# Palin says she has "Fire In the Belly." Is it just gas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 20, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614 "2011-05-20T20:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/201 "2011-06-23T19:04:42Z")
Might I also add that there are good reasons to assume the “quitter” conclusion given that Palin was entrusted by the people of Alaska to be their executive, but _quit_ that important position of responsibility halfway through her first and only term, with comparably hare-brained explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/202 "2011-06-23T19:31:47Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Might I also add that there are good reasons to assume the “quitter” conclusion given that Palin was entrusted by the people of Alaska to be their executive, but _quit_ that important position of responsibility halfway through her first and only term, with comparably hare-brained explanations. Quit with the facts. He’ll end up cowering under a bed somewhere. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/203 "2011-06-23T21:03:39Z")
Those aren’t ‘facts’. Quitting the governorship has nothing to do with the supposed ‘fact’ that she quit her bus tour. If you had said, “She’s a quitter, so in my opinion she’s quitting”, that would be fine. It’s a value judgment, or an estimation of her character. But when you state “Palin quits bus tour” as a fact, based on the evidence that at this moment she has popped up in Alaska, then you’re not dealing in fact. Sorry, you’re just not. You don’t know why she’s in Alaska, how long she’ll be there, or anything else pertinent. And I didn’t say “Palin is NOT quitting!” I merely pointed out that you have no basis for a factual claim that she has quit her bus tour. The original link to the story in this thread, was from a website called “The Raw Story”, which used as its cite [this story](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/22/palin_bus_tour_takes_extended_pit_stop__110313.html) from RealClearPolitics, which does NOT say she quit. It says her tour took an ‘extended pit stop’ while Palin went back to Alaska for unspecified reasons. Nor did it say how long she’d be there. Further, speculation in this thread was that she was bailing out on promises for speaking engagements, and that she was having a ‘meltdown’ - despite the fact that there was no evidence for any of _that_ either. And in fact, since this thread started, Palin herself has come out and said that this is a temporary hiatus, and that the tour is continuing. So in fact those of you who said she quit were WRONG, so continuing to claim that you had the facts on your side is simply bizarre. And of course, now some of you are speculating that her stated reason is a lie, despite having no evidence of that… I’m one of the only people in this thread who has stuck to the actual facts. The rest of you are just wallowing in the usual Palin hatred and making shit up to make her look as bad as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/204 "2011-06-23T21:12:21Z")
When did she say the bus tour was continuing? I don’t see anything not factual about reporting that she quit her bus tour and went back to Alaska. Those things factually happened. Palin trying to spin it as a “hiatus” doesn’t change the facts. She’s never going to go back to that bus. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/205 "2011-06-23T21:22:35Z")
If Mick Jagger is on a World Tour with the Stones, and takes a flight back to England to appear on a TV show, would you say he ‘quit the tour’? Celebrities do this _all the time_. Palin has a lot of business dealings, and a lot of commitments. There’s a movie about her coming out in two weeks. She’s got the money to fly wherever she needs to go, whenever she needs to go. The fact that she jumped on a plane and headed to Alaska means almost _nothing_. She might have a business meeting there, or she might have to prep for publicity for the movie opening, or do a photo shoot with Alaska as backdrop for an upcoming book cover, or maybe she’d been asked to appear in person for a screening of the movie in her home town, or whatever. The real ‘fact’ here is that you are _speculating_. You’re making assertions with nothing to back them up other than your own opinion. That’s fine, so long as you don’t confuse your opinions with FACT. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/206 "2011-06-23T21:25:18Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > That’s fine, so long as you don’t confuse your opinions with FACT. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/207 "2011-06-23T21:52:34Z")
But we don’t trust her. She can _say_ anything. Maybe she _is_ telling the truth, but she’s always so secretive and twitchy self-defensive. We just don’t trust her. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this “jury duty.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/208 "2011-06-23T21:59:34Z")
Is jury duty a matter of public record? Might there be an official State of Alaska website or the like where we could verify the story? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/209 "2011-06-23T22:09:47Z")
Why won’t she just release the long form jury summons and end all this speculation? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/210 "2011-06-23T22:46:22Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If Mick Jagger is on a World Tour with the Stones, and takes a flight back to England to appear on a TV show, would you say he ‘quit the tour’? Not if he let people know when and where he would resume it, no. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/211 "2011-06-23T23:08:46Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Not if he let people know when and where he would resume it, no. So if he didn’t offer that information, would you treat it as FACT that he had quit the tour? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/212 "2011-06-23T23:10:26Z")
