Below The Beltway

In a move that is bizarre both in it’s content and in its timing, Sarah Palin announced today that she would be stepping down as Alaska’s Governor by the end of this month:

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.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, made the surprise announcement at a press conference at her home in suburban Wasilla.

She said the decision has been “in the works” for a while and comes after “prayer and consideration” and discussions with her family.

She is handing the reins over to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in at the governor’s picnic in Fairbanks on July 26. Parnell and most of Palin’s cabinet and Palin’s family were at the announcement.

“We know we can affect positive change outside government at this point in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities,” she said, adding that she was tired of what she described as “superficial, wasteful, political bloodsport.”

Here’s the video of the announcement itself:

The question is what Palin’s logic is here, and this may be a clue:

Some have speculated in the past that Palin may be interested in running for president in 2012, but she did not mention running for another office at her press conference. Sources told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell that Palin is out of politics for good.

Even if that’s not her intention, though, I think that it’s safe to say that this announcement marks the end of Sarah Palin’s political career. Even if she could overcome her disastrous performance during the 2008 campaign, the American people don’t like a quitter, and, today, Sarah Palin became a quitter.

There’s no way she comes back after this.

Update: The reaction to this announcement can be summed up as stunned disbelief.

Take this from Rich Lowry at National Review:

I think I have pretty well-established credentials when it comes to being charmed by Sarah Palin, but that statement, as a statement, was simply terrible. Rambling and not at all persuasive as an argument for her decision.

Yea, that’s putting it mildly.

Orly Taitz has made a name for herself over the past several months as what one writer called the “Queen Bee” of the people obsessed with Barack Obama’s citizenship.

Now, she’s dispensing medical advice and telling her readers not to get the flu vaccine because it’s part of some vast worldwide conspiracy that will kill us all.

The good news is that if her followers listen to her, perhaps they’ll be culled from the herd.

And if you don’t know who Orly Taitz is, read all about it here.

Something tells me that Charles Krauthammer won’t be invited to Wasilla anytime soon:

Krauthammer is, I think, 100% correct, as I observed only days after the 2008 election:

History certainly isn’t on her side. There are no examples in history of a failed Vice-Presidential candidate becoming either their party’s nominee or President of the United States (Walter Mondale doesn’t count, because he had actually been Vice-President prior to being on the losing end of the 1980 election).

Right now, the Republican grassroots is in still in love with Sarah Palin, but when she has to share the stage with other people they love — Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal to name just a few — she’s going to be that proverbial small fish in a big pond and Republicans who actually want to win in 2012 are going to remember the gaffe-filled eight weeks when she was on the national stage back in `08.

On a related note, Jonah Goldberg over at the National Review, is far more sympathetic to Palin than either I or Krauthammer, says that the former beauty queen is blowing it:

For starters, every time I see you on TV, you’re whining about unfair press coverage. Don’t get me wrong: Much of it is unfair, and some of it deserves a response. But it’s not presidential. It’s not even gubernatorial. You are constantly taking the bait, taking up the fights your biggest fans want you to take up.

But here’s the thing: Don’t listen to your biggest fans. Don’t alienate them either, but don’t think that because the Palin4Pres crowd cheers, you’re making progress. Politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you seem entirely uninterested in that, preferring instead to play the victim. Well, victims don’t get elected president. Ronald Reagan was a laughingstock for liberals and despised by the press. But he didn’t whine or take the bait.

Second, peddling a few platitudes and truisms about free markets and limited government is no substitute for really knowing what you’re talking about. Yes, you can talk well about the stuff you know — oil drilling, energy, etc. — but beyond your comfort zone, you fall back on bumper-sticker language that sounds fine to the people who already agree with you but is useless in winning over skeptics.

President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there’s a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That’s why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.

Goldberg thinks that Palin still has time to turn things around, but I think he’s being far too optimistic. The nation’s impression of Palin was set in those eight weeks from August 29th until Election Day, and nothing she’s done since then suggest to me that she’s capable of acting any other way.

She’ll never be President. Bet on it.

H/T: James Joyner

H/T: Rogue Sun

H/T: Jason Pye

Despite some hopes/signs that the economy may be improving, the job market continues to get worse:

The pace of job losses quickened in June after slowing just a month earlier, casting a shadow over the Obama administration’s attempts to stanch months of declines in the labor market.

