SARAH PALIN RESIGNING JULY 25th
Breaking: Sarah Palin Will Not Seek Re-Election as Governor
— Ace

Her big statement, tipped by GOP sources.

[DrewM]...She's resigning at the end of the month. Wow.

[Ace] And that is that.

It's over. You can't resign from a governorship and then run for higher office. Barring some strong reason, like needing treatment for cancer.

Correction: I [ace] added the headline that she was turning over power to her lieutenant governor, right now. Either I didn't understand the snippet I heard or FoxNews had it wrong initially.

It seems wrong. She's turning over power in three weeks.

Posted by: Ace at 11:36 AM | Comments (5)
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Jonah Goldberg to Sarah Palin: Do Your Job and Do Your Homework
— Ace

Hmmmm... I think maybe there's absolutely no point to this post at all, given recent events in Juneau.

Awesome column which pretty much says everything I think. Goldberg notes he was one of Palin's earliest and biggest cheerleaders; I can't claim earliest or biggest, but I was definitely on the bandwagon before the nomination.

I'm not on it at the moment. Could get back on it. Would like to get back on it. But not on it at the moment.

This post has a necessary follow-up, which I'll do later. The follow-up may be more important. Conservatives have developed a bad habit of condemning opinions they don't want to hear but which, I believe, they secretly suspect might have a lot of truth in them; the more truth the fear might be contained in an unwelcome critique, the more withering the response, in an effort to shut that line of critique down before it "gains traction" in the media.

I'll get to that later. Suffice to say -- well, I've said it before. Not only is the idea that conservatives, of all people, can control what the liberal media reports simply by scrubbing anything "useful" to the liberal media out of our comments, it's also highly questionable that such a thing is healthy for a political movement, even if it could be achieved.

On to Goldberg for now. Seriously, I almost wrote this, more or less, last night, before deciding I'd rather watch The Office and old DVDs of The Prisoner.

more...

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Hey, Who Is Up For Some More Sarah Palin Talk? MORE: Some Sort Of Announcement Today. UPDATE 2- CNN Reporting She Won't Run For Reelection
— DrewM

Quick above the post note...various commenters have tipped that she has scheduled some sort of announcement for 3pm eastern.

Not running for another term as Governor?

Strange day for it but stay tuned.

Cockholster Rick Sanchez on CNN (you know the guy who killed a man in a DUI incident) says she isn't running for reelection. Of course they are spinning it as she's too afraid to run again. More likely, it's a way to set up a run in '12 like Mitt. She can't travel as much and get the coverage out there in the middle of nowhere. Plus, her term runs through December 2010, so it's not like she's out of there tomorrow (in fairness Candy Crowley just made these points to Dirty Sanchez).

Original post:

Slow holidayish day but thankfully Jonah Goldberg fills the void by becoming the latest pundit to play a round of "I really like you Sarah but..."

YouÂ’re blowing it.

We havenÂ’t met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCainÂ’s running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him. IÂ’m also assuming you want to run for president some day.

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

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

There's obviously more and Goldberg does take on the idiocy of the McCain people, the press and goes into detail about her abundant strengths. If you are going to beat him up for this column (and I have a feeling more than a few will) do him and yourself the courtesy of reading the whole thing.

I agree with Goldberg and Krauthammer before him (how brave of me, I know).

Palin is a tremendous political talent with skills that can't be taught and seems to have all the right conservative policy instincts. As Goldberg notes, she's great on issues she's comfortable with (energy, oil, values) but not so great in expressing herself in depth on a host of other issues a viable presidential candidate has to deal with.

I want to see her be able to talk more in depth about foreign affairs, immigration and economics. As I've said, it seems she has the right instincts but that's not enough.

Bush did to on some issues (taxes come to mind) but he could never quite explain them. I want Palin (or any GOP nominee) to be able to really explain to people why conservative policies are the right way to go.

Of course, as you all know, I also want to meet Judy Greer. Given the recent history of the GOP, I'm not sure which is more likely.

The simple fact is based on the candidate we saw last fall she's not electable as President. As everyone keeps saying, the good news is that's not an issue for another 3+ years. There's plenty of time for her to improve as a candidate so she capitalize on what she already has going for her. I don't know why pointing that out in a constructive way is tantamount to treason, yet for some it is.

(FTR-It's impossible to rewrite everything in every post, here are some more thoughts I had on her earlier this week.)

