Sarah Palin: one more weird-arse news conference on her way out the door

Tina Fey, we need you again.

Above is a clip from yesterday's very breathless and bizarre news conference, where Sarah Palin announced her resignation as Alaska's governor, just over halfway through her first term.

Sports analogies, a shout-out to the troops, forced cheeriness, another slam at the Obama administration for being "big government," one last dig at Letterman, and a shot at the media for being critical of her child with special needs (which, it must be pointed out, never happened) - and off she went.

Where? She hobbled between saying that she doesn't have to give a reason and that she's already given a reason, both of which are arguable. And she took no questions.

The possibilities:

1. To host a show on FOX News.

2. To get out of the way before a big scandal erupts.

3. To disappear into the shadows from whence she came.

4. To get ready to run for president against Obama on the next go-round.

5. Or, as one talkbacker says on Ain't it Cool News, she's "prepping the way for her insect overlords."

I'm betting on hosting a FOX show (money talks!) or the scandal (scandal walks!).

The announcement was not only odd for her whacked-out delivery, but also because her commitment to Alaska was the linchpin of her last campaign. Dropping Alaska like a hot potato for money, scandal, or political ambition doesn't look good, period.

Vanity Fair

Some commentators say that this Vanity Fair piece from the upcoming issue, which calls her "the riskiest brand in the Republican party," was the last straw for Palin.

It's a real humdinger of a piece; the kind of long-form journalism at which Vanity Fair excels, but I seriously doubt that this could be the straw that broke the camel's back:

"What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded?

"What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life?

"Why did so many skilled veterans of the Republican Party—long regarded as the more adroit team in presidential politics—keep loyally working for her election even after they privately realized she was casual about the truth and totally unfit for the vice-presidency?

"Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?"

There is one positive note about yesterday's news conference that deserves mention: no turkeys were harmed in the making of the video.



And I'm looking forward to Letterman's jokes on Monday...