According to the LA Times, the FBI says Sarah is not under active investigation. Which means she isn’t a crook, she’s just criminally stupid for quitting her four year governorship two years in because she wants to avoid being a lame duck, even though she could run again.
Also, this is awesome by even Palin’s standards:
Palin, who has not had a public schedule for the July 4th holiday, posted a message on her Facebook page just before 5 O’clock Eastern describing news accounts of her announcement yesterday as “predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the ‘politics of personal destruction.’”
“How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country,” Palin wrote. “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.”
But asked exactly what stories the governor was criticizing, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said Palin wasn’t referring to any specific news or TV account but rather the speculation and questions about what may have been her motivation for resigning.
Apparently no one explained to the Wasilla wingnut that the idea behind a press conference was gaining, you know- press attention. I eagerly await the next right-wing blogger talking about the left and victimhood.
And finally, from the gift that keeps on giving:
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. 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. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously Page 4 of 4 holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1. These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.
If politicians start suing for erroneous claims and winning, Mr. Barack “birth certificate not a real american pals around with terrorists” Obama might just win the lottery, in the form of a hundred thousand double-wide trailers and semi-used pick-up trucks.
And as much as I hate to say this, MoDo is pitch perfect:
What looked like a secret wedding turned out to be a public unraveling as the G.O.P. implosion continued: Sarah wanted everyone to know that she’s not having fun and people are being mean to her and she doesn’t feel like finishing her first term as governor.
***Naturally, she dragged the troops in, saying that her trip to see wounded soldiers overseas “fortified” her decision to give up because “they don’t give up.”
She refuses to succumb to the “politics of personal destruction.” It’s no fun unless she’s the one aiming those poison darts, as she did when she accused Barack Obama of associating “with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
Sometimes, she explained, if you’re the star, you have to “call an audible and pass the ball” and leave at halftime, “so the team can win” somehow without you.
The maverick must run free when greener pastures beckon. The musher must jump out of the dogsled when warmer climes call. As Palin’s spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, says, “The world is literally her oyster.”
But just remember, beloved Alaska, it’s all about you.
Pretty much.
Also, Ken Layne:
So, after crazily quitting her elected position as governor of Alaska, via an alarming backyard last-minute press conference void of any explanation , at the classic 4 p.m. hour of the Friday-Holiday news dump, Sarah Palin is now twatting on the twitter about how her Anchorage attorneys are going to SUE THE AMERICAN MEDIA, for saying “WTF?”
Honestly, this is what Sarah Palin twatted on Saturday Night, July 4th, Independence Day, in America.
Her link goes to (of course) Scientologist nut and sub-literate weirdo Greta Van Susteren’s blog on FoxNews.com, where Greta has helpfully (?) posted seven pages of legal threats from Palin’s lawyers, although you can’t actually read beyond the first vague page of whining bullshit, because Greta/Fox can’t figure out how to operate the Internet.
But, from other websites, we gather Palin’s lawyers plan lawsuits against MSNBC, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, individual bloggers in Alaska, and other such anti-Palin forces such as “rain on your wedding day” and static cling.
Certifiable.
A Mom Anon
OK so the FBI isn’t investigating her. That doesn’t mean the state of Alaska or DOJ or any other law enforcement agency isn’t.
Legal messes aside,the bloggers being mean to poor widdle her is bullshit. There’s a real reason out there somewhere.
Max
I am so full up on Palin coverage, that I’m praying for news on Michael Jackson.
SGEW
This is all Wonkette’s fault.
Mudge
Apparently Palin is making victimhood (and higher callings) a cornerstone of her brand of Republicanism. Whether it is unspecified media attacks or suing bloggers (oh the power!) for mentioning possibilities. It is the origin of the thin-skinned, “elect me because all those meanies said bad things about me” plank.
Also, I am tempted to start a blog called “PalinEnergy IndependenceNationalSecurity” to just document how often she emptily throws those phrases around.
Where will I find the disk space?
Bob In Pacifica
If Palin wants to go to court to sue someone about the rumors about her home being built by the same folks who built the Wasilla sports center, she’ll have some serious legal troubles getting standing and will open herself up to all sorts of investigations, if not federal.
As a public figure there’s a pretty high hurdle for defamation of character. For ex, has anyone in government ever looked into the matter? And let’s face it, there was no lawsuit over Larry Flynt’s “Nailin’ Palin” so suing a blogger because she claims someone was investigating her is pretty mild by comparison.
I’m also curious why someone in the FBI in LA would be on top of all federal investigations in Alaska.
calipygian
How are those entities subject to the requirements of the Alaskan constitution? Last time I checked, its not the Anchorage Times or the Wasillia Post.
Sound like wild ass flailing to me.
Nicole
It’s got to be a legal problem. Doing this just makes the 2012 commericials even easier than they would have been-
“If she couldn’t handle four years as governor, how will she handle four years as President?”
“If she couldn’t handle the pressure of the media, how will she handle the pressure of the world?”
Maybe she needs to be a FOX commenter and make more $$ for her legal bills or something?
gbear
Phil Nugent posted this at No More Mr. Nice Blog a couple days ago and it seems to have hit the nail on the head regarding the divine Ms. P’s motivations:
edit: damn, I tried to un-bold that, but it didn’t work
someguy
I suspect she’s just quitting being governor so she can concentrate on being a publicity whore.
DougJ
I can honestly say that this would all scare me less if it was caused by an investigation. Politicians resign for that reason all the time. But resigning to get a gig on Fox News to gear up for 2012? That scares me.
gizmo
If Miss Wassila can’t stand something as mild as media exposure, how could she stare down the Russians in a nuclear confrontation?
She’s a quitter….
Death By Mosquito Truck
Ha! Good one.
gbear
I LOLed.
JK
Palin’s problem is that she has too many lunatics inside her head. She has a serious case of Brain Damage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmBiORtHqTs
b-psycho
Speculation. It’s what happens when you do something with no coherent explanation. Sometimes it leads to revealing one (i.e.: Sanford’s disappearance. People were thinking affair before he admitted it), sometimes it doesn’t.
If you’re a public figure, avoiding speculation means having to be able to immediately explain anything you do. Palin has two choices if she insists on being thin-skinned about speculation:
A) Explain herself, this time like a human being.
B) Shut up & move to Obscurityville.
beltane
Sarah Palin makes Michele Bachmann look staid and level-headed in comparison. At least Bachmann shows up for work, has won reelection, and seems totally unbothered by all the “mean” things we say about her. Palin might be an uber-wingnut, but mostly she is just a fraud. She is kind of like the George Costanza of politics.
FlipYrWhig
Yeah, um, see, Sarah, here’s the thing. You haven’t said what the “higher calling” IS. Usually that’s pretty much the key bit of the Good Resignation press conference. Not basketball metaphors and moebius logic about how staying is what quitters do and quitting is what winners do.
Xenos
What if she is going to Fox? She will want her own show, no doubt following Glen Beck’s performances for a weird 120 minutes of sentimental occulted-Bircher nonsense four days per week.
