Sarah Palin "Out Of Politics, Period" (VIDEO)

Reporters are beginning to piece together an explanation for Sarah Palin's abrupt resignation announcement that stands in stark contrast to the reasoning Palin offered in her speech.

Speaking on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell reported that, according to "people very close to Sarah Palin," she has "told her supporters that she is out of politics, period. She is fed up with politics. She doesn't like her life. She feels that she needs to raise her family. She's sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capital. And she really does not want to run for higher office, that this is not a case where she is stepping down in order to clear the way for a presidential run. In fact, she has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012, which of course opens new avenues for Mitt Romney, for Tim Pawlenty, for other potential candidates who are definitely in the running."

Here's video:

Meanwhile, Alaska-based reporter-blogger Shannyn Moore is hearing potentially more damaging revelations are to come. "For weeks the rumors of a criminal investigation against the governor have been brewing," she writes. She spoke of the rumors with MSNBC's David Shuster, saying the talk of a criminal probe into Palin has been circulating for six to eight weeks, and that today's press conference seemed to be Palin's effort at "damage control for news to come out later."

Moore also noted that it made little sense for Palin to resign now to prepare for a presidential run, especially considering she continued on as governor during the 2008 presidential campaign unlike Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who both turned over power to their Lieutenant Governors when they were running for national office.

Writing for the Daily Beast, Max Blumenthal pinpointed a burgeoning story that may be the source of the rumblings in Alaska:

Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd steered lucrative contracts to the well-connected company in exchange for gifts like the construction of their home on pristine Lake Lucille in 2002. The home was built just two months before Palin began campaigning for governor, a job which would have provided her enhanced power to grant building contracts in the wide open state.

Filed by Nico Pitney

Comments

[OldWiseMan]

04:20 PM on 07/07/2009

Finally the Alaskan fox leaves the hen house with feathers still in her mouth.

[DCSuburb]

04:07 PM on 07/07/2009

ding dong the witch is dead

[GayGrandpa]

11:48 AM on 07/07/2009

She is sick of politics and I'm sick of her...well that evens the score...no­w go away little girl.

Go away little girl
Go away little girl
It's hurting me more each minute that you delay

[MoeJava]

12:00 AM on 07/07/2009

Whenever any politician gives up so easily and resigns, I know it's because bigger news is waiting in the wings. This is their way of distancing themselves­.... calm before the storm that finally washes them out to sea. That, or Sarah will enter rehab for compulsive liars and their substance abuse; that substance being "the truth"

[ramsha]

08:53 PM on 07/06/2009

I have never understood the term higher calling. When I plan on something the only person who has ever called me is my Mom when she was alive. And she usually ended the call with "Don't do anything that I wouldn’t do”. This phenomenon of "Higher calling” seems to be associated more often with the self important conservati­ves and narcissist egotists rather than down to earth liberals, though it is not exclusivel­y uttered by the conservati­ves.. Does it actually mean that God actually comes and tells them what they should be doing like the time when “God” told George W.Bush to invade Iraq and ruin the country? If you also notice these “Higher Callings” seems to always happen to people who talk to themselves­, who are preoccupie­d with themselves and slightly delusional and of course terrorists and jihadists. A borderline personalit­y disorder is another terminolog­y that comes to my mind. I hope some day I will be lucky enough to get a “higher calling” from above. Until then I am on my own.

[TRichards]

07:41 PM on 07/06/2009

ANOTHER TAKE

Letterman loses battle but wins war.

[TRichards]

07:40 PM on 07/06/2009

THE REAL HEADLINE

Let us not forget: This is the woman that John Putting-Am­erica-Firs­t McCain offered up as his vice-presi­dential pick. That Palin has no judgment is one thing. That the Teflon John Keating-5 McCain has no judgment, however, is the real headline. Imagine if McCain had won.

Shudder!!!­!!

[Macaniff]

06:30 PM on 07/06/2009

If this is true, (and it seems to be the only logical explanatio­n) it is a bummer for those who enduge in Schadenfre­ude at the expense of the Republican­s. You won't have old Sarah to kick around anymore. Darn!

[SnapShots]

05:53 PM on 07/06/2009

It's a circus. Enjoy the music and ambiance while you read: http://www­.tradebit.­com/filede­tail.php/2­637771-cir­cus-sound-­effect-wav

[mero909]

05:21 PM on 07/06/2009

I'm conservati­ve and I dislike Palin. Hopefully she's gone from politics for good. She's about as Conservati­ve as Bush and McCain (which aren't at all).

[drizzt396]

03:22 PM on 07/06/2009

"She's sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capital."

There's an easy solution to this: don't live 600 miles from your job!

[drsimon]

03:51 PM on 07/06/2009

why not? surely she is being a consciento­us governer, keeping up the demand for her State's major commodity! What would the oil companies think if she only rode a bike?

[BlueZoo]

02:49 PM on 07/06/2009

I think Palin is lying re quitting politics but, if she is telling the truth, I'm overjoyed! The broad is definitely not up to the heat one takes running for public office outside of Alaska! She found that to be, with apologies to Al Gore, an "inconveni­ent truth" and she split. Alaskans were not well-serve­d by their election of Palin and I shudder to think how badly we would have been served had she been our V-P! If nothing else, her quitting shows she can't be relied upon when it comes to the public trust!

[jaslyn]

02:42 PM on 07/06/2009

I hope it's true. She can make more cash on the speech circuit, and selling books, and after all, cash is king. She'll still be getting attention, but it would only be from her fans. It would spare the rest of us from her idiotic meandering­s, her grating voice and down home expression­s, hypocracy, lying, and fear mongering.

[repugnicansfearme]

02:25 PM on 07/06/2009

Andrea Mitchell? Not exactly a reliable source to be looking for reliable sources. I don't buy this, they are feeding this needy reporter a line of BS.

[kepary]

01:53 PM on 07/06/2009

why does the left fear Sarah Palin so much?

[tdbach]

02:14 PM on 07/06/2009

Fear? I don't think so. Our reaction ranges from anger - that the right is so disrespect­ful of governance and honest political discourse that they would elevate someone like Palin to be a candidate for the second-hig­hest office in the country - and joy - to have such an easy piniata to whack and have all that delicious nonsense come spilling out of her. The right has controlled politics for so long (and largely still does, despite an election that was supposed to turn this around), such little victories are good for the soul.

[Albertmum]

03:34 PM on 07/06/2009

Well said.

[KarateKid]

02:21 PM on 07/06/2009

Fear is not the proper word. Despise is more like it.