Palin Stepping Down as Governor

[Guitar Shark]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down as Alaska's chief executive by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010.

"People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska," Palin said at an announcement from her home in Wasilla. "Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine."

Palin, a Republican, was elected governor in 2006. She was tapped as Arizona Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate last year.

Palin said she was transferring authority to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in at the Governor's Picnic on July 26. Watch Palin's announcement »

Palin added in a statement that she was "determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is not the easiest path. ... 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."

A Republican source close to her political team told CNN's John King that it was a "calculation" she made that "it was time to move on." The governor's "book deal and other issues" were "causing a lot of friction" in her home state, the source said, adding that he believes she is "mapping out a path to 2012."

Another source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Palin "thinks she has accomplished goals she has set forward. ... She sees what a positive influence she has had on people's lives from traveling the country in the last year."

Following Palin's announcement, the Democratic National Committee blasted what it called her "bizarre behavior."

"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

"Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today."

Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins said, to a certain extent, Palin's announcement makes her look "terribly inept."

"I think everyone is shocked by this, and I think to a certain extent everyone is going to assume there's another story. You don't just quit with a year and a half to go. You certainly don't do this as a stepping stone to run for president. You finish the job that you're in, and obviously she's not doing that," he said.

"I think people are going to be very suspicious because of the timing. You don't quit on the Friday of a three-day holiday. If you are going to do this, you think it through, you give a good speech," Rollins said.

As the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Palin had been considered one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination in 2012.

In an interview last month with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Palin said she was unsure about her re-election bid because she needed to focus on her state and her family.

"So, no decision yet on either 2010 or let alone 2012?" Blitzer asked.

"No decision that I'd want to announce today," Palin responded.

Palin catapulted on the national stage last August when McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, chose her as his running mate.

Palin stepping down this month - CNN.com

[sadaist]

Definitely a surprise to me. Going to be interesting to see why she did this.

[FORD]

Maybe Argentina ain't the only place Mark Sanford's been spending his vacations?

Hiking the Alaskan t(r)ail, maybe?

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally Posted by FORD

Maybe Argentina ain't the only place Mark Sanford's been spending his vacations?

Hiking the Alaskan t(r)ail, maybe?

I knew it would not take long for a Libby to make a derogatory statement. Dude if Palin grabbed you by the crank you would be knockin the bottom out of her, unless the rumors are true and you really are a homo. On a serious note, I think she is planning a run to dethrone King Obama. She scares the shit out of the left. They can't degrade her executive experience, which Obama has none, so they go after her with personal attacks. It will be interesting.

[Guitar Shark]

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

She scares the shit out of the left.

Honestly, I think she scares the right more than the left. She is a distraction and is hurting the republican party.

[FORD]

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

I knew it would not take long for a Libby to make a derogatory statement. Dude if Palin grabbed you by the crank you would be knockin the bottom out of her, unless the rumors are true and you really are a homo.

Nah, stupidity's a total turn-off for me.

Now on the other hand, Tina Fey dressed up like Moosealini, I'd definitely hit that!

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally Posted by Guitar Shark

Honestly, I think she scares the right more than the left. She is a distraction and is hurting the republican party.

I agree to a point, but it may come down to personal opinion as to whether she is a distraction or hurtful. Some say she is energizing the party.

[kwame k]

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

I knew it would not take long for a Libby to make a derogatory statement. Dude if Palin grabbed you by the crank you would be knockin the bottom out of her, unless the rumors are true and you really are a homo. On a serious note, I think she is planning a run to dethrone King Obama. She scares the shit out of the left. They can't degrade her executive experience, which Obama has none, so they go after her with personal attacks. It will be interesting.

The experience debate will be out the window because Obama has more experience at the Top Executive position than she does.

She's a joke and was a novelty act for McCain's campaign. Quiting the way she did will only come back and bite her in the ass. All the bullshit she did in Alaska....Troppergate and what not will come back and bite her in the ass.

She'll never make it through the Repukes primary.

[ELVIS]

Originally Posted by FORD

Nah, stupidity's a total turn-off for me.

Now on the other hand, Tina Fey dressed up like Moosealini, I'd definitely hit that!

That's an odd post...

You didn't say homos turn you off, just stupidity...

BTW, Palin is WAY hotter that Tina Fey...

[FORD]

Looks like Moosealini's been a very naughty girl, and not in the Larry Craig sense.

Embezzlement, investigations by the IRS (tax fraud?)

Looks like another potential Repuke candidate for 2012 hit the proverbial iceberg.

The Immoral Minority: ICEBERG!!! Three more ethics charges and an IRS scandal are headed Sarah Palin's way. Collision is unavoidable.

[FORD]

Originally Posted by ELVIS

That's an odd post...

You didn't say homos turn you off, just stupidity...

BTW, Palin is WAY hotter that Tina Fey...

Unlike you, I'm not always preoccupied with "homos". And since the subject matter was the question of Sarah Palin's fuckability, then homosexuality is only relevant for females, in this case.

[ELVIS]

Like...what ???

[Dolemite!]

Sarah Palin has never been attractive to me. She looks creepy... maybe fingerable on occassion where you're bored.

[Nickdfresh]

I admit she's sort of attractive. But that whiny, nasal voice coupled with the "Fargo" accent makes me cringe...

[GAR]

Maybe the ninja assasins that are getting all the celebrities the past month have been after Sarah Palin. We sure don't wanna see her tied up unconscious in the closet with a cord wrapped round her coch.

[GAR]

Originally Posted by Nickdfresh

I admit she's sort of attractive. But that whiny, nasal voice coupled with the "Fargo" accent makes me cringe...

That don't give you the horn?

[bueno bob]

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. The only real specific reason she could have for stepping down prior to the end of her term is to avoid prosecution/impeachment and all the fun stuff that goes with it. I mean, it's not any great stretch of imagination to say that she's probably guilty of abuse of office, but grandstanding to avoid Alaska's legitimate share of the stimulus checks was even frowned on by a lot of her fellow Repukes. She's hardly miss popularity anymore, even among her own fans. Shouting matches with the media hasn't done her any favors, either.

Eh. She certainly had no problem slinging shit when she was running with McCain. I guess fair's fair. She wants to be a media darling, but doesn't want any of it to be negative attention. LMAO. Welcome to America, shithead.

One thing's for sure, it's political suicide. If she's doing this thinking that she's going to get a jump on a Presidential bid on 2012...I mean, give me a fucking break...when the going gets tough, the tough quit? She's was already going to be eaten alive for a 2012 bid; shooting yourself in the foot is one thing, but lopping your legs off with a chainsaw is something else entirely. Stupid, stupid move if she thinks she's going to have any political future of any import after this. Certainly not on a national level.

Best bet is that Fox made her an offer she couldn't refuse. She's apparently been twittering that she'll release "more details soon" or something, which means she's got something in the fire. Maybe they're grooming her to replace Rush once he ODs in an effort to put an easier face to the forefront of their agenda. Who knows.

Either way, her political career will never recover from this. Which makes it a great day!

Now, if she'd just resign from life completely...

[Imapus_Sylicker]

Anybody git Palin's movie yet? A link, maybe?

Cheers!

[bueno bob]

Originally Posted by Imapus_Sylicker

Anybody git Palin's movie yet? A link, maybe?

Cheers!

That Disney one where the hockey mom has to be President of the U.S. and settles a battle with Russia over a game of hockey?

Ashley Tisdale played her slut daughter, right?

[Imapus_Sylicker]

What? No! The proper pr0n movie. She's supposed to have one, isn't she?

Oh, and I do hope it has her daughter in it, too.

Cheers!

[GAR]

I wouldn't be surprised if John McCain had anything to do with this, he mighta given it 6 mos before attacking Palin for upstaging him and speaking out of turn.

He's a stupid old piece of SHIT

[Seshmeister]

She's probably taking time out to finish her first novel.

She can't wait any longer to find out where Waldo is...

[FORD]

Did a Scandal Sink the U.S.S. Palin?
by Max Blumenthal
July 3, 2009 | 7:47pm

BS Top - Blumenthal Palin Resigns AP Photo The suddenness of Sarah Palin’s resignation raises questions about whether a coming scandal caused her to leave office. Max Blumenthal looks at one possibility.

Plus: Read more of The Daily Beast's coverage of Palin's resignation and the GOP implosion.

CNN and other major news outlets have reported that Sarah Palin has abruptly resigned as governor of Alaska. The suddenness of her announcement raises the question about whether Palin resigned to avert a major scandal. One logical place to start looking is the affair that has Alaska political circles buzzing: an alleged scandal centered around a building contractor, Spenard Building Supplies, with close ties to Palin and her husband, Todd.

Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd steered lucrative contracts to the well-connected company in exchange for gifts like the construction of their home on pristine Lake Lucille in 2002. The home was built just two months before Palin began campaigning for governor, a job which would have provided her enhanced power to grant building contracts in the wide-open state.

SBS has close ties to the Palins. The company has not only sponsored Todd Palin's snowmobile team, according to the Village Voice's Wayne Barrett, it hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004.

Though Todd Palin told Fox News he built his Lake Lucille home with the help of a few "buddies," according to Barrett’s report, public records revealed that SBS supplied the materials for the house. While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin blocked an initiative that would have required the public filing of building permits—thus momentarily preventing the revelation of such suspicious information.

Just months before Palin left city hall to campaign for governor, she awarded a contract to SBS to help build the $13 million Wasilla Sports Complex. The most expensive building project in Wasilla history, the complex cost the city an additional $1.3 million in legal fees and threw it into severe long-term debt. For SBS, however, the bloated and bungled project was a cash cow.

Prior to her sudden announcement, Palin gave every indication that she intended to complete her tenure as governor.

On July 1, Palin met with Alaska Senator Mark Begich to discuss funding for the missile-defense systems that would be stationed in Alaska. In May, Palin initiated a plan to circumvent the state legislature by introducing a ballot measure that would ban minors from receiving abortions without parental consent. She vowed to be the first to sign the measure event though it would not be certified until August 2010.

In a press conference today, Palin blamed the media for her demise. "You are naïve if you don't see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard," she declared, using a basketball metaphor to refer to the flood of critical stories published about her.

On July 1, CBS reported that a story authored by me and journalist David Neiwert for Salon.com in October 2008 about Palin's ties to a secessionist political party caused her deep personal distress, and provoked a rancorous series of exchanges with her campaign manager, Steve Schmidt. Coupled with a withering profile of Palin published in the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, the new round of exposés may have been too much for Palin to stomach.

Palin may have resigned from politics altogether. According to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Palin "has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012." But those choices are dwindling at a surprisingly rapid pace.

Max Blumenthal is a senior writer for The Daily Beast and writing fellow at The Nation Institute. Contact him at maxblumenthal3000@yahoo.com.

Did a Scandal Sink the U.S.S. Palin? - The Daily Beast

[Blackflag]

Palin is irrelevant. How come you don't talk about Obama anymore?

And how come you changed your avatar from Obama to some creepy gay dude?

[FORD]

Originally Posted by Blackflag

And how come you changed your avatar from Obama to some creepy gay dude?

Ted Haggard is a creepy gay dude. Mike Malloy is the greatest talk radio host in America, and he's married with kids and grandkids, so I assume he's heterosexual.

[alexpgrimes]

maybe she's gonna take the million dollars for that porn??? hmmmmmmmmm...

[Blackflag]

Originally Posted by FORD

Ted Haggard is a creepy gay dude. Mike Malloy is the greatest talk radio host in America, and he's married with kids and grandkids, so I assume he's heterosexual.

The only avatar I can think of that's creepier than yours is Eat My Asshole's.

Do you have a poster of that pedophile-looking guy in your bedroom?

Nice dodge of the Obama question, btw.

[VanHalener]

I almost want Palin to be guilty of something that will land her prison so I can move to Alaska and get a job as a guard.

Good morning Sarah...

UHHHHHHHHHH!

[sadaist]

Originally Posted by FORD

Looks like Moosealini's been a very naughty girl, and not in the Larry Craig sense.

Embezzlement, investigations by the IRS (tax fraud?)

Looks like another potential Repuke candidate for 2012 hit the proverbial iceberg.

Well, if the tax fraud doesn't get her the Presidency, it should get her an Obama cabinet position.

[sadaist]

Originally Posted by Blackflag

The only avatar I can think of that's creepier than yours is Eat My Asshole's.

Do you have a poster of that pedophile-looking guy in your bedroom?

I agree. Malloy just looks kinda creepy in that pic. I know there's better ones of him out there. But I think Ford likes to taunt us with weird shit just for the sake of doing it. Seems no one else amuses him so he makes his own weird fun.

[ELVIS]

Originally Posted by FORD

Mike Malloy is the greatest talk radio host in America

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ha........

[LoungeMachine]

Originally Posted by sadaist

Well, if the tax fraud doesn't get her the Presidency, it should get her an Obama cabinet position.

Direct hit.

Well played.

[LoungeMachine]

Originally Posted by FORD

. Mike Malloy is the greatest talk radio host in America,

.

Um, no...

Thom Hartmann is.

