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Breaking: Sarah Palin Resigning as Governor of Alaska

July 3, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced today that she will resign from office July 26. Palin made the announcement from her home in Wasilla, she was flanked by her husband, Todd, her family and state commissioners. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will succeed her.

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Wow, this is a bit of a shocker… The only question is where does she go from here? I tend to agree with Jim Geraghty, her national political career is over. You can’t resign from a governorship you’ve held for roughly 30 months and then run for President.

Update: The Wall Street Journal has the full text of her remarks here.

Update II (5:45 p.m.): MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell claims sources close to Gov. Palin have told her that Palin’s “had it” with national politics and told her top backers to go ahead and commit to other candidates for 2012. Real Clear Politics has the video here.

Given the source I’m taking that report with a grain of salt… To be honest, though, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Mitchell’s report turns out to true. Sarah Palin has been beaten senseless by the media and her family has been dragged through the mud. Why would any sane person want to subject herself and her family to the kind treatment Palin has endured?

Update III (9:35 p.m.): I’ve been without power for the last three hours so I’m playing catch up here… First, Mike Allen at the Politico is reporting that Palin plans to remain “extremely visible and will give serious consideration to running for president in 2012.”

Second, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air points out an interview Palin did with John Ziegler last month and wonders if Gov. Palin hinted at quitting last month?

I’m not sure what to make of Gov. Palin’s decision, my gut feeling is she’s done with elective politics. I suspect she’ll remain an active and visible champion for conservative principle through speaking engagements and by campaigning for other candidates but I doubt she’ll ever run for office again.

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UPI: Dismissed Palin Complaints Rack up Costs

May 30, 2009 By Jeff 1 Comment

All those frivolous ethics complaints filed against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are starting to add up the UPI reports they’ve cost taxpayer nearly “a third of a million dollars.”

JUNEAU, Alaska, May 28 (UPI) — The ethics complaints filed against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are running a tab of nearly “a third of a million dollars,” the state’s personnel board said.

“We’ve spent pretty close to about a third of a million dollars, and it’s getting to be really expensive,” Alaska Personnel Board member Al Tamagni told the Anchorage Daily News.

The board, during its meeting Wednesday, was trying to see whether they publicize the cost of addressing the complaints without violating confidentiality rules, the newspaper reported Thursday.

The panel also dismissed a complaint against Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008, and her political action committee.

To date the Alaska Personnel Board has review and dismissed as meritless 13 ethics complaints against Gov. Palin. The money quote comes from Anchorage activist Andree McLeod who has filed several ethics complaints against Palin and her staff:

“The whole way to mitigate all this is for Palin to behave ethically,” said McLeod, who filed the complaint dismissed by the board Wednesday.

If there was long history of proven ethics violations by Gov. Palin and her staff I’d agree with Ms. McLeod… But there isn’t. At this point the simplest way for the State of Alaska to mitigate this is for it to start charging people who repeatedly file frivolous ethics complaints intended to harass the Governor and her staff for the costs associated with investigating them.

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Sarah Palin’s Church Damaged by Suspicious Fire

December 14, 2008 By Jeff Leave a Comment

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s home church was heavily damaged by a suspicious fire Friday night.

Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.

He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn’t know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn’t know whether Palin’s connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.

“It’s hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation,” he said. “We have no information on intent or motive.”

It’s to early to know what the motivation of the person who set this fire was, hopefully it was just  an act random inhumanity rather than politically motivated. Churches and other places of worship are, unfortunately attacked by nutcases all to often in this country.

That said I can’t help but think this is where the vitriolic atmosphere of American politics will ultimately take us. Somehow we have come to a place where policy differences become tied to a kind of visceral hatred which invites the unhinged to take violent actions against those they disagree with. If we cannot disagree without demonizing each other, the very foundations of our democracy and our society as a whole are in jeopardy.

Ed Morrissey has more @ Hot Air.

Filed Under: Crime, Culture, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Just Go Already

November 19, 2008 By Jeff Leave a Comment

It’s over.

Alaska Senator Ted Steven has lost his re-election bid… Steven’s was defeated by Democrat Mark Begich after being convicted on corruption charges in October.

Hey Ted, thanks for the memories

Now just go… and good riddance.

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Ted Stevens: Guilty On All Counts

October 27, 2008 By Jeff Leave a Comment

From the Wall Street Journal:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been found guilty of lying about receiving gifts. Stevens, 84 years old, was charged with lying on financial documents to conceal $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from oil services contractor VECO Corp. Stevens has steadfastly maintained his innocence and had hoped to obtain a jury verdict before Election Day. The 40-year Senate veteran is facing a tough re-election challenge from Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage.

Republicans should have pressured Steven to resign months ago… They didn’t and now a seat that we can’t afford to lose is sure to go to the democrats.

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Ted Stevens Indicted

July 29, 2008 By Jeff Leave a Comment

Ted Stevens (R-AK), the longest serving GOP senator, was indicted on corruption charges today. The indictment includes seven counts of failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and services from an oil services company that helped renovate his home.

All I can say is: it’s about time!

More here, here and here.

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