Daily archives: July 4th, 2009

Gail Collins on Sarah Palin’s Implosion

Once again, the best I can say is I have no idea why Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska.  Why show you’re not a quitter by quitting?  Why leave the highest office you’ve ever held?

Nothing about this move makes sense.

Gail Collins shares her thoughts at the New York Times.  Collins quotes from Palin’s rambling press conference:

“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time … to BUILD UP.”

Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.

Sarah Barracuda made her big announcement Friday afternoon on the lawn of her home to an audience that appeared to include only Todd, the kids and the next-door neighbors. Smiling manically, she looked like a parody of the woman who knocked the Republicans dead at their convention. She babbled about her parents’ refrigerator magnet, which apparently had a lot of wise advice. And she recalled her visit with the troops in Kosovo, whose dedication and determination inspired her to … resign.

“Life is about choices!” declared the nation’s most anti-choice politician.

Is this a brilliant move (as Mary Matalin asserts)  for a rising star launching her run for the White House?  Collins comments:

So if she’s starting to run, it will be as the same reporter-avoiding, generalization-spouting underachiever that she was last time around.

Now we know she not only doesn’t have the concentration to read a policy paper, she can’t focus long enough to finish the job she was hired to do.

I want to hear George Will try to spin this one.

And you betcha I’m looking forward to commentary from Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman.


Former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair Killed in Nashville Shooting

CNN has the news:

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and another person were killed in a shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said Saturday.

Police said they found McNair and a woman shot to death in a Nashville residence Saturday after receiving a phone call about an injured person. The identity of the woman was not immediately released.

A law enforcement source close to the investigation said the woman is McNair’s girlfriend and that the residence is her condominium in downtown Nashville.

Witnesses said he was a frequent visitor there.

Authorities were questioning people who were near the home, but they said no one was in custody.

They could not provide details as to the circumstances of the shooting.

McNair played 13 seasons in the NFL, spending most of his tenure with the Tennessee Titans.  He retired in April 2008.

He was only 36.


GOP Strategist Ed Rollins: Sarah Palin Looks ‘Inept,’ Timing ‘Suspicious’

GOP Strategist Ed Rollins echoes what many are already speculating: Sarah Palin’s timing is very, very suspicious.

“Everyone’s goint to assume there’s another story,” Rollins told CNN.  “You don’t just quit with a year-and-a-half to go as governor.  You certainly don’t do this as a stepping stone to run for president. You finish the job that you’re in, and obviously she’s not doing that.  I think people are going to be very suspicious because of the timing.  You don’t quit on a Friday of a three-day holiday.

“If you’re going to do this, you think it through, you give  a good speech.  You basically have an audience.  I think, to a certain extent, this has just made her look totatlly inept.”

If you’re accessing this via one of our affiliates, please click through for a video of Rollins’ remarks on CNN.

Very suspicious indeed.