I don't think she's mentally ill.

She's very defensive, though, as a person with a thin skin might be. She's in way over her head on the national stage, especially intellectually. Her popularity in Alaska was plummeting, the oil revenues there are down, so governing was tougher -- and she may have big legal problems we don't know about yet.

The poor dear needed a break.

I think the media understands Palin far better than she understands herself. Making a snarky post about your political implosion on your Facebook page does not look adult, never mind presidential. And neither does resigning halfway through one's term of office, then trying to gild a turd by saying "I've already done more in half a term than most governors do in two!"

This is not a fight over the cute guy in study hall. Governing is real-life, grown-up stuff.

I am sure a few months ago when she was being raked for her questionable ethic the Alaska Attorney General probably found some solid dirt on her and negotiating with her. They probably agreed...give it a couple of month Sarah THEN resign under your rationalization and WE won't prosecute you. Just get the @#$# out of Alaska politics. She will never be considered for president for REAL...just a smoke screen by the conservatives.

My God, I'd say she'd lost it but she never had it. Her grandiosity has become so out in the open, it's hard to fathom. She simply cannot contain herself, cannot just STFU for even one day.

I'd love to think this is damaging to her, but to her whack-job base, nothing from her is too much. She is their champion, she's one of them. If she made good, then maybe so can they. Of course, they continue to vote against their self-interests, so probably not.

And I have to ask myself why I get so enraged by her, why I even pay attention. Also.

...but Personality-Disordered for sure- Looks like co-morbid Borderline and Narcissistic with perhaps a dash of Histrionic thrown in for good measure.

PD's are not considered illnesses, and are nearly impossible to cure, because to do so requires the patient to renounce much, if not all, of their world-view. Most counselors won't even deal with them.

If the current tenor of political discourse is any indication, most Republicans and the RWA Punditocracy seem similarly afflicted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_disorder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Attraction

Lots more on-line. Read it and protect yourself from RWA Pundits and perhaps a future "Boy(Girl)friend-from-Hell"

OK? Thanks. There had been something that had bothered me all along. I had put it down to her lack of intelligence and intellectual curiosity, which certainly bothers me. But yes, it is the fact that she personifies the overgrown child, unwilling to put in the serious intellectual work that's required for the positions for which she's applying.

I see her impatience to become the Vice President, without assessing herself honestly and saying, "do I possess the intelligence; eagerness to learn; self-reflectiveness;" and so many other qualities that one should have before accepting that office. Like Bush before her, she doesn't think of the good of the country, or whether she's really suited for that office. It seems it's just, "whoo-hoo! Perks! Gimme gimme gimme."

See my new public service initiative:

http://bgladd.com/SkinGrafts4Sarah.org

I know we're all suffering from compassion fatigue these days, but this is vital to the nation.

Pay it forward.

Sarah Palin just did me a favor by giving up her post in Alaska and I thought that I would not have to hear from her so soon again. I don't care why she's leaving. But she has this need to always feud with the media. If President Obama spent time fueding with lies and quotes about himself; even from Sarah when she vied for VP his life would never go forward. Who cares about her and what she thinks. When she starts reading books, newspapers, and doing other things to enhance her legitamacy that makes her fit to vie for high office in this nation, then I will care what she thinks. maybe she resigned so that she can enroll in the 5th school to learn history, geography, civics and english.

Every “core” Republican in the country, that’s who. And they can hardly wait to nominate her for president in 2012.

You wrote, "Who cares about her and what she thinks. Every 'core' Republican in the country, that’s who. And they can hardly wait to nominate her for president in 2012."

Well, all of them except Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and some other meanies who haven't yet seen the light -- that holy glowing halo around Sarah -- and still foolishly want to join the forces of evil by running against her in the primaries.

When one thinks of the "average American", the average American doesn't think about Wasilla, Alaska. Or any place in Alaska. To people in the lower 48, Alaska is a far off land that has daylight for six straight months. Many of us can't comprehend that...much less what it is like living in Alaska. When politicians mount presidential campaigns, it starts in the Midwest. Iowa. Larger states complain that Iowa is not representative of the United States as a whole. But apparently they were right in picking Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. It is not the elite liberals or the social conservatives that decide elections. It is the muddied middle. My husband is "Joe Six-pack" that the GOP worked so hard to win over. He's blue collar, loves his beer, and is an avid hunter. He was ready to vote for John McCain. With no prodding by me, he watched Obama's acceptance for the Democratic nomination. Health care. Education. Jobs. Taking care of family. This is what the "average Joe" wants. From that day on, he decided he wanted Obama. And I always believed that if Obama could win over my husband, he would win. I am a died in the wool liberal. So my vote was never in question. Sarah came along, and he just looked at her in disbelief. "The only reason McCain picked her was because she was female and hot." Perhaps a sexist statement, but also true. Because nothing she said or did convinced either of us otherwise. Obama, quite simply, convinced enough people who may have been leery of his name and background that he was just like them and wanted to take care of his family just like anybody else. McCain convinced enough people that just because you are a decorated war veteran, that you don't always make the best decisions, like picking a VP. This is perhaps a hard thing for Sarah to stomach.