Could you imagine the agony of being a producer for that woman? I could see her going up against Rachel Maddow, and Maddow would lose viewers who could just not miss the disaster that would be Palin on prime time.
b-psycho
@Xenos: Though I know it’ll never happen because the True Believer types avoid her show like the plague, I’d love it if Palin were a guest for Rachel.
Hell, I think Rachel should do a week-long special where she just interviews a different wingnut every night. After the mess of ridiculous quotes that came out of that, the GOP would be down to recruiting from local school boards.
Screamin' Demon
Yeah, well, good luck with that. Might want to read New York Times v. Sullivan first.
opium4themasses
@Mudge: So close Mudge.
It should be Palin Energy National Independence Security. Not that it makes any more sense, but the acronym appeals to my inner sixth-grader.
JK
I’m hoping that enough of Bachmann’s constituents wake the fuck up on election day and vote her crazy dumb ass out of office. You’re correct up to a point, in that Bachmann can withstand the heat, but her channeling of Joe McCarthy on Hardball and her other delusional remarks make her every damn bit as despicable as Palin.
Cat Lady
Sarah Palin FAIL.
World Wide Web foils grifter schemes.
Now what? Crazy time!
Jean
Why couldn’t she just say what she planned to do (after she presumably thought about it for a few hours before resigning)? Then people would criticize or not criticize, but they would know WHY she was resigning. Crazy isn’t enough explanation for me. There’s something. Not all bad news is about indictments.
SGEW
From soon-to-be-ex-Governor Palin’s Facebook message (emphasis added):
A challenge for our commentariat: name one. I really can’t think of any. [N.B.: Not including people who left their offices after having won their respective elections for the new position!].
unabogie
@DougJ:
Meh.
Fox News would only be doing what MSNBC does all the time: pimp the Democratic nominee for years and let him have unlimited airtime, softball questions, and a stable of apologists defending her every move leading up to the election, just like they did with Obama.
What?
No one but Fox News does this?
Obama didn’t get years of airtime on friendly shows to take unchallenged potshots at the other party?
Er…nevermind.
Demo Woman
Sarah likes campaigning, not governing. Governing is hard work.
sheiler
Is claiming that a woman’s ‘twatting’ as offensive as calling someone a ‘nutjob’ or ‘nut bag’?
gbear
But she doesn’t do anything to help her district. There are a bunch of necessary and worthwhile projects that her constituents want and could be realized with some federal funding, but because of her stand against earmarks and her thirst for national attention, she’s let them all slide.
Bachmann isn’t any better for her district than Palin is for the state of AK. They’ve both become raging media whores.
Jean
@SGEW: That’s what I asked yesterday. Name someone who resigned without explanation or who resigned “for a higher calling” without having won an election. I know of people who resign their state house or senate seat to run for election to another position, but they actually SAY that’s what they’re doing.
AnneW
@SGEW:
Does Bob Dole count? He resigned in 1996 to concentrate on his presidential campaign. (Maybe Palin needs a really long period of time in which to concentrate.)
John Hamilton Farr
This is so glaringly narcissistic, paranoid, manipulative, etc. That anyone would think this a valid reason for anything other than sucking one’s thumb in a corner is the kicker: she is obviously mentally ill, and I don’t mean that in a joking way. If we as a society don’t call her out on this, America = fail. It’s as simple as that.
Dulcie
@SGEW: This was Sarah’s way of taking a dig at Obama. She’s so dumb, she can’t even do that right.
SGEW
TBogg brings the righteous funny (Via Wolcott):
linky
ThymeZoneThe Plumber
BJ should go on a two year binge of praising Palin and urging her to be the hope of the GOP. Her run for president in 2012 would be awesomey.
Rosali
@SGEW: Florida has a resign to run law and I’m sure other states have something similar. It’s not designed to enable whatever stunt Palin is pulling now but, technically, she could be relying on these types of FL candidates to support her assertion that people quit all the time.
Here’s an explanation of Florida’s law:
Florida’s Resign-to-Run Law is said to serve two purposes: To prevent an officeholder from using the power and prestige of one office to seek another and to spare the taxpayer the expense of having to finance a special election when an incumbent officeholder is elected to another office and is, therefore, compelled to resign from the one he or she currently holds.
KG
You know, if she would have just gone back to being governor of Alaska, rather than spending every other week in the lower 48, people probably would have let her be. But she continued to seek out national attention. That’s pretty much unlike any other recent Veep runner up that I can think of. Lieberman went back to his job, Edwards went back to the farm, Kemp went into obscurity, I’m not even sure Quayle is still alive.
This is a repeated pattern with Palin: she gets herself (or someone close to her) into all kinds of trouble, and then blames the media for making her job too difficult. Well, first, Mrs. Palin, you’re a politician, it’s the media’s job to make your job difficult. Second, stop being stupid.
Mike in NC
Modern Republicanism is by definition all about victimhood: grievances against foreigners, minorities, non-Evangelicals, liberals, poor people, and all those others who aren’t Real Americans.
No doubt BFFs Sarah and Greta dreamed up a FOX hosting gig over a steaming cup of moose stew while enjoying the view of the lake from Palin’s modest little cottage.
gbear
@ThymeZoneThe Plumber: no
SGEW
@AnneW: Bob Dole resigned after he had won the Republican nomination in the primaries.
@Dulcie: Yeah, I figgered. But seriously; can anyone think of anyone who “honorably” (read: “not in disgrace”) resigned their governmental position without having a new position lined up?
feebog
Perhaps a new Fox reality show could be developed; featuring crazy Republican women and ex-politcos. They could all be dumped on an island somewhere in the Pacific, and the loser each week could be thrown in a shark tank. Poor sharks…
Demo Woman
If Sarah can better serve AlaskA by stepping down, she must be a terrible governor.
Keith
*This* is exactly why Steve Schmidt told her to ignore stuff like this. She takes the bait hooklinesinker when left to her own devices and blows up stories that would have otherwise faded on the 25th hour of the 24 hour news cycle (i.e. Wasilla Sports Complex)
EDIT: Furthermore, if she thinks the media and bloggers are being rough on her, she’s in for a rude awakening if she thinks everything will be peachy when she has to stand on a stage debating Romney et al…her primary opponents will be unrelenting ESPECIALLY since they know she can’t resist taking said bait.
Cat G
@SGEW: Uh…maybe William Weld, a governor of Massachusetts who resigned claiming he wanted to be ambassador to somewhere…uh…Mexico? He wasn’t confirmed…anybody remember him? Other than him, I can’t think of any other example. That Wonkette piece is a keeper.
R. Porrofatto
As others have asked, so what’s the “higher calling?” A gig at Fox? On-camera stand-up in a major market? Alaskan independence? Sainthood? A even bigger spree at Neiman Marcus?
Let’s feed the questions to Billy Kristol. Billy will eat anything.
CynDee
@ beltane: That’s unfair to George. More like the soup Nazi.
jaime
Literally? Sheesh. Her “spokeswoman” is apparently as much of an idiot as Palin, also.
SFAW
Wrong!
Everybody knows what Alaska is, but until Michele hit prime time, who (outside of her constituents and Senator Franken) knew that Minnesota had a 6th Congressional District?
