These are not original observations, but Sarah Palin is a gutless narcissist. Alaskans should be thanking her for leaving, and many of them probably are.

On reflection, what bothers me most about Sarah Palin resigning is how fundamentally unserious it is. Being a governor is a real job with real responsibilities.

But as you may recall, she is of that generation of politician that creates history rather than studying it. (For further reading, see under Bush, G.W., administration of.)

And what matters most to those politicians and their believers -- especially those with strong faith -- is not being constrained by "seriousness," or "responsibilty," or facts, or any of those silly things, but rather believing and acting strongly on that belief. That's what distinguishes the real leaders of out time.

And this was the person who in a national spotlight ridiculed community organizers. Wow. Just...wow.

Sarah Palin, like most pro-life advocates, should really take an active part in working for all of our children languishing in the system.

bleh: "she is of that generation of politician that creates history rather than studying it."

And what a contrast to Obama who has clearly studied history so that when he creates it, he has already thought about some of its lessons.

Sarah Palin has created a new motto (in my mind, anyway) for the Repulic party, 'the party of dead fish'.

Her daily affirmation,

When the going gets thick, the thick get going.

Are there any Republicans who are genuinely interesting in governing? (That's not snark, btw.)

I think a lot of this harkens back to Reagan's insulting remarks about how the government is the problem. Virtually every single Republican elected to office since (& some not elected, like George W. Bush) have taken those words to heart to the extent that, yes indeedy, when Republicans are in charge, sure as heck the government is the problem.

Palin is clearly not fit for any sort of public office. She misuses power. And she is stupid. So it sort of begs the question, what was the Republican brain trust in Alaska thinking when she rose through the ranks?

She wants the freedom and power given to Rush Limbaugh. It is very obvious that he doesn't actually work, just spouts words which, like hers, often don't make any sense.

Palin thinks being a leader means having followers. And, although Alaska is a seriously weird place, it is not known for breeding people who are happy with loving the Dear Leader.

what was the Republican brain trust in Alaska thinking when she rose through the ranks?

The same thing the Republican party was thinking when they promoted Bush -that he would be a figurehead while decisions were made behind the scenes, and that his primary responsibilities would be cheerleading and raising money.

I really don't understand why she had to quit. Couldn't she have just taken a few "personal days" in Argentina?

Sarah Barraquitter
is the the quitter from Wasilla
The quitter from Wasilla
is Sarah Barraquitter

Been explaining this to the dog all day.

Kids are not responsible for being abused or neglected. They can't just take care of themselves.

If a thousand legislative battles from S-CHIP to and Title I, back through Head Start, and segregation, back through compulsory education and life-and-death stuff like child labor laws and chattel slavery teach us anything, they teach us that there are always enough Americans who can't see why should they, who as children chose the right parents be punished by having their stuff be taken away from them and given to kids who chose the wrong parents, to create a political party, and often enough to form a government.

like a grizzly with cubs, as a mother naturally guards her own.

I think her parental instincts more closely resemble a salmon.

Palin's arguments for quitting are offensive to everyone else who holds political office.

Imagine if a college teacher gets tenure and then quits because "tenure allows professors to slack off and do nothing important...and a lot of them do exactly that".

Yes, it is possible to do less with tenure, it is also possible to do more. What Palin doesn't get, apparently, is that elected officials get tenure for the period of their term. They can't be fired, and their constitutional powers can't be taken away.

My opinion is that there is no larger scandal, because that would require some ability to plan and to come up with believable lies. Palin does't have that skill. So my guess is that she got burned by the stimulus bill and she knows that an additional bill will be coming along before she leaves office, and she will have to accept it.

Her only chance to avoid that is to quit now.

DanP: HAH! I almost did a spit-take.

Hilzoy:
I just reread "Barracuda The resentments of Sarah Palin," Noam Scheiber, The New Republic, published: Wednesday, October 22, 2008. This article explains Palin's mind better than any other analysis I have read. I have also reread All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren's classic on Huey Long. The politics of resentment can catapult a person to political office, even president, I fear, if the times are right. FDR feared Long more than any other politician. I keep seeing Evita Peron when I see Palin. Fascism lite.

You libs are just obsessed with her, aren't you?

You can't stop talking about her.

Feel the fear here.

@Myke K
It is more like 'Feel the mocking' buddy. Palin is obviously certifiable.

And Hilzoy...an excellent post as usual. The point you made is a good example of Palin's hypocrisy and narcissism.

Palin is obviously certifiable.

Just keep telling yourself that.

I'm really going to enjoy her inauguration in 2012 while all of you sit around wondering what happened to your golden boy. Since I'm a top donor to SarahPAC I'll probably even have tickets.

Don't worry, I'll post photos for you to enjoy.

"If anything ought to count as a higher calling, taking care of kids who need help should."

False. Many things are more important than this, particularly on a national scale.

Thus the entire post is reveled as a strawman and is simply more in an endless stream of infantile propaganda which seeks to prevent its readers from actually thinking about the issues.

Keep that $20 Myke, you top donor you! You might need it for her new book!

