuse. . But that’s why when I talk about the political potshots that I take or my family takes, we can handle that. I can handle that. I expect it. But there has to be opportunity provided for truth to get out there, and truth That’s a whole different situationisn’t getting out there when the political game that’s being played right now is going to continue, and it is.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:53:35 -0800

The always delightful blog, Margaret and Helen, weighs in on Palin: Sarah Palin called a Family Meeting and the Rabbit Lived

Things are getting tough and once again she is trying to hide behind that dysfunctional family of hers. She actually stood there and talked about how the Palins had a family meeting and everyone agreed it was time for her to step down as Governor. Well, I call bullshit. The only family meetings the Palins have usually involve someone peeing on an early pregnancy test stick.

Andrew Sullivan has a handy guide to Sarah's Lies

By: scody

scody — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:32:39 -0800

Great observation from Dahlia Lithwick at Slate:

It's too easy to characterize Sarah Palin as an irrational bundle of bristling grievance. But I think it's more complicated than her simple love for playing the victim all the time. If you think of Palin as someone who never felt herself to be fully heard or understood, not truly politically realized in the eyes of the American public, her rage toward the country, the media, and those of us who fail to love and understand her is easier to comprehend. Think of an American visiting France who believes that if he just speaks louder, he will be speaking French.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:24:02 -0800

Internet speculation regarding someone's placement on the various DSM-IV axes is kind of unsavory, regardless of how batshitinsane that person may be. I'm going to disagree. Though I certainly understand that no nonprofessional could ever diagnose her, and no one at all can do so at a distance, she is a public figure who sought national office, held state office, and may seek future office. As such, she's offered herself to be speculated about. There weren't many people who held back from asserting in direct terms that Bush was a sociopath or a narcissist, and I don't see why observers of Palin should refrain from noting that some of her behaviors are consistent with some of those found in psychological syndromes. In fact, if anything, considering that she may have a mental illness makes me view her a bit more humanely. If she's simply a total, callous and nasty asshole, then that's that and her actions in the political realm only make sense as acts of will. If she's experiencing uncontrollable emotional swings, though, then her ideology is really not - never was - the problem.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:36:10 -0800

I agree with Miko. I don't think it's off limits to speculate about the mental health of someone who asked the whole country to put her a heartbeat away from leadership of the free world. Still, dersins makes a fair point; there are more and less savory ways to go about doing so.

By: scody

scody — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:45:03 -0800

It would be a lot easier if the DSM would just put Batshit Crazy Disorder on the list already.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:30:22 -0800

Speculating about a politican's mental health is pretty normal, re: Sanford, Blageovich. Palin gets no special treatment.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:48:27 -0800

There being little Palin news today, let us be dumbfounded by the stupidity of the brown-haired maroon on some Fox show:

BROWN HAIRED GUY: We keep marrying other species and other ethnics-- GRETCHEN CARLSON: Are you sure you are not suffering from some of the causes of dementia right now? BROWN HAIRED GUY: The problem is the Swedes have pure genes. They marry other Swedes, that's the rule. Finns marry other Finns; they have a pure society. In America we marry everybody. We will marry Italians and Irish. DAVE BRIGGS: This study does not apply? BROWN HAIRED GUY: Does not apply to us. [pause] DAVE BRIGGS: Huh.

WTF?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:50:19 -0800

Jim Bunning sure didn't get a pass from speculation about his mental health, that's for sure, and rightly so.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:24:22 -0800

Key Reason Palin Gave For Quitting May Be False

"One of the chief reasons Sarah Palin has given for resigning as Governor of Alaska is that her state’s taxpayers are being forced to spend money defending her government against ethics complaints that would otherwise fund teachers, cops, and road repair. But in response to our questions, a spokesperson for the Alaska governor’s office just gave us new information that casts serious doubt on this assertion. The revelation makes the resignation episode even stranger, and raises fresh questions about the real reasons for her abrupt departure...[more]..."

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:35:41 -0800

Hoo boy. That's going to put a wrench in her plans, you betcha!

