Bye Now!
Oh Sarah Palin. You’ve given us so much good material, from contemplating the failure of abstinence-only education or whether feminists like us hate you because you’re just so pretty and married to–surprisingly–finding common cause with you when you called out David Letterman. You were the anti-feminist conundrum that just wouldn’t quit. Until, Friday, you actually did. Quit, that is. We were all enjoying our beach vacations and parties and family time and Pimms Cups when you just upped and announced that after less than one term, you were resigning as governor of Alaska. Was it because the press kept being so mean to you? Because you were seduced by the prospect of greater GOP glory than Alaska can offer? Or because some skeleton in your closet is about to come rattling out and you’d rather pre-empt an impeachment? Who knows? That press conference you gave? Not much help.
So from our various holiday locations, the Harpies gather round to speculate. The question for today’s Harpy Seminar: WTF Sarah Palin?
BeckySharper: My first reaction was “Jeezus, lady, just STFU and do your job.” She says she knew she’d be a lame duck because she wasn’t running again…oh PUH-lease.. Everyone becomes a lame duck–hell, in my home state there’s a one term limit, so governors are essentially lame ducks as soon as they’re sworn in. The Governator is the ultimate lame duck in California right now, but he’s not headed back to Hollywood in a huff. You don’t get to ditch the people who voted for you because the job didn’t turn out the way you thought it would. Thanks, Governor Palin, for fulfilling the stereotype of working women–especially working mothers–as flighty, fickle, sensitive and stupid.
PhDork: You’re only a lame duck if you’re not electable again. She decided not to run again, made herself a lame duck, and then used that incredibly weak non-excuse to quit? I suppose it’s as sensible as anything else she’s said. I just want her to GO AWAY, and I know that’s never gonna happen. We need more women in politics, but not women who are so inarticulate and self-aggrandizing. There’s enough of that in DC already, and I fear that her particular brand of crazy is going to reflect poorly on all women in public life.
SarahMC: Sarah Palin is not one-hundredth the women Hillary Clinton is. (ed: Fucking A.) That is all.
Wait, maybe not. If the reasons she gave for resigning are the true reasons, then she’s a quitter pure and simple. She’s not cut out to lead a Brownie troop; I shudder to imagine how she’d have handled the presidency. I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop, though. For now, I don’t think there’s much more I can say because I don’t know what’s really behind her decision.
PhDork: No, you’re not. Not about this, anyway. I understand there have been a number of ethical issues brewing up yonder (apart from the firing of the brother in law and private travel on the public dime), and the timing is so strange, there’s got to be some fire behind all this smoke. Whether that means some moose shit is about to hit the fan, or she’s decided to join the squawking heads at Fox, I don’t know. There’s been speculation about grooming her for 2012, but it’s not clear how this serves to strengthen her in anyway.
However, I’ve seen some support for her via FB comments–people (okay, dudes, and not people I find terribly discerning) I knew from HS saying “Palin shall rise again!” or trumpeting her common sense (?) and moral rectitude. I didn’t see the full speech, just clips about full-court presses and dead fish and I’m-not-a-quitter-so-I’m-quitting…truly baffling.
BeckySharper: I bet community organizers everywhere are laughing their asses off.
PilgrimSoul: And speaking of laughing your ass off, I give you this.
So what does it all MEAN? Any insights? Vitriol? Do you even care what becomes of Sarah Palin? Give us your worldview, Charlie, in the comments.
IN WHAT RESPECT?
No, but seriously, folks, this is crazy and I can’t figure it out. I don’t see how this would do anything but hinder a presidential run. All I hope is that poor Bristol gets to be left alone now.
Unfortunately I didn’t partake in this seminar, so here’s my belated two cents:
- All that was missing from her press conference was a Dick Nixon-esque cry of “You won’t have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore!” That would have made a lot more sense than her bit about only dead fish going with the flow.
- Part of me would love to ignore her and pretend she was a fluke, a Dan Quayle for the 21st century, but she still arouses a hell of a lot of ire in me — not only her, but also those geniuses who figured any woman up for VP would automatically garner the votes of women. So while I’m glad she is leaving the statehouse and possibly politics forever, I feel like there’s still a lot of stuff to be sorted through as far as what Palin is, both as a politician and as a symbol for women in politics.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop. There HAS TO BE a reason for this, other than simple legal fees, which she could easily make back on a speaking tour or doing some show on Fox (which appears to be her only job possibility left!)…
My money is on replacing Hasselback on The View.
If she was part of the reality-based community–if she could even see it from her house–I’d say there has to be a big scandal coming. But with Palin, it’s possible she just woke up and decided she didn’t want to be governor anymore.
Did you see the transcript her office posted? There are 18 exclamation points. She actually says: “I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ?”
I honestly don’t think she quit because she’s “tired” of politics. If she was THAT fed up with “anonymous liberal bloggers” and her treatment by the evil media, she sure as hell would’ve said so.
That said, either 1) she’s trying to make a clear run for the white house (which if she is, she’s sure to fail b/c um, she didn’t even finish one term as governor?) or 2) there’s been some crazy scandal in which she’d rather not make public.
Regardless, I wish she’d just go away.
@spark: “I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ?”
Huh. Too bad she didn’t promise proper syntax and grammar.
