Reports: Palin Resigned Because Of Legal Bills
This makes sense:
Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska said Sunday that Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to resign was largely prompted by the personal legal costs of the ethics investigations against her.
Ms. Palin announced on Friday that she would quit her job near the end of the month and turn the reins of state government over to Mr. Parnell, who like the governor is a Republican.
At the news conference, Ms. Palin cited numerous reasons for quitting, including more than $500,000 in legal fees that she and her husband, Todd, have incurred because of 15 ethics complaints filed against her during her two and a half years as governor. She said all of the complaints had been dismissed, but she still had to pay lawyers to defend her.
The liberals, and even some of the country-club, establishment Republicans who she walked over on her rise to the top, have been waging a war of attrition against Palin. Their tact to date has been to bog her down in an endless stream of baseless accusations. They’ve essentially been throwing huge amounts of mud at her hoping that at some point some of it will stick.
Well none of it has stuck, but it has cost her dearly in terms of legal fees. So in order to pay her legal fees (and no doubt in order to raise money toward a future run on a national stage) Palin is handing over the reins in Alaska to someone else so she can focus on those priorities.
Frankly, I’m not so sure that Sarah shouldn’t be applauded for stepping down. Far too many politicians cling to their current offices even as they devote almost all their time and resources away from those offices toward other goals. Palin isn’t going to do that. She’s doing this for herself, but I think she’s doing it for the citizens of Alaska too.
She deserves some respect for that.