Mike has become the Left's Hannitybaugh unfortunetly.



Still like him, though.......

[LoungeMachine]

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

I think she is planning a run to dethrone King Obama. She scares the shit out of the left.

God you're a fucking idiot.

She doesnt scare us, moron. She makes us laugh. She cost the old coot the election stupid simp.

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

They can't degrade her executive experience, .

Are you really this dense?

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally Posted by LoungeMachine

God you're a fucking idiot.

She doesnt scare us, moron. She makes us laugh. She cost the old coot the election stupid simp.






Are you really this dense?

So let me get this straight Lounge Queen. You are stating that if McCain had picked a different running mate, say a Romney or Huckabee, he would have defeated The Messiah? I always knew deep down you were a republican.

[knuckleboner]

Originally Posted by ULTRAMAN VH

So let me get this straight Lounge Queen. You are stating that if McCain had picked a different running mate, say a Romney or Huckabee, he would have defeated The Messiah? I always knew deep down you were a republican.

obama won way too big for palin to have made the difference. with a more credible VP pick, mccain could've closed some of the vote totals, but he had no chance.


and palin's done.

democrats wouldn't have voted for her no matter what. and fairly or unfairly, the "she's an idiot" label would've stuck for most independents.

and then there's this. during the country's worst recession since WWII, she quits. two years as mayor of podunk, alaska and then an abortive first term as alaskan governor. yeah, she's a GREAT candidate in 2012.

i think i can see irrelevance from my house, and it looks a lot like sarah palin, you betcha.

[Big Train]

I agree with Bueno Bob, it's some sort of charge she will have to fight. Something she will ultimately get away with. She has been dogged (go for it guys, easy pitch) by ethics charges. They are clearly gunning for her. She has been cleared of ethics wrongdoing 15 times now. It's dishonest to say the Dems aren't concerned with her at all, nor is it honest to say the Republicans don't blame her for their loss.

Stepping down is a bad move. You can't trump your executive experience over a guy who has none (as often as he may display this trait), if you yourself never completed a single term.

She will end up pulling a Ron Paul. She will go away for awhile, pretend to endorse Republicans, settle the charges, make some money on books or whatever. The she will suddenly announce "No more politics as usual" and be a third party candidate. Which in itself will be a major change. She won't win but she will triple Ron Paul's numbers, which is a win.

She would have my vote if she pulled in enough numbers to get an independent party federal matching funds. Which would make us harder to ignore come debate time.

[sadaist]

Originally Posted by LoungeMachine

She doesnt scare us, moron. She makes us laugh. She cost the old coot the election stupid simp.

Well, I agree she didn't help McCains cause at all. But the campaign mistake that really stands out in my mind is when he suspended his campaign to "fix the economy". /cringe

[Kristy]

Originally Posted by bueno bob

The only real specific reason she could have for stepping down prior to the end of her term is to avoid prosecution/impeachment and all the fun stuff that goes with it...She certainly had no problem slinging shit when she was running with McCain.

For a long time the Rethuglicans have been keeping the lid on Palin being in the crosshairs of several ethic committee investigations so anyone's best guess could be for her resignation is that they found some serious dirt under those manicured fingernails of hers. The GOP itself operates on a hierarchy and those on the top who make people like Palin or Steele out to be tools for America's stupidity in order to gain power will surely drop them faster then what they can groom them. Maybe she took under-the-table money from lobbyists and therefore never claimed it to the IRS. Who knows? Rumor also has it she is hot on the heels of signing a estimated $7 million book deal and as an elected official you cannot take money from outside sources other than the salary of your job (this is why Arnie hasn't made a movie in years).

To me she is the biggest failure of the GOP (next to Steele) used solely as a tool to become ingrained for the popular female vote when Hilary wisely dropped out. And much like the GOP itself she offered nothing but political discourse and hostile rhetoric; not once did she ever take on a topic that concerned women unless it was already scripted for her. McCain may have gotten his rocks off on her whole quasi-femdom power trip approach to criticizing Obama but soon it became self-evident she was one-trick pony even when she traded in her Alaskan hick flannel wear for Dolce & Gabanna making herself over as wanting to be taken seriously.

Give this a little time and by the end of the summer you know something is bound to come out of the woodwork on Plain's self-interest activities that she hasn't already been called out for. Wonder if she can see Putin's house from prison.

[sadaist]

Originally Posted by Kristy

Wonder if she can see Putin's house from prison.

Prison no....Gulag yes.



Sorry, I just like that word