Comments following Sarah Palin's resignation:

"Folks. This is no time for negativity. Sarah Palin is going into the wilderness. Think Moses, Jesus and Ronald Reagan. This is the beginning of the taking back of America. I will explain her decision once I have had time to reflect on it, but remember I was way ahead on this. So if you feel like shooting the messenger feel free."

"Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon today. It's a gamble of incredible proportions. None of us saw it coming, and we're the most dedicated political junkies you will find anywhere. It took our breath away."

Yep - breathtaking.

Just watched Anderson Cooper interview Palin's spokesperson, who used the same strained sports analogy for Palin's resignation as governor. Point guard, best for the game - the whole tangled bunch of metaphors. Ok - to each his own.

I've also been to the Conservatives4Palin website. References to her as Moses leading her people, Jesus going into the desert, Caesar crossing the Rubicon - and yet, a simple country girl.

I don't know what this is but it ain't basketball, and it ain't governing. It's more like a cult.

Here's the link to Conservatives4Palin:

http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2009/07/sarah-palin-crosses-rubicon.html

This was the top article yesterday evening, several hours after Palin announced her resignation, comparing her to Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

Yes, posts compared her to Moses (leading her people) and Jesus (going into the wilderness) - scroll through the comments and you'll find plenty more like that. One thought she might lead her own party (a real possibility when you think about it), and another claimed that the supporters were her "Praetorian Guard", i.e. needed to lead the charge for her protection, no matter where she was going.

Classic cult stuff.

(Also - the logo photo of her, with back turned, staring off into the distance like a visionary sage is VERY weird.)

Yeah, I don't get the pose. Maybe an attempt to give her a kind of mythic or iconic stature, like Alfred Hitchcock's profile. Many of the site comments are essentially projections onto her of wildly exaggerated qualities the posters are wishing for - messianic leadership qualities that she doesn't embody and certainly hasn't earned. Maybe a head shot is too specific.

Creepy stuff.

Must confess I had to look up the Bulwer-Lytton reference and so found the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest site. What a www.treasure! That'll keep me busy for days. Thanks for the introduction.

Happy 4th everyone, while a few minutes still remain........

Sorry, but the arc of the Ku Klux Klan is not an anecdote that anyone should be attaching to Sarah Palin right now, if they seriously want to praise her. In fact it cuts to the heart of what a lot of folks feel is the dark side of her transparent ambition - that she's on the road to being more like Elmer Gantry and Huey Long than Princess Di. The do-gooding is entirely too self-serving and sanctimonious to be broadly beneficial. Praying to God for a pipeline? Quitting your constituents to help them?

What I find most unappealing is her taste for demagogy. The spirited delivery of twisted facts, half-truths, meaningless cliches, the arrogant dismissal of everyone but true believers, the flat-out meanness - these are all things I want to see much less of in American politics, not more. And it particularly roils me that a public figure feels that they should consolidate influence - and power - by NOT serving elected office, but by being a free agent answerable to no one.

I don't want to live in Byzantium - I want to live in a democracy with leaders who are accountable to the majority. I want government to get things done for our benefit - we're hurting so much right now. I want more civility in public life, not trumped-up crusades. I want rational action, not drama queens.

No more junk "values" at citizens' expense. No more babble.

Without a doubt, you are THE most thoughtful and articulate defender of Palin posting, pretty much anywhere as far as I can see. I thank you for that, as I'm sure do others here. I don't agree with you at all about her - I think she's just solidified her base and lost almost everyone else - but it's good to see someone who isn't a mere idolator coming to her rescue.

I think a lot of people are as puzzled about her methods as appalled. And you gamely try to explain your side, rather than just hissing as some of the conservative (and liberal) posters do. I appreciate your fortitude and civility - you absolutely make for better quality Salon.

I've never understood Letterman's appeal. He's always struck me as just kinda nasty.

Well that's enough about Sarah for me. I think I'll jump out here. Thanks for the lift!

I've been stunned by the genuine outpouring of affection after MJ's death, around the world. It's a little tricky to separate the real grief from the hyperbole, but not impossible I think. (Anything that touches on his mother's sphere of influence is poignant; anything to do with the father's is not.) In the end Jackson was truly a uniter, not a divider. And a 100% American eccentric, warts and all.

The most touching peripheral event today here in L.A. was the pre-dawn march of the Ringling Bros/B&B elephants across downtown to the Staples Center (horses too). Tomorrow the circus opens at the Center, and wouldn't Jackson have been delighted; the animals were all stationed backstage during the memorial. Not sure how much that got covered elsewhere, but what a wonderful grace note to the day - something that would have tickled Michael pink (if he hadn't done so himself).