I would, yeah. It’s also a fact that Palin quit her short bus tour. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/213 "2011-06-23T23:55:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is jury duty a matter of public record? Might there be an official State of Alaska website or the like where we could verify the story? [Alaska Won’t Disclose If or When Sarah Palin Has Jury Duty](http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/06/alaska-wont-disclose-if-or-when-sarah-palin-has-jury-duty.html) ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/214 "2011-06-24T00:06:04Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Next chance she gets to crap in his face… I am sure John McCain would pay good money to have Sarah Palin crap on HIS face… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/215 "2011-06-24T02:32:10Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > So if he didn’t offer that information, would you treat it as FACT that he had quit the tour? Well, _of course_. If he had been on tour, and gone off and done something else, and there was no indication of when the tour would resume, then the tour, at a minimum, would be in abeyance. Maybe it would resume someday, but in the absence of any scheduled dates, one would have to say Mick ended the tour. They might resume touring sometime in the future, but that would be a new tour. Look, Palin announced a “nationwide bus tour.” So far, she’s done one corner of the country, then flown back home, with no announced plans to continue. She isn’t doing what she said she’d do. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/216 "2011-06-24T02:39:44Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The real ‘fact’ here is that you are _speculating_. You’re making assertions with nothing to back them up other than your own opinion. That’s fine, so long as you don’t confuse your opinions with FACT. Yes, it’s speculation. But it’s also _reasonable_ speculation based on past behavioral precedent and any reasonable person’s interpretation of the facts. FACT: Palin quit being governor of Alaska. One could speculate fairly that this might be a behavioral trend for her, especially given her lame explanation for quitting. FACT: Palin abruptly left her bus tour, without presenting a plan for resuming the tour in the future. One could reasonably speculate that she has quit the tour. (Fox “News”: “Palin Ends Bus Tour.”) FACT: No jury summons in any state in America requires you to immediately return to your home state to answer the summons. One could reasonably speculate that a jury summons, whether there actually is one or not, is not the best explanation for why Palin abruptly ended her tour. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/217 "2011-06-24T03:34:17Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If Mick Jagger is on a World Tour with the Stones, and takes a flight back to England to appear on a TV show, would you say he ‘quit the tour’? Nobody would think twice about it. The Rolling Stones play in Philly on June 20th, Jagger flies to England on the 21st for an interview, and returns on the 22nd in time for the announced show in Baltimore. This is not what Palin is doing. She doesn’t have any schedule at all, as far as I can tell. It would be very simple for her to say, “I’ll be returning to the bus tour on July 16th, in Dubuque, Iowa.” She didn’t do that. And now she’s criticizing the coverage FOX News gives her? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/218 "2011-06-24T13:36:45Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > FACT: No jury summons in any state in America requires you to immediately return to your home state to answer the summons. One could reasonably speculate that a jury summons, whether there actually is one or not, is not the best explanation for why Palin abruptly ended her tour. Because it’s one of those duties that a True American Patriot MUST answer. Is there anything more True American? More Real American? It’s in the Constitution, the same document that guarantees the right to arm bears and hate socialists. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/219 "2011-06-25T02:46:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’m one of the only people in this thread who has stuck to the actual facts. The rest of you are just wallowing in the usual Palin hatred and making shit up to make her look as bad as possible. If this is all just media bias, how come we don’t see regular reports about other conservative candidates acting like idiots? If the liberal media is lying about Palin, wouldn’t they also be telling the same amount of lies about Romney, Huckabee, Trump, Gingrich, Huntsman, Cain, Pawlenty, etc? But for some reason the only person whose campaign has to explain on a regular basis “what the candidate meant was…” is the Palin campaign. Have you ever considered that the reason there are so many stories about Palin being incompetent may be because she’s incompetent? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/220 "2011-06-25T02:56:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If this is all just media bias, how come we don’t see regular reports about other conservative candidates acting like idiots? If the liberal media is lying about Palin, wouldn’t they also be telling the same amount of lies about Romney, Huckabee, Trump, Gingrich, Huntsman, Cain, Pawlenty, etc? > > But for some reason the only person whose campaign has to explain on a regular basis “what the candidate meant was…” is the Palin campaign. Have you ever considered that the reason there are so many stories about Palin being incompetent may be because she’s incompetent? Stop picking on **Sam**! You’re all ganging up on him, telling lies about him, because he’s trying to be honest and to tell the truthiness about Palin, and you don’t like truthiness so you twist his factual statements into false opinions because you’re haters and who elected you anyway to attack **Sam**? Let the people judge who’s telling the truth here–the people know you’re all liars. And you know it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614.md?page=12)