Ms. Walsh,

I think a large part of your confusion and uncertainty regarding Governor Palin's resignation springs from an assumption, (or assumptions), made by you in analyzing her statement.

Your primary assumption, I believe, was that one could make coherent, logical sense out of her statement.

Please; mix yourself an adult beverage-- a double is called for in this case-- and give yourself the rest of the weekend off.

You'll never make sense out of it, as you're not dealing with a person who's sane. Her statement therefore would be neither coherent nor rational.

This is simply the latest installment of the reality TV show that plays in the Governor's head 24 hours a day. Entitled "Sarah Palin: Frontier Mother", the heroine finds herself discombobulated when outside forces, (what you and I might call "reality", or "the actual demonstrable world"), evilly intrude on her scripted ascent to the heights of power. Rather than address these outside forces on THEIR terms, she cannily decides to take herself out of the very milieu that created her. Blazing her own trail, by her rules, she intends to thwart these elitist evildoers while holding steadfast to her convictions.

That women is obsessed with her own image, convinced of her own rectitude, and narcissistic to a staggering degree. One wonders if, in fact, she isn't Bill O'Reilly's twin.

While her antics make for entertaining television, they open a very scary door into her thought processes and rationality. My own suspicion was that, had she and John McCain won the 2008 Presidential election, McCain should never, under any circumstances, have eaten any homemade "treats" proffered by her.

In the 2008 Election, American voters created history by electing their first Black president, while rejecting their first potentail Woman president. In the 2012 election, American voters will have a chance to elect a first Woman president, they will have a choice between Hillary and Sarah. Let us drink to that.

For a more balanced and objective analysis of this event, I recommend article from Washington Post by Philip Rucker:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070402761.html

Can you please explain why you like Palin? I don't get it. I don't get why ANYONE would like her. At least as a politician or potential prez.

She's a serial liar, a diva/drama queen, and one of the most ignorant politicians I've ever heard. She knows nothing about domestic and international issues, and she keeps showing her lack of knowledge to the media. She blames the media for that, for uncovering her ignorance during interviews she asked for.

She let a witchdoctor perform an exorcism of her in public.

She stoked the fires of racial hatred by repeatedly lying about Obama on the campaign trail. Her incendiary remarks caused the Secret Service to say publicly that death threats against him and his family skyrocketed after her events.

She, as governor of Alaska, took more federal dollars per capita than any other governor, yet tried to tell her adoring fans she was against government intrusion.

She actually said, publicly, that Alaska will be the state where the remnant goes in the End Times. It's 2009, and we have an adult who actually believes such superstitious garbage, and seems to be happy about it.

Which means she is happy -- because she apparently believes the myths are real -- that billions of humans will be slaughtered for not accepting her god. She is happy, as other believers in those myths, because she thinks she'll be one of the raptured. Screw everyone else. She's safe, though.

To me, that should make any thinking American just say no to Palin, for any higher office.

What has she ever done to benefit the people of Alaska, other than resigning? What is it about her that makes you think she would do anything to help the American people as a whole?

Teach us how to lie and cheat and use campaign funds to go berserk in shopping malls while Rome burns?

Teach us how to lie about our own records?

Teach us to be ignorant about the world and claim we know all about other countries because we're "neighbors" and can see them from our backyards?

Teach us how to be oh so brave and shoot wolves from helicopters?

Or, teach us how to build a huge, adoring following based upon nothing? Perhaps that's the ticket for you and others. You love her ability to sell snake oil. You love her chutzpah in having the ambition to run a nation when she knows nothing about domestic or international policy. The sheer audacity needed for that. Is that it?

For some reason the GOP is like Salon in their seething hatred of Sarah. But by popular demand she will overcome. Reminds me so much of the press picking Reagan apart then heh, heh, heh, guess who prevailed? Carter was still the darling of the press in '80 but, like O'Bama, killed the economy.

Are you ever going to respond to the several challenges on this board about your claims?

My guess is, no. You don't have the guts or the intellect. Nor do you have the courage of your convictions.

Can you at least admit to what Obama inherited from Bush as far as the economy goes? It's probably asking too much to expect that you support your absurd claims that Obama is destroying the economy. I've never seen a single righty who can support that. But will you at least show you have some connection with reality by admitting how bad the economy was in late January of 2009, when Obama took over?

Again, Bush left him 11 trillion dollars of debt; more than 1.2 trillion in current accounts deficit; record setting trade deficits for eight years; four out of eight years of declining tax revenues; two wars; Wall Street and most of the financial sector in chaos and near the cliff; and the worst economy overall since the Depression.

Can you admit to reality at least?

__________

As for Palin. It's not "hatred". It's close analysis of her abysmal record, her serial lying, her Marie Antoinette act with McCain campaign funds, her love of victimhood, her perpetual drama-queen status, and her massive ignorance on the issues.

Readerreader thinks Joan Walsh should "respect" her. Why? She's done nothing to earn our respect and much to earn our disrespect.

That's not "hatred". That's using our brains, thinking critically, being adults. You should try it some time.