B.B. (before Bachmann), that knowledge was in the same general category as the GDP of Moldova and the name of Buster Keaton’s wife.
So she has done something for the district.
Bill (not BOB)
”
“,
BJ and Hitlery Klynton would really clean up if this were the case. Just off the top of my head-
1. Murdered Vince Foster (or ordered it) and orchestrated cover-up
2. Involved somehow in untimely deaths of dozens of other people somehow connected to them.
3. Serial rapist.
4. used state troopers to procure women, bibe or threaten them to keep them quiet (troopergate)
5. Sold all of our nuke secrets to commie Chinese for a $30000 campaign contribution.
6. Kidnapped/ killed Kathleen Willy’s cat as a warning not to cooperate w/ Starr investigation.
7. Roughed-up/ assaulted reporters in Little Rock who pried to deeply
8. Cut off some poor innocent guy’s nuts in Arkansas, kept them in a jar.
9. Trashed the WH when they left
10. Stole truck loads of valuble historical items from WH
11. Created an Enemy List containing names of over 800 prominent Repubs who they were going to “get”. (filegate)
12. Stripped all valubles from Air Force One, left an unflyable hulk
13. Indictments are just around the corner
14. & etc.
The period from 1998- 2000 was the Mt. Everst of peak wingnut. Palin hasn’t endured aything remotely like the smear jobs that Clinton and Gore were put through.
SGEW
@Cat G: So close! But, from wikipedia (emphasis added): “Weld resigned the governorship after being nominated United States Ambassador to Mexico by President Bill Clinton.” So he did have a position lined up, even though “[h]e was never confirmed by the United States Senate, however, and hence never served as Ambassador” (because Jesse Helms was an asshole). Good memory, tho’! Any other contenders? Or is Gov. Weld as close as we can get (and hardly constitutes “countless others”)?
hal
What Greta Van Susteren and Bill Kristol have been doing in regards to Palin over the past few months strikes me as monstrously unethical. The force of that conflict of interest should have formed a black hole to suck that whole circus into some parallel universe.
calipygian
((Tin Foil Hat On)) If she’s being called for “a higher purpose” and for the good of the country, has anyone seen General James Mattoon Scott and “Seven Days in May”? ((//Tin Foil Hat Off))
ksmiami
As I said earlier this year, the GOP really does represent the infinite level of SUCK
gnomedad
What the hell happened to tort reform?
SGEW
@SFAW: Trick questions! P.P.P. or nominal? And Buster Keaton was married three times.
JK
Greta Van Susteren is pulling out all the stops and challenging Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck in an effort to become the undisputed biggest asshole on Fox News Channel.
ThymeZoneThe Plumber
Not so fast, we are going to mussel up on her. We are not a bunch of shrimp. We are crabby, and we are not as happy as clams.
a1
Great comment about Obama winning the trailer park lottery, but this point is just ridiculous:
ARGH! Why do people persist in believing this?! It’s beyond flabbergasting. Look, NO ONE WILLINGLY GIVES UP THEIR POWER PREMATURELY That goes double for politicians, and quadruple for a person nicknamed “Barracuda” who wanted to share the podium during McCain’s concession speech. Maybe you could try listing the times someone’s voluntarily quit office in US history without a scandal involved, and if you can’t get to, say, three other examples, you might want to hold off in treating their “reason” seriously.
And all that’s besides the fact they dropped this news on the Friday afternoon before the 4th. And that there’s a Twitter posting showing Palin wasn’t considering resigning earlier that day. Come on, people! Sarah Palin didn’t jump – she was pushed.
malraux
By far the best Palin reaction is from slactivist.
Regarding under investigation, would the FBI differentiate between we are investigating the matter vs Palin herself is under investigation? If the investigation is preliminary, there might not be enough evidence to specifically target Palin, while the Feds could still be looking into the case.
SGEW
@a1: Washington and his role model Cincinnatus? Of course, the counter-argument is that it wasn’t “premature” for them at all – rather, their retirements were perfectly timed – and that they relinquished their power after very long, very exhausting (mentally and physically), and very successful careers.
And no, I am most certainly not favorably comparing Sarah Palin to George Washington. (cf.)
Beeb
@SGEW: Frank Brogan, Lt. Governor of Florida, was reelected in 2002 and resigned in 2003 to become President of Florida Atlantic University. I’m not sure it counts since no one noticed he was gone, though.
J
Is talk of ‘”twatting’ on the twitter’ a bad joke–if so even Sarah Palin doesn’t deserve this kind of nastiness.
SiubhanDuinne
@ ThymeZone The Plumber / 56
Prawn my word, that’s a very shellfish thing to say.
b-psycho
@J: I think it’s a Colbert reference. During an interview, he was asked if he used Twitter and he said “I have twatted”.
jrg
Palin seems nuts to me, more so than usual. It still appears as if she was pushed, she did not jump (as others have stated).
That said, does anyone remember when it was suspected that the Bush White House (Rove, maybe?), released anonymous, incorrect information to smear bloggers? I remember it happening, but I don’t remember what rumors were involved.
Could something like that be happening now? Barbie might still be concerned about an indictment. The two (anonymous ratfucking to smear the media and a legitimate reason for Palin to be on the run) are not mutually exclusive.
LanceThruster
Can Palin be sued for regularly making baby Jesus cry?
shoutingattherain
@Cat Lady:
Palin maneuvers
I don’t think will work this time
Fork. Stick it in. Done.
Bonus okra Haiku:
slimy pods of goo
not only in new orleans
make for a good soup
SGEW
Good Lord (choke)! From twitter feed AKGoVSarahPalin (via TPM) (emphasis added):
Correct me if I’m wrong:
Governor of Alaska’s term: 4 years.
Sarah Palin assumed office: Dec. 4th, 2006
End of term: Dec. 4th, 2010
Announced resignation date: July 26th, 2009
Time between resignation date and end of term: @16 months
Traditional amount of months in a year: 12
Right?
[Also noteworthy: no mention of resignation in tweet!]
Jay S
It seems like Sarah is shooting for just the right mix of Ross Perot’s quirky unpredictability with Lyndon LaRouche’s inscrutability.
skippy
palin 2012!
someone else 2014!
Cat Lady
@shoutingattherain:
Fun with words!
grumpy realist
And now sending out her pet lawyer to make faces at everyone in the news business/bloggers about the house story….um, WTF?
Uh, Sarah, just a little piece of advice here, dearie. First of all, get a better lawyer, or at least listen to him carefully when he tells you the definition of “public figure”, “burden of proof”, “defamation”, “malicious.” Oh, and just stepping down from public office doesn’t turn you from a “public figure” into a “private figure”, either, mmkay?
Second, if you haven’t given a good reason for your resigning (one that makes sense to reasonable people) and there are several rumors out there swirling around, the very LAST thing you want to do is go ballistic about any particular *one* of them. You have just convinced everyone that there really *is* gold hidden under that muck pile.
And if you’re whining about legal fees, even some of your supporters might want to stop ponying up contributions if you keep adding to the heap of debt.
