"Sarah Palin has been assigned the job of selling Alaska back to Russia. "

This is not at all as far-fetched as you imply (though SP would have little to contribute). For some time I have thought that after further amassment of trade deficit, the financial collapse of the US Treasury, further strangulation of industry and innovation, alliance of Eurasian finance against America, inability to sustain military assets, etc., in order to balance the books it might become necessary to not only sell Alaska to a Russian-Chinese confederation, but also to sell Hawaii to Japan. This would not be a mere $0.7 trilion transaction, but on the order of $100s of trillions. Included in this scenario also might be the sale of military assets to a new UN-centered global force not particularly amerophilic. Sound like fun?