Gov. Go Go’s Going – Where?

Alaska’s Governor Go Go contributed a big firecracker of her own to the nation’s July Fourth weekend celebrations by announcing that she was now Governor Going, soon to become Governor Gone. But gone where?

Sarah Palin told a surprised world Friday that her work as governor of Alaska was done, and that she would resign with about a year and a half to go in her first – and only – term. That prompted speculation and comment all over the political playground:

n Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, already dealing with a flurry of zipper problems on the U.S.S. Elephant, now has to contend with a loose cannon firing bird-brain shot through the gun deck. Maybe an Appalachian Trail hike would clear his head.

n Sarah Palin cleverly shows that the best pro-active defense against a presidential campaign charge of “She can’t even run Alaska!” is to stop running Alaska.

n Sarah Palin’s keen hunting skills have given her an appreciation for being in the crosshairs, as unnamed prosecutors look to add a pair of red high heels to their trophy case – speculation that the FBI at least felt compelled to deny.

n She knows you get elected in the Lower 48, so she’s got to get out of Alaska and into the mainstream media spotlight. Besides, Alaskans and Alaskan media are on to her.

n She’s too much in the mainstream media spotlight and maybe dropping out for a while will give her a chance to kick back and read her second newspaper.

n Having Maureen Dowd say in The New York Times that “Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy” is just part of a clever strategy to solidify Palin’s anti-media base that doesn’t hold too much with all that reading stuff.

n Senator John McCain, whose gift to the nation was lowering Sarah Palin from obscurity to be his presidential running mate, reportedly said "she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party and our nation." (Of course, he probably thinks he will, too.)

The list could go on and on, which may also be part of the Palin strategy or simply indication that even the media finally got sick of the Michael Jackson story. If you’re interested in Palin, or just wonder how to imitate wonderfully a Beijing third-grader’s first attempted English essay, you can read a transcript of her speech and lots more on the excellent Anchorage Daily News page at http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/.

Here is a speech transcript passage from that source:

“Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.

“Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

If you understand how plodding along would appease those who want you to sit down, or how keeping your head down and continuing to plod would make you a quitter, and what any of that has to do with how dead fish float, then you too could be Governor of Alaska, or maybe even President of the United States.

You betcha!

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