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:41:47 -0800

BROWN HAIRED GUY: We keep marrying other species and other ethnics DAMN YOU GAY MARRIAGE! Rick Santorum was right all along...

By: contessa

contessa — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:41:57 -0800

Key Reason Palin Gave For Quitting May Be False Sorry...may be false? Consider the messenger. Duh.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:45:37 -0800

From the thread in eric's link is an awesome analysis of Palin's bogus claim of $2 million in ethics complaints costs. It seems that she is a pathological liar, in addition to all her other faults.

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:59:49 -0800

all the evidence that she's "a hard working and high functioning politician" Wait, there was evidence of her doing work? How did I miss that? Or are we counting having a tanning bed installed as "work"? And give her a break on not understanding that $2 million is more than $300 thousand. Like another great feminist said, "Math class is tough."

By: scody

scody — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:30:17 -0800

In America we marry everybody. We will marry Italians and Irish. I love how he's not only a racist... he's a mid-19th century racist. I mean... Italians and Irish? Really? Who is he, Bill the Butcher?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:52:36 -0800

So, from FFF's link: Palin's $2 million claim was inflated over the truth by a factor of sevenfold. And two thirds of the real value stemmed from Palin's own filing against herself in a case that was determined to be without merit! So the actual cost due to OTHER PEOPLE filing claims against Palin is only about $110,000. And finally, we've determined that in at least three of the claims against her, filed by other people, she was found culpable (either formally or tacitly when she agreed to give the money back). So what we really have here is only $110k spent to process ethics violation claims against her, three of which have been demonstrably valid so far. Contrast THAT reality with Palin's wailing about "spending $2 million to fend off claims, all of which have been found to be without merit" and we have a stark glimpse into the mind of a bald-faced liar.

By: benzenedream

benzenedream — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:30:23 -0800

Alaska House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, said Palin didn't inform him ahead of time that she was going to resign. "It would have been a little nicer to know," Chenault said. "But then it didn't surprise me, because the governor has done a lot of things she hadn't told anybody about." [source]

By: radgardener

radgardener — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:08:48 -0800

"Of course the Speaker would have time to TALK with the Press behind my back about that kind of thing." Someone should make an automatic Palin response generator.

By: Rat Spatula

Rat Spatula — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:32:41 -0800

Italians and Irish? Really?
I got the impression that's where his brain finally started to catch up with his mouth and he started to pull up on the stick by picking "safe" minority references. But it is likely I'm giving him too much credit

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:56:51 -0800

I got the impression that's where his brain finally started to catch up with his mouth and he started to pull up on the stick by picking "safe" minority references. Could it be that he was trying to talk about how places like Finland and Iceland have a much smaller gene pool, making it easier to do population-wide genetic studies there? I know Iceland has a pretty much nationwide DNA registry that's doing some really interesting stuff because nearly all Icelanders are descended from the same comparatively few Viking families. Where he started spouting off stuff about other species and "pure societies" and whatnot, though...I don't know.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:58:52 -0800

Yeah, the interesting thing about the Iceland DNA study was, in fact, that the DNA showed all kinds of non-Nordic input, especially Irish/Celtic (slave descendants) but including as far east as Turkey. As far as I can remember, there was no sheep or goat or cow or hair seal DNA, attractive though those critters may be in a long winter of living in a barn oh hey do I know any Icelandic stereotypes umm

By: Kwine

Kwine — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:25:03 -0800

1. It's a cable TV poll. 2. They phoned people. 3. They only polled 1000 people. 4. We don't know how many of those self-identified as Democrats. 5. We don't know how many of those are actually Democrats. 6. The sample error rate is +/- 3%. 7. We don't need to pay serious attention to cable TV polls with small samples and lame methodology about hypothetical events more than two years in the future...remember how Obama was going to lose Iowa....and win New Hampshire by a landslide. IANA statistician, but as someone who used to regularly teach baby stats focused on polling as part of a 100 level logical reasoning course, As far as #1, 4, and 5, the poll was actually performed by Gallup-one of the most reputable polling organizations in the world. Unless we have particular reason to doubt their methodology in some particular case, we should trust it. (As regular 538 readers know, this would be a different story if it were a Zogby poll) Given that trust, with regard to #3, 1,000 is certainly a large enough sample size with appropriate stratification in the sample, and with regard to #6, that margin of error is actually quite small for this sort of thing-often you'll see political polls with error margins in the 4-5 range. There's nothing wrong with telephoning people for a political poll either (#2). At least, almost every poll is done this way. So, the basic point in #7 stands, that it's early to draw conclusions from this poll. But that has more to do with how much the attitudes of people change over years in ways that are difficult to predict, rather than some flaw in methodology of the poll.

