Several talking points are already taking hold including one that suggests Sarah Palin couldn’t possibly run for a higher office than Governor when she couldn’t even complete a single term. Then again, President Obama was barely into his first term as a Senator when he decided to run for the nation’s top office. Experience questions aside, Palin’s decision to step down is probably about one of three things.

1. Presidential Aspirations

It could be plausible that Sarah Palin wants to break free from the bounds of the Governorship and any ethics issues she faces while positioning herself for a Presidential run in 2012. If this is the case, why run with the presser at such an awkward time in the news cycle? Well, Palin’s approval rating has slumped a bit since November (though it’s still among the highest for a sitting Governor) so it makes sense that she might want to get out while the gettin’s good. Palin may also feel that as a Governor she can’t criticize the President as she would like to. She could be tired of playing by a set of rules that are holding her back and maybe Sarah thinks it’s time for a media campaign to battle the myths and outright lies about her that swirl around the media landscape.

2. Money and Power

I remembered watching a close-to-tears Palin alongside Senator McCain on election night and wondering what she would do next. Palin was thrust into the spotlight in a major way and she went from obscurity to fame in record time. But when the results came in on November 4, it all came crashing down. Palin must have felt odd about the prospects of returning to small-town Alaska and resuming business as usual. It probably seemed boring to her. She now had offers coming from every direction and ambitions far beyond the Governorship. With book deals and dollar signs in her eyes it would seem a good idea to strike while the iron is still hot. She could make enough money in the next few years to cover her family comfortably for a long time. And, with a clean slate, she could focus more on her special needs child, Trig.

3. A Brewing Scandal

This is by far the sexiest possibility of the three. Rumors are swirling of impending IRS suits and ethics cases galore. Those rumors may have no basis in fact but it’s worth looking at. Could there be a shoe dropping sometime soon that would have ended Sarah Palin’s political career anyhow? I’m skeptical of this for several reasons but the most obvious of the bunch — why would she wait several weeks to resign? — seems to hold water. Palin has been dogged by ethics complaints since day one (most of them partisan in nature), why would she duck out here?

I think the real answer is somewhere between 1 and 2. Let’s call it 1.5. I’m guessing Alaska is holding Sarah Palin back politically. She wants to engage in the debate vociferously at a national level — something that would be unbecoming for someone in her current position. She’s also well aware that to have any chance in 2012 she’s got a lot to ground to make up. Palin has to rebrand herself as a competent manager intelligent enough to take on any issue head-on. She can’t do these things or raise the money needed to launch a large-scale campaign while she’s running Alaska, so she’s out.

If this is the case, I expect to see Palin hit the media circuit shortly after she officially resigns. She’ll position herself alongside popular political figures and combat the obama administration at every angle. I don’t think (as some others are suggesting) that it’s over for Sarah Palin at this point. I do think that, if she wants to pull off the task outlined above, she has a whole lot of work to do.

Was Michael Jackson lip syncing? Probably. But he’s still had that something special that made him entertaining. He might be a little slower and a little more awkward but this rehearsal video shows that — just days before his death — Michael Jackson’s comeback tour could have been big. And if they have enough footage for a DVD, it could be explosive.

Major Players:

Manuela Zelaya: This is the man at the heart of the issue. The (now possibly former?) President of Honduras has been super chummy with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez — so much so that many Hondurans now see Zelaya as a stooge of Chavez. In fact, when the Honduran congress (including members of his own party), the Supreme court in Honduras and anyone else who can read the Honduran constitution, told Zelaya that his referendum was illegal, it was Venezuela who sent in the ballots and ‘advisers’ no one else would pony up. Zelaya was yanked out of power in the dead of night and tossed on a plane to Costa Rica. He would have been toast politically but world leaders have come to the defense of Zelaya and he just delivered a major speech at the U.N. to rousing applause. All this for a guy hell-bent on having his way, constitution be damned.

