June 22, 2011 10:23 PM UTC

Palin Abruptly Quits Bus Tour, Returns to Alaska

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: AP with Palin’s response, okie dokie ma’am:

Sarah Palin is disputing online reports that she has canceled her bus tour of historic American sites, saying in a Facebook posting that her schedule will be tight the next few weeks because she’s been called for jury duty.

Palin said Wednesday that her “One Nation” bus tour would resume “when the time comes.” She added that she’s looking forward “to hitting the open road again.”

Well folks, if and when Palin’s tour bus rolls again, we and every media outlet in the country will be sure to bring it to you live–assuming, of course, that it’s still considered a news event by then. Until the “time comes,” we return you to your regularly scheduled sideshow(s).

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As Real Clear Politics reports, Republican Sarah Palin and her family have apparently ended their much-ballyhooed nationwide bus tour and returned to Alaska…with no explanation for anything:

Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak….

…More than a few of Palin’s core supporters have grown impatient and confused about her strategy, venting their frustration on Internet fan sites…

…Palin’s extended hiatus could mean that in spite of her readily apparent “fire in the belly,” her family has persuaded her not to further pursue the presidency. Alternatively, it could indicate just the opposite — that she is plotting her next move and wants to ensure that it is well thought-out — and that she retains the element of surprise. Indeed, the problem with assessing how Palin’s movements figure into her 2012 calculus is that she remains one of the most unpredictable political figures in America — even to her most trusted aides. [Pols emphasis]

Palin’s astounding political rise from unknown Alaska governor to GOP Vice Presidential nominee has been well-chronicled. In the years and months since the 2008 election, she has made millions of dollars from books and speaking appearances as political observers anticipated a potential run at the Republican nomination for President. But as the paragraph above suggests, the interest in Palin has increasingly become more about her unpredictability than about who she is or what she may (or may not) stand for as a political figure. She’s interesting because it’s impossible to tell what she might do next; the downside, however, is that her actual “decisions” aren’t nearly as interesting as the randomness in their choosing. The ramifications of her choices matter much less than watching her choose.

Considering that Palin is less popular than Charlie Sheen, perhaps this unpredictability is the only card she has left. Palin has always been a spectacular sideshow while politicos wondered if she would ever enter the center ring. It seems more obvious than ever that there is only sideshow, and nothing more.