In the wake of Sarah Palin‘s resignation announcement last Friday — “I quit, this job involves too much difficulty and conflict, I want those lower-48 bucks while the getting is good” — she explained that her family was behind her four-square. “In response to asking, ‘Hey, you want me to make a positive difference and fight for all our children’s future from outside the governor’s office?’ It was four yeses and one ‘Hell, yeah!” And the ‘Hell, yeah’ sealed it,” she said.

In other words, no one in her family — not husband Todd and not children Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper (with one-year-old Trigg abstaining due to age and other issues) — said to her, “Get the contracts from Fox and the speaking engagements — hell yeah, go for it — but what about seeing your electoral responsibility through to the end of your term? Your approval ratings are down and everyone’s ganging up on you, but you don’t want to be called a quitter. This speaks to character. If you want to walk away, fine, but walk away clean.”

Nope — no one said this. Her kids all said, “Yeah, mom — pocket those Fox bucks! Get that nighttime talk show, grab those speaking fees, the hell with finishing your term and screw the responsibility.” This in itself exposes the ethical malignancy of the Palins (and Palinism) for all to see.

This also encapsulates the Great Spiritual Cancer of the Republican entrepenurial middle class in this country. Their lives are so completely geared to making money and cashing in that when the iron is hot, they can only see the iron. Rake it in and worry about ethics and character later on, if ever.