Return of the Arctic Fox
Anyone not living under a rock or in Port St. Lucie, Florida knows that on July 3 Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced she was turning over the office of governor to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell and will officially step down on July 25.
From that day going forward, she will be known only as Mrs. Palin…Citizen Palin, if you will.
It was a decision as prodigious in its impact on American politics as it was collectively mind-numbing for the punditocracy and the internet chatterati, all of whom are falling over themselves in an effort to be the first to authoritatively pronounce a verdict on tea leaves.
As a matter of politico-historical fact, governors with only 18 months left in their term of office simply do not abruptly resign unless extraordinary, usually scandalous, circumstances compel them to do so. Aside from the usual murky swirl of rumor churning up from the bilges of the liberal blogosphere in Alaska, the reasons for Mrs. Palin’s sudden departure remain ambiguous at best in the absence of evidence of any scandal sufficient to destroy her.
In her resignation speech she referenced the successive waves of frivolous “ethics” lawsuits brought against her since her name became a household word almost a year ago:
Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I’ve been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.
Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn’t been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.
It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but THIS isn’t what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.
And she is absolutely correct, as I observed on April 28 in another one my brilliantly lucid posts.
It’s also taken a toll on her family - many of whom have become targets of outrageously nasty partisan attacks. Recently, those of us who can stomach network TV in general and David “I Used To Be Funny” Letterman in particular witnessed his jaw-droppingly tasteless “joke” involving what amounted to the statutory rape of Willow Palin at the hands of a professional jock. Letterman’s remarks may be considered a textbook illustration of Palin Derangement Syndrome and an illuminating glimpse into the mindset of those who would call themselves the ruling elite.
May we surmise, then, that she resigned in response to the collective collateral damage sustained over the past 10 months? Perhaps. Then again, a favorite tactic of Roman generals when engaged in a fixed line of battle against enemy armies was to order the center column to sustain casualties and feign retreat, lulling the opposing general into a false belief that the Romans were close to defeat. The poor sap would order a full attack, only to be confronted by the very column that was supposed to be retreating - now stronger, thanks to reinforcements - and surrounded by the other two columns.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign I coined the nickname “Arctic Fox” in reference to the Governor of Alaska - partly because she’s a very attractive woman worthy of the double entendre and partly because I sensed in her (and still sense) a certain, instinctive cunning that is almost fox-like in expression.
The REAL Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus or Vulpes lagopus) is a remarkable creature. Of all the wild species of the Canidae Family, the Arctic fox is the only one that has no fear of humans. These intrepid little canids will steal food from campers in broad daylight and hector seal skinners despite the latter being armed with deadly knives.
This is somewhat surprising, given the degree to which the Arctic fox has been hunted for its fur (it has the highest insulating value of any animal fur on the planet) but certainly understandable when we consider that Arctic foxes are among the most intelligent, wily predators north of the Arctic circle.
Which leads me to the primary reason I coined the term: in a wilderness political world populated and dominated largely by an all-male, old-boys’ network of glad-handers and backstabbers, she rose through the ranks from her local PTA to the Governor’s mansion, leaving in her wake a landscape strewn with the political corpses of those who underestimated her.
But for her abortive run as Veep nominee to alpha RINO John McCain, her first term as Governor would have concluded on a wildly successful note and she very likely would have been re-elected by a substantial margin. All politics, after all, is local and Alaska is no exception.
However, the moment she set foot on the national stage and participated in what history will later document as the opening stages of a monumental struggle for the heart and soul of this republic, she was swept into the maelstrom of political polarization that continues to this day as liberal statists and conservative republicans form stark, easily identifiable lines of political battle. Indeed, Governor Palin became a lightning rod for deranged Democrats and a sword of division for Republicans - neither of whom ever really figured her out and, in my humble opinion, still haven’t figured her out. No one has - and anyone who insists differently is either full of misinformation or full of shit.
There can be no question whatsoever that Sarah Palin is intelligent. True, she is no Margaret Thatcher, but only a demented liberal or a seriously misinformed conservative would place her in the same IQ quintile as Marilyn Monroe. Time and again, in both interviews and speeches, she has demonstrated conclusively that her mind is both absorptive and keen; she has the capacity to take in and retain an astonishing quantity of detailed information - as anyone who has paid attention to any of her pre-Veep interviews can tell you - and she expresses her thoughts lucidly, with no protracted pauses or “uhhhhhs” and “ummmmms” peppering her discourse.
