A dip in the political poop--er, pool

So, last week, you weren't a real member of the blogosphere if you didn't have something to say about whatsisname. Now, apparently we have to say something to say about the soon-to-be-former Governor of Alaska.

All right. Those who have either moral or political ambitions should be prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Bailing out of an office made relatively easy with petrodollars, when the bucks stop flowing, doesn't look like a spectacular credential for either moral righteousness or higher office.

Timing, in politics, is all. Bailing out of office immediately after Vanity Fair sucker-punches you violates this principle, leaving you rather far away from the moral high ground. There are other ambitious governors who have been treated just as harshly by the economy and the media. Whatever their other faults, they are still in office, taking the punches. Somehow, those other governors understand that the media spotlight goes with the job; they get on with it and don't whine.

Politics for grownups are a lot like politics in grade school. I remember one grade school playground line that might have been written for Sarah Palin:

"You can dish it out, but you can't take it."

Go back to Wasilla. You can't take it, and you have nothing to offer any of us.