The Congress: The Honduran Congress used to side with Zelaya. That is, until he went all crazy and decided he’d like to run for another term — something illegal under the current constitution. Even members of Zelaya’s party have turned against him. Though the removal of the President was clearly a coup, it was a bipartisan coup. A coup supported not only by the Congress (they gave the order to oust him) but also by the Supreme Court who feared the direction of the country under a man who refused to follow rules and laws. Though most outsiders are siding with Zelaya, the Honduran people and their elected leaders are not. It was this same Congress who appointed the new President of Honduras on Sunday despite the opinions of foreigners. After the new President was sworn in, the Honduran Congress erupted in applause, celebrating what they deemed the end of a insufferable relationship with the former head of state.

The Supreme Court:The court has sided with the Congress on this issue and appears to be in support of the coup as well. But while Congress has been quite vocal in the aftermath of last week’s actions, the Court has been quiet. They seem intent on appearing ‘above’ the debate. I guess you could say it was their job to monitor the rule of law and uphold the constitution and that goal may have been met in their eyes. But if the Supreme Court thought this was going to go away quietly they underestimated President Obama’s willingness to go back on his ‘meddling’ comments once the debate left Iran and landed in Central America.

The Military: The military is the interesting element in this story. It’s the military presence that makes this officially a coup but the military had no interest in remaining in charge. The next head of state was a congressman, not a military man. Also, it should be noted (despite the nonsense that Zelaya spewed at the U.N.) that the Honduran military seemed to handle the President with kid gloves. They probably went too far in pushing him out to Costa Rica and putting themselves in the unfortunate situation of having to let him back in, but he was not injured, not a scratch on his face or bruise on his body. The military has refused to engage with pro-Zelaya protesters and, outside of a tear gas incident, there haven’t been any ‘bloody revolution’ moments for the media to take hold of.

Roberto Micheletti: He’s the new guy. Micheletti is of the same party as Zelaya, though the two are far from friends. Putting him in charge may have been a stroke of genius — or a shield from partisan criticism — and he’s taking a hard line on the return of Manuela Zelaya. He’s made it clear that he envisions rounding up and arresting Zelaya if he tries to reenter the country in the coming days. Micheletti, like both the congress and the court, has refused to engage with foreign critics like Barack Obama who have yet to recognize him as the official leader of Honduras. He’s dedicated to treading lightly at this point and trying to keep things calm until the country can conduct free and fair elections to properly replace Zelaya.

Those are the main players. Though, I could probably toss Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Daniel Ortega and President Obama on that list as they’ve been the loudest outsiders to comment so far. Chavez has gone as far as threatening military incursion into Honduras if Manuela Zelaya isn’t returned to power. Morales blames the CIA and Western forces for the coup and Daniel Ortega has threatened to sever Nicaragua’s trade deals with Honduras. President Obama, for his part, has loudly voiced opposition to the coup from the get-go and reportedly tried to stop it from happening. Obama says Zelaya is the true leader of Honduras and he seems to want everything to quiet down and go back to normal at a speedy pace.

The bottom line: Something had to be done. Zelaya wouldn’t listen to the Honduran Congress when they told him his referendum, designed to set up a chance for indefinite rule, was unconstitutional. Both parties agreed something had to be done. So the Congress sent the matter to the nation’s most powerful court, the Supreme Court of Honduras, for a final judgment. The Court sided with the Congress and ordered a halt to the planned, unconstitutional referendum because something had to be done. Angered that the military leadership would not provide the necessary security for his vote (now deemed an illegal vote) Zelaya fired military chief Gen. Romeo Vasquez. The General’s staff resigned in protest because something had to be done. Zelaya, unfazed by any of this, pushed forward. He reached out to his good friend and puppet master Hugo Chavez for help. Chavez offered to send ‘advisers’ and ballots to conduct the poll, interfering in Honduras’ affair. So the military, the Congress and the Honduran Supreme Court made a final decision to oust the President because something had to be done lest they all become citizens of a broader Venezuela.

They should have refrained from expelling Zelaya from the country but they did not. Fearing a rash of protests and an uprising led internally by the ousted President, they made the move to send Manuela Zelaya to Costa Rica and the rest is recent history. It’s amazing what can happen in just a few days of fast-paced Central American politics. Now on to the final question.