Posted by: DrewM at 09:32 AM | Add Comment
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Independence Day Weekend
— DrewM

Independence Day is my favorite holiday, bar none. Not being a religious person Christmas and Easter just don't have the same meaning for me as they do for the devout. Memorial and Veterans Day are important holidays I appreciate but not having much family history around the military, it's not quite as personal. I can respect these holidays and what they mean but the feel is not quite the same for me as it is for others.

I am however a devout American. Independence Day is the day I get deep down in my bones.

So as someone who loves the history of this country I was saddened but not surprised to this story on how little some HS kids know about this country. It got me thinking about how I came to be interested in history and what makes America special. This post from Ace gave me a hint.

I went to that miracle of copyright infringement, Youtube, and checked out some of the Schoolhouse Rock episodes dealing with US history and now I realize what an impact they had upon me. Yeah, the music and animation are hokey and outdated but they kind of were then too. Below are a few of my favorites.

If you are of a certain age, you might appreciate them for their nostalgic value and if you are younger (looks at Gabe), I think you'll be amazed that a broadcast network (ABC) at one time aired things so unapologetically pro-American. Sure there maybe a quibble here or there but this is all pre PC stuff, before the boomer got full control of the culture and they are all about the great and exceptional nature of America.

If I had kids, they would be watching these, they are great antidotes to what we teach kids about America today. more...

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Top Headline Comments 07-03-09
— Gabriel Malor

Good day, all.

A Fourth of July Secret Message:

For more than 200 years, buried deep within Thomas Jefferson's correspondence and papers, there lay a mysterious cipher -- a coded message that appears to have remained unsolved. Until now.

Read the whole thing.

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Oops, Part 2
— Pixy Misa

And that was a network outage, caused by reconfiguring the network uplink without rebooting. Bugger. I didn't notice straight away, because the network was working - it had just lost the additional IP addresses for the virtual servers.

Sorry, folks.

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Bankrupt CA issues scrip payments, cons banks into accepting it
— Purple Avenger

Heh, now if I can convince my bank to take an IOU for say...a paltry $50B or so, I'll be living large.

Would YOU take an IOU from the state of California? I wouldn't.

The whole state is like a bunch of degenerate gamblers looking to borrow another $50 so they can go gamble it away just like every other penny they ever had. Without radical budgetectomy surgery, CA is as fucked as its possible for a state to be. They need to do some serious paring back, but they simply don't have the stomach to do it.

They really should look at partial default. Offer bond holders 70%. What are they going to do? Repo a freeway overpass or road? They'll take it and be glad they got what they did.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 11:10 PM | Add Comment
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Goofyass Tyrant Update: No Nork Missile Launch on July 4
— Dave in Texas

Via McKittrick.

However, the rocket is still in pieces, according to the two officials (who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information) and would take days or even weeks to put together. Even after such a missile is assembled on a launch pad, the officials added, the North Koreans would then need several more days to load it with liquid fuel.

Inasmuch as this was pulled from Newsweek, I thought I'd go ahead and post it to more than their 57 readers. Maybe the word'll get around.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:04 PM | Comments (6)
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Overnight Open Thread – The Most Trusted Name in Overnight Open Threadiness on Ace of SpadesHQ for the Last Six Months Or So. (genghis)
— Open Blog

*shuffles papers*

Item #1: We begin tonight with disturbing news from the state of Washington. With Independence Day nearly upon us, the state-run liquor stores may be forced to limit alcohol sales due to a “distribution problem.” (More on that below)

”State workers are scrambling to fix a distribution problem that has crimped the flow of alcohol to customers across the state, as liquor stores and restaurants are gearing up for one of the busiest weekends of the year. "For us, the timing is really brutal," said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Restaurant Association, who said some restaurants have been unable to get key ingredients for their most popular cocktails. "For a small-margin industry like ours, where every sale counts, that's an issue." Dozens of "temporarily out of stock" signs dot the shelves of some state liquor stores, and store managers say they're not sure when their complete product line will again be available.”

Bravo! So this system just broke down, right? Otherwise you wouldÂ’ve let us know earlier so we could make other arrangements. Right? Hello?

