Sarah Palin goes "Galt"

soon to be known as the "Sarah? WTF?" post

so anyway, you could color me completely gobsmacked over the announcement Sarah Palin made this afternoon. In case you missed it, not only is she not going to seek reelection, she's stepping down at the end of the month.

Palin said she will formally step down July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," she said.

Whilst RSM is out chasing down another 200' of det cord and an extra case of RC Cola and Moon Pies for the Camp FUBAR extravaganza, Smitty is holding down the fort over at The Other McCain, and, as you'd expect, has the bestest round-up of reacts going.

Ace has also been opining on 'Cuda's announcement.

My thoughts are muddled at the moment. Upon initially hearing the news, my first thought was that now Governor Palin would be free to raise money, to inject herself in national issues, etc. TheMissus™ and her Mom (both "hopey-changy" types) are sure that there's some scandal that's about to break, forcing Gov. Palin to resign now.

I'm kind of in Ace's camp right now: I cannot see how this bodes well for Governor Palin to make a POTUS run in 2012. Even if Kristol is saying that she's "crazy, like a fox".

Smitty has some sobering thoughts:

Dude, pay attention: if BHO wins a second term, Michelle will be POTUS 2016-2024, a Constitutionally suitable consort to the older Obama daughter will rule from 2024-2032, when we switch back to the Obama dynasty proper. I say that and pray that I am wrong on a variety of levels.

Me too, Smitty. Frightening stuff.

more soon