QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  From Stanley Fish of The New York Times, who has earned my grudging respect for his regular refusal to go along with the party line.  He discusses Sarah Palin's resignation, and gives us a refreshing point of view:

She dated the beginning of her trials and tribulations from the moment in August, 2008, when “political operatives descended on Alaska digging for dirt.” She complained that “millions of dollars go down the drain in this new political environment.” She signaled repeatedly her weariness with the “superficial political blood–sport” politics has become. She returned to her own sport, basketball, to explain that because she had become a distraction she was going to do what a good point guard always does, pass the ball to someone (her lieutenant governor) in a better position to make the shot. And in the end she earned the declaration that “I have given my reasons plainly and candidly.”

But the pundits didn’t want to hear them or, rather, they were committed to believing that the real reasons lay elsewhere, and were strategic. They couldn’t fathom the possibility that she was just giving voice to her feelings. It must, they assumed, be a calculation, and having decided that, they happily went on to describe how bad a calculation it was.

COMMENT:  Good for Stanley Fish.  He proposes the possibility that Sarah's resignation was heartfelt.  He may be right or wrong on this, but at least he's willing, unlike many other "journalists," to give the governor a chance.  I hope he watches his back at The New York Times.

July 7, 2009