What happens from here? Much to the chagrin of the shiny, new Honduran leader, the international community seems to side with his opponent. Though I’m not sure they wouldn’t support something similar were they among those Hondurans opposing Zelaya’s actions. President Obama’s opinion is key on this matter and he’s made his intentions clear. Obama wants Zelaya reinstated. But that would put a man with no care for the country’s constitution back in power… this time with the backing of the most powerful politicians in the world. That may be the opportunity the ousted President is looking for. If Zelaya rides this wave correctly, he can not only win back power in Honduras for the remainder of his term, he may be able to force the unconstitutional referendum through and retain power for the foreseeable future.

Update: I neglected to mention that the Honduras Congress’ rebuff of Zelaya was unanimous.

[Download Link - Click Here]

They were all lies.

Here’s a snippet from Sanford’s apology presser that dragged on for days…

I don’t care to rehash the ins-and-outs of this story. You’re going to hear about this nearly non-stop for the next 48 hours or until Kim Jung-Il pulls the lever on that next missile. But I do want to slobber over the sexier elements of this story for a few minutes because, well… because that’s what people are interested in. That’s why you’ve read this far. You know the basic bullet points at this stage and the only open question just so happens to be the best of the bunch — just who is this woman from Argentina?

Allow me to completely invent a BULLDOZER of a tale here, if you will. Imagine if this mystery woman, whom Governor Stanford had developed a secret relationship with, was someone well-known. Imagine if she was someone involved in politics in Argentina. Sure, it’s unlikely. Hell, I seriously doubt it myself. But if we’re going to create a semi-fictitious situation here, why not go big? What if Governor Stanford’s ‘dear friend’ was the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner?

That’s more of a pipe dream than anything. But as a few details leading to the identity of this mystery woman leak out, they point to something a bit less exciting. Governor Sanford’s Buenos Aires lover is refusing any and all interviews and lives in this rather unimpressive dwelling.

I’m not suggesting the place is a dive or flop-house or anything. I’m just saying that it leads me to believe my dream of the screaming headline ‘DISGRACED GOVERNOR’S LOVER IDENTIFIED AS ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT’ is fading faster than I can type this report. The local pen-pushers will eventually bother this woman until she gives a brief interview, which will lead to a series of interviews and eventually she’ll be side-by-side with Patti Blagojevich on ‘I’m a celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here’. That’s just the way it works, folks.

Seriously, what a great piece of political theater this was. Mystery, sex, political shame — this story had it all and the press conference didn’t disappoint. Other than identifying this woman, there are a few other unturned stones. While Mark Sanford has stepped down from a gubernatorial leadership role, he plans to retain his position as Governor. democrats (and Republicans who would love to replace him) are sure to keep this story afloat until they force a resignation. Chances of that happening are about 50/50, depending on how hot the kitchen gets. And finally, will any of the Governor’s staff jump ship over this whole episode? This is much more likely than a resignation. Mass defection of staff and eroding support in the state could give us an answer to the previous question.

Still, it’s only a story until Kim Jong-Il launches the next missile in Hawaii’s general direction.

Oh, how short our attention spans are.

Bizarre Twist: The State releases emails between the Governor and his mistress. Strange thing is, they’ve been sitting on them since December. Where did they come from? My guess is the same insider that sent the paper these emails tipped the reporter off who met Governor Sanford at the airport, triggering this whole fiasco. Someone on the inside wants him gone in a bad way. Also, his wife released this statement.

Update: Question answered…

It has been revealed that the Argentine woman who has been involved in a year long affair with South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is Maria Belen Shapur. She works for Bunge y Born, a multinational agribusiness and grain trading corporation and is fluent in English, Portuguese and Chinese.

Shapur and the governor had known each other for seven years before she became his mistress. She is 43-years-old, has two sons and lives in a 14th floor apartment building in upscale Palermo District, near the Buenos Aires Zoo.

Could these be the first photos of Maria Belen Chapur?

This is an openly partisan (in the President’s favor, of course) news outlet being treated as a mainstream source. This puts The Huffington Post just a few questions behind fox news in the total-questions-asked-at-Presidential-pressers column. If that doesn’t strike you as ridiculous, I give up. If it doesn’t irritate you, you aren’t ripe for being irritated. And if you’re so far gone at this point, so engrossed in the cult of Personality that you don’t take issue with this, the towel has been thrown.

