Hey, I thought yesterday was weird. WTF?

Nano is calling Shenanigans. This is not about a run in 2012. She can't be that stupid. Something else is going on. Reality show. Book. Commentatorer on FOX News. Something. But not a run at the presidency. She'd raise a lot of money, she'd get a lot of exposure and the usual horny-hayseed/rural-girl attention, but even she knows she wouldn't have a chance against the Obama campaign.

This just gets better and better

The republicans cannot stop self-destructing.

Sen Ensign - Affair
Gov Sanforf - Multiple Affairs
Palin - ? Probably an affair too who knows

Stay the course GOP! You're on the right track!

Okay...what's everyone's best guess about what is REALLY going on here?

Shenanigans indeed!

I can only speculate there's a skeleton threatening to come out of the closet.

I mean, one doesn't give up a position as governor in order to become a talking head. She could have served out her term in that case.

I like to think there's something sinister at work.

Either way, this just makes my July 4 weekend that much better!!

My guesses in order of likelyness:

1 Affair

2 Going to be indicted for fraud or tax evasion or something related to finances

3 Her last baby wasn't really hers

I simply dont buy it that she would resign simply because the media is so mean to her. Shes too much of a vindictive bitch for that.

Has anyone heard if Sarah made any trips to Argentina recently?

I have always said that she wasn't a threat for 2012 because she'd never be able to go that long unindicted.

Maybe Juno just isn't as sparkly and twinkly anymore now that she's tasted The Show. So she's going away to practive her fancy presidential campaign walkin'.

But it's probably about another shoe getting ready to drop. A big shoe.

*orders up some popcorn and soda*

YAY! I think my wetdream just came true, and I'm a girl. Hmm...is Willow with child?

I heard she was seen hiking on the Appalachian Trail, if ya know what I mean!

Okay, conspiracy mongers... Let me remind you that Sarah Palin is a creature of the loony fringe for whom governance was never a calling. She has always pursued office for its own sake. Now that being governor has become a weight on larger ambitions, she casts it aside as easily as those red shoes at the end of the day.

She's running for president. Let Teh Train Wreck™ begin!

Complete Video- Palin Resignation Press Conferance

Total train wreck.

I tell you the truth...I loves me some Sarah Palin drama. I don't know where the hell we're going in this story, but I'll enjoy the trip. Let the unsinkable soon-to-be former Gov. of Alaska fuel your imaginations. None of you can deny that she's fascinating. Just try to stop yourselves from speculating on why she's pulled this move. If you're unable to, you will then understand why she's a public figure. You don't actually think this is about politics still, do you? Hell, the presidency itself would be just another step up the aspirants' ladder.

Yeah the other shoe will be a doozy. She's probably got to take time to put together her props.

Bible? Check.
Photo'd at Church of the Secessionist Nazarene? Check.
American flags in background (no turkeys!)? Check.
Prepared speech referencing troops and their bravery with protecting our freedom speech and also such as? Check.

Whatever shoe drops and nukes her future, there is still a percentage of people that will blame everyone else for her woes. None of it will be her fault, but the fault of the media, President Obama, John McCain's angry campaign staff, Katie Couric...

I watched the whole speech. One word sums it up:

Incoherent!

todd's knocked up by a moose. sarah doesn't want to fake another pregnancy in public.

Palin really is a fucking moron - in addition to being a pathological and compulsive liar.

Quitting as governor to save millions of dollars? Governors are elected to serve one term at a time. She was elected to serve as Alaska Governor for one term, not two or twenty. You don't quit in the middle of the term to save money, the next governor will have the same expenses - or even higher expenses. Again, what a fucking moron.

Palin really is a fucking moron - in addition to being a pathological and compulsive liar.

Quitting as governor to save millions of dollars? Governors are elected to serve one term at a time. She was elected to serve as Alaska Governor for one term, not two or twenty. You don't quit in the middle of the term to save money, the next governor will have the same expenses - or even higher expenses. Again, what a fucking moron.

My guesses in order of likelyness:

1 Affair

2 Going to be indicted for fraud or tax evasion or something related to finances

3 Her last baby wasn't really hers

I dunno - I think something related to the ethics violations (something huge we don't know about yet) is more likely than an affair.

I think even Trig being Bristol's is more likely than an affair. One doesn't preemptively resign because of that.

Still, I'm going to enjoy the show with beer and bratwurst.

damn, I messed up the formatting on my last comment.

Good stuff from CNN:

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.

Thanks for posting the video, Paddy.