Drive By Wisdom
Would it be possible for any of you nutjobs to step back and get a rabies shot? Since Sarah became a candidate, it has been non-stop season on “making shit up” with one scandal theory after another. You people are like Truthers, everytime one pet theory gets shot down, you just make up something even crazier – like imagining the FBI does not know what the DOJ is doing…
Saving this country from the quaqmire The One has created is going to take the energies of many Conservatives. Sarah understands this better than anyone, and it cannot be done in a Day.
I hope you enjoyed celebrating your last Dependence Day yesterday, because Sarah is going to be working hard to change that.
spudvol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzumTvyqhQ&feature=channel_page
Palin: Hillary Clinton shouldn’t whine about tough media coverage
AhabTRuler
@Drive By Wisdom: I give a 4 out of 10. Strong start with “more in sorrow than anger” tone, but you fell off a cliff after the first para. Thanks for playing!
a1
@SGEW:
In Washington’s case, one of his most significant achievements was to actually relinquish power upon finishing his term, when he could have become king of the fledgling country if he chose. Does anyone have any doubt at all what choice the Unblinking One would have made in such a situation?
And she’s still not mentioning resignation? Is she going to see her physically dragged out of the statehouse in a couple of weeks (“voluntarily”, of course)?
freelancer
@ Max:
A small part of me feels like this is the Universe righting itself after the absurdity starting last August, when one day, everybody got on Google and typed “Who the fuck is Sarah Palin?!” and then we saw her interviews, and we were scared shitless.
So Yeah…
Whatever bra, this is SO xmas in July.
FlipYrWhig
Not a great track record on that.
SGEW
Moar [I guess I’m catching up on my Palin fix today.]
Sully now breaks his silence on what he cannot speak (or something, I don’t know, ask Wittgenstein). He’s convinced she’s jumping suddenly because of a looming scandal (surprise!), but I’m becoming equally convinced, to tell the truth.
But! If Sully’s hypnotically obsessive “just asking!” ponderings about Gov. Palin’s womb are shown to be prescient by whatever upcoming scandal is going to drop, I think I’ll . . . I don’t know what I’d think. Cripes, I hope not. If there is a scandal, please let it be simple corruption, or drugs, or something distinctly gender-neutral and non-sexual.
(Added bonus from his post: the best “Play Them Off, Keyboard Cat” I’ve ever seen (Piper is teh sad!).)
Rosali
@SGEW:
Katherine Harris, resigned as FL Secretary of State to run for the US House in 2002. She was forced to resign because of the resign-to-run law. Google the term.
Also, Memphis mayor resigns to focus on run for Congress. The mayor was on his recordbreaking 5th term so he cannot be compared to Palin who was on her first term as Gov.
SiubhanDuinne
@ Drive By Wisdom: That “Dependence Day” is purest Limbaugh Dittohead talk.
dslak
@SiubhanDuinne: Given his painkiller addiction, isn’t every day “Dependence Day” for Limbaugh?
LD50
Don’t worry, I doubt you’ll ever have to say it again.
Calouste
Re mid-term resignation with nothing else lined up:
Tony Blair resigned mid way through his first term, but after 10 years as Prime Minister, 3 years as leader of the opposition, another 5 years in the shadow cabinet and 24 years in total as a Member of Parliament, it was most commonly viewed as retirement.
Oh. I found one. Karl Rove. Although not elected, he did leave his office before the end of the term with nothing else lined and without being pressured to resign. And we know that Rove, just like Palin, has the meath.
e.c.
True, but Palin has been the one caught “making shit up” time and time again.
So begone, before someone drops the truth on you too.
bago
Twat is simply the past tense of tweet.
LD50
I don’t recall Hillary Clinton threatening to sue when the GOP spent 10 years claiming she killed Vincent Foster, or when they insulted Chelsea’s appearance.
HC toughed out vastly worse abuse, for far longer, on mainstream news/talk radio outlets, and I don’t recall her giving a whiny press conference where she said she was going to quit her senate term because people were mean.
a1
@SGEW:
In Washington’s case, one of his most significant achievements was to actually relinquish power upon finishing his term, when he could have become king of the fledgling country if he chose. Does anyone have any doubt at all what choice the Unblinking One would have made in such a situation?
And she’s still not mentioning resignation? Are we going to see her physically dragged out of the statehouse in a couple of weeks (“voluntarily”, of course)?
@Drive By Wisdom:
In what respect, Charlie?
Bill E Pilgrim
I think it’s perfectly obvious, she’s quitting to run for Miss Teen South Carolina.
The word salad competition takes practice, she’s getting ready.
SGEW
@Beeb: Hrm. Getting closer. But, from from teh wiki, it seems pretty likely that he had th’ new job lined up before he actually left office. And I guess I can understand that being president of Florida Atlantic Univ. (salary $328,187+) might be a “higher calling” than being Jeb Bush’s Lt. Gov. (salary >$127,399).
Is that it? Or is Frank Brogan, a one-and-a-half-term Florida Lt. Gov., the last elected official who resigned from their office without having been appointed to a new, “higher” position (with caveats)?
[eta: Re: Rove – Not an elected official. Nix. Re: Blair: Brits don’t count, esp. as their parliamentary system effectively kicked him out.]
JK
@Drive By Wisdom:
When asked a question by an elementary school student about the duties of the vice president, Palin botched the answer. She doesn’t understand the Constitution.
No native english speaker could make any sense out of her resignation speech. She has yet to learn basic rules of grammar and syntax. Before you start promoting yourself as presidential material, you have to learn how to speak english so that voters can understand what the hell you’re talking about.
The only thing Sarah understands is that she was in way over her head. If she couldn’t cut it as governor of Alaska, how the hell would she survive as president of the United States?
Sarah is going to work hard to make as much money as she can before the media and the public lose interest in her. She’s a moron incapable of expressing a single coherent thought or idea. She’s a drama queen and a sniveling coward who doesn’t have the guts to withstand the mildest degree of press scrutiny.
When the going gets tough, Sarah Palin’s response is to run away with her tail between her legs and whine like a baby to her supporters that reporters and comedians are being so mean to her.
LD50
About time some wingnut charged in to defend their Damsel in Distress:
DBW, do you even know what the fuck this is supposed to mean, or did you think it just sounded real cool and threatening and stuff?
cyntax
@skippy:
FTW>
SiubhanDuinne
@ dslak / 80: True dat.
LD50
@SiubhanDuinne:
Wingnuts now talk in a code that no one else can understand. I’m sure this will improve their electability no end.
Mike G
“Did I mention that Obama pals around with terrorists?”
Maybe Palin just decided that governin’ is hard work and like, totally sooooo boooorrrrring, and she’d rather rake in wingnut welfare and bask in the unquestioning adoration of her inexplicable army of drooler-fans excited that they have a candidate who doesn’t make them feel stupid.
LD50
Should I tell my boss I can do my job better if I don’t show up?
Llelldorin
@Drive By Wisdom:
You know, given that there aren’t any elections between now and July 4, 2010, I’m trying to figure out exactly what your last sentence is all about. Is Palin going to overthrow the government of the United States, or simply kill us? (I suppose she could get away with ruining all the hot dogs or something so we couldn’t enjoy the day properly…)
LD50
@Llelldorin:
Perhaps it just means we’ll still have ‘Dependence Days’, but Sarah will make sure we don’t enjoy them.