OK, maybe I overplayed my hand a bit there. But it’s aggravating to watch these scripted news orgies where anyone who does dare to force a point is silenced. And to watch the media fawn over the idea that a President would not only take a question from a blogger but from a blogger who got that question from an Iranian reader — oh, my! what a technological achievement! — is enough to make me want to cover my keyboard in vomit.

Nico Pitney, the blogger who asked the second question ahead of Reuters, CBS, ABC, cnn, Fox News and everyone else with a microphone and camera, is not to be vilified here, he’s doing a solid service to his readers. I’ve read some of HuffPo’s Iran election coverage myself and it’s been decent. The target of my aggression in this case is a press corps that doesn’t want to hold a popular President up to the same standards they used for his predecessor. Say that one five times fast.

“Nico, I know you and all across the Internet, we’ve been seeing a lot of reports coming out of Iran,” Obama said, addressing Pitney. “I know there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?”

Why, of course he did. I mean, you did ask him to have one prepared, didn’t you?

“Under which conditions would you accept the election of Ahmadinejad, and if you do accept it without any significant changes in the conditions there, isn’t that a betrayal of the — of what the demonstrators there are working towards?”

Here’s Obama’s answer to the question…

There’s an ulterior motive at play here. democrats, since the days of bill clinton, have been haunted by Conservative blogs. They’ve tried, over and over again, to denigrate them and make those authors who write negative items about them out to be dimwits ‘in pajamas’. They’ve had to face the wrath of many a daunting headline on the Drudge Report and they’ve just about had enough. So how do you make the folks who support your agenda, and attack those who have long been attacking you, look more reasonable or professional than their Conservative counterparts? You call on them ahead of Reuters.

Whereas the Bush administration could never have dreamed of calling on a blogger from Hot Air, Obama gets away with this scot-free. Does Politico get a question every now and then? Sure. But they’re not a partisan group hell bent on erasing Republican views from the arena of ideas. And what kills me here is the mainstream outlets are too busy bowing to the President, mentioning how ‘cool’ and ‘intelligent’ he is (leg thrill-inspiring, even), to question anything as petty as this.

I’m just sitting here scratching my head wondering who’s next. How long until Robert Gibbs calls on a blogger from DailyKos.com? I’m wondering when the press corp will start calling our President out for not living up to his word. The divide between the lovers and the haters may be growing but I’m wondering when those folks without an ax to grind will jump off the float and critique the parade a bit. I give it three months until we see an approval rating under 50% and the media realizes there might just be an audience (in the case of the Big Three, a dwindling audience) with an appetite for some criticism.

Take the responses to these five questions into consideration.

Question #1: Thinking about the country as a whole, are you generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the quality of health care in this country? Would you say you are very (satisfied/dissatisfied) or somewhat (satisfied/dissatisfied)?

We’re looking at a 48-48 tie; Half the country believes the quality of health care in this country isn’t up to snuff and the other half thinks it’s right down the middle. But what’s surprising is the responses to the next question. Keep in mind, half those polled said as far as they are aware (or from what the media has been telling them) health care in this country is lacking. But what about their personal health care situation?

Question #2: What about the health care you receive? Are you generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the quality of the health care you receive? Would you say you are very (satisfied/dissatisfied) or somewhat (satisfied/dissatisfied)?

Digest those numbers for a second. 77% of those polled are at least satisfied with the quality of health care they receive. Thing is, they’ve heard so many horror stories that they’re just convinced that the situation sucks for everyone else. But what about the cost of health care? The poll tackles that question as well.

Question #3: Thinking about the country as a whole, are you generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the cost of health care in this country? Would you say you are very (satisfied/dissatisfied) or somewhat satisfied/dissatisfied)?

You’ll notice there aren’t many undecideds in most of these data sets. 77% of those polled are dissatisfied with the cost of health care in this country as a whole. But what about in their particular situation?

Question #4: Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with YOUR health care costs, both expenses not covered by insurance and the cost of your insurance if any? Would you say you are very (satisfied/dissatisfied) or somewhat (satisfied/dissatisfied)?

