Palin: "How Ya' Gonna Keep Her in Alaska, After She's Seen DC?"
Sarah Palin's recent resignation as Governor of Alaska brings to my mind the words of that 1919 WWI classic How Ya' Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm, After They've Seen Paree? (words by Lewis & Young, music by Donaldson) (www.heptune.com/howyagon.html) The song refers to the return of American soldier farmers after World War I and questions how they will transition back to their old lives after seeing the world.
I believe this analogy can be applied to Sarah Palin. In her short campaign as the GOP Vice Presidential candidate in the 2008 Presidential election it seems that she got addicted to the spotlight of national politics.
Despite the media scrutiny and some unfair coverage of her during the campaign, I believe Governor Palin enjoyed being on the cover of Time, Newsweek, People Magazine and just about every major newspaper in the country. She reveled in the adulation she received from the huge crowds she drew for the GOP rallies. She seemed to take great pleasure in giving her nomination acceptance speech and sparring with Senator Biden in the VP debate.
After this adrenaline packed election season, it must have been very difficult to go back to the old job of just being a governor in a state geographically separated from the rest of the country. Sarah Palin is a person who loves to be challenged. Being Governor of Alaska may have become "been there, done that." Also, economic difficulties and legislative battles probably took some of the excitement out of governing there.
I'm sure there were other factors involved which she cited in her farewell speech last Friday: the attacks against her family, the continuous and expensive litigation (all proven unfounded), the unscrupulous media rumors, and the desire to not be a lame duck governor.
The ironic thing is that leaving her governor post will not diminish the media coverage. In fact, this move has generated a lot of attention because people are baffled by it.
"You can't put the genie back in the bottle." The only thing that will get the media and the public to stop talking about Palin will be if she leaves politics altogether. And judging from her speech, she is not planning to "go gently into that good night."
She referred to a "higher calling" and "making a positive difference from outside the Governor's office." And her July 4th Facebook page sounded like she was already campaigning for higher office: "I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together... I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!"
Ms. Palin admits she is "unconventional" and has always fought against "politics as usual" which may account for her appeal to the common man. However, whether this latest move of stepping down as Governor of Alaska in the middle of her term will help or hurt her career remains to be seen.
One thing is certain. Sarah Palin is not going away. The allure of the national public spotlight is too great.
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Good luck to you. Getting at the truth, is apparently, not something that's important to you.
What a bunch of BS.
Why on earth would she want to be in DC? There are no "real Americans" there.
She has the geopolitical sense of a 3rd grader. Can you imagine her going into all the different nations of the world and representing Us (the U.S.). Republicans were angry at the media saying they were asking trick questions, I'm not a college graduate but I knew more about world affairs and detaunt than she did. Being a decent looking woman dosen't qualify you for President. When the National media gets after her and her family if she's President what is she going to do quit.
See Tallulah Morehead's Profile
I've always felt the song would have made more sense if it were:
"How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm,
After they've seen the farm?"
"Being Governor of Alaska may have become 'been there, done that'."
The most it could have become would be "been there, done some of that." SHE DIDN'T FINISH THE JOB SHE WAS ELECTED TO DO!!
Yes, I heard her: only quitters stay in their jobs; to avoid being a quitter, she had to quit." She's insane. She has no future in politics. Who would vote for someone who doesn't finish even her first office? She'll be on TV, not in office. And that only if she's not in jail.
"How ya gonna get 'em to vote for Palin,
After they've heard Palin?"
Tallulah, you are right in that she didn't finish the job. The ironic thing is that the GOP voters support her more than ever in a recent poll. What does that say about the Republican party?
Close examination of the original speech text leads me to believe that Governor Palin is quitting to play for the WNBA ... or maybe to swim upstream and spawn.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/great-decisions-2009
What people seems to ignore is the fact that she still has commanded a salary of $125,000. I think she owes her employer, the state of Alaska, an explanation as to why she has not been doing the job that she was paid to do. I also think she should pay them for nearly a year's salary.
She should not "go gently into that good night". She should go to jail!
HA! I think second hand Alaskan consignment shop clothing will do the trick, don't you??
Or the over-the hill old guys' irrrational lust, which I think McCain counted on when he plucked her out of nowhere.
These are the same guys who tip the good-looking cocktail waitress lavishly, fantacizing that they actually have a chance with her. There are thousands of those cunning women who make a very nice living by encouraging these idiots' fantasies.
None of them listen to Palin, or realize, or care that we all have children in middle school more knowledgeable than she is and that it will take a lot more than cramming to bring her up to speed intellectually.
She is a totally delusional woman who thinks that success as an adult depends on the same things that helped her be RUNNER-UP in the Miss Alaska beauty pagent TWENTY years ago.
She doesn't live in the real world. WHEW.
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