Sarah Palin Formally Quits As Governor Of Alaska
Earlier this month we learned the surprising and happy news that Sarah Palin decided to quit her post as governor of the State of Alaska before even finishing out one singular term as her State’s leader. Because she doesn’t feel the need to serve out even one full term of office, as she was elected to do by the people of Alaska and seems intent to shirk her responsibilities as the leader of her State to seek fame and fortune as a more marketable private citizen, Palin decided to leave office and move forward in the private sector. To me, this sounds like the best news ever. Palin formally quit her job yesterday at a State picnic in Faribanks, Alaska, turning over the reigns of governance to Alaska Lt. Governor Sean Parnell … but not without taking a few parting shots. But, no matter what her spin job is, the truth remains … Palin is a quitter and the State of Alaska is better off without a leader who does not have the mettle to live up to her responsibilities:
Sarah Palin stepped down Sunday as Alaska governor to write a book and build a right-of-center coalition, but she left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid. In a fiery campaign-style speech, Palin said she was stepping down to take her political battles to a larger if unspecified stage and avoid an unproductive, lame duck status. ”With this decision, now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right, and for truth. And I have never felt that you need a title to do that,” Palin said to raucous applause from about 5,000 people gathered at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Her first order of business as a private citizen is to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. She also wants to campaign for political candidates from coast to coast, and continue to speak her mind on the social networking site Twitter, one of her favorite venues to reach out to supporters. Free speech was a theme of her farewell speech at a crowded picnic in Fairbanks, as the 45-year-old outgoing governor scolded ‘’some seemingly hell-bent on tearing down our nation” and warned Americans to ”be wary of accepting government largesse. It doesn’t come free.” She also took aim at the media, saying her replacement, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, ”has a very nice family too, so leave his kids alone!” And she told the media: ”How about, in honor of the American soldier, you quit makin’ things up?” She didn’t elaborate, but Palin said when she announced her resignation July 3 that she was tired of the media focus on her family and felt she had been unfairly treated by reporters and bloggers. Later Sunday, Palin posted her final message on her official Alaska account on the social networking site Twitter. ”Thank you Alaska!” she wrote. ”I love you. God bless Alaska. God bless the U.S.A.” Friend and foe alike have speculated that Palin may host a radio or TV show, launch a lucrative speaking career or seek higher office in Washington. Palin hasn’t ruled out any of those options, and her political action committee, SarahPAC, has raised more than $1 million, said Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the committee and the Palin family. Stapleton said Palin, of Wasilla, is still deciding what her future will be. ”I cannot express enough there is no plan after July 26. There is absolutely no plan,” she told The Associated Press. Palin’s surprise announcement she was stepping down 17 months before the end of her first term pushed her favorability rating down to 40 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll. Fifty-three percent of those polled gave her an unfavorable rating. Last summer, almost six in 10 Americans viewed her favorably. The latest poll was taken July 15-18. Nearly 20 ethics complaints had been filed against Palin, and the outgoing governor cited the resulting investigation’s financial toll — both on her and the state — for stepping down. An independent investigator looking into the complaints found evidence she may have violated ethics laws by trading on her position as she sought money for lawyer fees, according to a report obtained recently by the AP. Parnell, 46, of Anchorage, was sworn in Sunday as the state’s new governor.
I cannot, for the life of me, get over the fact that by quitting, Palin thinks that she is doing right by the people she was elected to serve. That there are supporters out there who champion her decision to quit is even more insane. Governance is no easy task … it never has been … that is why we need leaders who can stand the test of time and work as diligently as possible to fulfill their responsibilities for the good of the office they have been entrusted with. It’s beyond me that anyone can put any sort of faith in a person who is plainly incapable of doing the job they were elected to do … it’s not even that she can’t do the job, it’s that she made the conscious decision NOT to do the job. One of the first things we learn as children is that quitters never prosper … and yet, this seemingly able-bodied politician decides not only to quit her post but do to so in exchange for the ability to earn millions writing a book which will benefit no one but herself — and still her supporters cheer her on?!? Sadly, I fear this is not the last we’ve heard of Sarah Palin but from here on out she will always have the title of Quitter attached to her name. Hopefully the smarter kids who remember their lessons from kindergarten will win out in the end and help keep Sarah Palin regulated to the loser section.
[Source]
Tags: Sarah Palin
RSS
Feedburner
July 27th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Ugh…I wish this woman would just go away!
July 27th, 2009 at 8:07 am
I totally agree with you, Katie — but I’m afraid we’re not gonna be so lucky :-(
July 27th, 2009 at 8:13 am
geez trent, tell us how you really feel. lol! ;D
I totally agree, btw.
July 27th, 2009 at 8:22 am
why won’t this woman just go away?
