I would think that a fiftieth aniversary of statehood celebration would be a pretty big deal and the kind of thing a sitting governor, lame duck or not, would show up for as a matter of course. Oh, wait. Hubby wants to secede. Never mind.

The only thing that makes sense, from listening to her speeches, is that she is going to join a rebellion against the United States.

If there is an indictment impending, she needs to maintain this sense that she's still pursuing a "higher calling" so she can claim the prosecution is a political witchhunt. It will be interesting to see whether the MSM plays along, or whether they will actually report that the investigation predates Obama and Holder.

I think it's time for her to fade.

The entire planet must be laughing at the wacky guvner of Alaskuh.

She's not about country, just pure self promotion.

Adios senorita, enjoy your vacation from responsibility.

I wish I could quit my 2 jobs in search of ...., just why again did she resign? To get a closer look at Russia? To read "all of Them" newspapers?

WTF?!

I am scared
Yes, Palin resignation means more cheap populism in the headlines>
They are going to drum the "Them against Us(real America)" all day long. The chance it turns badly are high, especially with the help of weak economic environement that last for a few years.
Make no mistake, we haven't seen riots in many years in this country, not because we were more open to others but because our inconscious mind bought the illusion of of better materialistic future for all.
Readjustment/desillusion periods are always prone to excess, and some people need blood.

It was a helpful clarification, since it was easy to assume the message was written by a junior high school student who had hacked into Palin's profile.

Palin brings out the catty bitch in us all...

And is this Palin's idea of getting LESS media attention? "In order to put to rest a lot of irresponsible media caused by my incoherent speech yesterday, I am going to write an incoherent facebook message today."

Palin also stated in the Facebook message that she "explained" her reasons for resigning. As Steve and others have pointed out, she has not explained her behavior, which is part of the reason for the "double-standard" she is seeing. Her statements are incoherent.

You're over-analyzing here. Palin has never had much of a grasp of the English language, so I'm not at all surprised she's incapable of writing a few coherent grafs. I'd be astonished if she could write a few coherent sentences, in fact.

And this has always been my biggest problem with her, even bigger than her misguided politics, she's simply not very bright. It's not a question of being under-educated, she's extremely dense. Out-sized ego and ruthless determination can bring you a long way, but I'm not sure those qualities -- and those qualities alone -- are a good thing in an elected official, at any level. The thought of her being VP has always scared the hell out of me. I have read a lot of silly absurdities on the right about how Palin "scares" the left, but none of them accurately assess why this is so.

Am I the only one laughing after watching last nights convention?
Sara P is qualififed to be VP because "she led her basketball team to the state champs"…and shows how strong (stupid) she is by getting on a plane and flying from Texas to alaska while in labor with a baby that might have problems if she knew it already had Downs syndrome… and my all time fav…Mccain..maverick who voted with Bush 95% of the time….
Never mind this party has created the mess were in now….we are supposed to give them 4 more years…. Are they joking?

I think she is planning to take over the leadership position of the Tea Party movement, since there is an obvious lack of guidance there.

She will do well with the partygoers, simultaneously soothing and enervating them with endless platitudes about God and Country and Family, and The Troops, mixed with assorted 'bon mots' she has been saving for just such a National Crisis. . .

questions about what Palin is thinking

Betcha that increasingly the question will be HOW Palin thinks. And increasingly the answer will be NPD.

cubi3 -- i am not quite worried about this immediately, but i do worry what a cross-state Palin tour would do. She was never so happy as when inciting the brown shirts of the Republican party, and without media attention or a political campaign to worry about, she could easily become the patron saint of right-wing violence.

And she could do it easily. Between Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter, the rhetoric has already gone so far... and if there is a riot, and the gov't tries to push back against her for incitement... wow, i don't want to be anywhere near the courthouse.

Her "countless others" line is a veiled dig at Barack Obama, who resigned his Senate seat in the middle of his first term. Of course, his circumstances were slightly different from Mrs. Palin's.

Ah, the Sister Sarah nee Aimee Semple Mcpherson and Brother Todd nee Elmer Gantry Traveling Circus hit the road "for the cause".

I had an aunt who quit her job for a "higher calling" - she answered it and became a missionary in Africa. Maybe this is the kind of "higher calling" Sarah is hearing, to the ministry...after she sues herself some bloggers.

