Friday, July 3, 2009

The Daily Strike-7/3/09-Sarah's Gone

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. This was supposed to be a very slow day in politics as we approach the July 4th holiday. But never count out the maverick from Alaska!

PALIN: I don't know if I've ever mentioned Sarah Palin in this blog. She's become such a circus act ever since (and during) the election, that I didn't think she belonged in any discussion of serious contemporary politics. But today the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor rules the political world. Governor Palin announced that she will be resigning as governor, effective at the end of this month. She didn't give a specific reason for leaving, instead saying that she "knows when it's time to pass the ball." Early speculation is that she is retiring to spend more time traveling the continental U.S. to gear up for a Presidential run. I don't really buy it. It's certainly not very Presidential to quit your job 5/8ths of the way through your term. It also adds to her record of erratic behavior. Apparently, no one, not even the Alaska press, knew about the event before it happened. It reminds me of when John McCain "suspended" his campaign last fall.

My theory is that there's some yet-to-be discovered scandal out there that Palin knows about. She'd rather get out now, which would keep her political opponents in Alaska from filing a bunch of ethics complaints that might bring this scandal to light. Even if there is no hidden scandal, I can't imagine her having a successful political career after such a rash announcement. Palin joins other potential Republican 2012 Presidential candidates who have seen their prospects come crashing down. I haven't seen her press conference yet, but The Big Picture seems to have summed it up pretty well:

This is LEGENDARY. Arguably the worst speech ever given. The point of her statement, terrible, embarrassing; the content of her speech, absurd; her self-righteousness, and most of all her bizarre speed talk, weird facial expressions, and crazy word sequences that make no sense at all. So much misleading talk, so many euphemisms, so much victimization. Ridiculous sports metaphors. Wack-o! This is really the logical conclusion of the Republican Party - so anti-government, that they just stop serving in public office. Which is fine by us.

That's it for us today. We'll see you tomorrow.

1 comment:

  1. this is totally bizarre... she doesn't want to be a lame duck governor, so she just quits! I find this excuse is pretty lame also. btw, as long as she doesn't say she will not run for reelection, she's not in a lame duck position. The whole thing just raises more questions.

    Every other day there're news about Palin, ranging from a running challenge to the President (what's the deal with the national policy btw?) to this bombshell... I really do not know what to say about her bizarre behavior.

    E

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