By: Miko

Miko — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:47:21 -0800

I'm not a statistician either, but do you accept the results of this survey? You accept that 17% of Democrats say they would be likely to vote for Sarah Palin? we should trust it I just don't know what "trust" means in this case. Perhaps we can trust that within the 1,000 people, 17% of people (an unknown percentage) who said they were Democrats answered the "likely" question with a yes. Now, how many people said they were Democrats? Are they really Democrats? How is "Democrat" defined - someone who has voted for the Democratic candidate in the past 3 elections? Someone who voted that way in the last election? Simple self-identification? I'm wary - during all my work in the last election I encountered quote a bit of willingness to masquerade as the opposing party, or to outright lie to canvassers and posters about who one was supporting. People have come to enjoy skewing polls. Are you satisfied that this group of less than 170 people who may or may not actually be supporters of a Democratic agenda is giving us any meaningful understanding of how Palin's prospects are viewed by the American electorate? That's all I'm saying - grain of salt. This poll's methodology may be consistent with SOP, but that doesn't make it not lame. Gallup may be reputable but that doesn't mean the results of their polling are accurate depictions of reality. The points are listed are mentioned to provide context for evaluating its results. Did this poll apply its methodology according to the usual standards, and did it accurately report results? Let's assume so. Does it mean anything? Should it worry people? Highly debatable. I say, no.

By: Miko

Miko — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:54:30 -0800

Better response detail here.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:11:38 -0800

We will marry Italians and Irish. When I read this, I assumed it was some kind of wacky, Wonkette-style mocking summation of the guy's argument, not a literal transcript. Jesus Christ.

By: Kwine

Kwine — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:12:03 -0800

I guess I don't have preconceived notions about what number would be surprising. You raise important points about properly defining response categories, but those points seem to me to be endemic to the entire practice of constructing and evaluating polls. Who counts as a Democrat is, as you point out, something of a fluid issue. Though I wish that there were more information available in your link, I'm confident that Gallup does as good a job or better than any other pollsters, and that their political polls historically tend to have little or no bias, relative to other polls. Would 12% still be a surprising number? It would be shocking if we did something like took a weighted mean of other polls from reputable organizations on this issue, as 538 did frequently through last year's presidential elections, and found that Gallup's poll was five or more percentage points away from that number. This isn't to suggest that polls are the end-all and be-all of political analysis. But there isn't any reason that I can see that suggests that this poll is less useful than another poll would be-which is what I thought that you were suggesting in your previous comment. We should probably try, given this, to think of reasons to explain the result rather than eliminate it. As you (in a way) suggest, one reason might be that the ranks of those identifying or identifiable as Democrats has swelled due to the popularity of Obama. Some of those people might have been caught up in Obama-mania and, though they still identify as Democrats or are identified as Democrats by reasonable criteria, they are (unfairly in my opinion) blaming him for the economy and ready for change.

By: rtha

rtha — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:01:58 -0800

The poll's methodology is industry standard. Will people try to game political polls? Sure. Do I believe that as much as 17% of people claiming to be Democrats are batshitcrazy? Yes.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:03:08 -0800

Why would have that changed since the whole weird reaction to the Obama candidacy?

