memeorandum: My Letter To Sarah Palin (Jonah Goldberg/The Corner)

8:55 PM ET, July 3, 2009

Top Items:

Gov. Sarah Palin to resign her office — Updated: — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning. — Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor's Picnic at Pionner Park …

CNN:

Palin won't run for re-election in Alaska, source says — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is expected to announce Friday that she will not seek a second term, a Republican source close to Palin tells CNN. — Palin has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET news conference at her home in Wasilla.

Discussion: Emptywheel, Ben Smith's Blog, Harry's Place, Washington Times, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media, JammieWearingFool, The Confluence, Open Left, JONATHAN TURLEY, Pharyngula and Wonkette

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Kristol: A Contrarian Take — If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today? It's an enormous gamble - but it could be a shrewd one. — After all, she's freeing herself from the duties of the governorship. Now she can do her book, give speeches …

Discussion: The New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Michelle Malkin:

But I'm doing what's best for Alaska" — Lots of heavy media anticipation over a Sarah Palin announcement expected any minute from Wasilla. — Here's CBS: … Feel free to speculate. — Allahpundit has a developing round-up; multiple sources reporting that Palin will say she's not going to run for governor again in 2010.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, The Sundries Shack, The Campaign Spot, Atlas Shrugs and Ben Smith's Blog

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Breaking: Palin to resign within weeks? Update: Is her career over? — No word as to why but Stephanopoulos has a hunch. If it's related to her plans for next year, which way should Palinistas be rooting? Presumably they hope she's not running for reelection so that she can devote herself full …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, KTVA-TV, The Strata-Sphere, Christian Science Monitor, The Swamp, theblogprof, Nice Deb, Conservatives4Palin.com, Pundit & Pundette, Pajamas Media, Conservative Political Report and Raw Story

Mitchell L. Blumenthal / The Caucus:

Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska — Update | 5:30 p.m. Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced Friday that she would step down by the end of the month and not seek a second term as governor, fueling speculation that she is seriously weighing whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

Discussion: Washington Post, TalkLeft, Swampland, Reuters, Weekly Standard, Top of the Ticket, The New Republic, Above the Law, Minnesota Independent, Devil's Advocate and Matthew Yglesias

Paul Volpe / The Fix:

Palin To Resign, Focus on Presidential Run — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is looking to build a national political operation in advance of 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Miller, File) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office later this month, according to several sources familiar with her decision …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Sadly, No!, Right Wing News, Opinion L.A., Eunomia, The Confluence, TigerHawk, DownWithTyranny! and Top of the Ticket

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

A Letter to Sarah — You're blowing it. — We haven't met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain's running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him.

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin.com, Vox Popoli and Balloon Juice

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

First Signs What Happened — Okay, we're getting our first indication of what happened. It seems like a colossal sulk on Palin's part, or perhaps better to say an effort on her part to ingeniously combine anti-liberal media bias agitation with Christianist politics by portraying herself as having been crucified by the liberal media.

Discussion: Firedoglake

Brad Friedman / The BRAD BLOG:

EXCLUSIVE: PALIN RESIGNATION ‘DAMAGE CONTROL’ FOR COMING ‘ICEBERG SCANDAL’ ... MORE: EMBEZZLEMENT INDICTMENTS COMING? — [See update below for exclusive source details from Alaska...FURTHER UPDATE now added below: AK sources say ‘embezzlement’ scandal, federal indictments may be in offing.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, CNN, The Confluence, Firedoglake, Des Moines Register, Hot Air, Truthdig, skippy the bush kangaroo and Raw Story

Versha Sharma / Talking Points Memo:

Full Text Of Palin's Resignation Speech — The Governor's website posted this transcript on Friday, July 3.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The New Republic, neo-neocon, The Impolitic, Talking Points Memo, Full Comment, The Daily Dish and Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis

msnbc.com:

Palin to resign as Alaska governor — Former vice presidential hopeful says she won't finish out first term — WASILLA, Alaska - Sarah Palin announced Friday she plans to resign as governor of Alaska in a few weeks, saying she will try to “affect positive change” from outside government.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Moderate Voice, Wizbang, Macsmind and Pam's House Blend

Kimberly Krautter / The Huffington Post:

Sarah Palin — What a Schmuck — Sarah Palin has announced her abdication of the Governorship of Alaska. If I were a citizen of Alaska, and especially if I had voted for her, I'd be pissed off. — Who cares if she feels she has checked off her personal laundry list of things to do?