”Smith said shortly after the problem was detected June 8, the distribution center was filling only 65 to 70 percent of the orders it was receiving. By Monday, the rate was up to more than 80 percent, he said. The computer program, from Atlanta-based CDC Software, is the key to successful operation of a highly automated system in which cases of liquor are moved from shelves and sent along conveyors in time to be placed in trucks serving all 161 state-run and 154 contract liquor stores in the state.”

Oh. Well, I see then. CDC Software in Atlanta? Are you guys sure you ordered the right type of software? Well, donÂ’t let whiners like this guy who runs a restaurant in Seattle get you down:

”Hanning said the pinch is compounded by the fact that a state alcohol surcharge takes effect Aug. 1, which will force bar owners to increase prices. The surcharge, which will add between $1 and $3 to the price of most bottles of booze, was enacted to raise about $80 million to replace money legislators took from a liquor-reserve fund to balance the state budget.”

Hat tip to ParanoidGirlinSeattle whether she wants it or not.

More overnight threadiness below the fold:
more...

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John Bolton: Israel Should Bomb Iran's Nuke Facilities
Israel's Submarine Force: Already On It, Hoss
— Ace

The Mustache of Silvery Justice speaks.

Only those most theologically committed to negotiation still believe Iran will fully renounce its nuclear program. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has a "Plan B," which would allow Iran to have a "peaceful" civil nuclear power program while publicly "renouncing" the objective of nuclear weapons. Obama would define such an outcome as "success," even though in reality it would hardly be different from what Iran is doing and saying now. A "peaceful" uranium enrichment program, "peaceful" reactors such as Bushehr and "peaceful" heavy-water projects like that under construction at Arak leave Iran with an enormous breakout capability to produce nuclear weapons in very short order. And anyone who believes the Revolutionary Guard Corps will abandon its weaponization and ballistic missile programs probably believes that there was no fraud in Iran's June 12 election. See "huge credibility gap," supra.

In short, the stolen election and its tumultuous aftermath have dramatically highlighted the strategic and tactical flaws in Obama's game plan. With regime change off the table for the coming critical period in Iran's nuclear program, Israel's decision on using force is both easier and more urgent. Since there is no likelihood that diplomacy will start or finish in time, or even progress far enough to make any real difference, there is no point waiting for negotiations to play out. In fact, given the near certainty of Obama changing his definition of "success," negotiations represent an even more dangerous trap for Israel.

Allah suggests that Israel hold off to see what develops. But..

...his point about attacking at a moment when the public has never been more disaffected with the regime is well taken. The fear that striking Iran would drive Iranians back into the arms of the government has always been a deterrent, but in light of the schism over the past two weeks, itÂ’s hard to imagine that happening. ThereÂ’s no longer a relationship between the people and their rulers; such is the hatred, in fact, that I wonder how many of them would secretly thrill to seeing the Revolutionary GuardÂ’s nose bloodied. ItÂ’s a gamble, but the odds really never have been better.

I don't think the point is well-taken, myself. The political crisis in Iran is urgent and acute, whereas the nuclear crisis is in the same phase it's long been in -- they're getting closer every day, but they're not there yet. Iranians might be happy to have their country hit by Israeli missiles, but I doubt it, and even if they would be happy to see this, certainly they would be just as happy to see it six months hence when the mullahs have completely reasserted their fascist control and offer no hopes whatsoever of reform or change.

They'd be likelier to see it happen then, in fact, as it would disrupt a government they'd been trying, unsuccessfully, to overthrow.

Israel, on the other hand, may disagree.

After a long hiatus, the Israeli Navy has returned to sailing through the Suez Canal, recently sending one of its advanced Dolphin-class submarines through the waterway to participate in naval maneuvers off the Eilat coast in the Red Sea.

IDF sources said the decision to allow navy vessels to sail through the canal was made recently and was a definite "change of policy" within the service.

...

The significance of the move was debatable, but it could be interpreted as a message to Iran and a demonstration of strengthening ties between Egypt and Israel.

In the event of a conflict with Iran, and if Israel decided to involve its three Dolphin-class submarines - which according to foreign reports can fire nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and serve as a second-strike platform - the quickest route would be to send them through the Suez Canal.

I've been wondering why Obama is so in the pocket of the mullahs in Iran, so afraid to say a bad word about them. I think I know the reason.

It has long been obvious that Teheran has been buying time with which to complete its nuclear program. I think Obama is also buying time, and for the same purpose -- to allow Iran to complete its nuclear program.

In a roundabout way.