Nor can there be any question she is a woman of strong moral and ethical character. Unless she is leading an extraordinarily well concealed Jekyll-Hyde existence, there is every reason to believe she is, at her core, a basically honest and decent person. In a word, Sarah Palin has character - and she has it in spades. Again, only a demented liberal would dispute this.
Does character count for much? These days it does, certainly among those who have come to realize they have been sold a bill of socialist goods by people who utterly lack character and most definitely among those who saw this disaster coming long before November 4, 2008. Perhaps Col. Robert Gould Shaw can explain it in ways that Col. Manly Rash cannot:
Intelligence and character aside, what of her political acumen and ultimately her political ambitions? That, obviously, is the $64,000 Question.
Much has been said and written of Mrs. Palin’s conservatism - or lack thereof - by demented liberals, stalwart conservatives and everyone along the spectrum between the two.
My friend Paul Mulshine is extremely dubious of her conservatism and refuses to take her seriously. I respect Paul’s opinion very much, but take issue with his characterization of her as a lightweight. In this respect, I believe he is conflating style with substance and the informality of her comportment with the depth of her conviction.
Mulshine complains that, unlike Mr. Reagan, Mrs. Palin lacks a well-cogitated paper trail. I must concur with my friend. However, it is worth noting that Mrs. Palin is a life-long Republican and only 45 years old. She became Mayor of Wasilla in 1996 when she was 32. Ronald Reagan did not become a Republican until 1962 - when he was 51 years old and first ran for Governor of California in 1966. Moreover, Reagan came from another generation - one long gone - that expressed itself in writing far more articulately and eloquently than any that has since passed. The comparison in this respect is an invidious one by any standard of measurement beyond adherence to the core principles of conservative republican governance.
On the other hand, he raises some valid points - certainly worthy of discussion at the very least - especially because talk is so cheap.
For example, I give you Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for the New Jersey gubernatorial election this November. Those of us who reside in the Garden State and aren’t dead from the neck up know that Christie is a RINO, plain and simple. Yet, to have heard him bloviate on the primary campaign trail, one would have sworn he was a Reagan conservative. He certainly claimed to be - even if the facts surrounding his brief tenure as Morris County Freeholder said otherwise. Talk is cheap - Barack Obama is living proof - and these days you can purchase a truckload of it as easily and cheaply (perhaps even more cheaply) than a truckload of cow manure.
On June 2 Christie prevailed over Steve Lonegan - an unapologetic, unreconstructed Reaganite - by a margin of 55% to Lonegan’s 42% - less than comfortable for a Republican primary. Contrast Christie’s verbal flatulence with Steve Lonegan’s actual record and you can immediately see the difference between talking the talk and walking it.
Mulshine singles out two issues on which he hammers Palin - tort reform and school vouchers - and proceeds to pound away at the anvil. According to the Star-Ledger columnist, Sarah is opposed to tort reform.
If so, that would come as news to the folks at LegalNewsline. Admittedly, the article is 10 months old, but it was the only relevant source I could find regarding Governor Palin and the issue of tort reform:
Palin’s public comments on national legal issues have been limited to her comments blasting the U.S. Supreme Court for reducing the punitive damages award to victims of the Exxon Valdez spill, which left 11 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound after the Exxon tanker ran aground.
In the Exxon case, a divided Supreme Court in June reduced the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the long-running lawsuit to no more than $507.5 million, ruling 5-3 that the original award was excessive.
In a statement, Palin said she was very disappointed with the decision. She said the nation’s highest court “gutted the jury’s decision on punitive damages” and undercut an important deterrent against future maritime shipping accidents.
“It is tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision,” Palin said. “My heart goes out to those affected, especially the families of the thousands of Alaskans who passed away while waiting for justice.”
Palin’s objection’s to the ruling could be at least partly politically motivated and might not be an accurate representation of her view on the role of punitive damages, Howard said.
