Maverick!!!!!!

I hate to pile on here, but I had the weirdest sense of cognitive dissonance this morning. I had watched--or attempted to watch--the video replay from Palin's resignation speech last night. But I couldn't bear it. The first minute of the seven minute clip was so full of loopy jumbled syntex, I just clicked it off. It made Governor Sanford's "soul-mate" interview look down right Shakespearian. I almost felt embarassed for her.

But to hear our media elite tell it, shucks, this was just Sarah being Sarah, just Sarah being her usual "enigma" self. Doing things "her way". Maverick!!!!! The two front page articles on it in this morning's Washington Post made Sarah, her decision, and her presser, seem almost rational.

Update: OK, it now appears that Dan Balz, the Post writer who earlier this morning penned the somewhat laudatory "Sarah just does things her way" piece, may have taken the time to actually watch Palin's speech or read it, or had someone slap him upside the head because he's decided to give some additional analysis, this time suggesting that, yeah, maybe Sarah's a goof who can't or isn't interested in governing:

"I thought about, well, how much fun some governors have as lame ducks," she said. "They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions. So many politicians do that. And then I thought, that's what wrong . . . . They hit the road, they draw a paycheck, they kind of milk it, and I'm not going to put Alaskans through that."

That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the responsibilities of governing. Every president becomes a lame duck in their second term. The same for governors, since many are term-limited. Do they "milk it," as Palin put it, or do most continue working hard to the end to finish off their terms with real accomplishments?

Still, Balz would have us believe Sarah is a Serious candidate for higher office that we should take Very Seriously. After throwing in a friendly little quip from arch-conservative-who's-never-held-elected-office Gary Bauer, Balz adds this:

She could use her new free time to deepen her knowledge of foreign policy. Rather than seeing international travel as a way to milk the system as a lame duck, she could profitably spend time familiarizing herself with national security and diplomatic challenges.

Geewhiz. Can I haz better media, pleaze?