Palin, Sanford and Dereliction of Duty
Like the proverbial broken clock, even Charles Krauthammer gets it right occasionally, if not twice a day. On Thursday, Krauthammer dismissed Governor Sarah Palin 24 hours before her surprise resignation as "not a serious candidate for the presidency." That conclusion followed his recent broadside against South Carolina's Mark Sanford for "dereliction of duty" in going AWOL over his Argentinean mistress. As her jaw-dropping rationalizing about her lame duck status revealed, that same charge applies to Palin as well.
In her rambling 18 minute statement which Paul Begala rightly described as "vapid and puerile," Palin turned her back on her four year pledge to Alaskan voters by mocking the very notion that any elected official anywhere should complete their final term:
"And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that's what's wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and "milk it". I'm not putting Alaska through that - I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ? That's not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old "politics as usual." I promised that four years ago - and I meant it."
If Palin's line about "overseas on international trade" was meant as a dig against the lovelorn Sanford, it surely backfired. After all, Palin during her catastrophic interview with CBS' Katie Couric tried to puff up her foreign policy credentials by proclaiming, "We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia." (That came just before the part about "as Putin rears his head...")
More importantly, Palin's own spokesperson Meg Stapleton contradicted her boss' inverted sports analogies and convoluted claim that by staying in office she would be taking "a quitter's way out." As Politico detailed:
But even Stapleton acknowledged that the job Palin said she loved during the press conference had become a drag.
"It's a liberating feeling...She can't get out of there soon enough," said Stapleton.
Over at the excreable American Spectator, Quin Hillyer was disgusted with Friday's charade, announcing, "Sarah Palin's resignation is an appalling dereliction of duty and a highly cynical move to set herself up for a presidential run for which she is manifestly unqualified."
Yes, once in a rare while even the most ardent conservatives are right.
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