We dems can't stop wondering about her because she has such a fanatical, non-logical base, which gives her more power than the quality of her ideas or the extent of her integrity deserves. One danger is she could probably help raise a LOT of money for Repubs, and she might enjoy doing that if she got enough press and it led to fame, fortune, influence, and nice clothes. She could do even more if she would work well with some of the leaders of the Rep party. Tony Blankley said he would love to harness her energy and be able to unite and grow her supporters. Hopefully, she is too much a "maverick" to do that however. Much as I think she has huge flaws, I do worry about her power to incite an angry mob and get them to give up their wallets (remember those rallies near the end of the campaign?!)

Myke raises a good question: which Republican politicians are worth a liberal's fear these days?

Not Palin, certainly. Huckabee still strikes me as a fairly clever campaigner. And if he weren't named "Bush," I think Jeb would be pretty formidable.

Other than that...my goodness, what a crew. I'm 37 years old, and I can't remember the Republicans looking more inept than they do now. I think you'd have to go back to the 1930s to find a comparable period.

Alaska was 42nd in the country in the percentage of foster kids who had two or fewer placements, which means that a lot of kids spent a lot of time bouncing from one home to another.

I'm proud that Sarah subscribes to the Republican philosophy of "if a child is hungry, he'll be more motivated". If these kids are placed in comfy, safe home, what's to get them on track to be productive members of society? Plus, I'd hate to increase my taxes 0.01% on my income over $250,000 to pay for it. That's money I could use to start a business and employ Americans, or buy another summer home I could flip.

a: The quote wasn't "If anything ought to count as the highEST calling...", it was "... highER calling". Many things can be more important without the statement being false. Thus your entire comment is revealed as a strawman and is simply more in an endless stream of infantile propaganda which demonstrates that the writer has not thought about the issues. Or can't you count past one?

"The people get the government they deserve"-Alexis de Tocqueville.

Alright folks - you've spent (wasted, really) far too much time & too many column inches on Sarah Palin.

Time to start treating her like the non-entity she is & move on to the difficult & challenging work we read you for.

Health care anyone?

Most of the stuff that governors can do to improve the lives of the people whom they govern involves spending money. Improving foster care for children, which Hilzoy identifies as a potential way Palin could have improved the lives of Alaskans, would involve increasing expenditures and therefore runs counter to the basic conservative desire for small government.

Conservatives have difficulty solving problems because solutions often involve spending money. In fact, long ago conservatives adopted the argument that liberals are ineffectual because we try to solve problems by "throwing money" at them, even though conservatives themselves have no problem throwing money at "problems" such as Iraq and terrorism.

As a conservative, Palin was ideologically unable to solve any social problem that confronted her state. If she were a mainstream Republican, she would have been able to argue for the benefits of improving foster care, for example. However, she's a rightwinger and as such is beholden to dogma and ideology.

The wretched Coulter said it all made sense, Sarah needs to quit being Governor to be a rabble-con/Christianist demagogue like Coulter herself. (And too picked-on by photo-shopping little bloggers etc., purveyors of "baseless" charges yadda yadda ...) Just think of the complete irresponsibility to the people who elected Palin, the Oath of office and her statement quoted top post. This means nothing to Coulter/Palin - just do what you need as a political demagogue. Promises and obligations; "real responsibilities" are for chumps.

Note also, the hypocrisy of a conservative like Palin siccing (sp?) lawyers on people who pick on her - from the people who hate the "whiners" who want to sue those who really, literally hurt them in physical ways by malpractice, unsafe working conditions, etc.

BTW, Levi Johnston's book ought to be real interesting! And his writing can't be any worse than hers. See and the comments too at http://www.nypost.com/seven/07042009/gossip/pagesix/levi_vs__sarah_palin_battle_continues_177489.htm.

Re Eva: Yeah, Sarita Palon!

"We dems can't stop wondering about her because she has such a fanatical, non-logical base, which gives her more power than the quality of her ideas or the extent of her integrity deserves...."

***

Palin reinforces the lesson we should have learned over the eight years that Bush was in the White House: There is a segment of the American electorate that puts no value on rationality or logic or discussion as a means to identify problems and find solutions.

No matter how much we try to engage this segment in debate, it will not change its attitudes. It self-defines its opinions as correct and therefore anyone or anything who holds a different viewpoint is wrong.

The best we can do is recognize that this segment will continue to exist in America and to do whatever we can to marginalize it.

The question Palin should have asked: "Can someone tell me what it is exactly that a governor does every day?"

Thus the entire post is reveled as a strawman and is simply more in an endless stream of infantile propaganda which seeks to prevent its readers from actually thinking about the issues.

Quite the contrary. By comparing Sarah Palin's rhetoric (on her commitment to her job, to family values, and to her Alaskan "family") with her dismal record in all of these areas, Steve's post connects the dots and raises questions about Palin's honesty, integrity, and efficacy as an executive.

Conversely, your attempt to ignore the legitimate issues raised in this post by trying to pretend it away with a little semantical fakery is the very definition of trying to prevent people from thinking about the issues.

