I. In one of those “are you serious” moments, Sarah Palin decides to resign midway through her governor’s term…
a. Are you serious? She’s going to position herself to run for national office by quitting when the going gets tough? What, being the governor is no longer fun? Is this what she would do as President?
b. She talks about honoring the troops, but this is a full insult to them. Our troops don’t quit. They see it out.
c. She’s complaining about how rough the media, et. al. are on her. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is…laughing? Like I’ve said before, she has the thinnest skin of any politician we have out there, and a key part of succeeding in politics is having a thick skin. The attacks are going to come: what she’s endured still pales in comparison to what
d. She continually has these “how can they not like me?” moments, and the answer is easy: because she has yet to show a sincere interest in the governing portion of politics. The whole concept of “civic duty” is missing. And that’s kinda the key part.
e. Patriotism—her favorite word—is not a matter of waving a flag or giving great speeches. To borrow from Adlai Stevenson, “Patriotism is not a short, frenzied burst of emotion. It is the constant and steady dedication of a lifetime.” She’s great at the short, frenzied burst of emotion. When it came to the constant and steady dedication…she quit.
f. If you’re not having the success you want by working within the system, a true civic-minded person hunkers down and works harder from within. Because they believe that institutions, however flawed, are still the best. And that’s real courage, and real patriotism. Standing in there, day in and day out, working hands-on with the system.
g. She really thinks that she’s going to run for President with a grand experience of 2 ½ years as a governor under her belt?
h. We haven’t even touched the haste and erraticness. Doesn’t speak well of her reasoned judgment, the kind of steady hand a nation needs on its tiller.
i. The sudden decision actually speaks the loudest here. Either she really is that flighty, or something spooked her. Really bad.
II. I don’t like Michael Jackson. There, I said it.
III. Should I say anything about back-to-back Republican sex scandals? Bear in mind, sex isn’t a “Republican” problem, it’s something that dogs all politicians. But it’s a bigger deal when you have family-values politicians, who tend to be Republican (major exception: John Edwards.) I don’t really care about sex scandals, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their job performances. In Senator Ensign’s case, he lost his leadership post with the GOP, and he lost a degree of moral leadership with his constituents, so yes, it did interfere with his job performance. For Governor Sanford, he lost leadership status as well, both within the state government and with his constituents, so yes, it did interfere with his job performance. Solution: start electing bachelors. Or open swingers.
IV. Being the Fourth of July, and considering all of the cultural myths surrounding the founding of our country, I feel obligated to say something. But I won’t. Because really, I’ll cover it another day.
V. I would, however, like to agree that we should replace “The Star-Spangled Banner” with “This Land Is Your Land” as our national anthem.
