I’m behind the times, I know.

But I’m just so frustrated with Palin.

I’ve never particularly liked her. Her bizarre, rambling, incoherent appearances always leave me cringing and feeling simultaneously bad for her and worried that so many people somehow find confidence in her.

If you haven’t already seen the video where she announces her resignation, take a look.

Here’s a pretty amusing deconstruction of Palin’s speech, including analysis like this:

3. I am expected to serve out the term I was elected for. But that would make me a quitter. Therefore, I am quitting because I don’t want to be a quitter.
“… it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: “Sit down and shut up”, but that’s the worthless, easy path; that’s a quitter’s way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow. Nah, only dead fish “go with the flow”.”

You know what Palin? You are quitting. And quite frankly the reasons you’re giving are pretty weak. I’m not saying people have never had good reasons for quitting, but if you have them, you’re not telling the truth.

The governor needed a break after being “on duty now for two and a half years solid,” he said. (source)

I think this was one of the most frustrating things that came out of this. She needed a break?! Well too fucking bad. I bet every governor needs a break. But they knew what the terms of the agreement were heading in. You knew you were signing up for four years, commit to it unless there’s a damn good reason not to.

Her leaving early has also been justified by saying she’s done more in two and a half years than many people do in four or eight years. So what? How does that make it better that you’re bailing out when Alaskans are turning against you and opposition are investigating ethics claims. If you’re really doing as much as you claim and if you love Alaska as much as you say you do, shouldn’t you want to keep your awesome mavericky self in office to get as much done as possible before the term ends? And how is leaving your Lt. Governor to make the expensive and time-wasting transition to be a lame duck any better? I DON’T GET IT.

Oh, and your family got made fun of? That sucks. But you know, the Clintons never got made fun of, the Bushes were never targets of jokes, McCain loved Cindy’s prescription drug abuse and trophy-wife look being a constant source of ridicule. Certainly your family didn’t truly realize what you were signing up for when you stepped on the national stage, but that is part of politics. That is part of a public life. If you cannot handle scrutiny and ethics complaints and jokes about you and your family then politics is not for you. Deal with it.

I’m not sure why she’s quitting, whether it is just because the pressure was too great or whether she’s setting herself up for a 2012 run. But I firmly believe her rambling excuses of last week were just a cover for her real reasoning.

~ by lifeofdi on July 8, 2009.