Sometimes, Discretion Is The Better Part Of Valor

It’s really hard to express the enthusiasm a lot of us feel for Sarah Palin’s decision to resign her office as Governor. The saddest aspect of the choice that I see is the negative and hateful responses from some of the people on the Right who had formerly supported her. After the initial shock of the announcement wore off, disappointed people on the Right immediately jumped onto the leftists’ bandwagon and began to chant the “Quitter!” mantra right along with her detractors. This, in case they didn’t take the time to notice, is EXACTLY what the left had in mind when it started the chant. By falling for this line of feeling (because liberals don’t THINK, they “feel”), the former supporters are playing the leftists’ game to a “T.” Apparently, none of these people has ever had their family, including the most innocent members, attacked and calumniated by loudmouthed, evil-minded, and prominent “opinion-makers” on the left.

Pretty obviously, the folks on the Right who have joined the chorus haven’t examined the expense to the taxpayers of Alaska that are the consequence of the petty and hateful nuisance suits brought against the Governor for everything she does in public. It doesn’t cost the plaintiffs in these actions a penny to bring the suits, but it costs the State of Alaska taxpayer money every time it has to field lawyers and investigators to probe the veracity of the charges. Two million dollars so far isn’t chicken feed, and it has left the Palins more than half a million dollars in personal debt to defend themselves against these scurrilous charges. It leaves me wondering why the former “supporters” believe Governor Palin should stay in office when it is very doubtful that any of THEM would remain if the situation was happening to them.

A lot of people who joined this group of whiners haven’t examined the facts. All Governor Palin is doing is resigning a high-profile office that has become a costy millstone around the necks of ALASKANS and is costing the Palins more personal money than they can afford (Alaska’s Governor’s paycheck is around$125,000 a year) and which exposes her family to malicious intent from the mainstream media and leftists in the alternative media. After her resignation, their income will take a SERIOUS hit.

She is not QUITTING. The word isn’t in her vocabulary. As a champion athlete, Sarah earned the nickname of “Sarahcuda” on the basketball courts for her smart, aggressive prosecution of every game in which she played. I don’t see any evidence that she has given up any of those traits. Remember, we are talking about a hockey mom who took on Alaska’s powerful Good ol’ Boy machine and drove them out of office to gain the position she now holds. But it has become a bitter victory for her in the face of the ridicule and slander that has accrued to her family in the period of her term in office. It’s easy to forget her accomplishment while in office if one is focusing on complaining about her, but the facts remain: She has been incredibly GOOD for all of us here in Alaska, and we are proud to be citizens of a State that can field a politician of such determined integrity.

Another thing that the compaliners appear to have forgotten is that while she is in office, she is unable to make the kind of legal defenses that are called for. Her office ties her hands and prevents her from doing what is necessary to prosecute the slanderers. People in public office don’t have the option to sue for defamation, slander, or libel because of their public positions. When Sarah steps down at the close of business on July 26, she will then be a private citizen and will be free to take the liars to court and force them to prove the allegations they have so glibly and irresponsibly brought against her and her family.

Sarah Palin is not quitting. I don’t believe she has ever quit anything in her life. I do believe that she is making a sacrifice in this case, because she is a natural-born politician, and it is in her blood. But I think that her priorities are straight. She understands that because of her, the taxpayers of Alaska are being asked to fund legal defenses against spurious charges that should never have been brought. Have you seen that kind of integrity in YOUR politicians? (And, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the hand of the Murkowskis in here somewhere, but that’s a speculation for another time.) She also understands that sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. She is not quitting, she is removing the encumbrances that have prevented her from defending herself and her family from the leftists’ attack machine. Sometimes, the defense and protection of one’s family and loved ones is more important than a title, or the power that goes with it. But her detractors don’t understand this, and will continue to peck away at her as long as she remains in office.

She is going to be a very interesting speaker in the near future. If she has any aspirations to Presidential office in the future, the time she spends going around the country and speaking is going to be time well spent. It will give her a lot of information she might never acquire otherwise. It is going to add to her experience as a public figure. It will keep her in the public eye, at the same time it frees her up to earn the kind of money she will need to defend her family against the gossips and backbiters.

Sarah Palin’s friends and supporters are excited for the prospects that are now possible in Sarah’s future. It sure is sad that the bellyachers and whiners who call her a quitter can’t see the possibilities that are now open before her. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” as Yogi Berra was known to announce, so keep supporting her, even if you aren’t sure what she has in mind, because she is a cool, strategic thinker, and politics is her natural element.

I think there are some people on the left and in the media who are going to find out how much fun it ISN’T to take on the Sarahcuda.