From the statement of AK Gov. Sarah Palin announcing her resignation as governor effective July 26:
“Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose.”
Obviously, there is more to it than this. First of all, the numerous frivolous ethics complaints that had been filed against Gov. Palin — all of which have been dismissed — must have played a factor. The complaints had been costing the state of Alaska and Gov. Palin significant amounts of time and money — in the hundreds of thousands of dollars according to recent reports. Why continue to let baseless accusations that would ultimately be dismissed continue to dog her? Better to free oneself of that and enter a realm where liberals couldn’t abuse the system in order to pursue a path of political destruction against her.
Palin then quoted Gen. Douglas MacArthur saying, “We are not retreating; we are advancing in another direction.”
It sounds as if the other direction is the lower 48 and the number 270 as in electoral votes. Palin promised via her Twitter account that more information on her decision not to seek reelection and resign will follow.
People who don’t understand Palin or why she does what she does do not understand that she is the real life version of Ayn Rand’s Dagny Taggart. I have a feeling that we will soon see her calling out the Looters of our society and shining a bright light upon them so that they will scurry away like the cockroaches that they are.
I have to laugh at NBC’s Andrea Mitchel and MSNBC’s David Shuster claiming that Palin is now permanently out of politics — that is probably what they are wishing. After all, NBC/MSNBC is owned by General Electric which just used a loophole to loot $140 billion of our tax money by virtue of owning one small bank in Utah. GE Looter-In-Chief Jeffrey Immelt is doing a fine job at rapidly destroying this once fine company. Let’s hope that he is atop Palin’s list…
Filed under: 2012 Elections, Sarah Palin
I agree with you entirely Riley. It amazes me how short sighted many people are being about this, especially many of Virginia’s conservative bloggers. Considering how most feel about Tim Kaine and the way he has pushed aside his responsibility as Governor of Virginia to focus more of his time and effort as head of the DNC, I would expect applause for Sarah Palin in not promising to be one thing while pursuing another. While her motivation may not be that simple (and it is entirely possible the White House is not in her sights), she made a decision she felt was necessary. She should be respected simply for that.
Meanwhile, this definitely deserves a “wait and see” attitude. Many pundits seem to have already counted their chickens, and not only have they not waited for their eggs to hatch, but they have not even let the eggs get laid yet. I think Sarah Palin is very capable of exceeding expectations, and whatever path she is intent on pursuing, she will have a great chance of success.
Precisely. Already, articles are being written that her decision is a “head scratcher”. But just look at all the publicity this has already generated and the buzz it will be creating while people are waiting to hear “what’s next?” Very savvy marketing. I think people forget that she has a media background.
[...] Decides Against Seeking Re-election; Won’t Stand For Being a Lame Duck Virginia Virtucon People who don’t understand Palin or why she does what she does do not understand that she is the [...]
I disagree somewhat. As a governor of a state you essentially have a voice anytime you want. You also have the media anytime you want. Two more years and a second term as governor would have given her much more credibility as well. I hate to say this but she sounds like a quitter now, walking off the job when times get tough.
I cannot help but think we will be hearing much more about the details. I am very disappointed.
yes, i am disappointed, too. the Gov. of any state has immediate press availability for anything. As Gov., she could still write her book, fend off her “ethics complaints”, jet around to some extent (before Alaskans got agitated) & keep on getting on.
She will have a public forum because of who she is, but she won’t have the “government experience”. I think she needed that.
She doesn’t want to waste money or take focus off of Alaska’s issues. Not to mention that she’s tired of her family being abused, which I’m sure played a major factor in her decision. She’s completely unselfish and that’s something you don’t see much of anymore.
In spite of announcing on a Friday afternoon,the day before the 4th of July, she managed to knock Michael Jackson off the news – for a while anyway..
I believe MONEY is the main reason she’s quitting her job.
I don’t get how a first term Governor has to protect herself against being a lame duck by resigning halfway through. I’m assuming that this reason isn’t intended to be taken seriously. By that standard I guess every Virginia Governor would have to resign a few months after assuming office.
I am thinking of the other “Atlas SHrugged” analogy — that she is being more John Galt than Dagny Taggart. Possibly quitting, disappearing, and then slowly encouraging others to do so. Willing to come back with her influence group when the nation has been brought to its knees by the looters in power?
OK, that was a bit of offbeat speculation. My first thought really was that she needs to pay off her massive legal bills.
Sarah Palin is no Dagny Taggart. While she may be a fiscal conservative, her social conservatism is at odds with Ayn Rand’s – and Dagny’s – Objectivist views. In many ways, Dagny is a libertarian, rather than conservative, heroine; she’s also an economic contributor, not a career politician. I like and respect Gov. Palin, but she’ll have to do more than serve a portion of a gubernatorial term to convince me that she truly embodies Rand’s ideals of personal and economic liberty.
Dominique- agreed. I’m been an Ayn Rand fan before the recent ‘coolness’ of referencing atlas shrugged. While I think Palin was treated horribly by the press, she’s not a titan of industry like the folks portrayed by Rand. Palin is a politician, Alaska takes more money from the feds than almost all other states, she supported a windfall profit tax on the oil co’s, etc.— not the stuff of Dagny Taggart. A lot of folks who reference Atlas Shrugged are, themselves, the very folks who Rand would portray as those feeding from the govt. trough- ‘government relations’ folks (i.e. lobbyists) and political operatives contribute to this site but don’t seem to realize they would be the target of Rand.