She manufactured the corruption charges against the Murkowski Administration and she and the ADN whipped that horse for over two years. We never could get past the constant drumbeat of “corrupt, corrupt, corrupt;” pretty much the same thing the Ds did to GWB. The now largely discredited FBI investigation into legislators, Sen. Stevens, and Rep. Young just added to it, and we got to watch her kick them all to the curb along the way. Watching people slobber over her as the conservative icon makes me sick; she was the darling of the Democrats here because they thought she’d be easy for Tony Knowles to beat. Turned out Gov. Hickel and some other influential Republicans signed on with her because she espoused the in-state natural gas line they wanted. Well, that lasted just long enough for her to get elected. Then people still slobbered over her “conservatism” nationally as she spent money like a drunken sailor with the “energy rebate” and stratospheric budgets, then, even as the price of oil tanked this year, threw a budget to the Legislature with totally unrealistic revenue forcasts and forced the Legislature to make the cuts in her pandering budget and take the heat for it. And I won’t even get into her out and out Wasilla redneck enmity towards Southeast and Rural Alaska because you guys in the Lower 48 won’t understand it.

As to my own circumstance, government is a pretty small community at my level, even Nationally. I don’t have to work, but I like to and, frankly, I want the money. Other than people that have known me personally, I have the Devil’s own time getting past the corruption charges that have been associated with the last administration I worked for. At minimum, I have to answer the questions about whether I was ever investigated, got fired by Palin, all that rot. Actually, I’ve wished I had been fired by Palin; that’s almost as good as having been fired by Nixon out in the government work world. None of us were ever even charged with anything except Randy Ruderrich, the Party Chair and a fellow AOGCC Commissioner with Palin, on an administrative charge, and Jim Clark, Murkowski’s COS, on a technical violation that nobody would ever have noticed had it not been for all the noise; noise made mostly by Sarah Palin. You might have noticed that I get stalked even here by people trotting out the “corrupt bastards club” meme; Moe and Niel have banned one of them at least half a dozen times. The people who hate me most and with good reason, some of the big unions, would NEVER question my integrity and would shake my hand and take my word on ANYTHING. Having to answer questions about corruption and having to even field threats of Ethics Act charges from that woman’s minions really, really, really pissed me off.

Or maybe the stars were just in proper alignment.

Similar things have happened in other wars–WWII (many amazing necessary miracles), the Spanish Armada (speaking of weather), for example.

The more I have learned about George Washington, the more I have this sense of wonder that such an incredible man existed and did so much under such adverse circumstances. And remember that dense fog that allowed him to evacuate his troops and save the fledgling Continental army? Some things just cannot be explained.

All the others are past failures, who will fail again, or they’re RINOs who will fail.

The GOP moderates have slit the party’s throat by not standing up for her.

But, if she’s doing this to be happy and be with her family, more power to her.

As for the possibility she’s running, I seriously doubt it. You don’t quit in year one of the opposition’s term to run in year four.

I am loving this. She is turning the libs inside out with terror and fury; she’s shaking up the Beltway Insiders of the GOP –

but many of us in flyover land understand, accept, and even love her for it. Give ‘em hell, Sarah!

By standing pat in Alaska and letting things play out over the past few months, by allowing the Vanity Fair hatchet job and the rest of the media feeding frenzy of past few days, she’s stripped away the camouflage — revealing the enemy positions, including those within the GOP itself.

Sarah Palin is making this about more than herself. She’s stepping into the breech of leadership for conservatives. She’s giving a voice to those of us who didn’t graduate from Ivy League schools or even (and I know this is a shock to some) desired to attend a law school! Who don’t fathom all these crazy machinations in DC. Who are heartsick and disgusted and the deal making and money grubbing and backstabbing we see on both sides of the aisle in Congress. Who fear for our future and for our country.

Does this mean she plans to run for president? Maybe. Maybe not. Why does it have to be about that? Rush Limbaugh isn’t planning on running for president, yet he’s a conservative voice. And now Sarah Palin, unconstrained by the governorship of Alaska, can be a very loud and proud conservative voice without shorting the office.

For weeks now, I’ve wrestled with the question: if Patrick Henry were here and saw what was happening to this nation, what would he do? What would a true, fiery patriot do?

I think Sarah Palin is about to show us.

I think there is next to zero chance that Sarah plans to retire to the sidelines and just raise her family. (That doesn’t mean I think she’ll necessarily run for President, though. I think that McCain did the worst thing possible for her by naming her his VP, given that he had no clue about how to use her or how to win.

Politico #5 thinks that she can win over the “densest core” of the Republican Party, sort of implying that the densest core are the solid conservatives. That’s damning by faint praise. I remain convinced that a solid conservative standing for solid conservative values is a vote magnet for all those “moderates” and novice Republicans who haven’t been inspired to vote since 2000. The Republican Party will expand its tent by attracting uncommitted voters to its values, not by abandoning its values to pander to the left.

And pointing out that an idiot is, in fact, an idiot is not a matter of disrespect, it’s a community service. You’ve been registered for three years, you should know that. Of course, given your posting history over those three years…