Sarah Palin

In a televised address, President Richard M. Nixon announced his intention to become the first president in American history to resign. With impeachment proceedings underway regarding his involvement in the Watergate affair, Nixon reacted to pressure from the public and Congress to leave the White House. "By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."

This memorable event brought to mind another moment in time when an incumbent abandoned ship, though for reasons less clear. The DNC's Brad Woodhouse put it this way:

"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. 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."

My own reaction to Sarah Palin has habitually fallen into the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot range and this latest development is no different. Unless I was hallucinating, Sarah Palin likened her action to passing the ball for victory. This would make some sense if one were, indeed, passing the ball to Kobe. However, I don't see the correlation to dropping the ball in mid-court, hoping that the Lieutenant Governor--whose name nobody can cite--can recover it and declaring victory in the process. My failing in comprehension, no doubt, but it is forward-looking speculation at best to be forecasting victory in these circumstances. The American Idol phenomenon continues unabated.

Somewhat isolated as I am here in my (junior) suite, I have not yet been able to determine whether all this isn't just a Borat-style publicity stunt on the part of Tina Fey, which would put the whole event into a perspective that actually makes sense. Time will tell, I suppose.