"2012 Red Right! 2012 Red Right! hut, hut..."

Point guard hoops audible.

Why, I've repeatedly used that one myself over at 24-Hour Fitness Sport during full-court pickup.

The point guard for team Republican has dribbled the ball through the defense and out the door. The coach is calling up the team's best player off the bench. "Joe the Plumber get in there!!!!"

Seriously folks: You don't run for President as a governor who quit when the going got tough. Even Palin knows that. The question now is what scandal will we be discussing next week?

I'm betting Sanford is Trig's daddy.

amateur sex tape!!!!!

Palin is a shallow, batshit-crazy flake.

Listening to her press announcement, I got the very strong impression that Palin thinks she is doing something politically daring and "mavericky".

She apparently doesn't realize that she's made a public ass of herself, and that she will now sink into obscurity with a bizarre public display as the coda to her undistinguished career.

Repugnicants are dropping like flies these days.

I'm quitting (so I can suspend my campaign at a later date).

I posted before reading the comments. thought myself witty--and yet you made the Sanford/Paling connection early in the comments. If two of us can come up with that independently, on our own, it must be true.

This makes little sense to me unless there is a public scandal heading her way. This is a woman who seems to enjoy and revel in political power and the bully pulpit that provides. Here she is though willfully giving up power. Giving up that access to crush her enemies behind closed doors, and expense her many luxuries to the good people of Alaska.

It just makes no sense. We know she is an inveterate liar so that means her public statements regarding her reasons for stepping down are full of shit. She's not the brightest bulb in the world (Too many examples to mention but we'll go with "In what way Charlie?" and her reasoning she's had foreign policy experience because she can see Russia from Alaska). No, there is some public scandal comng her way, and probably very soon. Can't wait to find out what it or they are though. She is simply a delight. And what's more delightful are the folks like readerreader who adore and revere her. I look forward to their nonsensical ramblings.

Taking care of a disabled child takes a lot of time and energy.

someone out there has something very big on her, and she doesn't want it released. We'll probably find out about it soon enough, regardless.

Andrea Mitchell says sources close to Gov. Palin say she is now "out of politics for good."

There are real and growing reasons to be furious with Palin and the rest of the "get elected at any cost to the country" republicans.

She is a total incompetent, ignorant lunatic. And she and a lot of repuglicans want her to be president of the United States!

What would that mean to the United States... Total disaster, distractionary wars, a full blown great depression to dwarf the first one, civil war, theocracy instead of democracy ala the taliban.. ?

God Damn her and those freak'n republicans that don't give as shit about this country!

The least they could do is nominate candidates who have an IQ over 70 and know what the oath of office means.

The media hurt my feelings. I'm going to take my toys and go home!!

Yeah, Sarah, you're a quitter. Better we know this now than in 2012.

She just screwed herself royally. Good riddance.

FOX has offered her a gig. She's off to be Girl Rush.

It's what she's always wanted and the politics were just a roundabout way of getting it.

When's the indictment coming?

Please let her do a Playboy photo spread. I would die happy.

Maybe she's about to attack Siberia.

I thought that Friday afternoons, especially before a holiday weekend were typically reserved for the release of information that you didn't particularly want scrutinized, hoping for it to be buried as it were. Is this deliberate or a result of an clueless public relations staff?

Bill Richardson didn't "turn down" the Commerce Secretary post. He accepted it, then news broke about a grand jury meeting secretly over "pay to play" allegations involving Richardson and some of his key staff members. When Obama found out, he basically dis-invited (un-invited?) Richardsona, and Richardson "stepped out of the running to avoid unecessary distraction... even though I'm 100 percent innocent of course"

Richardson will take a position with the Obama administration if the grand jury doesn't return any indictments that hit too close to home. No word yet.

I just listened to her speech. Man that is the most disjointed speech Palin has given to date. She got way beyond her pay scale running for VP and I bet all this negative attention, plus her family stress has taken it's toll. Even the republicans in Alaska never had anything nice to say about her. As much as I dislike her, I do feel sorry for her.

I hope she is smart enough to go into hiding for a while.

Not that I think she will win, but she'll probably get a lot of early grass roots support that will put her back in the news before her campaign fizzles long before the Republican convention.

Joan, if you were just an editorialist, I'd give you a pass, but as the editor of Salon and a frequent media commentator, I think you should have approached this story with more professionalism. Hillary Clinton teared up on network televsision when it first became apparent Obama would win (it netted her a few temporary victories) and you saw nothing wrong with that. Why should Palin's sensitivity to negative feedback make her a loony? And why should Salon's first story about her resignation be handled in such a childish manner? It demeans the left, not the right, to approach her this way. And only seems to make her reasons for resigning sound more accurate. Why are you helping her?