The first thing that came to my head was that someone was pregnant. Then I started thinking that the first Dude had been out hiking the appalachian trail. The more I think about it the more I think there’s something really ugly in the wind and she wants out before it hits.
I wish she would just go away as well but there’s no way, she likes the spotlight far too much for that to happen.
I have been reading/blogging this obsessively all weekend and still have no idea WTF is going on with her. Either there is a big colossal scandal about to come out, she’s done with elected office altogether, or she’s just really this dumb to take her ball and go home because the popular kids were mean to her.
@Aftercancer: Fifty bucks says Todd is pregnant.
dailykos suggested this weekend it might have something to do with the embezzlement rumors about the Wasilla Sports Complex and her house in Wasilla, but those have come up before and blown over. Maybe the other snowmachine boot is about to drop?
I listened to two Alaskan political reporters this morning on NPR and they both sort of convinced me that the joker really does think this will free her up to run for president (they mentioned how difficult travel to the lower 48 is from Alaska) and also how at this point because of her own feuding she has alienated the entire legislature (including her own party members)and was in a huge hole there. Not a good excuse to quit, but it certainly put it in a better context.
@bluebears: So the thinking is that the media won’t be able to call her the failed lame duck governor in 3 years because she’s quitting right now? And it’s better to quit than be caught doing a lousy job? Yikes. But logic never was her strong suit.
Man, she’s freakin’ nuts.
Her rhetoric this time around is beginning to scare me for real. She has removed herself of the political structure that helped her become famous but which she sees an encumbrance. So now she’s entirely free to pursue her messianic mission (she did use the words “higher calling”, I believe)-but she’s the messiah. Whatever she has planned for her immediate future, and I think a talk show is a good bet, she doesn’t see herself stopping there. In fact, it’s not clear where she sees herself stopping.
Curse the Republican party for inflicting this lunatic on the nation. I sure hope there’s something nasty that’s about to pop. Otherwise who knows how the hell we’ll get rid of her.
Since I am currently living in the UK, I am not aware of the details of her resignation. However, for some bizarre reason I am not surprise by her resignation… rather I am indifferent to her. Can we just move to another topic? Please!!
When she accepted the VP nomination, she knew she needed to bring her professional game up to another level, she never did. She knew that her family would get attacked as did Hilary and Chelsea before her (by even her twin maverick brother McCain in 1998), let face it she knew her family affairs would come out. But now she plays the victim card again, a card she played after those comical first extended interviews that we all enjoyed and SNL immortalized. But for the icing on the cake, she quits, because she does not want to be a lame duck governor, because the lawsuits keep coming, because it was the media’s fault, because seeing Russia from her house finally got to her, because its not fair that Alaskan’s paid her salary while she was running for the VP position, take your pick. So what does she tells us? Dear Mr. President, when things get tough, quit. Dear military men and women, if you are not having fun, quit. Dear son or daughter, if things are not going your way, quit. Sure, I agree when she first was introduced and gave a descent speech, sure the polls went up, but after the extended interviews, they went where they ended, down. She showed her true character, I real hope the book deal, Radio/ TV shows and the lecture circuits make up for what her party has lost by her actions. She may go down in history as the quitter that twittered.
Sarah Palin wants money, fame, and most of all she wants power. It’s understandable that she would want to escape her ethics problems, promote her own agenda and start her presidential campaign. This is a great boon for comedians like Sara Benincasa who recently posted an hilarious new vlog mimicking Sarah Palin on her WordPress blog at http://www.sarabenincasa.wordpress.com/ In real life, however Sara Palin is truly scary. I believe she would not only try to implement enforced ignorance, but if elected President would be a war starting unethical tyrant. Conclusion: She would be a boon for comedy but horrible for the world. P.S.: I found out about your blog via Kelsey Wallace’s profile at Bitch Magazine
Can anyone real tell me that you were impressed by her exit speech? You know, if she can’t take a joke, don’t get in the game, its politics, they all get kicked around. My beef is that she reminds of unqualified people like Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, and George “W”. She is just another “W” in heels and she is stringing the religious right along, she will sell you her books, her radio/TV shows and speaking engagements. Let me paint you a picture, in my opinion, for the last eight years where the mantra was no regulation and no oversight and spread to all federal agencies and the justice department was filled by unqualified religious types and the dullard (ex-drunk) religious president started two wars of choice with extreme tax dollar spending, is anyone real surprised with our current economic situation because of those choices. Sure “W” sucker the religious right to vote for him (and it didn’t hurt that they were promised federal dollars) and that’s why he placed unqualified people in positions of responsibility and they failed (almost a “plan to fail”). I am so tried of unqualified religious zealots controlling the government and their attempts to make the second coming of Christ a reality, their hatred of women, gays, minorities, and immigrants (even though they use them to reap higher margins for their businesses) disgust me. For 7 of the last 8 years they had the majority and the presidency and they tried to force their religion and look where it left us, in the gutter, but our country does not quit and we will rise again. Do you remember how Ronald Reagan got us out of a recession? By spending and we will do the same. Lastly, I do not want you to believe what I believe, so please keep writing, feel free, I am starting to enjoy this.
[...] ditching her job as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin’s been on the road, speaking, promoting her book and [...]