Sarah Palin is probably the single most polarizing figure in American political theater presently, and possibly the most polarizing such figure since the Civil War.  It isn't just that people either completely love her or completely hate her... it's that their reasons for loving or hating her arise from two fundamentally different political worldviews.

Those of us who pay attention to politics, governance, and the processes of politics and governance view yesterday's announcement of Governor Palin's impending resignation as the final nail in the lid of the coffin of her political aspirations.

Those of us who think that words matter, that skill in using them is indicative of other skills, and that those skills are to be expected of those who expect to lead others... well, if you subscribe to that worldview, yesterday's press conference was virtually unwatchable. By comparison, George W. Bush at his worst sounded positively erudite.

The political media consists largely of people who do care about politics, who have post-6th grade verbal skills and expect the same of would-be leaders.  Not surprisingly, the political media is nearly unanimous in declaring the death of Sarah Palin's political career and national aspirations.

Within the worldview of professional journalists and analysts, It is inconceivable that a person incapable of completing their one and only elected term of office as an executive (and no, being "Mayor of Wasilla" doesn't count) could expect to seek election to the highest such office in the United States.  It is equally impossible to suppose that the leadership of a national political party could take such a person seriously--particularly given that person's contribution to their most recent stinging defeat.

Unfortunately, there's that other worldview I mentioned earlier. The best way to assess that other worldview is to read the comments posted below on-line stories of Governor Moosejaw's incoherently announced impending departure.  The most telling ones are composed by people who apparently believe they can only connect to the Internet if their Caps Lock key is PERMANENTLY ON and believe that spell-checking is for sissies.

These are people who do not believe in government in the first place and have a profound distrust of what my grandfather liked to call "booklearnin'".  All they really want from national political leadership is someone who can be an effective cheerleader for their worldview and beliefs.  To whatever extent former cheerleader George W. Bush was actually elected to the Presidency, these people are how he managed it... and these people LOVE Sarah Palin.

As much as I would love for it to be so, we are very far from seeing the last of the Moose-huntin' MILF from Wasilla.  At the very least, barring rumored Federal indictments, we can expect Mrs. Palin to take her breathless sentence-mangling to Fox News, where respect for the English language doesn't extend much further than insisting that everyone in  America be forced to speak it.

Anticipate her presence at GOP fundraisers leading up to the mid-term elections, and--yes-- expect her to throw a hat or some other article of clothing into the ring when the Grand Old Party of the Confederated States convenes to pick their Grand Wizard for the presidential contest in 2012. Depending on what President Obama is able to accomplish in the next two years, it will either be Reality TV at its finest... or proof that the Mayans were right.