Demonstrating an amazing facility for doublespeak, Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska late Friday afternoon.  Citing the mounting expenses and divided focus that has come from constantly defending her honor and family, she did not want to finish her term as a lame duck, she said.   Her rambling speech offered little more in the way of explanation but since that announcement several speculative articles have been published in small time blogs and in establishment media alleging that an investigation may soon be under way concerning diversion of building materials and labor in the construction of the Palins’s 3500 square foot home that was constructed at the same time and of the same materials as the Wasilla arena.  On the 4th of July Palin struck back with threats of legal action and since then the FBI has announced that Palin is not under investigation.

Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg.com commented, ”There comes a point when not practicing politics as usual becomes so unusual it borders on the bizarre.”

Still, political notoriety has its perks. It seems that in leaving office she will be walking into both a book contract with Harper Collins, and possibly a hosting deal for a television program.

Over 1400 people attended the first ”Alaska Women Reject Palin,” rally outside the Anchorage library making it the largest political rally in Alaskan history according to the ”mudflats” blogger.

So, with so many of the Palin/McCain statements proving flagrantly untrue, can you really see Russia from Alaska?

1) No: The Bering Strait is 53 miles across, which means you can’t see Russia across it because of the curvature of the earth. freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080507/posts

2) Yes: ”and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” — Sarah Palin

3) Maybe (on a technicality): A Yahoo Answer Poster said, ”Actually, the answer is yes and no. From the mainland, there is no way to see Russia from Alaska. The distance is too great.

However, there are two islands in the Bering Staight – Big Diomede and Little Diomede. The big island is Russian and the small one American. They are 1.5 miles from each other. Interestingly, the International Date Line separates the two, so there is a time difference of 23 hours between the two.”

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080105000254AAQYxI1

And finally, for fun, catch Tina Fey’s SNL impression of Sarah Palin here…

By his own admission, John McCain ”don’t know much ’bout the economy,”

By her record, Sarah Palin ”don’t know much foreign policy,”

… What a terrible presidency!