Sarah Palin - Will you PLEASE shut up already?

I'll be the first to admit that I never liked Sarah Palin. Like most Americans, I'd never heard of her until John McCain chose her as his running mate. While some Americans immediately were excited to see a woman added to the Republicans' presidential ticket, I was immediately skeptical. After researching her stances on issues important to me I thought, "Well, I just hope the excitement over her dies down, because I'd hate to see her just a heartbeat (and an old one, at that) away from the presidency."

After it was all said and done and the election was over, I was not only happy because my candidate of choice, Barack Obama, prevailed over his rivals. I was also happy because I figured after all of her gaffes and embarrassments over the course of the campaign that she would quietly return to Alaska and leave us alone.

Oh, was I wrong.

Sarah Palin is one of those people who likes to blame others for their mistakes. Take, for example, her recent criticisms of Katie Couric. Is it Ms. Couric's fault that Sarah Palin cannot give clear and concise answers to questions. It is not Ms. Couric's fault that Sarah Palin can't even name one magazine or newspaper she regularly reads. it is not Ms. Couric's fault Sarah Palin was obviously not prepared for the interview.

She also is upset at Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live for their lampooning of her during the election season. She claims that it's only because of her that Tina Fey is now so popular, which is far from the truth. It was Sarah Palin's own words and actions that made her an easy target for comedians. Tina Fey's now infamous line, "I can see Russia from my house!" is honestly not too far from Palin's own assertions that she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is very close to Russia (though she neglected to add that pretty much nobody lives in that part of Russia). When Fey spoofed the Couric interviews, she used many of the same words Palin used in the original interview. Sure, it was exaggerated, but that's what comedians do.

And of course, like many of her fellow republicans, she thinks that the media was obviously biased towards Barack Obama. I certainly can't deny that his historic candidacy didn't prove to be a challenge for journalists who tried to keep the coverage as balanced as possible, I don't think the bias was entirely intentional. Sure, Obama made some mistakes on the campaign trail, but he made far fewer gaffes, missteps, and mistakes throughout the campaign that either John McCain or Sarah Palin. Of course the media will cover stories about Sarah Palin proclaiming that there are certain parts of the country that are the "real America", because controversy is what draws people in. Obama took plenty of flak for his "clinging to guns and religion" comments, sure, but after that he learned to be a little more careful. Thus, the stories about him that were reported by most media outlets were more positive simply because there were far fewer negative stories to cover.

When all is said and done, I really hope that the GOP will not back Sarah Palin as the future leader of her party. I don't care if it could potentially further damage the Republicans' chances of ever retaking the White House. I just want her to be quiet and give it up already.

Please, Ms. Palin, just stay in Alaska and quit complaining. The election's over and you should be concentrating on your job, your infant son, and your newborn grandson. That's far more important than trying to blame the media for your own mistakes.