And Another Thing

By Steve Benen
Washington Monthly

Sarah Palin's bizarre speech on Friday, announcing her decision to quit mid-way through her first term, has not gone over especially well. That the outgoing governor wouldn't (or couldn't) offer a compelling rationale for her resignation -- the desire to "effect positive change outside government" isn't cutting it -- has only fueled questions about what Palin is thinking.

With that in mind, Palin chose to elaborate on her rambling remarks with a 477-word, poorly-written Facebook message yesterday. She argued that it's in "Alaska's best interest" for her to resign, adding, "[I]t always feels good to do what is right."

The response in the main stream [sic] media has been most 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. 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. [...]

Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness! God bless you! And I look forward to making a difference - with you!

In case there were any doubts, Palin's personal spokesperson told the AP that the Facebook message was, in fact, written by the governor. 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....(Remainder.)