By: Miko

Miko — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:20:35 -0800

there isn't any reason that I can see that suggests that this poll is less useful than another poll would be No, but it's exactly as useful as another poll would be. Which is, a snapshot of what some ill-defined groups of people on a Monday in July had to say. I saw a lot of handwringing going on about what this might mean, and wanted to note: not too much.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:27:05 -0800

I saw a lot of handwringing going on about what this might mean, and wanted to note: not too much. Honestly, if it can be trusted at all, I think it's fantastic. A large majority of Republicans supporting Palin means she can get the party's nomination. A large majority of independents and Democrats opposing her means she's unelectable in the general. Not exactly a formula for electoral success.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:51:55 -0800

Icelandic DNA database project

By: freshundz

freshundz — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:27:46 -0800

So, the basic point in #7 stands, that it's early to draw conclusions from this poll. But that has more to do with how much the attitudes of people change over years in ways that are difficult to predict, rather than some flaw in methodology of the poll. Yes and support for Palin is likely to solidify in the future if she runs a successful campaign (a campaign based on every day- down home americans, anti government, pro gun etc.) Of course, she's taking a hit for this, but its not like anyone ever liked for her actual abilities as Governor.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:13:03 -0800

Levi Johnstone: Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, says he believes the governor is resigning over personal finances. Johnston says he lived with the Palin family from early December to the second week in January. He claims he heard the governor several times say how nice it would be to take advantage of the lucrative deals that were being offered, including a reality show and a book. "I think the big deal was the book. That was millions of dollars," said Johnston, who has had a strained relationship with the family but now says things have improved. ............... Johnston came forward, Butler said, because Alaskans want to know why Palin has decided to resign. She made the announcement last Friday. Johnston also is pursuing his own book deal. He is working as a carpenter while also pursuing a movie deal.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:17:02 -0800

At least it's an orderly transition. Parnell soon becomes governor and needs a No. 2. When Palin announced she was leaving the job, she said she wanted the new lieutenant governor to be Military and Veteran Affairs Commissioner Craig Campbell. The problem is: Palin had already chosen someone else. In February, she selected Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt, who runs the state's prisons, as next in line for the lieutenant governor's job, and the Legislature confirmed him. Palin can choose Campbell instead, the Legislature's director of legal services, Tamara Cook, wrote in an opinion Tuesday. But Campbell can't take office until the state House and Senate vote to confirm him, too, she said. Lawmakers must now decide whether to meet in a special session to vote on Campbell for lieutenant governor. The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing July 20 -- six days before Parnell is sworn in -- though it takes both the House and Senate to confirm a candidate."The governor quit and went fishing," Judiciary Chair Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, said in a statement Wednesday. "Governor Palin failed to leave specific instructions, so the Legislature is stepping in to bring order to the constitutional chaos she created."

By: blueberry

blueberry — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:13:10 -0800

Alaska Reacts To Sarah Palin's Resignation – Fresh Air, July 7th, 2009

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:04:16 -0800

Okay, 1144 since my most recent comment, and I came into this thread late. This feels somehow historic, conceivably parthenogenetic. Sorry, somebody dared me to use that word. I don't know what it means. But this makes sense: That's why the strangest part of the Sarah Palin saga will always be her loathing of the media. She never failed to remind us that she didn't like being "filtered." She only wanted to talk directly to us, her listeners. Yet the reason Sarah Palin continues to have any kind of political force at all in this country is because of the media "filter." The media helped refine and define her Dada statements and arguments into something that briefly sounded like a coherent worldview. From a recent Slate posting.

By: like_neon

like_neon — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:16:53 -0800

Oh gawd, it's like she went in the kitchen proclaiming she's going to cook a fabulous Thanksgiving meal. Then she just left with a turkey in the microwave (still frozen) leaving a note that says, "I've ordered Chinese!" but when the guests answer the door there's a guy holding a cold pizza.

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:17:35 -0800

"I think the big deal was the book. That was millions of dollars," said Johnston, who has had a strained relationship with the family but now says things have improved. Or at least they had improved. It's a safe bet that Johnston's press conference re-strained his relationship with the former governor's family.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:07:09 -0800

Watch part of Levi's press conference and ask yourself which one seems less batshitinsane: Levi or Sarah?

