Yesterday, Sarah Palin announced that she will not be seeking gubernatorial re-election in 2012, and will be resigning as Governor of Alaska on July 26^th. The announcement took everyone by surprise, even her Lt. Governor, and probably delighted everyone opposed to her. We have essentially come to expect public announcements that obviously expose the flawed morality of the current Republican party, but I think Sarah Palin demonstrates a special kind of idiotic rhetoric when she speaks, and this was no exception.

She made three main points of explanation for her resignation: investigations into the numerous ethics complaints filed against her (so far all dismissed) are costing Alaska too much money, she doesn't want to be a lame duck in the last two years of her term, and her children supported her decision to resign when she “polled” them.

Her first point makes the implication that she is somehow taking an honorable stand against government spending; saving the state of Alaska money by resigning and putting a stop to the numerous supposedly expensive investigations of ethics violations complaints against her. Obviously, this is just smoke up our collective asses, because investigations into her ethics violations won't stop just because she's no longer in office; she simply will not be in a position to directly facilitate any new ethically questionable government activities.

Until now, the investigations into her actions have been resolved in her favor, but one must wonder why she's suddenly so concerned about them now. Has she been threatened with a complaint that wouldn't be so easily explained away? Mrs. Palin is innocent until proven guilty under our judicial system, but one is left to wonder why she mentioned the complaints at all, unless she is simply taking the opportunity for yet another pointless public whining about government spending. Isn't it terrible that we investigate claims of corruption against our publicly elected leaders? The horror!

With regard to being a lame duck in her last two years, I can say with great conviction that I wish George W. Bush had had the same stupid idea, and quit his job early as well. In all seriousness however, that is essentially what she is doing; she is quitting the job that she was elected to perform because she's tired of doing it. How could anyone take Sarah Palin seriously in politics, when she's now demonstrating that she doesn't have the stamina to complete a job that she campaigned for and was elected to do? How fortunate for us that John McCain lost the election; Sarah Palin might have quit her job as Vice President, instead. Those who voted her into office in Alaska must be feeling quite betrayed at the moment; she misled them by campaigning for their votes and promising to do the job, and is now backing out when it's only half done.

Lastly, she claims to have “polled” her children, “where the count was unanimous” that she should resign. Is anyone surprised when 5 children (only two of which are old enough to vote) will agree to show public support for their mother? As for the votes of all the people who elected Sarah Palin as Governor for 4 years, their wishes apparently have no bearing on the decision. We should be grateful that she was magnanimous enough to take into account the opinion of her 1 year old son when deciding to abandon her responsibilities.

I think it's fairly obvious that we have not heard any of the real reasons for her resignation, and considering that Sarah Palin is willing to say just about anything that she thinks people will accept, it's anyone's guess whether we'll ever hear the truth.

On the other hand, good riddance, and GTFO.