'Ethics Elves' Hounded Palin Out of Office

The real reason Sarah Palin quit governing Alaska has nothing to do with 2012, writes John Fund of the Wall Street Journal. She was forced to quit by an onslaught of Freedom of Information Act requests—which anyone can file in Alaska—used by her political enemies to paralyze her. “Essentially, the taxpayers were paying for Sarah to go to work every day and defend herself,” says an anonymous Palin friend.

The need to respond to the flood of FOIA requests in a timely way tied up her administration, he writes, and the constant scrutiny impeded her freedom of movement. “The Alaska ethics elves had painted such a target on Sarah's forehead,” laments one confidant, "that she had begun turning down pretty much every invitation she got—even though they were pouring in every day by the dozens." Fund doubts she’ll run in 2012, but by “sidestepping her critics … she may wind up having the last laugh.” (More Sarah Palin stories.)