Discussion: American Power and skippy the bush kangaroo

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:

Mother Palin — Who knows all the reasons — Todd and Sarah Palin, presumably fully understand. Listening to her, it seems like this is a combination of stepping back and moving forward. Stepping back, because it's way too overwhelming to be Sarah Palin, political phenom, Sarah Palin …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Campaign Spot, Kausfiles, The New Republic and Amygdala

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Palin announces resignation

Discussion: YID With LID, Weekly Standard, The Other McCain and Let's Get It Right

Lisa Demer / Anchorage Daily News:
Health director says she was forced out

Discussion: Politics Daily and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Washington Wire:
Transcript of Palin's Announcement

Discussion: Don Surber

Erik Sean Nelson / The Huffington Post:
Palin Will Run In '12 On More Retardation Platform

Discussion: The Hill, Sweetness & Light, Pundit & Pundette and NewsBusters.org

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Is Palin's national political career over?

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, The Corner and PoliGazette

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
PALIN TO RESIGN.... Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) decided to shake …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, PoliBlog, Outside The Beltway, The Reaction and Little Green Footballs

Fox News:
Palin Quits as Alaska Governor

Discussion: The Huffington Post, La Figa, Townhall.com and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Anchorage Daily News:
Palin resignation shocks Alaska, nation

Discussion: Top Stories from CQ, Taegan Goddard's … and Don Surber

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
SARAH PALIN RESIGNING JULY 25th

Discussion: Doug Ross, The Corner, Patterico's Pontifications and Not Tucker Carlson

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
My Letter To Sarah Palin

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Townhall.com, Broadband Politics and Conservatives4Palin.com

CNN: DNC reacts: Palin decision ‘continues a pattern of bizarre behavior’

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Analysis: Palin Plays by Her Own Rules, Again

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Gateway Pundit:
BREAKING: SARAH PALIN RESIGNS! (Video)

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Crooks and Liars, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Conservatives4Palin.com, Babalú Blog, Pundit & Pundette, The Reaction and Cold Fury

Sarah Palin / The Campaign Spot:
WOW: Palin Resigning In a Few Weeks

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Riehl World View and Mudflats

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Palin plans to stay visible

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

The Huffington Post:
GOP Official Who Emailed With Palin Moments Before Decision, Explains Her Move

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, The League of Ordinary … and The Daily Dish

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:
10 Possible Reasons for Palin's Decision

Discussion: Alarming News

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
In Big Shocker, Palin Resigns As Governor

Discussion: TBogg

CNN:
Palin stepping down as governor by end of July, not seeking re-election

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Blogs and Stories, American Power, Shakesville and PoliBlog

Associated Press:
Alaska Gov. Palin, ex-VP nominee, resigning

Discussion: Associated Press, GayPatriot, Guardian and Gawker

Paul Krugman:

Secrets of the WSJ — This morning's Wall Street Journal opinion section contains a lot of what one expects to see. There's an opinion piece making a big fuss over the fake scandal at the EPA. There's an editorial claiming that the latest job figures prove the failure of Obama's economic plan — something I dealt with in the Times.

Discussion: RADAMISTO, The BRAD BLOG, Balloon Juice and Grasping Reality …

Wall Street Journal:
The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Deep Climate and Maggie's Farm

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
That '30s Show — O.K., Thursday's jobs report settles it.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Matthew Yglesias, Wall Street Journal, The Confluence, The Strata-Sphere, Atlantic Correspondents, Clusterstock, Balloon Juice and Economist's View

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Miniseries Ends — I guessed right, which I suppose reflects just how much time I've spent trying to figure what goes on in her head. I think the simple truth is that, as even Alaskan Republicans told us last September, she was far from able to be governor of Alaska, let alone vice-president of the United States.

Discussion: Jack & Jill Politics