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. [...]

Palin is missing a key piece here-- Obama or anyone else running for higher office don't randomly quit their jobs, they keep the one they have while running for another one. It would make more sense IF she had simultaneously announced that she's going to spend the next 3 years running for president. However, as many of us suspect, if she spends the next 3 years making tons of money on Fox or talk radio it's just not the same thing.

She truly is bizarre.

In order to foment a real rebellion against the United States, you can't be part of the government. The lunatic fringe, the Tea Baggers, tax-deniers, birthers, etc. have gotten together and decided they need a leader. Since she's just as insane (and inane) as they are, they offered Palin the job. She's terrible at governing and doesn't like it much, so she jumped at the chance to have a national microphone without any other responsibilities. She'll make tons of money and eventually segue to a show on Faux News, sentencing the rest of us to her ubiquitous presence for the foreseeable future. The only thing to look forward to is the inevitable "Godzilla vs. Mothra" battle between her and Rush for the Wingnut Heavyweight Crown.

We have a family member who is bi-polar and, sadly, suffers from recurring bouts of abuse of pain killers...listening to poor abused SP on Friday was like listening to this relative and I'd put money on her USING something...so many of her behaviors point to the need to check into the possibility of some mental anomaly!

The woman is bat-shit crazy. And she's dangerous, because slow-witted Americans are willing to jump off a bridge for her.

You 'betcha.

We should study Palin's exit speech carefully. It is a perfect example of the rhetoric used by the contemporary right wing, whether in blogs, FOX News, or on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal. It is long on vague abstractions, appeals to emotion and resentments, metaphorical frames of reference -- but virtaully bereft of actual facts or details or specific charges of actual misconduct. Like George W. Bush's speeches themselves, it is one long string of un-proven, un-documented assertion. And her speech is not unique on the Right. I read a Wall Street Journal column attacking Obama for not more aggressively attacking Iran for its crack down on protesters. Published in one of the world's biggest newspapers it was just one long string of ad hominem attacks meant to make Obama appear weak and feckless, but never once did it address the larger context of American national interest or international strategy or what ratching up the rhetoric might actually accomplish or lead to. The only purpose, it seemed, was tearing down Obama with an audience that was already pre-disposed to oppose him. It was another example of the plethora of content-free rhetoric on the Right, to which Palin's speech is now just one more sad example.

JJC, keep your comment at 9:19 AM on hand for the next Michelle Bachmann thread.

Palin appears to be engaged in the politics of self-destruction. On reflection, I felt as if I had watched a political suicide after watching her announcement. Josh Marshall has an excellent post at TPM arguing that Palin is finished as a politician.

How apt for St Sarah to mention playing point guard - One of the biggest problems facing college basketball is the "One and Done" rule, where the NBA "allows" future stars to appear somewhere near a college campus for a year, perform some basketball, then head for the NBA. Sort of a "Rent a Star" program.

So, Sarah has become a version of the One and Done policy. Let us hope that the Done part stays Done.

An intriguing little bit on CBS Sunday morning today explored (slightly) the public obsession with "experts/pundits" in our media...long a passion of mine...one of their own "experts" thinks folks should just trust their own judgements (this after showing the demise of brain activity when such people are expounding on the tv/radio)...others shared that they think the American public is too smart not to recognize the "entertainment" factor or foolishness of many of these highly prized talkers...I say listen in to WJ just a morning or two (if you can stand it) and I'm betting you change your mind about THAT!!!The fight to continue DUMBING DOWN THE SHEEPLE is in fine form...witness the preoccupation with someone like Sarch Palin in the first place...thanks MAVERICK!!!

Has everyone forgotten that she gets her "higher calling" from the same source as our last president? This woman prays for guidance and really believes that she is receiving wisdom from on high. Lots of people think that qualifies as hearing voices, but look at the increase in contributions to her PAC from those who seek guidance in similar ways. Yes, this woman will happily lead a crusade of violence among the brown shirts. The rest of us should beware and the FBI SHOULD be investigating her actions, with even more scrutiny now and in the future.

