links for 2009-07-04

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing , we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.
The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1. These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.

Conventional wisdom suggests that short-term the Palin decision was unwise — e.g., "quitter," unpredictable, sulking, etc. But what else are her critics really going to say? It's not like a Letterman can trump laughing at her on late-night television as he puns that a Yankees star had sex in a dugout with her 14-year old daughter. Can Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic website go beyond his slurs that she did not deliver her own child? How much more cleverly can N.Y. feminist pundits tsk-tsk her that she's a Wasilla trailer-park retread?

She was facing a rocky road to the end of her term with falling approval numbers, criticism that she was paying too much attention to national matters and not the state, continuing ethics inquiries, efforts by news organizations to obtain emails written during the 2008 campaign and stories about her family that were grist for tabloids and even late-night comedian David Letterman.

But in the aftermath of Palin’s announcement, state politicians made clear that the resignation was highly unexpected.

The sharpest response came from Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski , a fellow Republican, who issued a statement saying, “I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded.”

There has been speculation that, among Palin’s ambitions, was a primary challenge to Murkowski in 2010.

A very tough one-sentence statement out Friday night from Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose father Sarah Palin knocked off to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2006:

"I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded," Murkowski said.

(Murkowski's office added that the senator is 'in interior Alaska and communicating via satellite phone and is unavailable for follow up questions.")

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday called on the United States to shelve plans for a missile defence shield in Europe, Interfax news agency reported.

Putin said that if Washington shelved the plans it would help move relations with the United States forward.

President Obama, strategizing yesterday with congressional leaders about health-care reform, complained that liberal advocacy groups ought to drop their attacks on Democratic lawmakers and devote their energy to promoting passage of comprehensive legislation.

In a pre-holiday call with half a dozen top House and Senate Democrats, Obama expressed his concern over advertisements and online campaigns targeting moderate Democrats, whom they criticize for not being fully devoted to "true" health-care reform.

"We shouldn't be focusing resources on each other," Obama opined in the call, according to three sources who participated in or listened to the conversation. "We ought to be focused on winning this debate."

Specifically, Obama said he is hoping left-leaning organizations that worked on his behalf in the presidential campaign will now rally support for "advancing legislation" that fulfills his goal of expanding coverage, controlling rising costs and modernizing the health system.

Vice President Joseph Biden told Iraqi leaders that the path to a secure peace lies in uniting ethnic and sectarian groups and said the U.S. might disengage from their country if it reverts to sustained violence.

Biden said he and President Barack Obama “appreciate that Iraq has traveled a great distance over the past year, but there is a hard road ahead if Iraq is going to find lasting peace and stability,” according to a press pool report of the vice president’s visit to Iraq.

Biden was concluding a two-day visit in Baghdad yesterday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders. Obama sent Biden to Iraq to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help the country maintain its security while the U.S. military pullout proceeds there.

With respect to many of the Palinologists below, I think they're getting way too hepatomantic over the entrails.

As a political move for anything other than the 2010 Senate race, today's announcement is a disaster. And I'm not sure it's a plus for the Senate – and, even if it were, the manner and timing suggest it was not a professionally planned event and therefore is unlikely to have any grand strategy behind it.

So Occam's Razor leaves us with: Who needs this?

National office will dwindle down to the unhealthily singleminded (Clinton, Obama), the timeserving emirs of Incumbistan (Biden, McCain) and dynastic heirs (Bush). Our loss.
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Indeed Sarah Palin appears to be fed up but will she come back when her children are grown?