Teheran wants the pretext of "negotiations" to stall for time. But Obama wants that too. Obama, along with most in the Democratic establishment (and a good part of the Republican establishment, too), has decided that Iran will get nuclear weapons, and there is no way to halt or delay this short of war, a step they have decided is beyond serious consideration. They now look past the official nuclearization of Iran to the next step, deterrence and living with a nuclear Iran.

But while Obama and much of the establishment has decided this, they have not made this case to the American public. They maintain our official policy is that the US will not accept a nuclear Iran, yadda yadda yadda, and know if they suggest otherwise to the public, the public will be angered at their passivity.

So Obama pretends he will not accept a nuclear Iran, and that his means of demonstrating this supposed non-acceptance of a nuclear Iran just happens to the exact same means Iran uses to develop its nukes, that is, endless negotiations which both sides know are entirely pointless -- except for the useful kabuki play they're both putting on for US citizens.

Obama needs the ploy of fruitless negotiations much more than Iran does. Iran could, at any moment, simply declare they're not trading away their nukes for anything, and that negotiation is pointless, and that they're developing them no matter what, and then just develop them without the pretext of negotiation. And they would suffer no consequences for this.

We know this because it's already happened -- Ahmadinejad really did declare that negotiations were futile and that Iran would never give up its nuke program. But this obviously caused no change of policy in the Obama administration.

But Obama does need this fig leaf. Iran doesn't really need the fig leaf, though from time to time they wear it, as it's freely available to them; but they don't need it. Whether they pretend they're negotiating this week or not, they suffer no consequences for developing nukes.

But Obama would suffer consequences if Iran didn't agree to pretend to negotiate -- because the American public really does not want Iran to have nukes. Obama needs the Let's Pretend game of negotiation with the Iranians, in order to hide from the American people that his real policy on Iranian nukes is to permit them.

The moment Iran makes it crystal clear they're not negotiating anything, Obama know longer has that fig leaf, and then must either confront Iran (which he would not do under any circumstances) or capitulate to them (which brings with it a domestic political cost).

Obama has no Plan B. Actually, he doesn't have Plan A, either, but he pretends he does. The moment Pretend Plan A fails, his true plan, which is no plan, is exposed, and he's slammed (rightly) as a feckless appeaser who all but delivered the bomb to the mad mullahs.

Now, that is where we are headed. We are on that track and there are no branching tracks available. That is our endpoint. The only question is how quickly we get there.

Obama, of course, would like to stall. He will have to take this hit at some point, but obviously he'd prefer it to be just as he's departing office after having completed his second term. And to delay this realization that we have capitulated to Iran's nuclear passions, he wants to pretend he's got some plausible way to avoid it.

Now, when Iran does detonate a nuke, he will confess surprise and sadness (and maybe even "troubled concern" or whatnot). But he will say, dishonestly, he did all he could to avoid it.

It's for this reason Obama needs the pretend goodwill of the mullahs much, much more than the mullahs need the pretend goodwill of Obama. They can get and will get what they want from Obama -- full capitulation -- whether they pretend to negotiate or not.

But for Obama, this pretense of negotiation is absolutely critical to his strategy. His strategy is not to actually resolve the crisis in the national interest. His strategy is only to delay the point at which he takes political damage for failing to resolve the crisis, and pretending, up until that point, to be busily and fruitfully working to resolve it.

He needs that. And for that he needs the mullahs.

But they don't need him for that. Notice that they're not terribly worried about "meddling" in US politics when they accuse the CIA of engineering the premeditated murder of Neda. They can say that, they can toss around such accusations, because they don't need a damn thing from Obama.

Obama needs something from them -- and they know it.

An Old Saying... explains Obama's strategy. His strategy of selling this to the American public, I mean.

It is easier to beg for forgiveness than to obtain permission.

In other words, it's easier to present someone with a fait accompli and say "Sorry, my bad" than to sell them on it before it's accomplished.

He can't sell America on allowing Iran to have nukes. Or at least not without taking damage he doesn't want to.

So he will pretend he's "working on" the problem with "smart, outside-the-box diplomacy" until they detonate a nuke, at which case he'll apologize and say "Gee, guys, guess I got taken for a ride. Those stinking liars! Let's all be mad at them together! But not too mad. They have nukes, now, so it's not like we can do anything to express our anger at how badly they've duped me, your Messiah."

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