Alaska Governor Sarah Palin did some traveling in June. And one of the places she visited was Auburn, NY, the home of former Secretary of State William Seward, the mastermind who brokered the purchase of Alaska from Russia under President Andrew Johnson.

To say she received a hero's welcome would be an understatement. She rode in a parade down streets jammed with gushing well-wishers. Local television showed smiling faces -- young, old, male, female -- all saying how attrractive she was, how sweet, how much they admired her.

She has deeply devoted, dedicated suppporters. One high school senior attending her prom the night of Palin's Auburn appearance skipped her hair appointment - a date she'd booked weeks in advance - to see Palin live.

On that day, Palin enjoyed a kind of rock-star celebrity that was a far cry from her more pedestrian day-to-day dealings with legislators back home in a state where her approval ratings have dropped significantly since she stepped onto the national stage.

As Palin noted in today's jaw-dropping news conference, she and her husband Todd have racked up half a million dollars in fighting accusations of ethics violations.

The equation of Palin's resignation is easy to add up. She experiences love and cheering crowds when she travels to select locations. She's having a hard time back in Alaska and feels that if she continues on as a lame duck governor, she'll be playing politics as usual. It's more appealing to be a maverick and quit instead of continuing to press her nose to a grindstone that doesn't give her warm fuzzies. It's a matter of the instant gratification of "We love You Sarah!" screamed by fans in the lower 48 vs. the delayed gratification of a full term served out in Alaska. It's a crazy move, but it's consistent with what we've seen of Saran Palin.

There's one thing that puzzles me. Palin hails from a family that takes its commitment to team sports seriously. One of the first things a student athlete learns is never quit. Her perseverance as an athlete and runner has constantly been referenced, and ironically enough, she's being featured in an upcoming issue of Runner's World. So doesn't quitting equate to being a bad sport?

We're all still reeling from the news of her resignation. As we wonder about the possible reasons why -- an undisclosed scandal about to surface? bad times ahead as the governor of Alaska? more ethics charges lodged against her? -- remember the story of Auburn, NY. It isn't so far-fetched.

Sarah Palin went out just like she came in -- unexpectedly, with a bang -- just moments ago. She's quitting as governor.

Preceded by a long-winded laundry list of what the Palin administration has accomplished, and with the sounds of a baby fussing and the image of waterfowl swimming in the lake as her background, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced she will be stepping down at the end of the month.

According to CNN's Candy Crowley who described the press conference in which Palin dropped this bombshell, the soon-to-be-former governor gave four underlying reasons:

• She can work better outside government and accomplish more for the people.
• She has done what she says she wanted to do as Governor.
• She wants to spend more time with Trig and her family.
• She doesn't want to play 'politics as usual' as a lame-duck governor.

According to John King on CNN, it's a calculation - that due to the friction over her book deal and political friction, she thinks it's best to step down.

I just saw the press conference, and here's some quotes, blogged live, as best as I could capture them:

Life is about choices... I choose to work on a path for fruitfulness and productivity...Life is too short to compromise time and resources... I think a problem in our country today is apathy....only dead fish go with the flow...Productive fulfilled people know where to put their assets.... I won't do this from the governor's desk ... I've never believed anyone needs a title to do this, to make a difference, to help people....

As this is a breaking story, I'll follow up with more details later. What a gesture of independence on the eve of Independence Day. Is she crazy? Or crazy like a fox? Also read: Palin Quits, from US Conservatives Guide Justin Quinn

When complex concepts and situations are summed up in media or blogosphere shorthand, much is lost because context is everything. This is what's happening with the Supreme Court ruling in what many of us have labeled the "New Haven firefighters" or "white firefighters" case.

Taking something out of context leads to misunderstanding, and we've seen that happen with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's past comments. It's happening with Ricci v. DeStefano, the so-called firefighter's case. Because it hinges on Title VII, About.com's Guide to Civil Liberties Tom Head has provided an excellent analysis and commentary on the Ricci case, and why the Supreme Court's ruling (which reverses the ruling Sotomayor participated in earlier) is not as damning to Sotomayor's nomination as certain conservatives would have us believe.

Related article: Supreme Court Ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano

You don't need to be a big-name blogger to have smart, insightful thoughts about blogging. I'm talking about a recent post from Laura McKenna, who blogs under the intriguing name 11D and whose tagline is "Leave saving the world to the men? I don't think so."

In "The Blogosphere 2.0" she muses over the current state of blogging and points out that the A-list doesn't matter anymore, it's niche blogs that develop the most dedicated following, bloggers burn out and readers burn out, blogging's no longer the hot thing, certain other sites have sucked up all the readers, and of course Twitter and Facebook have had an impact.

As you might guess, this post is getting a lot of attention in the blogosphere. And deservedly so. Whether you read or blog yourself, you need to read her thoughts.

Why is she 11D? "This is Apt. 11d" as she explains in her biography, and from it I learned that she focuses on many of the same topics readers of this blog follow: women's issues, new media, the political arena, family politics, parenting issues and raising kids, movies and television.

In closing, she writes, "Apt. 11d is a conversation for smart people. I think we can talk about nice shoes and global politics at the same time. I'm glad you're here."

Back at you, Laura.

My thanks to Deborah White, About.com Guide to Liberal Politics, who follows many of the best and brightest bloggers (and ranks among them herself), for pointing this one out to me.