And school vouchers? Paul Mulshine is correct: as Governor, Mrs. Palin was adamant in her opposition to them - at least in Alaska:
On Sept. 9, 2006, the NEA-Alaska asked Palin if she supported the use of vouchers, tax credits, or other programs that provide public money for students to attend private or religious schools.
“No,” Palin said. “It is unconstitutional and it is as simple as that.” She also said she would not support amending the Alaska Constitution.
Palin told NEA-Alaska she wants to give parents as much choice and as many options as possible for educating their children, but “not public funding via vouchers.” Instead, she stressed the need for vocational education, especially in “resource rich” Alaska where “so many of our students are going to go on to vo-tech careers.”
QED? Yes - for Alaska. But nationwide? Beats me…and Mrs. Palin hasn’t said much about the matter since then.
So, do we shoot her? Nope. Not so fast. Let us not make the perfect the enemy of the good. For one thing, Mrs. Palin was speaking as the governor of Alaska. For another she has not been forthcoming in any excruciating detail regarding her national conservative philosophy. Absent such a manifesto, I for one will not so easily or quickly reach for the shotgun. Like I said earlier, this woman is an enigma and before I consent to pull the trigger, I want to know - at the very least - what the hell I’m shooting at before I shoot at it.
As I’m sure many of you have heard and read, the Drive-Bys and political chattering classes are in a complete feeding frenzy over her resignation. Unfortunately, all they are chomping on is chum - and, occasionally, each other. Some of them insist this is a brilliant move but can only hazard a guess as to why she did it. Others say she’s insane or a complete idiot and generally agree that her political future is finished. The usual gang of PDS sufferers are deriding her as a “quitter” even as they relish in premature schadenfreude based on wild rumors that the IRS is about to lower the boom on her and The soon-to-be-former First Dude.
So let’s analyze this logically. The precise reasons for her resignation are unknown at this time, although it appears they are based largely on the tsunami of ethics lawsuits filed against her and the hailstorm of personal attacks on her family - all of which are made possible by the fact she is a sitting governor and therefore a publicly accountable figure. It follows that her office placed her in the unenviable position of being the recipient of attacks conducted on the taxpayer’s dime, against which she was forced to defend herself using her own resources.
By resigning from that office she immediately removes herself from this line of fire. You can’t file an ethics suit against Governor Palin if she is no longer Governor Palin. Moreover, as a private citizen she is a accorded a presumptive measure of privacy otherwise unavailable to those who hold public office. What does this mean? It means, in effect, she has just donned head-to-toe legal body armor.
It means she is now in a position to effectively use the momentum of the lawsuits launched against her to the detriment of the litigants, much as a master of jujitsu directs the body mass and momentum of his assailant away from himself in a manner that causes injury to his attacker. As a private citizen, she is much better positioned to counter-attack - be it in the course of a press conference or in a lawsuit for libel or slander.
At this point all options are pretty much open to her: she can retire to private life as a housewife and mother. She can pursue business options. Hell, she can get her own show on the Fox Network if she wanted to. Two or three months in the company of a dedicated scrivener and she would have a bestseller on her hands, should she decide to write her memoirs.
Or, if she wants, she could run for political office at a future date.
Run for political office? Col. Rash, have you lost your mind? Can you not see that, by quitting at this late date, she has destroyed what little political credibility she had left? Hell’s Bells, man, everyone knows it. No less a genius than Ed Morrissey has proclaimed that her political career is over.
In a normal political world, he and the others would be correct. But this is no longer a normal political world: all of that that changed on January 20, 2009 when a socialist named Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and take a guess of my own as to what might have influenced Mrs. Palin’s decision and, very possibly, precipitated it: L’Affair Sanford.
When the political toilet overflowed in South Carolina and the ostensibly conservative Republican Governor revealed himself to be the poster boy of testosterone-driven dysfunctionality, I can’t help but wonder if Mrs. Palin experienced the same political epiphany I did: the system really IS broken. The whole thing really is screwed up - on both sides of the aisle.
The whole system is out of order.
I know it. You know it. And SHE knows it.
She’s been following what’s been happening in this nation ever since the April 15 TEA parties. She’s been watching - quietly and intently - the formation of political battle lines. But these battle lines are not along the traditional Republican-Democrat divide - rather, they cross party and all other divisions into a far deeper chasm: the divide between liberals and conservatives, collectivists and capitalists, statists and republicans. The final battle line separates those who believe this nation is headed in right direction from those who are certain it is committing suicide.