Boy, that’s confusing. 50% of those polled are satisfied with the cost of their particular health insurance bills but they’re so inundated with information about the failures of the United States health care system that they think it’s terrible for everyone else. We’re a kind, caring people, to be sure. Just how kind? Let’s dive into one last question.

Question #5: How concerned are you that if the government creates a system of providing health care for all Americans, the quality of your own health care will get worse — very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned or not at all concerned?

So, let me get this straight. We already know from the screaming headline making the rounds that a large majority of Americans (some 70% if we’re to believe this data) support a public plan — even though most are happy with their own health care situation both in cost and quality — but now we’re to believe that those people are willing to take a hit to that quality and foot the bill for worse health care?

You can’t tell me the media’s not having an impact on this debate. They’ve taken the talking points from the obama administration and delivered them to the masses. And the masses are buying it. This week, ABC is going to try to push those numbers even higher by handing over the keys to the broadcast booth to the White House across the schedule. Obama will push this debate further away from reality on World News, 20/20, Nightline and Good Morning America.

No one rests until we’re all hoodwinked, I guess.

Meanwhile, the Health Care Reform Bill just gets bigger and bigger.

Here’s the raw data from the poll, lest you think I’m making this stuff up.

The government watchdog President Obama canned for allegedly being “confused” and “disoriented” fired back sharply Wednesday, saying the White House explanation for removing him was “insufficient,” “baseless” and “absolutely wild.”

Gerald Walpin, who until last week was the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, told FOXNews.com that part of Obama’s explanation was a “total lie” and that he feels he’s got a target on his back for political reasons.

But why would the President fire Walpin? This little tidbit might help…

Walpin concluded that his firing stems from bad blood between him and the board, as well as with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson — an Obama supporter whom he had investigated for alleged misuse of federal funds. He said his performance at the May meeting drew criticism because he issued two reports critical of the board. In one, he criticized the settlement reached in the Johnson case; in the other, he criticized the use of millions of dollars for a program at the City University of New York.

TPM has much more interesting background on this story here. But many aren’t buying the administrations excuses. In fact, key ally Claire McCaskill says the administration “failed to follow the proper procedure” and she’s not accepting the ‘loss of confidence’ nonsense.

president bush fires attorneys and we see investigations and mainstream coverage galore. President Obama does the same and we’ve got crickets. And what do you want to bet ABC News‘ Obama-bonanza doesn’t mention this potential firecracker? The media’s lack of questioning on this and just about every other issue of the obama administration’s short history is downright frightening.

This post will be updated throughout the day with news on this story. (All Times Central)

11:35AM: More info about the press blackout at HotAir.com.

Obama’s latest remarks above… he’s walking the wire still but at least he’s talking.

The faucet has been clamped in Iran. The media is forbidden from attending protests, filming or doing anything that would be defined as ‘journalism’. Sure, Twitter’s still there, but barely.

It’s a BLACKOUT.

11:35AM: Watch the video below… must have squeaked through the cracks.

05:57PM: Not for the faint of heart… then again, if you’re here, you aren’t.

If you were wondering whether it could get any worse… the answer is an emphatic yes. Watch this video reportedly showing a Isfahan student shot in the neck by Iranian police and left to die… apparently, he did.

Michael’s old albums have been selling like CRAZY since his death last Thursday!!! “Billboard” has released the sales numbers from last week, and Michael has set all kinds of new records!!

Can you believe all this happened in just FOUR days?!? Last week’s numbers include sales from Monday, June 22nd, through this past Sunday. Obviously, most of Michael’s sales occured AFTER his death on Thursday.

Three of his albums, the 1982 classic, “Thriller”, and the greatest hits discs “Number Ones” and “The Essential Michael Jackson”, all sold more than the highest-selling recent release, the BLACK EYED PEAS’ disc, “The E.N.D.”.

Michael’s three albums all sold over 100,000 copies! For comparison, Michael’s ENTIRE catalog sold just 10,000 copies in the week before he died.

“Billboard” magazine says that radio airplay for Michael Jackson’s music jumped 1,735% after his death on Thursday. For the week ending this past Sunday, Michael’s music got 67,383 plays . . . compared with 3,671 plays the week before. HOLY S&^%!!