By: lodurr

lodurr — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:10:34 -0800

leftcoastbob, "less" seems to imply that Levi's b.s.i. Which, given that performance, doesn't seem likely. (And if this is any indication of normal demeanor, he seems to have escaped the scourge of Wasilla, demon meth.) I think it's possible that Levi may not be that sharp a tack. But on the other hand, given that he's [supposedly] been doing trades work instead of banking on his PR ship to come in, maybe it's that the mechanics of being famous for being famous just aren't natural for him and he really didn't grok why he shouldn't give an answer to what seemed to be a legitimate question. I.e., maybe he's basically a normal person. If so, I feel sorry for him if he does end up in the celebrity racket. (And he'd better wear heated undies if Sarah's gonna be around when he shows up for visitation with the kid.)

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:28:03 -0800

I thought that Levi came across quite well--as you say, "normal". What kid his age and with his experience (or lack thereof) could do better? (And I mean that in a genuine, non-snarky way.)

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:56:09 -0800

Meanwhile, Palin's spokesperson blames all these ethics charges - the ones being launched by Republicans in the AK legislature - on Barack Obama, of course. And with that revelation, I hereby dub this thread The Sarah Failin' Pan Club.

By: jepler

jepler — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:57:32 -0800

I'm seeing stories abut a spreadsheet that says it substantiates the $2 million figure (it was in my local paper, but that link is just one from google news), but I can't find anything beyond sites republishing the AP report. Is this spreadsheet out there for the public to see? What explains the difference between the $300k figure mentioned by others above, and this $1.9M claim?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:50:31 -0800

The $2m figure is arrived at by counting up all the salaries, benefits, overhead, etc. of the state government staff (especially attorneys) that were involved in processing these ethics violation claims. The problem with that kind of accounting is that those salaries, etc., would have been paid regardless of whether the claims were filed. These folks are on staff explicitly to deal with these kinds of things, so their salaries are sunk costs. For Palin and her ilk to say that the money was taken away from cops, teachers, etc. is therefore not only misleading, but a bald-faced lie. If anything, the real cost was that these attorneys, etc., were not able to spend their time working on other legal issues. But you know, when you're the Governor and you actually violate ethics laws repeatedly, you can hardly blame the resulting investigation costs on the folks who filed the claims against you. If you do, well, then, so much for that whole "personal responsibility" myth.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:33:09 -0800

After watching Sarah think for the past three years, my view it is that her big decision to quit was the logical result of several smaller decisions. Like a Slinky flopping methodically down a flight of stairs, each of those decisions flowed one after the other from Sarah's realization at the conclusion of the 2008 presidential campaign that she had transcended politics. That thanks to media like People Magazine and the National Enquirer, she now is playing way above the rim with cultural icons like Paris Hilton and the recently deceased Michael Jackson, rather than below it with common vote-grubbing politicians like Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. After watching the Friday news conference, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson said that he thought Sarah "seemed more like a spoiled celebrity than a serious public official." What Gerson got wrong is that Sarah is a spoiled celebrity.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:52:37 -0800

What explains the difference between the $300k figure mentioned by others above, and this $1.9M claim? posted by jepler Apparently there have been a few discrepancies: The administrative director in the governor’s office, Linda Perez, conceded that some costs were counted twice and said “the total cost is overstated by $26,849.” ...a line item that says 0.3 attorney hours added up to $10,063 in costs. That would add up to an attorney billing of over $30,000 an hour, and Perez said the flat billing rate the state uses for its attorneys is $121.98 an hour. ...the initial costs for the governor's office through March 24 added up to $315,268 for 4,488 staff hours for 49 employees. That equals $70 an hour at 90 hours average work for those employees. She said the updated cost adds $110,281 through June 23, representing 1,285 additional staff hours spent by 29 employees. That's an average rate of $86 an hour. (those figures don’t reflect just the salary they get, but also their benefits and other costs the stay pays to employ them.)