She has seen the crowds and is aware of her popularity among ordinary folk anxious to preserve the United States as the last, best, hope for mankind on earth. She senses the growing backlash against a federal government that is becoming immense in size and despotic in power.
She knows the establishment despises her. Then again, we all know the establishment despises us. She’s well aware of their sneering and catcalls, but chooses to ignore them - just as we are learning to do.
The time is approaching when murmured dissension becomes the full-throated roar of an awakened giant - a giant filled with a terrible resolve. When that happens, the choice to lead will be hers to make, insofar as the roar of the mob will have drowned out any mewling from the Conventional Wisdom.
The Artic Fox hasn’t left us, ladies and gentlemen. On the contrary…she has returned and is poised on a snowdrift. All eyes are on her.
Well done. Go over to the “hard core Conservative” sites and be prepared to gag. This woman scares the pants off of Beta “men” and “feminists” alike.
She’s something none of them can stomach: a genuinely nice person. The old guard is shaken, and shaking.
She has my vote, should that be needed.
July 26 is 3 weeks away…Per Sapwolf, she’s in CA on August 8th to give a speech at the Reagan Library. Perhaps, Governor Palin will announce her future intentions.
I’m hoping the light in the tunnel is HER, complete with snow plow to clear the tracks of American politics of the “befoulment” (if I may borrow a word) that so affects our nation…
While I will not speculate on Palin stuff over at my portion of the site that is linked in my name (mostly because I want to focus on local issues), I can pontificate about them here.
None of us know what the future will hold. I believe that it was Jesus himself who said to not make definitive plans for the future when we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. That is why I am continually holding a wait and see attitude when it comes down to the good Governor Palin.
There is something that bothers me, and it is very evident in the posts and tweets from my good friend and fellow Red Countyman, Matt Mitchell. His idea is that of conventional thinking, that when someone resigns, it is for a reason that has bad connotations and means that they are done. He is in the mindset of 2004 and 2006, the Karl Rove years.
I am willing to hold on to the seat of my pants while Gov. Palin does what she does. I have decided that my eggs do belong in one basket, and that basket will be with Gov. Palin. If I lose them, I lose them. I will have no regrets.
When all the votes are counted in November, 2010, Sarah Palin will be a political dud or a political kingmaker.
Between now and then she will finish her book and go on the trail supporting it’s sale, do charity fundraisers and fundraisers for politicians and political groups who have some or most of her political beliefs be they Republican, Independent, Libertarian or Democrat (if she can find one of those critters). She will do a lot of speeches and probably promote SarahPac more publicly. She will meet a lot of ordinary Americans and lot of influential thinkers and money people. If the people she supports win, then she will have a lot of IOUs she can collect later when she wants to—if she wants to.
I am personally not sure that she wants to run for President in 2012. She may just want to promote someone else who thinks as she does politically. I would love for her to run but I’m not sure if she will. She is a very independent person and the Presidency is a very confining position.
As a private citizen there will be a lot of avenues open to her so I’m sure there will be suprises down the road.
Great post, Col. Rash.
Oh man. There is just so much to comment on here.
But one thing I see in my future is the blogging death of beta male pundits; the political death of RINOs and the GOP (grand old puzzies) - and yes that includes Micheal Steel.
I initially endorsed Sarah Palin, because my original candidate Mike Huckabee had been “Media box’ed out” of the race.
In despair that all we had was the bumbling dolt McCain, I was suddenly full of hope once again when Sarah came upon the scene. I remember being in Iraq, and I was so pumped up, I could have taken on a whole army of Al Queda, or run over numerous IED’s sight unseen, because all was well: we had Sarah to guide the idiot through the channel.
Months later.. many desparaging chapters later, I turn my eyes to the horizon of 2012. Will there be anything left by then?
Once again, I hope for Gov Huckabee to be given a chance, and I hope the Republican party will break from its staid and old fashioned ways and look to him for Leadership.
