Friends,
As a rule, I follow the news pretty closely, taking in viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum as much as I can. However, some celebrities croaked a few days ago and the ceaseless rehashing of minute details became very tired, very quickly. I had houseguests for the holiday weekend, after all, so the news could wait.
I was wrong.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin resigned her office in a masterful speech (video link) last Friday that I completely missed until spotting the story above the fold in the L.A. Times newspaper box on Saturday. Patrick Henry demanded liberty or death, Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream, and Mrs. Palin will steer Alaska in a new direction by no longer holding the highest elected office in that state. Genius!
Her rambling, shambling discourse swaying from paranoid to put-upon to put out may be best remembered as a) oddly timed, b) hastily given and c) just not as good as Richard Nixon’s “you won’t have Nixon to kick around any more” speech. She has eighteen months remaining in her term as governor, leading some to speculate on her motives for resigning. I think I’d like to mix and match. She’s pregnant and nutso, needs to earn some speaking fees to feather the nest before the book tour, then she’ll run for Senate unless she loses. Then she’ll do the talk show on Fox (Huckabee & Friends?).
It’s been a tough week for Republican governors, hasn’t it?
– bob