Sarah Palin’s memoir officially has landed, and the American carnival continues. Going Rogue made the best-seller lists even before it appeared in book stores. The author’s gig on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show sealed the deal. Celebrity devours all. Partisans love Rogue or hate it, and likely reached their conclusions before they read it all the way through. The passions make reviews almost pointless. The Washington Post greeted publication with dueling critiques—one from the left, the other from the right. A cliché count places the critics in a tie. Newsweek contributed a cover that redounds to the magazine’s abiding discredit.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a long-awaited entry into the Virginia governor’s race via an automated call to as many as 350,000 state residents urging them to vote.

Levi Johnston is going for the ultimate exposure - the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild will pose nude for Playgirl, his attorney said Wednesday.

Months after abruptly resigning as Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin resurfaced in Hong Kong on Wednesday more moderate in tone and better versed in international affairs, possibly laying the first brick for a 2012 White House bid.

As the health care debate rages on, both sides have become increasingly dramatic in their denunciations of the opposition. The left—horrified that it may have blown the perfect opportunity for stealth nationalization of American health care—has slipped into shrill ad hominem attacks, with prominent pundits such as Paul Krugman equating opponents of a public plan to fringe “birthers” who question the authenticity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. The right, on the other hand, has sometimes stumbled into brazen hypocrisy while trying to stop what can reasonably be described as a government power grab. Why must conservatives exaggerate when they have so much right reason on their side?

As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin prepares for the next stage of her political career, a majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of her, and there is broad public doubt about her leadership skills and understanding of complex issues, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Reigning New York Times political diva Maureen Dowd says Gov. Sarah Palin’s abrupt decision to quit her job shows things are a little “nutty” out in Alaska. With all due respect to Dowd, how does she explain the trifecta of gubernatorial nuttiness that has been mesmerizing her own tri-state readership area for years? Gov. Elliot Spitzer of New York resigned last year after being forced to admit he was a longtime customer of an elite call-girl ring. In 2004, Connecticut Gov. John Rowland quit in order to avoid being impeached for corrupt activities that eventually led to a federal prison sentence. Two months later, Gov. Jim McGreevey of New Jersey called it quits in mid-term in order to avoid growing questions about his personal and professional conduct related to a messy affair with a former male aide.

Does it make any sense, what Sarah Palin has done? Little that is happening these days seems to make much sense, particularly regarding the Republicans. But I mean, just up and resigning as governor of Alaska? All the experts say it’s the wrong thing to do. That it sends the wrong message—giving up on the only statewide elected post she’s ever held. That it confirms she really is the ditz they have suggested since John McCain vaulted her to fame.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Sarah Palin is scoffing at comments by Bristol Palin’s former fiance, who says he thinks Palin resigned to cash in on her fame.

Sarah Palin says she’s not a quitter, she’s a fighter, but adds that, politically speaking, “if I die, I die. So be it.“

A June editorial regarding rumors that Sarah Palin would not run for re-election next year said that if the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential nominee had national ambitions, she best would promote them by winning re-election and governing effectively. To say she did not take our advice is to set a record for understatement. Her departure from Alaska’s governorship proved as dramatic as her introduction as John McCain’s running mate. If this marks a permanent withdrawal from electoral politics, then Palin’s career will have its own chapter in “Believe It or Not.“ If it is a first step in a presidential run, then it rates as one of the greatest gambles ever. She may be a genius, or inept. Her competitors—Republican and Democrat alike—would blast her for walking away from a tough job, for betraying constituents who entrusted her with a four-year term. It is not as though she is leaving to join a presidential Cabinet or to accept a diplomatic position, either.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to step down during her first term could signal that she’s done with elective office, a Virginia political analyst says. “You shouldn’t dismiss that possibility if she’s fed up, and that came across at the press conference,“ the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato said last night. If she does plan future campaigns, Sabato thinks Palin has made a major error. “This will prove very useful to her opponent—she’s up and quit the only statewide office she’s ever held, in midterm. That’s not much of a qualification if you’re running for president,“ Sabato said.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

The next presidential election will not occur until 2012, but potential candidates already are committing consequential news. Republicans have lost two potential contenders, for instance. The admission of an affair dooms Nevada Sen. John Ensign. The news that he had been sweating around with an associate (who was the wife of an aide) broke soon after he had made one of those toe-dipping trips to a state with an early date on the nomination calendar. Support for Ensign in Nevada immediately collapsed. Although politicians have recovered from scandal before, Ensign’s career lies in ruins.

At least Lenny Bruce could be funny. David Letterman’s infamous quip about one of Sarah Palin’s daughters was merely vulgar. To be more accurate, it reflected not only vulgarity but ignorance. Children are off-limits, as any person of discretion should know. Palin’s acceptance of Letterman’s apology had more grace than the apology’s delivery.