We just can't figure that enigmatic Sarah Palin out! She is Cariblur Barbie ...

tyrannogenius

PS:
as Politico says: There is the Establishment on one side, and the "rabble" on the other. The latter support Sarah against the dismissive attitude of the "snoots." Isn't that interesting? That increases SPs appeal among her base, but how could anyone win with their own crust against them? She'd have to be really flaky and reckless, going for a Huey Long style ride-the-rabble movement to power. That's scary. (BTW, I mean "rabble" among the righties, we should support the true public interest and not e.g. consider suspicion of big finance to be "rabble rousing". Any "liberal" who uses the word "populism" with disdain - and no contextual qualification - is a fraud.

Palin's references to the politics of personal destruction are hilarious. It's so wonderful to see people who are completely oblivious to their own manufactured irony.

Of COURSE it's Ironic. Ask Alanis Morrisette.

The soon to be ex-governor comes across as very bored, in my view. Bored with the job, bored with the day to day routine of governing. After tasting fame on a national scale, doing the job she was elected to do (no crowds in her cubicle shouting "Sarah! Sarah!")-- is by comparison small and probably without tangible, meaningful reward.

I am sure there are additional reasons for her quitting, perhaps more melodramatic in nature, and those can be gleaned/ parsed from her public statements and from people who deal with her.

But boredom is written all over her face, her skittish and rambling resignation statement, all of it. One can almost have sympathy. (I can't.)

I think her 'higher calling' must mean leaving politics for the ministry... she has already had strange associations with the religious community in the past.

We on the left continue to misunderstand the right at our own peril. Deep down, we think we're playing on a common field with common rules but we aren't. How many times did we say, "Bush could never do that" and then he did? And while we scratched our heads and got all in a snit about what he had done, he went and did something else just as outrageous.

We assume something like an investigation must be about to break because, otherwise, it makes no sense to us why she'd resign -- but that's our way of thinking. Palin doesn't think that way, and to impose our rationale on her is to miss what's going on.

Everything in Palin's world is about her. She isn't interested in governing, she's interested in wielding power, partly as an end unto itself and partially as a means to impose her vision -- a reality that she can understand -- on the world.

Her vindictiveness, her ability to ridicule, to twist known truths and repeat proven falsehoods endlessly, to blame others and play the victim when called to account seem to be her reaction to a world that isn't bending to her will. This is one sick puppy, but what makes her so dangerous is her ability to wrap her brand of craziness in an attractive package and sell it as righteousness.

Don't think she has a future? Think 2116 and a third-party candidate splitting the liberal vote.

I have an example of someone quitting their service to their country to follow a higher calling: George W. Bush, who quit the TX Air Natl Guard before his duties were up to work on a GOP campaign.

I'm not a psychiatrist, but...I think Palin is actually clinically ill, and rather than mocking her, a compassionate liberal might take the tack of urging her to get help. Seriously. If it turned out that her real reason for quitting was her doctor's advice, I wouldn't be surprised. She's a mess.

The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com

Palin put this drivel on her Facebook page because she knows her minions believe every word that comes out of her mouth. Plus, this is a means by which she can continue encouraging them to contribute to her legel defense fund. They're being duped and don't even know it. As a Christian, I see her supporters as being more cult-like than Christian-like. They worship Sarah, not God. She is their idol, something that Christianity specifically prohibits.

Just a suggestion.

We progressives will have to maintain our vigilance and expose Palin's lies whenever she vomits them out. We can continue using the internet to accomplish this task. I've been on Sarah Watch since John McCain introduced her to America last August, and I have no intention of stopping. She must be exposed for the cancer to America that she is, and we must be the CURE. Our goal must be to wipe her off of the face of American politics by beating her at her game. I just retired in May, so I have plenty of time to devote to the de-Palinization of America.

If we are not vigilant, she will tear this nation apart, share no blame, and walk away from the damage she has wrought.

I am scared
Yes, Palin resignation means more cheap populism in the headlines>
They are going to drum the "Them against Us(real America)" all day long. The chance it turns badly are high, especially with the help of weak economic environement that last for a few years.
Make no mistake, we haven't seen riots in many years in this country, not because we were more open to others but because our inconscious mind bought the illusion of of better materialistic future for all.
Readjustment/desillusion periods are always prone to excess, and some people need blood.
Posted by: cubi3

Thanks for your concern, dear grammatically-challenged troll.

zhak ...she's simply not very bright. It's not a question of being under-educated, she's extremely dense. Out-sized ego and ruthless determination...
Marie Burns ...I think Palin is actually clinically ill...

