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Sarah Palin’s Alaska Trailer: "I’d Rather Be Doing This Than Be In Some Stuffy Old Political Office."

Do you understand the concepts of duty and responsibility?

Yes, I do understand the concepts of duty and responsibility and I do not see them in Sarah Palin.

See Post 32.

As the old saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

When the going got tough for Sarah Palin in the Governorship of Alaska that she was entrusted with ......

Instead of fighting the blackmail of nuisance lawsuits, she made it be known that the blackmail of nuisance lawsuits works to send a Governor running.

Running where?

To cash in.

To cash in doing stupid Reality TV shows with tabloid queens like Kate Gosselin.

Palin and Gosselin in the Mother of All Reality Shows

To cash in with $100,000 per pop speeches.

To cash in to the tune of $12 million two years after she quit.

April 15, 2010: Sarah Palin income 12 million dollars since leaving office

Yes, I understand the concepts of duty and responsibility. I have a Retirement Certificate from the U.S. Navy hanging on my wall but I get no retirement pay.

Why? How I can be "retired" but get no retirement pay?

Because, the Navy has me classified as "Honorarily Retired".

After completing my active duty obligations as a Navy Medical Officer, I never resigned my commission. Yet, I did not do the "weekend warrior" drills because I was on call 24/7 as the only one of my medical specialty in an under-served rural county.

The Navy warned me that, unless I resigned my Navy commission, I could get recalled to active duty in time of war and that I would not get retirement points if I did not weekend drill. I was taking all of the risks and getting none of the bennies.

I told the Navy that I could not leave my county uncovered, that I knew that I would not get retirement pay and that I knew that I could be recalled to active in case of war.

I told the Navy that I knew all that, that I did not need their retirement and that, if they needed me, I would be there for them.

When the Gulf War came about, the Navy called, and I reported as called.

Twenty years after I was commissioned, the Navy sent me my Retirement Certificate and took me off the rolls of Reserve officers subject to immediate active duty recall in time of war.

So, yes, I understand the concepts of duty and responsibility and I carried out my duty, as I saw it, above and beyond what the Navy expected ..... for NO money.

I did not QUIT.

Respectfully, your analogy doesn't fly.

The politically smart thing for Gov. Palin to do for Gov. Palin probably would have been to stay as Governor. The action she took, while viewed as quiting (by some), was actually courageous and in the best interest of Alaska, as well as in the best interest of the Conservative cause.

In 2008, we gained approximately 63 seats in the House, many of them the result of a Palin endorsement. What would Palin’s influence have been had she still been fighting bogus ethics complaints in Alaska as Governor?

Another overlooked aspect of Palin, as a former Governor, she was sometimes the loan voice or leading voice of opposition against Obama policies. While others were busy checking with their focus groups on what an acceptable, politically correct response was, Palin was calling it like it is (remember the Death Panels?).

Would she have been as big a voice for the Tea Party had she been stuck in Alaska? Probably not. Would her challenges of Obama have received as much notoriety as they did if she were busy fighting all the frivolous complaints as Governor? Again, very likely, no.

While Palin was going through all the ethics complaints as Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate, where was her support from the Republican establishment in fighting these complaints? As I've read from numerous sources, her support from her (our) Party was nonexistent.

Did she make money after her resignation? Of course. Is that wrong? Not as I see it. While it benefited her personally, it also enabled her to assume the position she now has.

Lastly, why is Palin’s resignation held against her by some, while many of these same people never said a word when the current President resigned his past position in the US Senate. The current Governor of Texas, after promising during his past reelection that he would serve his full term, is now poised to resign should he win the nomination. Where are these same people who were/are so critical of Palin resigning?

What constitutes an acceptable resignation? As I see it, an unacceptable or acceptable resignation is defined by one’s political supporters or opponents. Without the politics, most resignations are acceptable.