memeorandum: The Weak Spot In Every Political Figure (The Campaign Spot)

1:15 PM ET, July 4, 2009

Top Items:

Did a Scandal Sink the U.S.S. Palin? — Blogs and Stories — The suddenness of Sarah Palin's resignation raises questions about whether a coming scandal caused her to leave office. Max Blumenthal looks at one possibility. — Plus: Read more of The Daily Beast's coverage of Palin's resignation and the GOP implosion.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, MoJo Blog Posts, Ben Smith's Blog, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, Pam's House Blend, American Power, D-Day, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Liberal Values, AmSpecBlog, DownWithTyranny!, Blogs and Stories, CNN and Taylor Marsh

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 related to Palin's house, federal indictments may be in offing.

Phoebe Connelly / American Prospect:

SARAH PALIN INSISTS YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE INTERNET ON HOLIDAY. — Never a slow news day with these Republicans. — Couple of quick hits — it's worth re-reading Ann and Tim's initial reactions to the arrival of Sarah Palin on the national political scene as McCain's VP. (Shorter Tim: it's a gimmick.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Bruce Reed / Slate:

In Sarah Palin's GOP, the leaders keep quitting and the troubles don't. — “It may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down [and] plod along,” Sarah Palin said Friday, in an attempt to suggest that serving her full term as governor would add to the nation's apathy.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Alas, a blog, Atlas Shrugs and Devil's Advocate

Rachel Sklar / The Huffington Post:

Sarah Palin, You Owe The Media An Apology — “I told you so” moments are pretty sweet — and thanks to Sarah Palin, now I've got one. Ten months to the day after her speech at the Republican National Convention, I would like for this woman to eat her words:

Discussion: The American Scene, No Sheeples Here!, And So it Goes in Shreveport, American Street, Guardian, The Other McCain, News Desk, Pajamas Media, Politics Daily and Opinion L.A.

Erik Sean Nelson / The Huffington Post:

Palin Will Run In '12 On More Retardation Platform — In Sarah Palin's resignation announcement she complained about the treatment of her son Trig who always teaches her life lessons. She said that the “world needs more Trigs, not fewer.” That's a presidential campaign promise we can all get behind.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Confluence, Doug Ross, American Power, Pundit & Pundette and JammieWearingFool

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Did an embezzlement scandal force Sarah Palin to resign? — Max Blumental reports on The Daily Beast that Sarah Palin may have quit her job today because she was trying to avert a major, yet-to-be-disclosed corruption scandal. The gist of the rumor is that an Alaska building company called …

Discussion: BitsBlog, Donklephant, American Thinker, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Maggie's Farm, The Huffington Post, Outside The Beltway, The Reaction, Newshoggers.com and skippy the bush kangaroo

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11, 12, 13, 14 Palin Theories — I can see [5 6 7] [8] [9 10] [11 12] [13] 14 Palin theories ... and counting: 1) She's running for president; 2) She's undergoing fame withdrawal and plans to get more attention in the lower 48; 3) She wants to cash in ($); 4) …

Discussion: NewsMax.com, The American Scene and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

Palin's Move Shocks G.O.P. and Leaves Future Unclear — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska abruptly announced on Friday that she was quitting at the end of the month, shocking Republicans across the country and leaving both parties uncertain about whether she was leaving national politics or laying the groundwork for a presidential run.

Discussion: WTOP.com, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, The Huffington Post, The Page, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Taegan Goddard's …

Matthew Continetti / Weekly Standard:

More on Palin — I spoke to a few friends in Alaskan Republican politics yesterday. None of them had a clue that Palin was going to resign her office, and none has any idea what her motivation might be in doing so. It was widely assumed in Alaska that Palin wouldn't run for a second term.