Paul L.
I wonder who she plagiarized this time?
This is rich coming from the guys who thought Kerry should sue the swiftvets.
Llelldorin
@LD50
I realized that and was modifying my comment just as you commented.
I admit that until DBW’s post it hadn’t occurred to me that she might be resigning to become a Silver Age comic supervillain.
Indylib
Enjoy the snark from Jason Linkins via HuffPo
Love the snowbilly savior part.
PanAmerican
Clinton, Bush II and Obama were all 2 years into term when elected POTUS.
It allowed them to keep their campaign teams intact, the donor list answered their calls and they used incumbency to build alliances within their national party.
Fritz Mondale was the last non-office holder to win a nomination. That route is impossible in today’s money game. Incumbency was McCain’s biggest advantage in the GOP primary. The rest of the potentials were former somebodies.
LD50
Yeah, she’ll spend the next 3 years flying through the air, seeking out barbecues full of liberals, knocking over their grills and throwing dirt on their potato salad. And all us DFH’s will be weeping and wailing, “WHY DIDN’T WE LISTEN TO DRIVE BY WISDOM WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE?”
Splitting Image
How about Jon Huntsman?
He quit as governor of Utah almost immediately after being re-elected to become ambassador to China.
a1
From Sullivan:
I’ve been at a loss wondering about this, er, also. To my mind (and I’m surprised no one has brought this up yet), the one thing that would adequately explain Palin’s actions is that she had a secret abortion in her past, and now someone has the evidence of it. I mean, what’s the one thing the wingnuts cannot accept in a politician…the one thing they won’t rationalize away? Not drug abuse (hi Rush!). Not infidelity (hi Republican party). And what’s the one thing Sarah Palin values besides her ambitions? Having kids. She’s been so happily oblivious to all the other scandals surrounding her, that’s the only thing I can see which would make Sarah Palin desperately try to keep it secret.
dr. luba
@Xenos:
Most Rachel Maddow viewers are smart enough to work a Tivo. Unlike Pain viewers. And an hour would be too much to tolerate, even for entertainment value. Easier to catch the highlights on the intertubes.
Also.
SGEW
Magnifique! My home town rag brings the ultimate actual printed column in a major publication about Sarah Palin, by Bill “I Named the Blogosphere” Quick of DailyPundit “fame.”
In today’s New York Post (daily readership of 625,421 (though its Sunday circulation is half that, thankfully)):
“Run, Sarah, Run: Palin Says She Has a ‘Higher Calling’ — Here’s How She Should Go After It” My favorite sentence:
Really, it’s a work of art. It makes Jonah Goldberg look like a wide eyed truth-telling ingenue. Eat yer heart out, LATimes; th’ NYPost has the wingnut mojo.
John Cole
So she is going to stop mailing every resident of Alaska an oil royalty check?
Ron
@Max: Bah, with Palin there is a certain amount of schadenfreude that I don’t get from the Michael Jackson coverage.
disappointedGOPer
@Paul L.:
Still weak sauce there.
Gebghis
All of her threats to sue are going to backfire. She’ll have to be deposed, and what a day that will be – hopefully they’ll be videotaping.
It’s also interesting how “Liberals” are supposed to be afraid of her, at least according to the extra crunchy wingnuts. The only fear I’ve ever felt regarding her is realizing there are quite a few sheep willing to have her as their leader. Now that’s scary.
MoDo’s comments about narcissism are right on. I’m no doctor, but SarahQuitter seems to be a classic example. Any shrinks out there care to comment?
Fun reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism
Tsulagi
MoDo nails it.
The cut and runner resigned because governing was going to get hard. Previously insulated by oil revenues, Alaska has now joined the states with budget problems. Plus her approval ratings in the state have dropped into the lower 50s as they’ve gotten fed up with The Diva too.
Freed of governorship, she can now be full-time victim. Rake in money from her book deal and speaking fees. Maybe even pose and get licensing fees from a line of Wingnut Barbie dolls.
You just know she thinks she will be president. While Sanford may be the current reigning King of the ‘Nuts in narcissism, she makes him look like an ascetic monk. So for her this is a really smart move. Rake in money now with minimal effort then in 2012 or ’16 she will be chosen as the Pub nominee by acclamation.
For some comedy take a look at a post from a rhinestone wingnut, a really dim-bulb RS frontpager no doubt waking around in his Palin combat pumps: Why she’s resigning: A warrior must be mobile
Beeb
@SGEW 90: He didn’t resign until he had the job, but it wasn’t a political appointment. And anything would be a higher calling than carrying Jeb’s water. Anything at all.
spudvol
Palin’s might be the only bailout that actually helps the country.
debit
The only thing that frightened me about Palin in the past is that this country managed to elect W. Twice. Now I’m pretty sure only crazybase-land will ever pull a voting lever on her behalf. And then only if they manage to find a polling place that allows conceal and carry (for the celebratory gunshots in the air after voting, you know).
SGEW
@Splitting Image: Good point. There have been any number of governmental officials who resign from a post that seems “higher” than the one they accept instead (e.g., Governor to Ambassador). Arguably, being the official diplomatic go-between ‘twixt more than half the world’s wealth is higher than being the chief executive of Desert Planet Utah, but that’s neither here nor there.
So, to be clear: In the context of my question, any official, governmental nomination (e.g., Ambassadorships, Secretary posts, other Administration positions etc.), voids the candidate as an example. [I believe that it need not be said that soon-to-be-ex-Governor Palin is not expecting to be appointed to an Executive branch administrative post any time soon, to say the least.]
Here’s th’ updated question: “Who is the last elected official who resigned from their office without having been appointed or elected to a new official position (with caveats)?”
N.B.: We’ll avoid the “higher calling” question for now, as I don’t have the faintest idea what Gov. Palin was talking about there.
[eta: Jeb had water? And since Florida Atlantic University is public, I think that might disqualify Brogan.]
gwangung
Glad you’re not a lawyer; you’d lose every case through profound ignorance of the law.
Though, come to think of it, you and Palin are a match…
Rosali
@SGEW:
I answered you @ 36 and @ 80 but my reply was stuck in the intertubes.
smiley
@a1:
I’ve been thinking blackmail all along.
Mike in NC
Sarah Palin may not know much about anything, but she probably once saw this quote and took it to heart: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public”. She knows there’s only so much shelf life to her brand.
OriGuy
That “higher calling” sounds an awful lot like a dog whistle to me. Has anyone run her resignation speech through a Fundamentalist Filter to see what shakes out? I finally read it. The first part looks prepared; the second part looks train-of-thought, only the train went off the tracks.
SGEW
@Rosali: Teh Internets. They cn be sticky.
We have winners! I knew there were some out there. So we got:
The fifth term 69 year old Memphis mayor who’s running for Congress (giving him a lead time of @16 months) and . . . I love it . . . Katherine “Original Wingnut” Harris! Fantastic.
smiley
@OriGuy:
She also said (paraphrase): “This decision was made after much consideration, er, prayer and consideration…” She almost forgot to include the obligatory prayer reference.