Gawd, what a random stream of nothingness. It does indeed seem that she is stepping down in order to focus on a 2012 run. She is completely fucking delusional.

I am going to spend the weekend fantasizing about her reasons - maybe she got caught in bed with Levi, or even better, maybe Todd got caught in bed with Levi! - but I expect it will come down to her ambitions in 2012.

You mean????????????? THE DEMS CAME OUT AND WERE MEAN TO OLD TRAIN WRECK????

'Bout time they spoke up.

There's a scandal a brwin'. Guaranteed.

Mark Sanford is damn lucky-first Jackson knocked him out of the headlines and now Palin.

Why do these rethug governors seem so- well- mentally off???

She HAD to find a way to steal the headlines from Governor Sanford, y'all...THIS should do it.

For a real treat, TPM has the transcript here.

Twitter is cracking me the fuck UP right now.

That speech is just bizarre, even for Palin. Agree w Lexaburn, she is fascinating, in a Britney/LL kinda way. I'm going with a big ethics indictment, or the baby story.

And thanks Paddy for posting the transcript--I'm a dial-up girl and enjoyed the read.

I think the IRS audit that got started last year during the campaign finally might have finished. If that's the case LOOK OUT BELOW!

Maybe the Lord told her to resign, since he told Joe The Plumber, like, you know, not to run and shit.

Oh I stand by my statement of IRS, FBI or some such as that... there is much more coming I believe.. there is another shoe to drop I think.. we just haven't seen it yet.

Either big time scandal or criminal type thing.

O--M--G!!!!

Just heard mere minutes ago!!

W--T--F!!! grins!

I'm still processing this, so the only statement that I'm prepared to give at this time is I agree with Bob re: the water birds!!

And what's coming out of the beaks of those birds is FAR MORE SUBSTANTIVE and INTELLIGENT than ANYTHING that's ever come out of Ms. Wasillabilly's - er -mouth!

Holy crap! Yup! A bigot, a hypocrite, a dumb a**, and a quitter!! Cockroaches always run and hid when the light really hits 'em.

And she's SCARED to DEATH of being under the microscope!

Can't wait to see how this plays out!

Hey, Sarah! You can run, but you can't hide!!!!

Palin is on an Argentina hiking trip with .... .......

Posted at Oxdown Gazette by an Alaskan Blogger:

Update: This just in my inbox, from a source connected sometimes to CNN:

"Here's a quote I got from law enforcement here in Alaska yesterday afternoon regarding Palin "a criminal indictment is pending authorization."

I'm with Annette. This was not a carefully considered decision. The announcement was rushed and poorly crafted even by Palin standards.

Something big is happening and I am on the edge of my see to see what this shoe looks like.

The Fox folks should be hedging their comments to save face when this shoe actually drops.

oops! edge of my seat...

I'm late to the game. I smell mental health issues. She was manic.

I just was watching Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and, of course, the show was taped before all of this broke.

I couldn't help but think that Gwen is now getting a chuckle over this after the way that the Republican party preemptively trashed her before the Biden/Palin debate.

And, yes, the water fowl in the background were a great touch! Anybody remember an old song by Ed (The Fugs) Sanders called "Are You a Vampire, Melvin Laird?" with its great chorus featuring the line:

"Honk honk go the geese of Canada
Quack quack go the ducks of derision"

Max Blumenthal has a piece up at Daily Beast..or is supposed to have.. I haven't read it.. according to Think Progress it is up, and talks about the Sports Complex she had built in Wasilla, it put the city in debt and there was talk then of her using materials from there to build her house.

This has been brewing since then.. This could possibly be part of it, or even all of it. That is a 2.5 million dollar house. The labor and materials were all charged back to the city. She also passed ordinances to get the permits waived for the complex and her home while she was mayor.

I think Crazy Uncle Pat's praising of her and attacking the mean old liberals who had the nerve to speak the truth about her was just as funny as that train wreck of a speech.

She said "People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine."

So she's giving up the greatest honor she could ever imagine? She is going to serve the people of alaska by not serving them? This is through the looking glass behavior.

And that point guard analogy? Point guards don't pass the ball and walk off the court.

This is really a badly managed announcement, raising more questions than answering them. It sure points to something else not being spoken.

If she is going to run for president in 2012, the best way to do that is from office. Or at the least, resign and announce relatively quickly. She is planting larger issue questions out there by this bizarre move. She says it has been in the works for some time, it certainly doesn't seem like it.

Lastly, there is a fair amount of Nixon like behavior. While she didn't come right out and say 'you won't have palin to kick around anymore', she certainly did imply it.