Sarah's Dilemma
For me: Unexpected but not surprising. I didn’t expect Sarah Palin to run for a second term as Governor of Alaska. Even if it was a job she enjoyed and arguably executed well, her post November ‘08 tenure has surely been excruciating.
I can’t think of another example of one party hounding an office holder of the other party so relentlessly for simply being a politically successful member of the opposition. True, the pressure on Palin can be considered a politically legitimate effort to short circuit the ambitions of a potentially dangerous adversary. Still the remorseless onslaught against Sarah has a bad odor about it.
You may not be aware of just how pernicious the campaign against Governor Palin has been. It isn’t just dry-drunk Maureen Dowd, professional gossipist Gail Collins, Keith Olbermann (who famously resigned from MSNBC in 1998 because he was expected to report on the Monica Lewinsky, obstruction of justice scandal) and Trig-truther Andrew Sullivan.
The Governor has also been under the constant duress of 15 lawsuits claiming ethics violations since last November, with no end in sight, running up a legal bill of over half a million dollars despite the fact that 13 of those lawsuits have been summarily dismissed and, of the other two, one was settled for $8,200 (reimbursement of travel expenses claimed for family members) and the other appears to be heading for a fate similar to the 13 non-starters..
This — along with simple malicious slander (such as the gross misrepresentation of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s policies on predator control) — has proven to be an effective way to counter a governor who must otherwise be considered one of the most competent and effective in her state’s (at least recent) history. I only wish the Republicans could work up the gumption to challenge the two squalid crony-masters currently looting NY and NJ! What? You don’t think a relentless campaign of ethics challenges would stand up any better against Corzine and Patterson? Bear in mind, both of these guys have already been caught morally compromised.
So if (like me) you are a Palin fan, this looks like the start of bigger things for Sarah. If you curdle at the words “you betcha!” this must look like a hard-won victory to you. Just Remember: More than one moose became moose-burger by underestimating the lethality of that hockey mom.