Discussion: Associated Press

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Kristol: A Contrarian Take — If Palin wants to run in 2012 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, TPMCafe, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh, Ezra Klein, Balloon Juice, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Winds of Change.NET, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Runnin' Scared, Ace of Spades HQ, Sadly, No!, Whiskey Fire, Firedoglake and Broadband Politics

The Campaign Spot:
The Weak Spot In Every Political Figure

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, GayPatriot, The Corner and Wizbang

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
It Always Has Been About Trig — I waited a whole day before posting …

Discussion: Polimom, Too, KN@PPSTER, theblogprof and Piece of Work In Progress

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Surreality Only Beginning — As David noted below …

Discussion: Jezebel, The Huffington Post, Newshoggers.com and No More Mister Nice Blog

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
A few additional and hopefully final thoughts on Sarah Palin

Discussion: The New Ledger, Whiskey Fire, Washington Wire, Obama Foodorama, Sadly, No! and Balloon Juice

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
HuffPoster: 'Palin Will Run In ‘12 On More Retardation Platform’

Discussion: Bloggasm, Pajamas Media, protein wisdom and Weasel Zippers

Los Angeles Times:
Sarah Palin's exit as Alaska governor stuns, puzzles observers

Discussion: The Swamp and Megan McArdle

Matthew Cooper / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Three Theories of Palin's Resignation

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com

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

Discussion: Slate, Wizbang, The Mudflats, The New Republic, The League of Ordinary … and NO QUARTER

New York Times:
Text: Palin's Announcement

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Washington Monthly

The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin Resignation Speech: FULL VIDEO, TEXT

Discussion: marbury, Politics Daily, Gateway Pundit and PunditMom

Washington Post:
Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor, Citing Probes and Family Needs

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Ezra Klein, CBS News, The Washington Note, PostPartisan, The Nation, Brutally Honest, Above the Law and The Caucus

Versha Sharma / Talking Points Memo:
Full Text Of Palin's Resignation Speech

Discussion: TPMDC, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Talking Points Memo, First Draft, JONATHAN TURLEY, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, The Impolitic, Think Progress, neo-neocon, Hendrik Hertzberg, TalkLeft, Amygdala, The Confluence and The Huffington Post

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
First Signs What Happened — Okay, we're getting our first indication of what happened.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice and Ben Smith's Blog

Rachel D'Oro / Associated Press:
Palin resigning as Alaska governor on July 26

Discussion: Daily Pundit, Paco Enterprises, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Hot Air, The New Ledger, Classical Values, Associated Press, Gawker and Nice Deb

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Analysis: Once Again, the Enigma That Is Sarah Palin Plays It by Her Rules

Discussion: The Corner, Erick's blog, The Campaign Spot, Taegan Goddard's …, RedState, The Moderate Voice, Lawyers, Guns and Money, YID With LID, Michelle Malkin and Crooks and Liars

Steve / Sweetness & Light:
Palin To Resign - ‘State Media’ Wins!

Discussion: RADAMISTO, The Anchoress, The Hill and Emptywheel

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

Discussion: The Anchoress, The Corner, Firedoglake, AmSpecBlog, Fausta's Blog, Open Left, Winds of Change.NET, Don Surber, MyDD, Mere Rhetoric and PoliGazette

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

Discussion: Hot Air, The Other McCain and Instapundit

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

Cutting bait — With respect to many of the Palinologists below, I think they're getting way too hepatomantic over the entrails. As a political move for anything other than the 2010 Senate race, today's announcement is a disaster. And I'm not sure it's a plus for the Senate - and …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, protein wisdom, Cold Fury, BizzyBlog and Power Line

Victoria Gill / BBC:

How honeybee mobs smother giant hornets to death — Honeybees mount a very effective mobbing defence — Honeybee hordes use two weapons - heat and carbon dioxide - to kill their natural enemies, giant hornets. — Japanese honeybees form “bee balls” - mobbing and smothering the predators.

Michael Slackman / New York Times:

Top Reformers Admitted Plot, Iran Declares — CAIRO — Iranian leaders say they have obtained confessions from top reformist officials that they plotted to bring down the government with a “velvet” revolution. Such confessions, almost always extracted under duress, are part of an effort …

Discussion: The Washington Note, Enduring America, Salon and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

CNN:

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES — AP: Diprivan Found at Michael Jackson's Home; Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Steps Down — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And, if you're just joining us …

Discussion: Washington Monthly