300 WORDS OR LESS:SHE IS STILL "SARAH BARRACUDA"

Approximately, ten metric tons of ink will be spilled and countless electrons sent whizzing through Al Gore's Internet over Sarah Palin's resignation Friday evening. Most of it will be sheer piffle -- pundits gazing steadfastly into their Magic 8-Balls trying to divine the Palinator's motives (and ignoring her speech wherein they could be found) and hacks looking to pad their bank accounts with a few more television appearances or newspaper columns excoriating her for some perceived sin, and all the rest.

You can safely ignore most of what you see, thankfully. All that can be known is already out there.

Palin resigned for exactly the reasons she gave in her resignation speech. Unless you believe her an inveterate liar (and there's no evidence whatsoever to believe so), she pulled the plug because the incessant, baseless, and unhinged attacks from the left were costing her too much time and money and were taking too great a toll on her family. She couldn't actually spend the time as Governor she felt the state deserved thanks to said attacks, so she passed the job to someone she knows could.

As for where he political ambitions will take her next, well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? The truth is, only Sarah Palin knows that for sure and she's not telling anyone. Here's the one thing you can say: when she decided to get back into the political game, it'll be in a way and from a direction that defies the conventional wisdom. That's how she got where she is today and there's no reason to think she'll start playing by the rules of the establishment she ran for office to oppose.