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:01:25 -0800

At least some bat-sit insane claims can be disproved with DNA and showing live sample sources. Got this one in the email - a fine job of myth telling. "At a tragic point, not yet disclosed, little Trig died at the Palin’s home in Wasilla, Alaska (advanced Mongoloids do not live very long lives) and after some consultation with political advisors, who viewed the baby as a political asset, was privately buried in the back yard of the Governor’s home. This tragedy was increased when the neighbor’s Rottweiler, Guenther, apparently dug up the baby’s remains and when neighbors saw the dog running down the street with its dreadful prize clamped in its jaws, law enforcement and animal control people were called." (Ok, then what's been photoshopped? The FAO Schwartz baby.) " Therefore, what the public sees pushed against Palin family members at political rallies, is a very lifelike doll which, like the original Trig, never makes a movement or issues a cry." Amazing claims - no wonder she's looking to sue.

By: spalin

spalin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:53:30 -0800

tl;dr

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:03:39 -0800

rough_ashlar: So, since it's hard to tell on MeFi sometimes, I'll bite and ask you, thus potentially exposing myself to ridicule for being too self-serious: You do realise that was satire, right? And you're using it to make a dry, satirical comment about the bizarreness of Palin's litigious aggressiveness? (If that rumor's not satire, I'm not sure I want to know.) I think my spell-checker is stuck on British English....

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:08:40 -0800

"At a tragic point, not yet disclosed, little Trig died at the Palin’s home in Wasilla, Alaska (advanced Mongoloids do not live very long lives) and after some consultation with political advisors, who viewed the baby as a political asset, was privately buried in the back yard of the Governor’s home. This tragedy was increased when the neighbor’s Rottweiler, Guenther, apparently dug up the baby’s remains and when neighbors saw the dog running down the street with its dreadful prize clamped in its jaws, law enforcement and animal control people were called." Huh. I wonder if Palin thinks Richard Gere should sue over the gerbil legend. But then again, Gere is a known liberal, so Palin probably thinks the story is true.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:24:52 -0800

Palin Hints At Plans To Split Republican Party

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:36:13 -0800

Republican Nader! Woo-hoo!

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:37:14 -0800

take this nation back from the liberals which now control both parties. SAY WHAT NOW

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:44:25 -0800

Libruls, son, can't you read? They're taking over country, destroying our time honored traditions. You gotta protect your family, protect your wife!

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:47:38 -0800

Can... can somebody explain to me how a pro-choice lesbian becomes a Palin fanatic? Seriously, something in my brain just short-circuited.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:00:53 -0800

I think it is the duty of every true American to support Palin in her endeavour to split the Republican party. It will allow the Republicans to shed themselves of the cancerous 20% of the population that is hellbent on destroying the US through ignorance, stupidity, greed, and malice. This will then allow the Republicans to reclaim the right, the Democrats to return to center, and the country to ... well, frankly, from what I've seen in recent discussions on healthcare, social rights, and taxation, there's not a hope in hell that American citizens are going to realize that "screw you, I've got mine" is going to destroy the nation. But maybe it'll be enough to delay the inevitable for a few more decades.

By: vibrotronica

vibrotronica — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:21:02 -0800

The more parties the merrier, I say!

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:28:28 -0800

McCain Offers Full-Throated Defense Of Palin: ‘She Would Make A Fine President’.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:29:40 -0800

Palin to Stump for Conservative Democrats.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:02:41 -0800

The print is missing the emphasis. What he really said is ‘She Would Make A _Fine_ President’.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:19:41 -0800

‘She Would Make A _Fine_ President’. Did he make the "hourglass" hand gesture while he said it and then purse his lips?

By: Rumple

Rumple — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:33:11 -0800

Long NY Times piece on the Palin resignation. Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey’s producer called with interview requests. She fielded lucrative book deals, ultimately accepting one estimated to be in the millions of dollars. A veteran television producer proposed a “West Wing” meets “Northern Exposure” reality show about her. Out-of-state political trips were flashbacks to the presidential campaign. Crowds chanted, “Run, Sarah, Run!” In January, Fred V. Malek, a longtime Republican kingmaker, held a dinner to introduce Ms. Palin to some of the party’s biggest names, prompted partly by what he saw as shabby treatment by the McCain campaign. Mr. Malek said she charmed former Vice President Dick Cheney at the dinner and bonded with Mr. Cheney’s daughter Liz over both raising five children. Heh, I am sure Cheney was "charmed" in the same way that a lizard is "charmed" by a buzzing fly. More like clinical appraisal of how This Female can serve the Dark Side of The Force.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:52:45 -0800

