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Andrea Mitchell reporting a number of sources tell her that Palin has notified her staff that she is done with political office for good.

With her haute couture on overdrive and flashing some major league stylish sass, Oscar winning French actress Marion Cotillard had an amazing week of looking her best promoting the “Public Enemies” movie. Mais oui, she was pure French elegance… At the London premiere, Marion walked in a red satin Vivienne Westwood dress. She picked out a Stella McCartney clutch and black heels to complete her look.

Most Republicans have just finished what might be called the spring of their discontent. Not much went right in the first half of the year; not much to cheer about. But not Mitt Romney. For this unsuccessful 2008 Republican presidential contender, it is hard to imagine how events could be moving more decisively in his favor in 2009. One can almost hear him wondering: Why didn't things break this way last year? Let us count the ways that the world has conspired to help Mr. Romney. At a time when the Republican Party is straining to find new leaders, other...

Here is video of NBC News' Andrea Mitchell reporting that sources tell her that Sarah Palin is resigning as Alaska Governor to leave politics for good. . . . . . (Watch Video)

Stewart Varney is foaming at the mouth. Never seen anyone try so hard to get anyone to say something negative about Sarah Palin. The guy is about to have a stroke.

Yes, Democrat operatives and their lawyers cost Alaska 80% of their operative time and 2 million in debt, but she also said her family has become a HALF MILLION in debt from these operatives.

With 82% of Morocco's Imams lacking formal training, a new qualification programme aims to provide better religious guidance to the Moroccan people and to counter extremism. Nearly 45,000 imams will undergo training under a new programme launched by the government on June 26th, part of a larger plan to reform religious affairs in the kingdom. In 2004, the first religious affairs reform plan led to an overhaul of the Islamic affairs ministry, revision of the legislation on places of worship, and the modernisation of religious instruction in Morocco. Ahmed Toufik, Minister for Islamic Affairs and Habous, explained that the 200...

Is Mark Sanford's behavior contemptible enough to make him King of Heels, or does that (dis)honor belong to John Ensign, Eliot Spitzer or John Edwards? ... Let's compare [them] low-blow by low-blow ...

CBS has obtained internal McCain-Palin campaign emails that show a lot of infighting between Sarah Palin and campaign staffers. Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day offer a rare look at just how frustrated then Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had become with the manner in which top McCain campaign aides were handling her candidacy. The e-mails, obtained exclusively, also highlight the power struggle and thinly veiled acrimony that pervaded the relationship between Palin and the campaign’s chief strategist, Steve Schmidt. The episode in question began when an investigative report published on the left-leaning Web site Salon.com...

One of the state's top public health officials says she was forced out of office because Gov. Sarah Palin felt she wasn't in step on social issues. Beverly Wooley, who has worked more than 20 years in public health in Alaska, most of it with the municipality of Anchorage, ended her stint as state public health director on Wednesday. She's the second top health official to leave within days. The state's chief medical officer, Jay Butler, left in late June after declining to take on Wooley's job along with his own. He now is in Atlanta, overseeing a U.S. Centers...

I'm convinced the Governor Palin is about to take this fight national. She's got the spotlight, even if much of it is negative. The media can't stop talking about her. And man, can she draw a crowd among the conservative base! As another poster put it, I think her resignation is a sign that Sarah is going ALL IN for 2010. So what's wrong with the rest of us? I plan to donate more in the coming political cycle than I've ever donated in my life. I started off earlier this week by dropping some money on the currently running...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is stepping down, announcing suddenly today that will she pursue other means of having an impact in the public arena, fueling speculation about her intentions for another bid for national office. Palin will step down before her first term is finished, resigning as of July 26 -- while not offering a clear reason for her withdrawal. Having decided not to seek a second term, she said she did not want to remain as a "lame duck'' simply wasting taxpayer money with trade missions and the like. "I know when it's time to pass the ball,'' said...

Venezuela and China Development Bank Corp. are discussing a third $4 billion infrastructure loan to be paid in oil, President Hugo Chavez said. “This bank is the one with the most money in the world,” Chavez said late yesterday on state television. “It has half the money in the world and is allied with Venezuela.” Chavez is seeking closer ties with developing nations such as China, Russia, India and Brazil to reduce dependence on the U.S., which consumes more than half of Venezuela’s oil exports. China previously made two $4 billion loans to finance infrastructure projects in Venezuela. Venezuela’s government...

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My view of Sarah is that she is a decent moral citizen who decided to try to make a difference. And the Media Goon squad decided to take her down. I think a week of revenge would be good. For one week, buy as little as possible, work as little as possible, be a dick to every liberal you know. Spend you time harrassing every government agency you can. Make them drown in a sea of paperwork. I have had enough. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. And I don't even like Sarah that...

Knowing that many, many conservatives will absolutely dump on me for saying this, I can't help myself: Sarah Palin's resignation is an appalling dereliction of duty and a highly cynical move to set herself up for a presidental run for which she is manifestly unqualified.

Sanford has committed sepuku on live TV. Ensign has discovered what goes on in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas. Palin is retiring from politics. Haley Barbour is a former lobbyist who runs the poorest state in the Union. Huckabee is a 5th stringer. John Thune is running for Vice President and we have no idea whether General Petraeus is a conservative or not. It looks like the only guy who can stop the Mitt Machine is Daniels. If you don't like Daniels, then Romney is the nominee by default in 2012.

Sarah Palin stepping down as Alaska governor. I can describe this move in three words: Stupid, stupid, stupid. And the reason doesn’t matter. She needs more time to run for President? What does she think holding the job is like, time-wise? President Obama could manage to serve as a totally undistinguished Senator while running for the White House; surely Palin could manage to govern half a million people a bit. She wants to protect her family? Heat, low tolerance, kitchen, stay out of. And again, if she wants to be President, how doe she think her family would fare in...

Term would have expired after 2010 elections LINK TO VIDEO OF ANNOUNCEMENT... Governor Palin Announces No 2nd Term (News release from AK Gov's Office) Media coverage from AK local news soures and... Vanity Fair August, 2009 "It came from Wasilla" (barf) more updates as story develops...

Andrea Mitchell say her sources that she has "had it" with national politics and is sick of it. Mitchell says she does not plan to pursue the Republican nomination in 2012.