JK
@SGEW:
I’ve got news for you. Palin doesn’t have the faintest idea either.
All she knows is that she wants the spotlight but not the scrutiny. She wants to give speeches to throngs of drooling idiots and give interviews to fawning dummies like Greta Van Susteren and Sean Hannity. She just doesn’t want to answer questions from the MSM (with the exception of Fox News).
JoJo
I ventured into Freeperville to check out the reaction.
Predictably, it was mostly “Poor Sarah, cruelly driven out of her job by the evil liebruls who have perfected their evil strategy of driving a poor, innocent conservative out of office by bankrupting her with legal bills for frivilous lawsuits.”
They also seem to believe that quitting her job is going to help her, because now she can devote her time to connecting with the ‘real americans’.
A few, saner, freepers voiced misgivings, but were quickly shouted down.
Nellcote
Oh sure, the FBI said they weren’t investigating Sarah but what about Todd? My favorite Rumour yesterday was that he’s suspected of running guns for the Alaska Militia.
I think Sarah’s decided to go Full Metal Fundy. That’s where the money/support is for her now. They loved her still in Evansville. Huckabee better watch his back.
SFAW
You’re joking, right? The Rethugs can (and do) rationalize anything away – if you’re a Republic(an).
Abortion? “Those DFHs drove her to the depths of despair, she didn’t know what she was doing, etc etc”
Premeditated murder? “He must have done something really bad, to deserve Preznit Palin take Teh Law into her own hands.”
Und so weiter …
Pasquinade
IQUITAROD
It began here: http://twitter.com/Pourmecoffee
funny stuff!
Lesley
Does Palin expect any person with a grain of brain to take seriously her claim that she’s through with politics? This is the woman who drags Trig around like a sack of potatoes to every pit stop hoping his disability will get her sympathy votes. The dingbat lives for attention. If Letterman hadn’t done her the favour of “offending” her she might have missed some air time.
As for her “higher calling”, might she mean this?
Cat G
@Splitting Image: You might want to check message #25. I think the challenge is to think of a politician who just up and quit an elected position, mid-term, who didn’t seem to have articulated a reason such as running for higher office or taking a career or financially beneficial position or been pushed out of office by a crime, scandal or a health problem. So far, I haven’t seen one named. Palin’s presser appeared to be hastily called, she was agitated and incoherent, and her “reasons” for resigning were so uncredible that of course there is going to be speculation. Trotting out a bullying lawyer to threaten and sue the rumor mongers whether they be bloggers or the New York Times is just bizarre. At this point, seasoned observers across the political spectrum are so stunned because her behavior is so disproportionate that it would be better for her if there is some minor crime or scandal. Politicians have overcome those hurdles before. Right now, she looks seriously unstable, and that will kill a career.
grumpy realist
Actually, what’s going to be interesting to watch is the Second Act of Sarah’s “you’re so mean to me so I’m taking my ball and go home!” It’s probably going to be wingnut welfare time as a commentator on Fox or similar. That way she can cash in the $$$ and keep her face in front of the crowd, while running around the country juicing them up in rallies supporting other candidates. I’d expect considerable coyness about whether she herself will run for candidacy but Sarah doesn’t seem to do fan-dance will-she-won’t-she with sufficient finesse. So we’ll get a series of pratfalls with Sarah running around tub-thumping everything up to secession (hello, Todd!) while the high mucky-mucks run after her desperately trying to put out fires.
…this goes on for 8 years; Dear Sarah finally gets her own whack at the pinata….
….and runs into the buzz-saw that is Hillary Clinton, fresh off SOS and perhaps VP of the YOO-nited States of America.
Pass the popcorn.
Cheryl from Maryland
Vanity Fair! Who would have thought a politician could have been upset by a hard hitting expose in Vanity Fair? MSM, look to your laurels. Next we’ll have Vogue taking down the powerful.
SFAW
And this is different how?
SiubhanDuinne
@ SGEW/108: Did you notice that Bill Quick never acknowledged in that piece that Hillary Clinton is, you know, Secretary of State now? The only title he gives her is “Senator” Clinton.
Keith
This was sent to me, so I had to share it. The game I try to play is “What method of outrage would Palin use for *this* one?” Today’s entry is “How DARE someone advocate putting a special-needs baby in a cage!”
Again, this kind of thing is why Schmidt advised her not to take the bait. If you freak out over “finger-in-the-eye”, it just leads to more people sticking their fingers on their eyes.
Tsulagi
BTW, if we get to vote on ads, I vote for a return of three-armed Pam over SarahPAC. You just know that “Donate” button for Sarah is on fire here.
Brachiator
@a1:
Following the rule that the simplest answer is often the correct one, I suggest that Palin realized that the Peter Principle had hit her full upside her head, and she realized that she had risen to her level of incompetence. No matter how hard the wingnuts or neo-con buttlickers like Bill Kristol tried to prop her up, Palin never demonstrated the slightest qualification to hold national office.
And while she may have been OK as mayor, she realized that she was too dumb, uninformed and just plain clueless to continue to serve as governor.
Her political career is over. People can pretend all they want. Instead of “Git ‘er done!” Palin is offering “Quit ‘er done!”
This nonsense might work with the truly delusional or Mary Matalin. And in the Washington Beltway, where you are never a failure as long as you can get an invitation to a pundit show, Palin’s spectacular self-immolation might actually look Mavericky.
But the sane part of the world calls it what it really is. Bonehead Stoopid.
A NY Times article tries to invoke the example of Richard Nixon in rationalizing Palin’s actions:
But of course, Nixon had some experience under his belt as a congressman, Senator and as VP. And although Nixon fought tenaciously to remain on the 1952 GOP ticket in the face of charges of financial improprieties, Palin is limply quitting even though most of the investigations againsther have been dismissed and the FBI says that it is not investigating her for anything.
Now she may well make a bundle of money for herself, and may be a heck of a fundraiser for the GOP in East Wingnut Gooberville. But I’m not even sure that the book that she is supposedly working on will sell as well as people might think.
And apart from being a shill for Fox News and the GOP, Palin is pretty much done.
Funny thing about that. Although Palin’s announcement came when a lot of reporters, pundits, and comedians were on hiatus, and when many weekend pundit shows had already been taped and wrapped, people getting together with friends and family over the holiday weekend may have spent a moment or two discussing her.
And among my circle, the court of public opinion on Palin has been brief, but withering.
The Other Steve
It’s just dawned on me. The Republican Party has finally succeeded in revisiting the wonderous Leave it To Beaver years.
Sadly they’ve done this by mimmicking Eddie Haskell.
WereBear
An excellent point. Our in-laws are in town and brought over a pizza that night, and it was hard to eat it with all our jaws dropping.
With all the parties and socializing, I think there must have been some old-fashioned face-to-face speculation going on.
maya
This email intercept to the SarahPAC:
b-psycho
@John Cole: What’s hilarious about that is that it’s simultaneously the rare implemented policy that actually deserves to be called “soshulist” & the one policy decision that she’s actually correct on.
It’s a 3rd party granted license to extract resources from the land. Only appropriate that they compensate the people who live on it for the privilege. I’m wondering how the hell she came to embrace it, to be honest.