THE FUNERAL

As we heard yesterday, the circus funeral that was to take place at NEVERLAND RANCH was cancelled yesterday. Check out this video of the carriage that may have carried Michael to his resting place.

The DIRT today on MJ’s funeral plans are that they are going to be at the AEG LIVE owned STAPLES CENTER in L.A. AEG LIVE is the promoter behind MJ’s “This Is It Tour.” According to some reports MJ’s funeral will be Tuesday at 10:00 A.M at the Staples Center as well as the Nokia Theatre next door. YUP! BOTH venues will be used plus the surrounding plaza. If you can’t get inside, there will be giant screens outside.

The day after Michael’s funeral . . . the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus hits the Staples Center.

The Jackson family has released this statement:

“Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland. Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly.”

THE DEA

The DEA, Drug Enforcement Agency, is now assisting in the investigation into Michael’s death. They’re helping to investigate the various doctors who allegedly prescribed various medications for him. I heard Michael spent at least $47,000 A MONTH on prescriptions!!

The prescriptions that were found at Michael’s home allegedly had many different names. Some of them include names Omar Arnold and Jack London, as well as names of bodyguards and possibly a name of one of the doc’s managers.

One of the drugs found in Michael’s home, that could be the reason for his death is a sedative called Propofol. It’s normally used as an anesthesia, to knock people out for surgery. He was supposedly having it administered via IV. WOW! That’s some heavy stuff!! Cherilyn Lee, a nutritionist and registered nurse who had been working with Michael, claims he would BEG her for it to treat his insomnia. She did an interview with CNN…

I’ve read that AEG Live is going to release video from Michael’s rehearsals. I guess they’re doing this in order to prove that Michael was at the top of his game, noy frail and in poor health. The footage will show Michael “dancing, singing, and directing his show, [and] interacting with cast members.”

ED HARDY CLOTHING?

TMZ is reporting Ed Hardy clothing founder Christian Audigier says the mansion where Michael died will be the company’s new headquarters starting in December. Ed Hardy’s CEO Hubert Guez owns the mansion and apparently Audigier and Michael were good friends.

Holmby Hills mansion where Michael died

Of course, we have Winnie Cooper from “Wonder Years”!!! That’s a no brainer! Check out this video of her looking yummy in some lame movie when she turned HOT…

Soleil Moon Frye a.k.a. Punky Brewster

Many boys “grew up” with Alyssa Milano! She played Sam on “Who’s the Boss”

Some people think Mariah Carey is trying to take a dig at EMINEM in her video for hew new single “Obsessed.” When it was released, some people thought it was her answer to Em’s track, “Bagpipes from Baghdad,” where he raps about wanting to take Mariah “back” from her husband, NICK CANNON.

Mariah denies the rumor. She says she was trying to look like “your regular everyday stalker.”

OH SNAP!

Yesterday, a new ALICE IN CHAINS single, “A Looking in View”, hit the internet. You can check it out on their web site. The track is over SEVEN MINUTES LONG!!

“A Looking in View” will be on their upcoming studio album, “Black Gives Way to Blue”, which hits stores on September 29th

LISTEN TO THE TRACK HERE!!

(gosh she looks like Michael doesn’t she?

or did Michael look like her?)

Michael Jackson’s WILL is now filed in court and is for real now. SO..guess who gets custody of his kids if his mother croaks??? ”Dirty Diana..oh” …sorry I got carried away and started singing a Michael song..anyway…Yes my friends…DIANA ROSS gets to play mom to Michael’s kids if anything, GOD forbid, would happen to h is mom, Katherine. How cool would it be to have her as a mom???!??!?!?

There’s been a persistent rumor that JOHNNY DEPP based his performance in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” on MICHAEL JACKSON. But it turns out NOT to be true.

Johnny says:

“I wish I could say that I was inspired by him for a role. I was inspired by him because I think he was a great artist but he was not the inspiration for Willy Wonka, contrary to what most people say.

A mother and a father have lost a son, siblings have lost a brother and millions of people around the world have lost someone they love. Children have lost a father so it’s obviously a very sad, sad moment.”