It's possible that she cares about governing, but has realized that she's simply no good at it.

Excellent!

They hate frivolous lawsuits don't they?

Careful Hilzoy...
Sarah and her lawyers might sue you for defamation.

WHO IS HER PUPPET MASTER???

WHO IS HER PUPPET MASTER???

"You libs are just obsessed with her, aren't you?"

Sure we are. Wouldn't you be with a vacuous, stupid individual who has Faustian ambitions, with none of the class.

We're obsessed because she is an idiot and you seem to think she's the second coming of Christ.

We're obsessed because we've experienced 8 years of an empty suit, incompetence, and lies. And we all know where that lead.

Amazingly enough, we actually care about this country and the world.

We're obsessed because (s)he is an idiot and you seem to think (s)he's the second coming of Christ.

Could be talking about Obama.

She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone - what went wrong

She has done a pretty nice end run around everyone,all the way to the bank :) It's totally scary sitting back here and watching it all play out, day after day..Sounds like she accomplished EXACTLY what she wanted, and everyone just played into her hands , negative attention, is better than no attention at all!!!I'd check her out real good people...Rumor has it........

But still, people are talking about Sarah, Sarah, why she did this etc. - we need more answers about her advisors! Like asked above, who put her up to this, who is the puppet master/s?!
The bloggers need to dig more! Too much psycho-anal-isis of Sarah Palin, not enough digging around for the men or women behind the curtain! Do your jobs, pls.

Sarah Barrascoot-a!

She's threatening to sue a blogger who was mean to her.

Tuff as nails.

>"...only dead dead fish go with the flow..."

They didn't even get that part right. Many species of fish swim both up and down stream.

Sara, you done put lipstick on your last pig, honey. Say 'buh bye' now.

Can't wait to hear how Letterman and Jon Stewart and company work this one.

Hilzoy,

Of course, Sarah doesn't give a rat's ass about foster children. They are already born! She's ProLife! Once they are born, they have no value. Unless it is to learn that hunger is a good motivator.

Sarah Palin is "Typhoid Mary," and ignorance is the disease with which she has infected her supporters, and they are as satisfied as hogs in slop being told what to think, what to do, who to hate, how much $ to donate to her legal fund, etc. They have no idea that Palin has no governing skills, and think that as long as she pushes family values, pro-choice, dominionist Christianity, and does a little pageant-walking, she can do anything. Fools.

but isn't perversion of the whole political process and the function of governing exactly what today's republicans/conservatives are all about. palin isn't an exception, she is the epitome of the unserious, hyper-greedy, self-aggrandizing, power obsessed dolt that is the republican/conservative personality.

Helping people, improving the nation have NOTHING to do with today's republicanism.

What a joke - this lady made defamatory remarks about our newly elected prez - yet, she wants to bring suit against any media outlet.

I'd say, people need to leave this lady alone. No media attention, even when she wants it. I never had any intention of buying her book anyway.

If people ignore her, her books, magazines, tv spots - she won't garner any more publicity because the she won't be newsworthy, not that she is now!

Unserious.

As unserious as Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As unserious as George W. Bush.

As unserious as Mark Sanford.

As unserious as John McCain, or for that matter, Huckleberry Graham.

Face it, Sarah Palin had half the game down, but being on the wrong side of The Village Mentality wasn't in her playbook and didn't sit so well. I have to give her credit for standing up to the graceless McCain staffer-insider DC backbiting. Palin put a good face on eating the shit that got dished out, and when that grew tiresome, she bolted.

Also, with investigations apparently bringing an end to Palin's privileged ride, it's time to get off the merry-go-round.

Not impressed by:

a) the near-total free ride John McCain's gotten from the talk-show hosts and from the groundlings, esp next to Palin; and

b) As much as I'm no Palin fan, the sexist bashing by nominal feminists and supposed liberals is pretty revealing. Yeah, I hate her politics. Sure, it's cynical and based on exploiting the political tropes of her day! That's what makes good politicians so annoying! Palin's only misstep was in being 4-to-6 years behind the country's changing political tides sentiment.

Seriously, the teflon media would've just eaten her up if she'd been George Bush's protege.

The simplest and most obvious expalnantion is right in front of us. The big fish in the little pond is bored. She's drawn to the national stage like a moth to flame - and there's a boat-load of money to be made. Sarah Palin has been seduced by fame and fortune. Any surprise here?

Palin just wants money. She doesn't like the confines of public life and the scrutiny it has been to her life so she is getting out. She will be a TV commentator - she is pretty to look at, spouts nonsense, is aggressive, like money, likes the spotlight....basically a Rush-lite person.

Rush should watch out because she is out to compete with him and the money he gets spouting his crap.

The Repugs would be smart and cut all ties with her - but no they are not that smart. McCain has said she will be a leader of the party now --- where can I throw up now......sad.

Palin wants to "tell" us how to run our government, instead of rolling up her sleeves and "showing" us how to actually govern. It's a much easier job, always telling people what they're doing wrong and not being expected to step up and fix the problems.