I looked at Gov Palins decision this last weekend, and whatever may or may not have been the impetus; whatever may or may not have been the motivation, one thing is clear: She did leave her post a full year and a half short. She took the helm of Governor of Alaska, and implicitly promised to finish the course. If this decision to quit is for anything less than to slip away it is a wrong choice morally. Ultimately she can never be trusted in another elected position. In this day and age when we need every Conservative leader manned and ready at the helm, for her to just simply “quit” seems , in short, selfish.
I am hoping that Gov Huckabee will provide that movement of leadership and groundswell against the current administration. But as it is, the Conservative party is still too “Needs focused”. All any conservative leader can focus on is “what their needs are”, not what the needs of the people are as a whole. Because of this, we cannot come together around one leader, and the current administrartion uses this weakness and plays it against us. It plays it against us by passing bills against us and turning one against the other to the point where we even see GOP defecting and signing bills.
UNtil we have a leader to call the people together, to cry out against all of the injustices of this current administration, then they will continue to rape us financially and legislatively. And there will be nothing we can do about it. And all of the Foxy Sarahs in the World won’t save us.
Great commentary. I’ll certainly be back here to read your future take on where we’re heading.
One caveat; In paragraph 15 there is a switch in tense which would suggest that she ‘is not’ honest, etc… Unless she is leading an extraordinarily well concealed Jekyll-Hyde existence, there is every reason to conclude she is not, at her core, a basically honest and decent person.
I’m sure that you would not want some jackass quoting you without context.
Good grammatical catch! The correction has been made and Col. Rash hereby promotes you to Lieutenant in charge of proofreading.
MD:
I just responded you your reply to my post on the earlier thread.
But to Cellmedic:
Sir, I applaud, and laud your service, so my remarks are in no way intended to be disrespectful of your opinion, but I wholeheartedly disagree.
You’ve taken a whole whopping swig of the left’s kool-aid if you think what Sarah did was “quit” or “Abandon her post.” I even heard (can’t think of her name) the woman who was on Chris Wallace’s program today say she (the divine Sarah)made a fatal error by playing “the victim card.” Please, please take the time to re-read the transcript. Savor it slowly like you would a glass of vintage wine. Sip, swirl, cogitate. Sip, swirl, cogitate. I think you may come to a different conclusion.
To me Sarah sounded like anything BUT the victim. She stated facts:
1)Constant frivolous ethics complaints meant she and her staff were dealing with those and had little time to do what she was elected to do.
2)It was costing the state a bucket load of money that otherwise would be directed toward infrastructure, Emergency management, or other worthy endeavors. (The ‘Cuda absolutely hates wasting public money!) Yes it was costing her personally, too, but this was almost a throw-away line.
3)She made a comment about how lame-duck governors’ usually just fly around the world padding their resume…OK, I’ll give you that one, if she’s such a “maverick” why would she fall into such a mold? Point to you.
But basically, I don’t think she was whining, moaning, gnashing teeth, rending clothing or quitting ANYTHING. My take away: Our country is in a fight for it’s very existance. I cannot sit by and try to play nicey-nice while this man child who holds all the cards keeps flitting from one “cause de jour” to the next, and is rapidly and systematically taking down our very way of life.
But that’s just me, and I’ve always admitted to having a girl crush.
Good Grief Manly…. That was excellent!
A man by the name of Barrack Hussein Obama began his campaign for POTUS the day he won his Senate seat, if not before then. He did not finish out his term. And I can assure you the people of IL. did not rise up, and denounce him because he had not only served for a year and half, but they did not even decry how inadequate that year and a half had been for the state of IL. Well other than all that pork.
Andrew Malcolm had a piece in the L.A. Times which stated these are not politics as usual times. He has seen many a political race, and so I think he has something on times being vastly different.
As to her RESIGNING. I have done some digging, and here is something the ignorant naysayers might want to review. I might add unlike others, it was one Bobby Jindal who so graciously pointed this out while at the same time saying he seriously doubted this was the end of Governor Palin’s career. http://tiny.cc/RaJfg
The link is the list of ethics laws for someone who happens to be a governor of Alaska. I have read several of them. I have read legal comments on them. I can say without a doubt that Governor Palin is not “quitting” on the state of Alaska, but rather saving the state of Alaska. It costs the state $2 million dollars to research the 15 baseless allegations, and prove Governor Palin HAD NOT violated any ethics rules or laws. The Democrats, and the RINOS in her state were not going to stop filing these types of charges. Ever.