I was pondering something. How long are the days in Alaska? If Palin is affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder, even a mild version, she could be really high right now. It might also be pretty hard to sleep. Both would affect judgement. That could be why she was on fire during the campaign - she got a lot more sun than she was used to. Sure she had a tanning bed, but it's just not the same. Depending on how long she has to keep up this pace, or hole up in AK during the winter to write the book, I wonder if she won't really flake out in the depths of winter, say February. Not wishing for it, really. I've experienced it myself, though in a much milder form. I just wouldn't want that to get lost in the ZOMG LOLCRAZYLADEE talk.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:18:53 -0800

How long are the days in Alaska? I had lunch this afternoon with a friend who just came back from a visit with his Dad in Alaska. He was talking about the "long days' this time of year. Today, for example, saw sunrise (in Anchorage) at 4:45 AM (AKDT) with sunset scheduled later tonight at 11:23 PM (SKDT).

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:36:27 -0800

*(AKDT)*

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:28:48 -0800

So Palin is so wacked out, she now thinks Boehner, Kyl, McConnell, Inhofe and Coburn are "liberals"? Wow.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:36:37 -0800

So Palin is so wacked out, she now thinks Boehner, Kyl, McConnell, Inhofe and Coburn are "liberals"? I hate liberals too

By: readery

readery — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:16:40 -0800

So Palin is so wacked out, she now thinks Boehner, Kyl, McConnell, Inhofe and Coburn are "liberals"? Wow. No, that crap was from a supposedly prochoice/lesbian/conservative blogger named Tammy Bruce as quoted by Crooks and Liars. Very tangential. And Tammy Bruce seems to be attempting to make a name for herself by saying outlandish things while being a sexy lesbian. meh.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:55:10 -0800

If Republican candidates aren't responding to Palin's offers to help, what in the world makes her think that the Democrats--conservative or otherwise--would appreciate her ~~kiss of death~~ help?

By: ericb

ericb — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:07:04 -0800

New York Times: Missteps, ignored advice on Palin’s route to exit -- "Seemingly relentless string of professional, personal woes led to decision."

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:46:38 -0800

Relentless is the perfect adjective for describing Palin.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:49:25 -0800

The MSNBC/NYT post ericb posted is comprehensive, folks, with a lot of details we haven't previously been privy to.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:54:11 -0800

Daily Beast, today, on how much $$ it's going to cost Alaska to deal with her resignation. Apparently she appointed someone to fill the Lieutenant Governor's job, when the Legislature had already designated someone.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:14:51 -0800

Actually, Sarah Palin had already designated someone back in February, whom the Legislature confirmed. At her resignation speech is when everyone found out she's had designated someone else, a long time supporter of hers, so there's legal questions how to resolved the issue of who is going to be the new Lt. Governor.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:26:25 -0800

What a friggen cowboy-act. Jesus. It's not even that she doesn't remember that (though considering that she must have had to take several steps over a period of time to make the new appointment, that's pretty bad), it's that if she has competent staff who are allowed to do their job, they would remind her of it. Which means that she either: a) doesn't have competent staff, b) doesn't listen to her staff, c) a little (or a lot) of both.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:32:42 -0800

Or a culture of fear where no one is going to point out that an idea o hers is dumb.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:39:58 -0800

yeh, that's what I see as 'c', but you're clearer in stating it.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:45:32 -0800

... it reminds me of a job interview I went on years ago, where as I waited in the lobby the boss (a woman named Maria) reamed out a couple of guys who worked for her, closing with "Everybody in this office seems to think they know more than Maria." Or of someone I used to work for who loved catching subordinates in errors and loved even more publicly humiliating them for said errors. We supported a bunch of facilities planners (who for food-chain reasons never caught her direct wrath), and she would often spot-check things we prepared for them so she could catch these problems. The planners found subtle ways to ensure that she couldn't intercept the documents, so as to avoid the drama. She was once given a riding crop as a christmas gift by her staff. She displayed it proudly and un-ironically on her wall. Her peers in other university offices found that absolutely hilarious.