The American economy shed 467,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. Job losses were widespread among the construction, manufacturing and business and professional services sectors.

The losses were sharply higher than economists’ expectations of 365,000 lost jobs.

Economists said a decline of 322,000 jobs in May had raised expectations that the market was bottoming out as the economy struggled to right itself, but the numbers on Friday dashed some of those hopes.

The figures also raised questions about whether the Obama administration, which has already passed a $787 billion stimulus plan, needed to step in again to shore up the American worker.

“The stimulus has probably stabilized income, but it has not moved the economy forward,” said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corporation. “It’s a finger in the dike. But in terms of getting the economy going, there’s no evidence of that yet.”

So, let me get this straight.

We spent $ 700 billion that we don’t have and it hasn’t improved the economy in an appreciable respect, so the solution is to spend more money we don’t have ?

Yea, I don’t get it either.

Former CIA analyst Michael Scheurer was on Glenn Beck’s program yesterday and suggested that the best thing that could happen to America would be for al Qaeda to destroy an American city:

Of course, Beck, who’s built his Fox show entirely around paranoia, said nothing to challenge a comment that, if it came from a Democrat, would be getting 24-hour coverage on Fox News Channel this morning as example of treason.

After the Supreme Court ruling I wrote about earlier, there were very few options left for Norm Coleman so it’s good to see that he had the class to bow out now rather than continue a pointless fight.‘

Here’s the statement he read at the top of the hour:

“Ours is a government of laws, not men and women. The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken and I respect its decision and will abide by the result. It’s time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward. I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest United States Senator – Al Franken.

“Just a few last words about my legal challenge. Sure, I wanted to win. Not just for myself but for my wonderful supporters and the important values I have always fought for. I also thought it was important to stand up for enfranchising thousands of Minnesotans whose votes weren’t counted like the others were. After all, issues and politicians come and go, but voting is fundamental.

“It is the essence of democracy so I knew we needed to do everything we could to get it right.

“I am forever grateful and humbled by the people of Minnesota who have given me the honor to represent them – and even more grateful for their wisdom, courage, patience and understanding over these past several months.

“The path that I take in the future is not nearly as important today as the path that we must now — all travel on together — to strengthen our state and our nation.

“I have never believed that my service is irreplaceable. We have reached the point where further litigation damages the unity of our state, which is also fundamental. In these tough times, we all need to focus on the future. And the future today is we have a new United States Senator.

“I congratulate Al Franken and his victory in this election. He now enjoys the advantage that our Congressional Delegation has over the other 525 people on Capitol Hill: he represents Minnesota.

“I know the great ideas, the amazing work ethic and the historic ability to come together to get things done in this state will help him greatly, as it has me.

“Speaking of which, I think we all should take a moment to thank Amy Klobuchar and her staff. They have done a great job of carrying the burden of two Senators these last six months. She is an extraordinary public servant.

“I don’t reach this point with any big regrets. I ran the campaign I wanted. I conducted the legal challenge I wanted. And I have always believed you do the best you can and leave the results up to a higher authority. I’m at peace with that. As to my future plans, that’s a subject for another day.

“We live in a great country and a great state. We can all have confidence that by some path we don’t yet know – one which we can all come together to lay out – we will arrive at the better future we all seek.

“Thank you and may God bless Minnesota and America.”

Say hello to Senator Al Franken.

Earlier this month, the BBC asked a 13 year-old British boy to trade his iPod in for a Sony Walkman:

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.

He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade - a bland grey.

So it’s not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.

(…)

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn’t is “shuffle”, where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down “rewind” and releasing it randomly – effective, if a little laboured.

I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don’t have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, “Walkmans eat tapes”. So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day.

Heh.

The fact that I’m old enough to remember both the debut of the Sony Walkman and the debut of the iPod and it’s mp3 player forebearers is somewhat troublesome.

This time, he’s talking about hanging Senators and completely mis-stating history:

Wurzelbacher has a reputation for being a blunt, politically incorrect speaker. Referring to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., more than once, Wurzelbacher asked, “Why hasn’t he been strung up?”

And he glosses over facts. Referring to the Constitution as “almost like the Bible,” Wurzelbacher said of the Founding Fathers: “They knew socialism doesn’t work. They knew communism doesn’t work.” The Constitution predates the origins of socialism by nearly 100 years.

Will someone please tell this clown to shut up already ?