Some “straight talk” about Sarah Palin

It’s not clear why Sarah Palin resigned her position as governor of Alaska, but it must have been for one of the following reasons: (1) there is a scandal that would have made her position as governor untenable, (2) she couldn’t take the heat that was coming her way, or (3) she concluded that it was in her best interests to do something other than fulfill the duties associated with the position the voters of Alaska entrusted to her.

In all three scenarios, Palin is unfit for high office, and certainly unfit to be the vice president or the president of the United States. Moreover, Palin’s resignation confirms how disappointingly reckless it was of John McCain to choose the then-untested governor to be his running-mate.

And what are we to make, in retrospect, of the euphoria that greeted McCain’s selection of Palin — a euphoria that made the Republican convention seem so strange to me that, for the first time in my life, I felt I had returned to the real world when I arrived back in Washington, DC? I imagine the euphoria was founded on the desperation Republicans felt as we saw the presidency slipping away, having already lost control of Congress.

There’s no dishonor in this reaction; the dishonor belongs to those like Peggy Noonan who understood the situation but would only express it when they thought their microphone was off. But when we conservatives say that we need a restoration of conservative values, we should remember that one of those values — perhaps the most important — is sobriety.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses