Here’s McCain on “Meet the Press” on Palin quitting:

MCCAIN: I don’t think she quit. I think she changed her priorities…

QUESTION: She made a promise to the voters to serve out her term, didn’t she?

MCCAIN: I don’t know if there was a quote, promise, but I do know that she will be an effective player on the national stage.

Two things, John: First, if you make a commitment and then quit, then you quit and you’re a quitter. If I sign a four-year contract and resign after two years, then I quit. I may have “changed my priorities,” but I still quit.

As for the “quote, promise,” actually, there was one: she ran for office. When you run for office, there is an implicit promise that you will serve out your term. This is usually excused when you leave for a solid reason, like you are moving up to a higher office or you are resigning due to scandal; people understand both cases and are usually quick to wish you on your way. But to just up and quit because you don’t feel like it any more? That’s not part of the implied covenant. If Palin had run under the slogan, “Maybe I’ll serve my term if I feel like it,” I doubt she would have been elected. Alaskans were OK with her becoming VP because that meant something. But Palin’s excuses? Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, Sarah.

McCain, you’re not running for president anymore. I don’t expect you to simply give up the cheerleader/apologist persona you adopted in order to run as the Republican nominee, but at least you could give up brazenly transparent lies and stupid, easily-proven-false distinctions-without-a-difference for a while. For that matter, the entire GOP should admit to what everyone knows is true: Palin quit, and the GOP is going to be far better off without her.

So please, instead, keep up the support for Palin. What with the Democrats unwilling to take you on and defeat you, we would appreciate it if you could keep doing the job yourselves. You’ve been so effective at it the past many years, I guess the Democrats either forgot how to fight and not acquiesce to you all the time, or else figure that if they let you be asses and act all dominant still, then maybe you’ll finish destroying yourselves and the Dems won’t have to look like they attacked you.

But you have to stop saying that Palin didn’t quit. It’s embarrassing. Really.