I was reading online coverage of Sarah Palin’s curious resignation as Alaska governor, when I came across a link promising Mark Halperin’s debunking of 9 points of “analysis” (sic) that are flat-out wrong. I can’t help my fascination with this train-wreck that everyone in the media is currently obsessing over, so of course I was eager to read anything from anyone that might be able to make some kind of rational sense of the situation. To be clear, I am not a Palin fan. I found her a disturbing choice as McCain’s running mate and have wondered how someone who appears to be so completely incompetent on the national level could be an effective state governor. However, I am not from Alaska and don’t know much about Alaskan politics or culture. I figure what Alaskans do and whom they elect is pretty much their business and not mine. I also tend to have what I believe is a healthy amount of skepticism about anything that pretty much everyone agrees is true, so I like to do at least a little research and have a good think before jumping on any bandwagon- especially when the bandwagon is as full as the one currently condemning Sarah Palin. With even conservative analysts having trouble with governor Palin’s bizarre and rambling announcement from the past weekend, it seems pretty clear that she has lost her political cool and may have made a misstep from which she can never recover. Finding even a single voice rising to her defense is difficult, to say the least- and seemingly with very good reason. America doesn’t like quitters, and this is a tough stigma to overcome even if you have pretty good reasons for quitting. Sarah Palin seems short on reasons at the moment, which has left many speculating about everything from brewing scandals to mental problems.
But not Mark Halperin! No, Mark is sticking by governor Palin. And I was eager to find out why. Unfortunately, my hopes of finding a sensible defense from the right were dashed in a single click. Imagine my disappointment, when I discovered that Halperin’s Take consists of 9 bullet points and absolutely no analysis. Where are the counterpoints? Where is the deconstruction? Tell us how everyone is wrong, Mark- we are hanging on the edge of our seats. No? How about rebutting even one single point? Still no? It seems that the only counterpoint I am going to hear to the argument that governor Palin is a quitter leaving office because it is hard, and she doesn’t want to be governor anymore, and people are mean to her, is going to come from Dan Qualye’s Brain telling me governor Palin might be “Crazy Like a Fox.”
To recap, here is Mark Halperin’s entire post from time.com, just in case the link moves or is deleted. Note the concise and cutting debunking of each and every point:
HALPERIN'S TAKE: 9 Pieces of "Analysis" About Sarah Palin's Decision That Are Flat-Out Totally Wrong
1. This means she can't run for president in 2012.
2. She would have been a stronger candidate for 2012 if she had stayed in office.
3. Republican primary and caucus voters in 2012 will care if she served out her term or not.
4. This means she is definitely running in 2012.
5. Making the announcement on the Friday of a holiday weekend was really stupid.
6. Until today, Palin was well positioned to run in 2012.
7. Palin made the decision not to run for re-election all of the sudden.
8. Palin's rhetoric about the politics of personal destruction was not heartfelt.
9. Palin's ambition is limited to electoral politics.