Gail Collins and Maureen Dowd can poke fun at Sarah Palin all they want (“Sarah’s Straight Talk,” column, July 4, and “Now, Sarah’s Folly,” column, July 5), but I begin each day with a silent, heartfelt “thank you!” to the soon-to-be former governor of Alaska.

If not for her breathtaking ignorance, which she refreshingly coupled with soaring arrogance, and if not for her coldblooded disdain for the lives of wolves, moose and polar bears, Barack Obama might not have won the presidency.

America and indeed the world are infinitely indebted to her. Thank you, Sarah Palin, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Jim Krieger
Fort Lee, N.J., July 5, 2009

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To the Editor:

Gail Collins, commenting on Sarah Palin’s rambling resignation, asks: “People, what is going on with governors in this country? Are we doomed to see them go bonkers one by one, state by state?”

With the Republican Party in disarray, those who have achieved the office of governor by espousing the rhetoric of social and/or fiscal conservatism without themselves having a core sense of public responsibility are beginning to show the shallowness of their political/philosophical credentials (without the party discipline to “keep them in line”).

Perhaps their constituents will now pay more attention to the serious problems we face as a country and choose to vote for perhaps less ideologically driven candidates who can articulate real solutions to our problems.

Re “Palin and Her Enemies” (column, July 6):

Ross Douthat shrewdly analyzes the mistake Sarah Palin made in saying yes to John McCain’s invitation to join his ticket. But the overall tenor of Mr. Douthat’s column strongly suggests that what did her in was elitist classism.

I disagree. Her greatest strength on Mr. McCain’s ticket was her direct appeal, in her own words, to “Joe Sixpack.”

It was not, as Mr. Douthat suggests, her lack of an Ivy League degree that derailed her; it was her own obvious lack of knowledge, and contemptuous attitude toward answering legitimate political questions in depth, coupled with her own exploitation of xenophobic patriotism.

Linda Charnes
Bloomington, Ind., July 6, 2009

If it had not been for the wisdom of the electorate and a bit of luck, the inept and rambling Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska could have been our nation’s second-in-command to the septuagenarian Senator John McCain and a single heartbeat away from assuming the presidency.

Arthur L. Yeager
Edison, N.J., July 5, 2009

To the Editor:

Sarah Palin’s loopy and incoherent explanations for the clearly self-serving decision to quit the governor’s job highlight all her flaws as a political figure and even manage to add a new one. We now know that when things get tough, or maybe just boring, Sarah Palin quits.

Janice Gewirtz
Mountain Lakes, N.J., July 4, 2009

To the Editor:

Taking Sarah Palin at her word for the moment, she seems to be telling us that she believes she can accomplish nothing in the final year and a half of her term. In other words, she admits that she is incapable of exercising leadership for even one full term as governor of a thinly populated state hitherto more economically advantaged than nearly any other.

It will be interesting to see her supporters try to explain how abandoning her duties and shirking her job qualifies her for higher office.

Mitchell Zimmerman
Palo Alto, Calif., July 4, 2009
To the Editor:

Re “Palin and Her Enemies” (column, July 6):

Ross Douthat shrewdly analyzes the mistake Sarah Palin made in saying yes to John McCain’s invitation to join his ticket. But the overall tenor of Mr. Douthat’s column strongly suggests that what did her in was elitist classism.

I disagree. Her greatest strength on Mr. McCain’s ticket was her direct appeal, in her own words, to “Joe Sixpack.”

It was not, as Mr. Douthat suggests, her lack of an Ivy League degree that derailed her; it was her own obvious lack of knowledge, and contemptuous attitude toward answering legitimate political questions in depth, coupled with her own exploitation of xenophobic patriotism.