Developing

Alaskan Governor and 2008 Republican Vice-Presidental Candidate, Sarah Palin, has resigned, effective the end of this month.  She did not give a specific reason for her resignation but did say that she would better serve the people outside of government.  Many are speculating that she wants to concentrate on a 2012 presidental bid and others are speculating that her resignation has something to do with ethics inquiries against her and/or her staff.  Lt. Governor Sean Parnell will take over for her when she leaves office.

Fox News reports:

"She wants to concentrate on doing the things for Alaska and the country" that she is passionate about and can not do as governor with the limitation and constant opposition she deals with within the state."

I don't know if I buy the idea of her quitting in order to focus on a presidental run. I don't think I'm on board with the ethics complaint scare, either.  I never pegged her for a quitter so my guess is that there is something really major behind her decision, but we'll have to wait to find out in the coming days, if that information is revealed.

At any rate, I wish Governor Palin well.  She's classy, she's a lady and she withstood a lot of heat during the campaign that would have caused a lesser woman to crumble.  I'm sure whatever her next step is, she'll come out on top.

Update (Val): Lots of pundits chiming in that her decision to resign before her term is over has basically ended her political career. And that may be so. But perhaps her resignation is predicated upon the fact that she has a great deal of respect for the office she holds, and believed it better to relinquish same than have her constituents ill-served.

I may be wrong, of course, and this decision may be based on less than noble issues. But one thing is for sure: Andrew Sullivan is frantically scavenging heaven and earth for Viagra.

"Shocking News!" Update: Rick Sanchez, fellow American of Cuban descent, es una lengua'e trapo. Rick, dude, you're embarrassing the rest of us.

Buyer's remorse from Colin Powell.

Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.

"I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN's John King, released by the network Friday morning.

[...]

But, he said, "one of the cautions that has to be given to the president -- and I've talked to some of his people about this -- is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."

"And we can't pay for it all," said Mr. Powell, who was the first African-American to serve as secretary of state, under former President George W. Bush. He was also national security adviser to President Reagan, and was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.

Translation? "Dude, you're making me look like an idiot for endorsing you. Cool your jets a bit!"

...another one bites the dust:

Aroldis Chapman, a Cuban considered by many scouts to be the best left-handed pitching prospect in the world, has defected from the national team, several sources have confirmed to ESPN The Magazine.

Chapman, 21, walked out of his hotel in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where Cuba was participating in a tournament, and never returned, according to the Spanish-language Web site cubaencuentro.com, which first reported Chapman's defection.

H/T Jose C.

So, it's Friday and for many of us a holiday. What are you doing this fine day?