I think you're both spot on; in fact, if you put your two thoughts together, it adds up to what I think is really happening with Palin, a crack-up. Her narcissism and paranoia have been indulged and magnified until they can no longer be reconciled with the everyday world. She is indeed, a mess. There could be a scandal, or further political ambitions, or a job at Fox, at least in her mind, but fundamentally, she has real problems and she can no longer keep it together.

I have an example of someone quitting their service to their country to follow a higher calling: George W. Bush, who quit the TX Air Natl Guard before his duties were up to work on a GOP campaign.

Did Sanford have a sex change operation? If not, then Palin is getting PR advice from his people. I used to think she was just a little "out there". But now... full blown nut job.

And another thing: Who quits their job during the worst recession in 50 years? The optics to "real Americans" can't be that great.

Have we considered the possibility that Sarah Palin has been replaced by Tina Fey? That would explain a lot.

Honestly, people said that George Bush devolved into Will Ferrell's caricature, but it was only sort of true. Sarah Palin is truly a joke. She is the archetypal stupid Republican. Even now, after leaving office amidst rumors of misdeeds, she is still clinging to her own pathetic brand of the culture war. It's just sad. She is a shell of a human being.

@screamindemon:

I'm puzzled why you called cubi3 a troll. Your reading comprehension seems to be worse than his/her grammar, because to my reading, cubi3's point is valid.

Palin has demonstrated that she has no understanding about the power her rhetoric can have to gin up violence. The bad economic situation makes people more willing to adopt the ideas that Palin (and Beck and Rush and O'Reilly) is promoting, and it is not that big a stretch to imagine that we could see some serious violence from Palin's fellow travelers.

"Maybe the governor can offer some examples, because as far as I can tell, there's no modern precedent for a governor quitting two years into a first term, without a clear rationale, to pursue a "higher calling.""

I don't know about "two years in", but the only quitters I recall are those that sunk to a "lower" calling, by being embroiled in a scandal of some sort!

She's planning on spanning the country on the RNC's dime rabble rousing against the libruls who are destroying the country with their free spending, capitalism-killing ways, y'all! That's the higher calling. It is tempting to think that it is something honorable like being a missionary, but for a good Republican it is all about money.

The Republican party needs a savior and they think she has more appeal than Newt, Rush, et al. She has religious right cred and (so far) is sex scandal free, all wrapped in attractive packaging that the WASP (old) males can't resist. What's not to like as far as the base is concerned? It's their only shot in the short term.

We marginalize her at our peril. The drivel already out there, along with the bad economic news, has already whittled Obama's popularity from 78% to 66% and now to 58%. He is vulnerable folks!

But, as my husband says, the democrats only have one defense and that is success. Let's hope Obama succeeds.

Has anybody considered that Sarah Palin might actually do what her right wingnut compatriots have just talked abou - but never with the intention of actually doing it: Going Galt.

/snark

Add "ironic" to the list of words whose meaning Sarah Palin doesn't know. Like "Bush Doctrine", "American exceptionalism", and many, many others.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I see this in a very simple way. She is fundamentally incompetent. She is in way over her head with the governorship of Alaska. Whether or not she will admit it out loud or consciously to herself, she knows that she can't cut it. Her speech is just a feeble attempt to save face. She can't even do that.

Not showing up for the 50th anniversary celebrations is bizarre but not participating in the 4th of July parade is just amazing. It is a huge event in Juneau. Everyone goes.

???

Maybe there is video of her fucking her husband's business partner. I can't remember his name, but that story didn't get alot of play. It was practically ignored. How sweet would another republican governor, presidential candidate, sex scandal be?

The vast majority of comments about this article are thoughtless and, quite frankly, ignorant. Criticism about selfishness and arrogrance from a group of people that support Obama, is not only laughable it is hypocrital. You sheep just marching, hopefully off a cliff...

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Good afternoon. Doubt 'til thou canst doubt no more...doubt is thought and thought is life. Systems which end doubt are devices for drugging thought.
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