It is clear that Governor Palin could not legally travel to the lower 48 states to campaign for herself, or any other GOP campaign because of the wording, or vagueness of these ethics laws. In fact, I would suggest the one about profiting from ever being a governor might have posed a problem regarding her book deal.
Speaking of her book deal, it was the best way for her to pay for the $500,000 legal fees she incurred thanks to the Alinsky rules for radicals crowd. You cannot keep spending money hand over fist like this without some major money coming in to support yourself, and your family.
I would think Trig might also need some extra money sources to provide for any of his specialized care as well. I have a handicap nephew, and it is not cheap caring for these special children.
For others to claim she “quit”, or did not finish her term as governor, I would again refer them to the link above, and remind them that she has done more for her state than most serving today, and in times past. She has reformed much of the politics as usual in AK, the whole gas and oil pipelines deal, reform out the wazoo for the weasels in the GOP, and tossed out the chef and private plane to boot. She is not leaving her state in financial distress either. Who here thinks it would not have been a good thing for Arnold to have resigned some time back? What about the failing blue state governors? Oh yeah, them staying in office has really made those state REAL WINNERS! Not!
I am with Manly in let us wait, and see before we begin screaming the sky is falling, and putting our eggs in anyone’s basket. As I have said before, I too have questions, and I for one want to see how she manages to deal with things going forward. I have seen signs of populism in her that I was alarmed at, and I am still not sure how green she is on this global warming deal.
Based on the ethics laws in AK, she could not be what she needs to be, and right now what I want her to be is the one solid, clear voice beating the hell out of President Chutes&Ladders. I want her to play whack-a-mole with his policies, and his little noggin. I want her to fight him because not one single solitary person in the GOP is bashing him around like a punching bag. Americans want someone to fight for them! NOW!
And the cherry on top, she is now really and truly one of us. By the time President Skateboard gets finished with us in 2011; the American people are going to be so fed up with politicians they would vote for one of the Jonas Brothers to be POTUS. No slick tongued weasel is going to be able to sneak past the voting public again. Sarah Palin might just be a plain old gal from Alaska which is what this country will need. And I say this as one who is not a Palinista, but way more approving of this move than just about anything else she has done since November.
P.S. Here is El Rushbo’s take on all this http://tiny.cc/gQqB6
Most people seem to be missing what resigning now does instead of finishing her term before starting a presidential run in 2011. It opens the door to her being involved in the 2010 mid-terms in a big way. Anyone who’s been watching politics, and she has, knows that the Republican party must pull itself together and gain ground in the 2010, possibly take the house. Something has to slow the rush to socialism.
Sarah Palin is uniquely able to mobilize interest and generate donations. If she campaigns heavily in 2010, she can make a difference. And if she pulls the party together into some semblance of victory, they will carry her on thier shoulders into 2012.
BTW, for note, I was once known here as Sakaki Onsei. The Red county link is the reason I have been silent for a while.
It’s a great thing to be able to publish stuff for a reputable blog site.
freeus on July 6, 2009 at 12:01 am
Thank you Colonel. You’ve given me more to chew on.
I most certainly hope that Sarah moves into a position that will enhance her standing among the conservatives in our great country.
She has the potential to pull the moderate D’s and the independents into the conservative arena.
I need to hear from her again … I hope it’s soon.
Meanwhile, I’m praying for her and our country.
Huckabee for Secretary of HHS, no Hope for higher office than that…
Thank you Col.Rash. A well thought out analysis. I believe that when we look back on this, we will see this was ‘The Artic Fox’s’ Independence Day. By resigning now she allows Sean Parnell to run as an incumbent while continuing the work she and he began. I think money does play into this and as a mother with a special needs child, that probably factored into it. I also thinks she sees that the TEA party movement as possibly needing a leader to coalace around. And just to throw something out there: last week when Rush started talking about Obummer staying on after his two terms were up, he made the statement that he only had a few hours sleep because was working on a top secret project he couldn’t tell us about…..hmmmm.
Hmmm….
If we still had Golden Megaphones for me to keep score of, that would present an interesting question of how to keep your score.