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:53:12 -0800

Hmm, late March is when the RNC offered help? How long is they day then?

By: ericb

ericb — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:49:02 -0800

Hendrik Hertzberg on Palin in the current issue of The New Yorker.

By: pointilist

pointilist — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:59:46 -0800

Personally i don't think she wrote The 'Tax and Cap' Dead End but it has her name on it.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:19:00 -0800

Personally i don't think she wrote The 'Tax and Cap' Dead End but it has her name on it. Oh I completely do, the writer has no idea what supply side economics is. Why bother getting something ghostwritten if the person you use is illiterate in the chosen subject?

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:50:15 -0800

Why? Well, maybe because you're Sarah Palin and you're of the school that thinks that sounding truthy is much more important than being accurate. (Or honest.) So you hire a ghostwriter who believes the same shit.

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:04:44 -0800

(Really, though, I do think she believes at some level that truthiness is reality.)

By: lodurr

lodurr — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:07:03 -0800

(... and, please: Sarah Palin would never use the term "chattering classes" without prompting.)

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:55:23 -0800

Interesting info on the "frivolous complaints" against SP and how they could possibly cost the State of Alaska 2 million dollars.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:56:36 -0800

Another great reason for the native tribes to really hate Palin was her flipflop on the Pebble Mine, supporting a copper/gold mine which would produce entire lakes full of toxic tailings, threatening heavy metal poisoning of the world's largest salmon run in the event of a leak / major earthquake. Of course, the native tribes rely the most on those salmon runs. Killing the salmon could literally kill people, and most certainly could help kill their culture, their land, and their independence. Although it is against the law in Alaska for a Governor to take sides on a ballot measure, Sarah Palin did so anyway, just days before the election, helping defeat legislation that would've mandated safety standards on the mine, due to the extreme consequences should it pollute the environment.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:16:19 -0800

Sarah Palin's resignation song.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:35:03 -0800

Another ethics complaint--the gift that keeps on giving. Apparently in Alaska, they have this silly rule about gifts--they must be claimed as gifts withinin 30 days of receipt. Sarah has gifts from 2008 that haven't been claimed yet. They haven't been claimed yet, show says, because she hasn't gotten around to opening them yet. They haven't been "received" until the day that she opens them; not on the day that UPS delivers them to her door. Can you imagine the thank-you note to Aunt Millie--and Millie's reaction--if we all used this reasoning? Dear Aunt Millie--Thank you for the onsies you sent for the birth of our son, Truk. We received them shortly after he was born and have just opened them in time for his high school graduation. He really likes the color and plans to sell them as antiques on ebay. Sarah's mama didn't raise her very well.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:34:13 -0800

Sarah Palin's resignation speech as edited by Vanity Fair's editor.

By: box

box — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:47:35 -0800

As posted yesterday.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:15:29 -0800

Ethics problems?

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:22:55 -0800

Thanks, box. I somehow missed that post.

By: jepler

jepler — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:25:13 -0800

is the discussion of quittin' day taking place somewhere else? In our local newspaper (nebraska, not alaska), the headline was something like 'palin: "absolutely no plan"'. I had no idea that the full quote, by someone who is ostensibly a Palin supporter ("a spokeswoman for the committee and the Palin family."), was even worse:

"I cannot express enough there is no plan after July 26. There is absolutely no plan," she told The Associated Press. "The decision (to quit) was made in the vacuum of what was best for Alaska, and now I'm accepting all the options, but there is nothing planned."

good riddance.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:34:22 -0800

Oh, she has a plan, all right. It's just not one she'd care to admit to in the public sphere. Basically, it boils down to getting the hell out of Dodge and focusing on cashing in on her 15 minutes of fame. I.e., get to work raking in the millions of dollars in speaking fees and her book deal. That's the plan. And, from a purely materialistic, selfish point of view, I can't blame her for making the decision. One way or another she realizes it will be better for everyone for her not to be Governor and instead work on lining her pockets. It's win-win for everyone.