GOOD RIDDANCE, DRAMA QUEEN!

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."
- Bertrand Russell -

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."
-John Stuart Mill -


I am normally a fairly patient and supportive person. Yes, when it comes to mechanical or electronic equipment breakdowns, I have been known to erupt and lose my cool. But when it comes to people, I can usually put up with a lot before I start to blow steam. Unless, of course, someone is completely and needlessly wasting my time, is thoroughly and stubbornly ignorant, is VERY foolish, or is bald-face lying to me. This past week, for the umpteenth time, Alaska Governor and unsuccessful 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made my Irish blood boil.

We got the surprising announcement last Friday that Palin will be soon leaving office, 18 months before the end of her term, to pursue a "higher calling." All I can say is, and I'm sure my statement will be shared by many Alaskans, "don't let the door slam you in the ass on the way out." Many questions surround Palin's abrupt and unexpected decision. That is not unusual with Palin, for her impulsive shoot-from-the-hip style and inarticulate sound-bite phraseology always seem to raise questions. This time, some speculate she is getting out of the governor's mansion prior to facing upcoming questions on allegations of corruption or other scandal. That would fit her modus operandi. Others believe she is dumping the encumbrances of the governor's office to plunge headlong into a full time campaign for President in 2012. That, too, would fit her publicity-craving persona, for it has become unquestioningly obvious this woman loves and has become addicted to media attention and being surrounded by screaming, adoring crowds who are hanging on to her every shallow, unoriginal, cliche-ridden pronouncement. It doesn't matter, though. Palin's move this week was merely another in a long line of rash and irresponsible actions she has taken since her late teens. She is an unstable, self-centered personality who does not belong in national office, and that fact alone will deservedly short curcuit any attempt she may make to get there.

Let's look at this pathetically impetuous woman's history for a moment. She finally received a relatively easy degree in communications-journalism, after five years in college spent at four differnt schools. She quit the first one after one semester. She quit the second after only two more. She quit the third after two more semesters, attended a fourth and spent one term there, and then went back to the third school once again for her final three semesters. Now THERE'S a gal with staying power and clear vision who can make lasting decisions! She then worked for two differnt TV stations for a short time, and very briefly at ESPN, before deciding to run for Wasilla, AK city council. She spent a few terms there and a few as mayor before becoming Governor. Now, 2 1/2 years into her first four year term, Sarah Palin wants out again. Her Facebook explanation for leaving the governorship was as ridiculous as her action. "How sad that Washington and the media will never understand it's about country," she wrote, "...though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make." Palin's Nixonian expressions of self-pity are nauseating. So is her absurd talk of abdicating her office being "about country." WHAT country, Palin? Your husband belonged to an Alaskan secessionist party which advocates LEAVING ours! Sarah Palin sure sounds like the type of person YOU'D like to hire for an important job, doesn't she, reader? Hardly!

Republican strategist Ed Rollins, a former advisor to President Ronald Reagan, is a man whom I often disagree with but nonetheless admire for his civil demeanor and analytical and empirical approach to politics. I think he summed Palin up perfectly this time by stating, "...she is now becoming more of a kook than a serious candidate." David Gergen, a long time, level-headed advisor to both Republican and Democratic past Presidents, summed up Palin's latest actions by saying, "There is an old adage in politics that says 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going.' Now she's trying to persuade us of a new adage: when the going gets tough, the tough quit. That dog won't hunt." He, too, is totally correct in his analysis of her.

A look at Palin's demeanor over the years strongly suggests she has never grown beyond her beauty pageant days and is starving for constant attention. She is so smug and overly self confident that she is appallingly ignorant and dismissive of vitally relevant factual elements of worldpolitik. This deluded woman truly believes that, in spite of her tremendous lack of knowledge or understanding of world affairs, she is abundantly qualified for the nation's highest office. She evidently thinks "Christian values" and her phony just-like-the-average-American exterior, replete with its "you betcha!" and "First Dude" commonality, and including shopping trips to a second-hand store, will pave the way for her success. Even that attempted portayal of the Palins as "average," with their net wealth at $1.2 million, is an infuriating insult to our intelligence and shows how little she really understands about THIS country. Palin, ever the naive and calculating little fool, couldn't possibly be more mistaken about what really qualifies one for the presidency. It has also become obvious that Palin, like most conservative Republicans, loves to dish out political hyperbole but can't take the heat of political criticism. In her pea-brain, it was perfectly ok to run around during the last campaign making inflammatory and downright stupid accusations of Obama "palling around with domestic terrorists" and having a "socialist" agenda, but when justly criticized for the evasive and moronic interview she had with Katie Couric, wherein it became apparent how little she read of foreign affairs or current events, the wimpy little Palin screamed foul and media bias. This was a clear overreaction. She also overreacted immensely to the recent bad joke by David Letterman and even shamelessly exploited her children (AGAIN) for selfish political gain in the process. This is the behavior of a wholly self-obsessed drama queen who is not fit for ANY public office!

Sarah Palin is a non-stop irritant, like a very bratty little sister who repeatedly wants to argue about trivialities and simply won't go away. Worse yet, she's become a bratty little sister who won't grow up. But for now, she is stepping down. So good riddance, drama queen! I hope this time you will leave public office forever and find your pompous "higher calling" elsewhere, well out of public view. But, I fear, like a bad case of hemorrhoids, Sarah Palin will flare up again and again and end up being a constant pain in the ass to all of us until at least 2012. Grrrrrrrrr!