July 27th, 2009 at 8:24 am
As a tried and true Democrat, I PRAY that the republican party keeps trying to push this woman down our throats. And if they do, I promise to laugh at them every minute of it.
Gah! She’s just………………foul.
July 27th, 2009 at 8:40 am
I’m going to say this BEFORE Trent gets attacked….
It is his blog- he’s allowed to say and feel whatever he wants. So, people who are about to comment and bitch and moan, please go walk outside and take a breath of air and mooove on.
That is all. :)
July 27th, 2009 at 9:16 am
How can there honestly be talk of this woman running for Prez. If you can’t handle the job of Governor, you certainly can’t be President. It’s not the sort of job one can quit when the going gets tough! If this if the future of the Republican party, then I am happy to say that Democrats will be charge for a long time to come.
July 27th, 2009 at 9:41 am
she maintains a 40% approval rating. hells bells what is up with that?????
July 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I love than one of the reasons being tossed around is that the Palins can’t afford the legal defense fees for the 20+ ethics cases against her. I guess it didn’t occur to them to STOP BEING UNETHICAL.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:21 am
If she’s sick of being made fun of in the media, she should really keep her mouth closed! Putting a few big words togther does not make one sound intelligent!
July 27th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I am totally not surprised that she will have supporters. They’ll be the same dumbass Bush loving conservative nutjobs that supported her when she was running for VP. It was unbelievable that anyone took her seriously and liked her then and it will be the same when she runs for president or whatever she’s got planned. Sickening.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Quitter is one word, but I prefer Bailin’ Palin. Or how about Failin’ Palin.
But seriously, can ANYONE understand this woman? I can never figure out what the hell she’s talking about.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:12 am
I used to like Palin but I have to admit she’s definitely turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Don’t let the door of the Governor’s Mansion hit you in the ass, Palin.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:20 am
As long as she’s NOT our next president, I wish her luck on her future endeavours. If she wants to become a public figure on fox news, then more power to her.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I hate how she says that the ethics reports are costing tax payers money, or complains that it is costing her too much money. First of all, it costs so much because she is hiring private lawyers. Secondly, the state would be paying for it…but that would make it public record. She chose to keep it private and to pay for it herself, because she wanted to keep disclosures to a mimimum. Very sketchy lady. Her voice makes my skin crawl, and her lack of knowledge about important issues is terrifying.
Her press conference was once again rambling and incoherent.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Very well said. It’s amazing how the Republican spin machine has turned quitting into an “honorable” action. They would have gone insane if Hillary Clinton had up and quit in the middle of her senatorial term for no discernible reason (obviously she had a reason, thus the lack of outrage from the right). I can only imagine the nasty comments that would have been made about what a disservice it was to her constituents, how selfish, blah blah. But Sarah is some sort of folk hero? Bite me. The double standard is ludicrous. Oh, and Sarah? If you can’t stand the media heat, then don’t even bother trying to run for higher office. Hillary has put up with some of the nastiest, cruelest media coverage for close to 20 years and she hasn’t spent even 1% of the time Sarah has complaining about media bias.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Why can’t she just get some show on the Oxygen channel for beauty queens or something? PLZ GO AWAY
July 27th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Really… if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. You all act like you know her, you don’t. You know NOTHING. All you know is and care to hear about is what the ‘hollywood’ set tells you and you feed off that like the ignorant people you are that don’t have a brain of their own.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
@JJ — Really JJ? Really that’s what I’m doing? Thanks for the head’s up :)
July 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
@ JJ- LOL. You just made me laugh. Thank you. I’m going to go back to my “hollywood set” now.
July 27th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I live in Alaska and I’m so glad she is no longer governor! Sadly she wont be going away anytime soon. I wish people would stop paying attention to her.
July 27th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
JJ, you are very far off the mark. We don’t get everything about her through the media, silly. She talks quite a bit! She writes op-eds. She Twitters. She gives interviews, press conferences, goes on Fox News, the list goes on and on.
She has shown her lack of intelligence all by herself. Don’t insult other people because you are mad that she repeatedly shot herself in the foot by opening her mouth and confirming that she is a fool. If she was able to explain a position in a factual and articulate manner, I doubt she would receive this reaction. But she can’t.
July 27th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Trent, I love that you actually comment on your blog. Most people don’t, I think I’ll make you my first stop on the gossip blogs. Other bloggers are so angry. You are so much more genuine. I wish I had known that a long time ago.
PS…Why are we arguing about how stupid and unqualified Sarah Palin is, she has made that perfectly clear all by herself.
July 28th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Can you imagine if she had actually become VP? The first thing that goes wrong in this country and she’d be running down the hall to the oval office, handing in her two weeks notice.