absurd

Sarah Palin has just announced her resignation as governor of Alaska.

Political stunt? Maybe.

Maneuvering for a 2012 presidential run? Possibly.

Completely absurd? Absolutely.

Palin called a last minute press conference at her home that was apparently so rushed, a number of reporters and media folk were unable to make it in time to witness the spectacle first hand. Given that her Lt. Gov was informed of this decision on Wednesday, a reasonable person might conclude that something a bit better-planned would have been appropriate (cause, you know, she's only the state's governor and all). Still, I can't say I'm surprised. What, of her public presence during the 2008 campaign, ought to intimate otherwise? I can't think of a single example.

Better still, the ridiculousness of Palin's frenetic and abrupt press conference is outdone only by her child-like reasoning for leaving office ahead of schedule:

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose."

Let's make sure we're all on the same page here: Palin is shirking her duties as governor (an office for which SHE ran and for which SHE was elected) because she doesn't feel like embracing "politics as usual"? What in the world does fulfilling one's public obligation to the people whom one serves have to do with "politics as usual"? Oh, you don't like "the climate" so, "meh.... whatever..."?

Let's not forget this is the woman many republicans support(ed?) with unbridled zeal. Almost unbelievable. Almost. It is at least embarrassing -- if not infuriating -- to live in a country with so many self-satisfied dullards and simpletons. It's one thing to know one's limits (mentally, physically, what have you) yet test them regularly in an effort to improve oneself and one's surroundings. It's another to be ignorant of these limits and to traipse through such an existence in willfully negligence. It's a third altogether to glorify one's own ignorance as some sort of heightened state of consciousness (as if) to which others should aspire.

We are all dumber for having heard you and your supporters speak, Mrs. Palin. I truly hope you (pl.) spare us the encore.