HHS should be abolished: there is nothing the Constitution authorizing its existence.
As for Huckabee, he is essentially a Pro-Life Tax-n-Spend Populist. We have one of those critters in New Jersey by the name of Chris Smith.
I’m wondering if Rush is considering a run for elected office. For years he eschewed any political aspirations because he didn’t want to be beholden to those who funded his campaign. Well, he doesn’t need to: Rush Limbaugh is a billionaire who can easily afford to completely fund his own campaign from start to finish, including the victory party. Hell, he could even afford to forego the salary.
He’d certainly be a powerful voice of conservatism in whatever office he got elected to.
Beautiful imagery, Manly.
We anxiously await her first move.
Well done, boss! Sarah P inspires me politically like no other…I just hope she turns out to be the real deal, and strikes fear and loathing into our socialist/communist enemies, both foreign and domestic.
Well done again, Manly! While nowhere near your eloquence, I’m sure that you’ll enjoy my take on Palin’s resignation. http://www.uncannedresponse.com/?p=921
PS: Vacation is over… So I’m back in the saddle again.
About damn time!!
Fine post, Col. Rash.
I was astonished at the speed to which Ed Morrissey and others jumped to the conclusion that her move was political suicide. And baffled.
Yours is the first of my fave blogs (outside of C4P) on which the main blog-writer is keeping a level head about this. It’s way too early to “turn out the lights”.
I think you correctly sense the undercurrent in the country. We’re not insisting on perfection in leadership. Just someone who won’t lead us into oblivion.
Excellent post, my Colonel. As I have stated elsewhere: Some “Conservatives” are concerned she has ruined her political career. Liberals, Pundits, Beltway Insiders, and Basement Bloggers are concerned she has just begun her political career.
Very concisely phrased.
BTW, Manly, do not do anything to turn into Ace of AoSHQ.
Not gonna happen. I’m too centered, too intelligent and far too good a writer to ever go down THAT path.
When all the words have been written and read, I find that her strength and therefore her attraction to us all, is her almost innate belief in conservative principles.
People worry about her “experience” and “education.” She has more of both that the AHO and, if she chooses to run and manages to win, those principles will see us all through the hard times that AHO and his band of thugs are plotting.
She will get my support and my vote because she believes as I believe.
She could not in good consience stay governor while her administration was wasting away on the frivolous ethics charges. She made the honorable, selfless choice to prepare for and let Parnell step in thereby taking the pressure off and freeing the government to function. She merely free’ed herself up to ‘go national’.
She can go several different ways on the national level.
And when the fox is free, the fox can be a fox.
And I will also add that she completed all the big goals of her first term in the first 2.5 years.
It is time to move to the big leagues, whether House, Senate, RNC, charities, or POTUS, etc.
Col. Rash, I really wish you could dissuade yourself from handling Mulshine with kid gloves.
Every time I go over there, I hope to learn something of value and except for when he was getting paid to write for Lonegan, he has yet to inform or enlighten me.
From his characterization of Palin, I am sure that he has never studied up on her.
The latest one is no different.
Hell! He attacks the commenters at just below the headline, BEFORE they even have time to read the writeup!
And then he slams Palin for having a ego!!!!???
MulshineMoonshine is the one with a f**king ego, for God’s sake, because the only thing he can say about his commenters is: moron and dolt….I promise, I have gone over there for the last time now, because he is not worth the blog roll title mention on this site.
He reminds me of a bitter disenfranchised Libertarian and not a Conservative.
He’s merely the latest victim succumbing to the Sarah Induced Craze. She has rendered him incapable of clear thought in her regard.
He’s become a bumbling, immature mental midget - and we’re only 4 days in!
This should get good.
If they are bumbling midgets now, then they have always been bumbling midgets.
Sarah Palin doesn’t change them, she just reveals them.
I was hoping you’d sound like this…now I feel better.
She only left “politics as usual” and the people are really starting to hate them, more than ever I feel. So she left “politics as usual” to protect her family and the people of Alaska from waste and media. How bad is that? Not.
If the Dems think she’s such a failure, why are they spending so much extra time rejoicing about how dead she is in politics? They should be sad to see her go..since she has no chance and she would be so easy to beat.