Sarah Palin's Resignation
I've waited a few days to write about Governor Palin's decision to resign. My initial reaction was extreme disappointment and even a touch of anger. While my anger has faded I am still extremely disappointed by the governor's decision to step down. And a bit mystified by her reasoning.
Governor Palin gave many reasons for quitting: frivolous ethics probes that have crippled her administration and cost the state of Alaska over 2 million dollars; the relentless attacks on her children; her decision not to run for a second term made her a lame duck; mounting legal bills to defend herself from baseless charges; and some other stuff that I can't remember from her disjointed press conference.
I still like and respect the governor. The baseless ethics probes have in fact crippled her administration and her ability to govern. The attacks on her children, especially the vitriol directed at an infant with Down Syndrome, are so over the top and out of bounds that the people who utter such poison should be filled with a deep and lasting shame (though they won't). Her decision not to run for a second term was legit, as it could have propelled her to the front of the race for the Republican nomination in 2012. Her mounting legal bills of over half a million dollars are not easily paid by the governor's salary.
Had she given any one of those reasons and coupled it to a decision to resign I'd be more forgiving. After all, who wants to listen as her son is called retarded and her daughter is the victim of a disgusting rape joke. My stomach turns when I think about what this woman and her family have been subjected to. Maybe the simple truth is that she just had enough. I'm not sure that that's the case; but it does seem at least a reasonable possibility. But she didn't just list one thing. She listed many, which is why people are now speculating as to which is the truth. Regardless of that, I'm more upset about the abdication of her responsibility to her constituents that she has let down. The people of Alaska elected her to a 4-year term of office. They did not elect Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. In resigning early she has certainly exercised an existing right to do so, but she has, in my opinion, exercised poor judgment.
If the attacks on her family and the baseless ethics charges that crippled her administration are truly the two reasons she has resigned, and I tend to believe that they are, then Governor Palin has done nothing more than to fuel the partisan fires that burn in the hearts of her opposition. She might have removed herself from the line of fire, but she proved to those character assassins that their strategy works, and that if given enough time, resources, and venom regurgitated on the primary target, they can force people to flee from the heat of the kitchen. This was exactly the wrong message to send.
I would have much preferred to see Governor Palin hammer her opponents and simultaneously call on the leaders of the Democrat party to renounce these sorts of attacks on family and children much like Obama demanded his kids be left alone, and properly so. In putting the heat back onto those who quietly stoke the fires, people who wanted nothing more than to see Sarah Palin reduced to ashes, she would've turned the debate on its head and revealed the hypocrisy of the leaders of the Democrat party who believe deeply in the politics of personal destruction. Especially when waged against an accomplished, attractive, happily married, pro-life mother of five governor who marches to the beat of a very different drum than their rigid ideology of liberal, pro-abortion feminism. If their goal was to destroy Sarah Palin, their efforts bore fruit. It's now up to the governor to leave them with a rotten taste in their mouths, and to rebuild the trust she has damaged with the people of Alaska and within the conservative movement she was hoping to lead. It is a formidable mountain to climb. Your move, Ms. Palin.
Governor Palin gave many reasons for quitting: frivolous ethics probes that have crippled her administration and cost the state of Alaska over 2 million dollars; the relentless attacks on her children; her decision not to run for a second term made her a lame duck; mounting legal bills to defend herself from baseless charges; and some other stuff that I can't remember from her disjointed press conference.
I still like and respect the governor. The baseless ethics probes have in fact crippled her administration and her ability to govern. The attacks on her children, especially the vitriol directed at an infant with Down Syndrome, are so over the top and out of bounds that the people who utter such poison should be filled with a deep and lasting shame (though they won't). Her decision not to run for a second term was legit, as it could have propelled her to the front of the race for the Republican nomination in 2012. Her mounting legal bills of over half a million dollars are not easily paid by the governor's salary.
Had she given any one of those reasons and coupled it to a decision to resign I'd be more forgiving. After all, who wants to listen as her son is called retarded and her daughter is the victim of a disgusting rape joke. My stomach turns when I think about what this woman and her family have been subjected to. Maybe the simple truth is that she just had enough. I'm not sure that that's the case; but it does seem at least a reasonable possibility. But she didn't just list one thing. She listed many, which is why people are now speculating as to which is the truth. Regardless of that, I'm more upset about the abdication of her responsibility to her constituents that she has let down. The people of Alaska elected her to a 4-year term of office. They did not elect Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. In resigning early she has certainly exercised an existing right to do so, but she has, in my opinion, exercised poor judgment.
If the attacks on her family and the baseless ethics charges that crippled her administration are truly the two reasons she has resigned, and I tend to believe that they are, then Governor Palin has done nothing more than to fuel the partisan fires that burn in the hearts of her opposition. She might have removed herself from the line of fire, but she proved to those character assassins that their strategy works, and that if given enough time, resources, and venom regurgitated on the primary target, they can force people to flee from the heat of the kitchen. This was exactly the wrong message to send.
I would have much preferred to see Governor Palin hammer her opponents and simultaneously call on the leaders of the Democrat party to renounce these sorts of attacks on family and children much like Obama demanded his kids be left alone, and properly so. In putting the heat back onto those who quietly stoke the fires, people who wanted nothing more than to see Sarah Palin reduced to ashes, she would've turned the debate on its head and revealed the hypocrisy of the leaders of the Democrat party who believe deeply in the politics of personal destruction. Especially when waged against an accomplished, attractive, happily married, pro-life mother of five governor who marches to the beat of a very different drum than their rigid ideology of liberal, pro-abortion feminism. If their goal was to destroy Sarah Palin, their efforts bore fruit. It's now up to the governor to leave them with a rotten taste in their mouths, and to rebuild the trust she has damaged with the people of Alaska and within the conservative movement she was hoping to lead. It is a formidable mountain to climb. Your move, Ms. Palin.
posted by The Rock | 9:58 AM
2 Comments:
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.
With due respect, I can't disagree with what you're saying, Anonymous. Governor Palin quit. If she wants to return serve the public she has a huge mountain to climb, as I said at the end of this posting.
Many thanks for reading and commenting!
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