Palin Resigns as Governor

[Harlowe]

Is this just to focus on a 2012 bid or wtf, is this about all the ethics complaints?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... gD9979LTO0

[Lurker]

Someone's going to need to explain how quiting a year and a half early for the lame reasons given provides a platform for a 2012 Presidential bid.

Personally, I hope there isn't some scandal forcing her to resign. Hopefully she can step onto the national stage again and take a leadership role in the Republican party. She can help push issues she finds important and campaign for the party in 2010. It'll be awesome!

[Harlowe]

I found it to be extremely awkward and rambling. It was barely coherent.

[Lurker]

Ed Rollins summed it up about 20 minutes ago.

"Palin now seems more like a kook than a serious candidate."

Indeed.

[Ddrak]

It has to be ethics issues. No way a governor would resign 30 months early for any other reason.

The party's troubles seem to have left two prominent 2012 prospects, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, unscathed, however.

They better find some better talent than that. Romney would be ok but I don't think could beat Obama in what would be viewed as a "rematch", and Gingrich has far too much baggage to be worth putting in the running - may as well run Limbaugh as a VP if you do that.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Apparently there's been an investigation going on into something for about 2 weeks now. I haven't seen any details about what it pertains to yet, but apparently this resignation is related to that.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

The party's troubles seem to have left two prominent 2012 prospects, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, unscathed, however.

They better find some better talent than that. Romney would be ok but I don't think could beat Obama in what would be viewed as a "rematch", and Gingrich has far too much baggage to be worth putting in the running - may as well run Limbaugh as a VP if you do that.

Dd

CNN's polls actually had Huckabee ahead over Romney by 1%. (Why do they have polls for that already?)

I like Romney a lot. I liked Romney a lot in the primaries last year... then we got McCain.

[Harlowe]

I wonder if it has anything to do with that house they had built for them, where they didn't actually pay much themselves and the contractor ended up with some lucrative state business. She seemed nervous as all hell giving that speech.

[Ddrak]

I wonder if it has anything to do with that house they had built for them, where they didn't actually pay much themselves and the contractor ended up with some lucrative state business. She seemed nervous as all hell giving that speech.

It could be any number of things. Palin was in all sorts of ethics trouble during the election and one of the issues has probably come to the point where it's going to burn her. My feeling is the troopergate thing is finally coming to a head.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Troopergate has been over and done with for a while. They've only been doing the investigation on this issue for the past couple weeks... Its allegedly something to do with usage of funds.

[Ddrak]

Troopergate has been over and done with for a while. They've only been doing the investigation on this issue for the past couple weeks... Its allegedly something to do with usage of funds.

It is? Shows how much I follow the news. I guess nothing much came of it then? Everything I read seemed to indicate her husband was involved in all sorts of abuse of the office of the Governor.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

On November 3, 2008, CNN reported that the Alaska Personnel Board had concluded its probe and determined that Palin had not violated ethics laws, contradicting the earlier investigations. Tim Petumenos, the lawyer hired by the Board to conduct the probe, was quoted as stating in his final report, "There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters."[4]

In early December, Palin's deputy press secretary said that the Board's report had been released because Palin had waived her confidentiality to release it, but that Palin would not release a transcript of her testimony on October 24. The governor's office also refused to release a transcript of Todd Palin's deposition and other key documents that were part of the Personnel Board investigation but not included as attachments to the official report.[146]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Pub ... _dismissal

[Arkaron]

It has to be ethics issues. No way a governor would resign 30 months early for any other reason.

The party's troubles seem to have left two prominent 2012 prospects, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, unscathed, however.

They better find some better talent than that. Romney would be ok but I don't think could beat Obama in what would be viewed as a "rematch", and Gingrich has far too much baggage to be worth putting in the running - may as well run Limbaugh as a VP if you do that.

Dd

Gingrich does have baggage, probably more than Nixon did in 1960. But if we can elect Nixion, I'm sure we can elect Gingrich. Probably not in 2012 but I bet we can.

[Harlowe]

Pretty decent op-ed piece in the WSJ on Palin by Peggy Noonan. Sound advise for the party.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124716984620819351.html

[Ddrak]

Pretty good, but Peggy goes a bit over the top with fearmongering in this paragraph:

Here are a few examples of what we may face in the next 10 years: a profound and prolonged American crash, with the admission of bankruptcy and the spread of deep social unrest; one or more American cities getting hit with weapons of mass destruction from an unknown source; faint glimmers of actual secessionist movements as Americans for various reasons and in various areas decide the burdens and assumptions of the federal government are no longer attractive or legitimate.

I mean seriously, all of that? The only legitimate one is the slow fall of America as the global superpower, coming back to about the same level as a combined Europe, and the slow rise of China to match. If that causes "deep social unrest" then it's about time some attitudes got readjusted anyway.

Dd

[Partha]

The economic crash won't be as hard as the last one because of the liberal policies that most of the Western nations have implemented. There won't be old people starving in the streets, Bonus Armies or the like because we now have a multigenerational social net.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

You do realize that when the Great Depression happened here the major powers of the world had liberal(left) policies in place, right?

Or are you just that much of an ignoramus?

[Harlowe]

I agree on that paragraph, but I think it was suppose to be more of a "here is the worst that could happen" which is a pretty broad statement. I thought the body of the rest of it was pretty good though. I guess with all the vitriol and ridiculous shit I've been reading lately (coming out of the GOP or their pundits) It's always refreshing and impressive when I read something that is sensible and has sound advise for the party.

I'd prefer they rebuild and become a stronger (less beholden to the fringe elements) party.

[Partha]

You do realize that when the Great Depression happened here the major powers of the world had liberal(left) policies in place, right?

Or are you just that much of an ignoramus?

Pardon?

Were you talking about the 'lefitst' government of Herbert Hoover?

Maybe the 'leftist' government of France? You know, the one that was ousted in 1936 by folks who insituted the 40 hour workweek and paid holidays?

Now, if you're talking England, yes, they had a decent welfare state going in 1931. But then the new Conservative government instituted service cuts and tried to cut pay 10% for workers, and it was a disaster.

Or maybe you're thinking Germany? Yeah, they were REALLY leftist before WWII, weren't they?

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Yes, because Fascism and Nazism are beasts of the right... I forgot.. Please, go educate yourself further.

In actuality they're just re-branded forms of Socialism. Same as Progressivism.