Cat Lady
@Keith:
In sports, there is a term called having rabbit ears. It’s when an athlete hears everything yelled at him from the stands, and gets distracted. It’s a killer for an athlete, and it’s hard to change. Ryan Leaf had rabbit ears. Like Leaf, Palin’s rabbit ears are rendering her a joke now, creating more opportunities for the hecklers. She soon will be a footnote as an object lesson. And like everything else in life, sports provides an unlimited source of useful metaphors.
Don
that’s exactly where you lost me.
hal
I’ve come to the conclusion that politics wasn’t fun for The Barracuda anymore. On a national level she was called out for all of her bullshit and dishonesty, and; she must have been shocked her yokel shtick didn’t work nearly as well as it did in Wasilla.
She can make more money independently, so she quit. I can see Palin’s pov being: “Gosh, I’m so damned wonderful, and god blessed, and I’ve done so much for so many, but they just don’t appreciate it.” So she’s out. Simple.
Fern
Any chance her “higher calling” is alaskan independence?
Elie
I think Sarah is crazy. I think that she is decompensating and that things will continue to spiral downwards as she tries to recoup her inner equilibrium through a series of stupid, ineffective and more damaging external moves, such as sueing journalists.
Both she and Sanford cannot help themselves. People with personality disorders cannot help themselves. They do serious damage to their lives and the lives of those whom they touch because the tape in their heads, the tape about who they are and what is happening out here in the real world, does not match. The more exposure they have, the widder the mismatch between outer and inner and like most mentally ill people — they have a hard time adapting. Their rigidity and inability to actually perceive and therefore act on REAL reality dooms them to continued crazy decisions…
Furthermore, in some ways, her craziness and possibly Sanford’s as well, is what feeds their charisma. That singularity of purpose, that complete self focus and consciousness seems like unbelievable poise and self confidence at first. As it plays out however, the real hole in the core character starts to show itself, ultimately undermining the faux confidence and revealing the trembling, very insecure person inside of both of them…
Sad.
Mental illness costs a lot.
Svensker
@hal:
Maybe. But that doesn’t explain her nervousness and the suddenness of the announcement.
I’m still waiting for the truth to come out.
Zuzu's Petals
And to (once again) set the record straight as to what Shannyn Moore actually posted:
Zuzu's Petals
@A Mom Anon:
Well, isn’t the FBI the main investigating arm of DOJ?
I was thinking of maybe IRS, but who knows, there could be any number of possibilities.
The Grand Panjandrum
I don’t know if you remember this Palin profile by Noam Schieber at TNR. It came out a couple weeks before the election, but reading it again and this just jumped off the page:
But Scheiber’s penultimate graf explains much of what we have come to know about Palin and many of her ardent supporters:
And this is what John McCain wanted to inflict on our nation.
Cat Lady
@Elie:
Shorter Elie: Palin’s riding the Crazy Train.
This is great news for John McCain!
Calouste
@SGEW:
“””@Rosali: Teh Internets. They cn be sticky.
We have winners! I knew there were some out there. So we got:
The fifth term 69 year old Memphis mayor who’s running for Congress (giving him a lead time of @16 months) and . . . I love it . . . Katherine “Original Wingnut” Harris! Fantastic.
“””
/blockquote fail
Florida has resign-to-run laws, so Harris didn’t have a choice but to resign.
Yeah, Rove/Blair just go to show how far you have to stretch the rules to get even close to what Palin has done.
Elie
Cat Lady:
Yep (even shorter!)
Nellcote
@b-psycho:
Every Alaskan, even the kids, gets a check. She has a large family.
I want to know why she doesn’t consider it a huge TAX INCREASE on private industry.
Glocksman
@Nellcote:
Palin did well here because the local anti abortion movement is both well funded and well organized and they love her views.
Considering the above, its surprising for some to learn that Barack Obama won Vanderburgh County (Evansville is the county seat).
IOW, we’re not all a bunch of knuckledraggers who see starbursts when Sarah speaks. :)
Elie
Grand Pajandrum:
I completely agree. John McCain should be under even greater criticism for what he knowingly almost foisted on this nation. He and the rest of the Republican Crazy Mother f—-r Party that is!
kay
She’s suing media for speculating on why she resigned? Is that forbidden? Since when?
And she announced this on the Fourth of July?
I don’t think Americans elect whining self-pitying victims as President, particularly those who threaten to sue to stifle politcal speech, or
freedom of the press.
Another dumb-ass, crazy tactic in Sarah Palin’s war.
Zuzu's Petals
@Nellcote:
I was just wondering the same thing … they made no mention of Todd.
eemom
well of COURSE MoDo is pitch-perfect, when the topic is an attractive woman doing something this obviously stupid. Poor old MoDo probably hasn’t had this much fun since John Edwards got busted with his fly open last summer.
Ya gotta keep in mind that the only thing in this world MoDo hates more than desirable men who don’t want to fuck her (i.e., all of them) is women who men DO want to — well, you get the idea. That woman is the most extreme case of sexual derangement syndrome since Grimm’s fairy tales.
Original Lee
I sincerely hope she resigned due to a garden-variety, go-directly-to-jail financial scandal, and not due to mental illness. I don’t wish mental illness on anyone, to start with. But if she has a condition that was brought on by the stress of campaigning while recently postpartum*, and if she manages to get her shit together by next July, then I think she could rebound on the national scene quite handily. I find this scary.
*I am on the fence about the Trig question, as there are solid arguments on both sides, although I think the Sarah-as-mom theory got a boost from this last presser.
Zuzu's Petals
OMG, her staff can’t even bring itself to use the word “resign” on Palin’s own Governor’s webpage:
Palin Announces No Second Term
No Lame Duck Session Either
You have to see it to fully appreciate it…the second line font is about half the size of that on the first line.
Fern
@Original Lee:
Whatever mental health issues she has now (and I do not think she is a well woman) are consistent with her past behaviours. I’m thinking personality disorder of some kind – and that it is nothing new.
kay
@Original Lee:
Whining about media coverage never works.
I don’t think she can run for President on a platform of “reporters are mean to me”. They’re supposed to be mean to her, it’s an adversarial relationship.
It’s all she talks about, and it’s been all she talks about.
There’s just nowhere to go with this idea. She’s got about a paragraph worth of material. That’s not enough.
a1
@Brachiator:
You know what Palin would do if she was able to realize that? She’d fight to keep her power twice as hard, and spend all her efforts trying to spin away attempts to point out her incompetence instead (see: George Bush Legacy Redemption Tour 2008). What she (or anyone like her) does NOT do, is give up her power willingly, no matter how illegitimately she thinks she holds it.
I mean, just look at the meager examples given for similar behavior in this thread. Such behavior simply does not happen.
a1
(oops…first paragraph in the my above post is Brachiator’s)
Brachiator
@LD50:
For the sake of historical accuracy, most of this was meant to hurt Bill Clinton and serve as a preemptive strike against Hillary’s future ambitions since for most of this period she was First Lady, but did not hold any elective office that she could resign from.
Still, she was tougher than Palin.
grumpy realist….and runs into the buzz-saw that is Hillary Clinton, fresh off SOS and perhaps VP of the YOO-nited States of America.
