Why is Palin leaving?
From Weekly Standard

At this writing, there is no reason to doubt her stated position: Her enemies' concerted efforts to tear her down have caused her family financial stress and distracted her from her duties as governor. Since she returned to Alaska in
November 2008, she has been hemmed in. Ethics complaints, insults, invective, undue attention, and legal bills have been all-consuming. "I can't fight for what's right when I'm shackled to the governor's seat," Palin said. For the last seven months the governor's office has been a ward. A trap. She is breaking free.

And from John Zeigler

The bottom line is that Sarah Palin resigned simply because she was no longer allowed to do her job in a way that benefited her state and family. She saw that if she stayed on as Governor it would cost the state millions of dollars in wasted time and resources and doom it to gridlock. She knew that it would also continue to cost her family hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend against false and maliciously filed ethics complaints. And she had simply had enough of her children being fodder for inappropriate public attacks.

Most of the muck raked against Palin came from Anchorage radio talk show host Shannyn Moore who writes in Shannyn Moore Will Not Be Muzzled!; "In a rambling quasi-legal letter, the most powerful person in this state accused me of defaming her for pointing out the fact that there have been rumors, -rumors- of corruption, rumors that have been around for years."

I would hope the state of Alaska makes an effort to reform how ethic complaints against public officials are handled in the future. I do not mean that critics should be muzzled but the onus for ethics charges should fall to the complainant. If the accusations are unfounded as the Palin complaints were people like Moore should have to pick up the tab.

This will not muzzle Shannon Moore, she can still spout rumors and speak truth to power from the comfort of her studio but it will save the citizens of Alaska from paying for her blood sport.