Please God, no! Clinton has been a solid, but ploddingly uncreative Secretary of State. And the PUMAs and everybody else needs to get over the notion that the we somehow “owe” Hillary appointment or election to future higher office, or that it is her destiny to be elected the first woman president of the United States.
I would really like to see Obama look for fresh faces to fill his administration and retire all the old Clinton hands. And Bill and Hillary could be given gold watches, maybe an ambassadorship, and the thanks of the nation for their years of service.
kay
I don’t know why people say she likes campaigning. She has been whining almost from the moment she was nominated. She gave the speech at the RNC convention and then has complained almost non-stop since.
I know she doesn’t like governing, but she apparently doesn’t like campaigning either.
I don’t know how you run for President while waging some ridiculous flame war with the people who have to cover your campaign and do their jobs.
They’re going to win the war she started. She knows that, right?
Mike in NC
Since about 90% of the state consists of Federal land, cutting them loose shouldn’t be a big deal. Invite all the would-be seccessonists from SC and TX to move up there. FOX News, Weekly Standard, and NRO can relocate their headquarters to Wasilla. Let Todd design a new flag. Mount McKinley (Denali) can be renamed Mount Limbaugh. Etcetera. Win-win. Just make sure there’s no way for them to sneak back into the country.
Zuzu's Petals
Rush apparently couldn’t stand being out of the loop on this one. He actually called in to someone else’s show from his top secret vacation location, to say Sarah is still all that and a bag o’ chips.
HRA
“I’ve been at a loss wondering about this, er, also. To my mind (and I’m surprised no one has brought this up yet), the one thing that would adequately explain Palin’s actions is that she had a secret abortion in her past, and now someone has the evidence of it. I mean, what’s the one thing the wingnuts cannot accept in a politician…the one thing they won’t rationalize away? Not drug abuse (hi Rush!). Not infidelity (hi Republican party). And what’s the one thing Sarah Palin values besides her ambitions? Having kids. She’s been so happily oblivious to all the other scandals surrounding her, that’s the only thing I can see which would make Sarah Palin desperately try to keep it secret.”
This has me wondering if someone out there either in the media or the blogs has the evidence about her last birth. When it was the talk of the internet, there were many who did not believe she had the baby and I am sure they still feel the same way.
This could also explain her stance/threat against the media and the blogs. Though I would lean towards whatever it is to be anything at all personal and not exactly what I said in the above paragraph.
kay
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Rush is now endorsing defamation suits brought by politicians?
Christ. If what Palin is threatening was indeed possible, he’d be out of business. He’d have no career. It would have ended in 1994. The Clintons would have buried him. Obama could start filing tomorrow, as could Nancy Pelosi…..Harry Reid….Ted Kennedy…..John Kerry.
Ash Can
Actually, I don’t blame John McCain for (potentially) foisting Sarah Palin off on us, at least not primarily. The person/people I do blame would be whoever it was who was pulling his strings. It was obvious fairly early into the campaign that McCain wasn’t calling his own shots (a huge reason not to vote for him in and of itself). He wanted Lieberman to be his running mate. Someone said no, it’s going to be Palin. And he rolled over and went along with it. I blame him for acquiescing, but he wasn’t the one who was directly inflicting Palin on us. Frankly, I’d love to know just who it actually was.
Zuzu's Petals
Edit: Ne-ver mind.
Zuzu's Petals
@kay:
No, he was just weighing in (heh) on her resignation. He didn’t say anything about lawsuits, just “irresponsible speculation” on her reasons for quitting.
Interestingly, he said about three different times that Palin didn’t explain her own reasons for quitting.
Brachiator
@Mike in NC:
Uh, oil, minerals, natural gas, fisheries?
PanAmerican — Fritz Mondale was the last non-office holder to win a nomination. That route is impossible in today’s money game. Incumbency was McCain’s biggest advantage in the GOP primary. The rest of the potentials were former somebodies.
God, I’m just waiting for the moderator on Meet the Fox Nation’s Press with George Willonauphagous to introduce Sarah Palin as the former semi-governor of Alaska.
a1— What she (or anyone like her) does NOT do, is give up her power willingly, no matter how illegitimately she thinks she holds it. I mean, just look at the meager examples given for similar behavior in this thread. Such behavior simply does not happen.
Well, so far, Palin appears to have given up power. While I note that the conspiracy train is speeding up, with guesses of behind-the-scenes coups to push her out of office to soap opera inspired speculation about secret abortions, anything resembling actual facts are meager. All we have is the lingering memory of her rambling, nonsensical capitulation.
kay
@Zuzu’s Petals:
I just listened to the clip. I’m still laughing.
Rush Limbaugh’s entire career is based on irresponsible and potentially defamatory speculation. Which, incidentally, is fine by me.
These are the same people who revere Glen Beck, right? Who claims almost nightly that Obama is trying to shut down his critics. When’s the last time Obama threatened to sue a blogger? There are entire national broadcast networks devoted to defaming Obama. There are whole burgeoning careers based on trashing him. Is he sending out lawyer letters? Yet, he’s the dictator, and Palin is some champion of freedom.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Drive By Wisdom:
And the best way for conservatives to expend their energy is to quit their posts, abandon their obligations to their constituents, and whine about all the mean people who hold them accountable for their bullshit.
How can the country help but be impressed by that?
kay
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
No one is telling the truth about the Crazy GOP Governor’s Show.
Palin and Sanford have something very important in common. Neither could actually do the job. They’re loathed by both parties in their state legislatures. They alienated and enraged the group they had to work with, and called that failure “principle”.
They don’t work well with others. They don’t work at all with others.
Is this character trait now a requirement for leadership in the Republican Party? It was true of George W Bush too. It’s starting to look like a defining characteristic.
JadedOptimist
(Adjusting tinfoil hat)
Drive By Wisdom’s odd statements got my conspiracy-theory synapses firing. Fern @146 and the subsequent Alaskan independence talk got them firing regularly. The references to Glenn Beck and other High Priests of the Church of Wingnuttery brought forth this from my diseased mind:
The inhabitants of Far Wingnuttia constantly refer to the President as a traitor, a dictator, worse than (insert tyrant’s name here). Apparently the definition of treason now includes winning the Presidency by a clear margin of the popular vote, then working with Congress (also under control of his party due to voters) to pursue policy initiatives approved by >60% of the public. Good to know.
DBW refers to “Saving this country from the quagmire The One has created.” Maybe Sarah’s higher calling will be to head up the Republican Government in Exile that will work to overthrow the current elected government of the United States. Since their arguments are not gaining traction with actual voters, perhaps they feel they must destroy the country in order to save it. Also, Alaskan Independence and Todd gets to run it. Here’s the recipe:
Admit it. You can picture something very much like this happening.
removing tinfoil hat Wow, that actually hurt my brain.
Chris Johnson
Because, you know, hepatitis :)
SensesFail
@Mudge:
“Also, I am tempted to start a blog called “PalinEnergy IndependenceNationalSecurity” to just document how often she emptily throws those phrases around.”
I LOVE this idea!
You should add “SpecialInterests” to the blog title.