Before The Truce Fails

Tim Pawlenty says that the "elites" should stop criticizing Sarah Palin. It seems to me if you are a governor and a half-governor and someone who makes $15 million a year, you are a member of the elite. Maybe it's not deserved but you are. So what "elites" is Pawlenty talking about?

At least one is Howard Stern, who used his talents to blast Palin as a fake and several expletive deletes. Howard then said that whatever you think about Barack Obama you had to be proud of the man when he spoke in Tucson.

MSNBC had coverage that conservatives have finally accepted Barack Obama as President. I don't know how I feel about this. It's only been two years and the man handily beat John McCain, while the conservative hero George W. Bush won by one vote of the Supreme Court. But this whole theme only shows that conservatives feel entitled to political power and the presidency.

Since he failed to browbeat the Tucson Sheriff, Rushbo is now trying to intimidate the Fox news panel which praised the President's speech. Meanwhile, Clear Channel is going to take down Rush's "Straight Shooter" billboard.

No House Republicans would even comment on Palin's speech before the House's prayers for the victims. David Weigel says the whole party is embarrassed. But it seems to me the party never shut down the extreme rhetoric of the tea baggers so they are stuck with her.

Knowing she made a gaffe, Sarah Palin has consented to sit down for an interview with ace reporter--no, make that commentator Sean Hannity on Fox News. Talk about a tin ear, Palin has scheduled talking about the shooting on Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

Peggy Noonan, who has spent the last two years complaining Obama doesn't understand America, finally admitted his speech was more than excellent and significant.

The people of Tucson are miffed that the rest of us thought the memorial service was too much like a pep rally. People down there comment that they wanted a joyous occassion, somthing to celebrate, and were joyous the President came down. Who's to criticize?

Give credit to Rachel Maddow for using her show to probe both the mental illness aspects of the shooting and last night the issue of gun control. Whistling in the wind but it is important to frame the issue with the two subjects that loom large after the slaughter and actually have solutions.

The surgeons have done a superb job of briefing the media on the condition of the victims and the progress made by Gaby Giffords but what they say makes me uneasy. They always start at the top with the good news, which is a good technique, but if you listen long enough the true horror of the wounds and what the victims face in recovery become clear.

One leftwing blogger wrote that while the speech may have been Obama's best,she felt that Clinton delivered a better speech. I disagree. I think Clinton now is a better explainer than Obama of policies, but I found him to be boring back then. I also disagree that this was the best speech Obama has delivered. I still love his speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church about the Walls of Jericho delivered in the campaign. Others favor his Race speech.

Former Bush speechwriter Gerson writes today in the Washington Post that the shake-up in Obama's immediate staff will give him a second chance. I remind people this--the man has already achieved in domestic policy more than both Clinton and Carter combined. He also has outperformed in two years George W in his whole eight years. I love these arrogant pricks.

Oh, and yes, he has already created more private sector jobs than all 8 years of W. and by 2012 he will have surpassed the job creation of both Bush's combined--beat 12 years with his four. As Yogi said, you can look it up.

Have you noticed that the Right may have finally lost the moral high-ground? For years, it has tried to have the monopoly on national security, economics and family values. But you get a sense that they know with Tucson they lost it. While Obama's speech purposefully avoided assigning blame, the Right has been scrambling since Saturday's shooting to obfuscate the issue of their own vitriolic rhetoric. They have acted desparate, knowing they have lost big-time. This by the way happened after the Oklahoma City Bombing. The conservative talk show people were eclipsed for about a year or two.

Billy Graham's wayward son, Rev. Franklin Graham felt compelled to defend Sister Sarah because he had sponsored her trip to Haiti. You are missing the main narrative thrust of Palin if you do not see the Christian Right, especially the Dominionist, look at her as Esther. She is anointed and her line about "blood libel" signals that she will be persecuted. I'm not going to go into the eschatology of this. But it is scary.

When is Joe McGinness's book coming out on Sister Sarah? It would be useful for someone to penetrate behind her electronic wall and reveal her grifter lifestyle. I think we all need this as a public service.

The shooting and the Memorial broke the momentum of the new Republican House. Everything has been put on hold. Tuesday the House Republicans will start the vote to repeal the health reform bill. This was the bill for which Gaby Giffords was targeted by the Right. The GOP claims they will try to do this at a lower decibel.

President Obama has the wind at his back and he needs his State of the Union to be boffo box. He had lift in Tucson. He really needs political lift with his State of the Union Address. While he will talk about the tone of political debate, he really needs to reassure Americans that the country is not going down the tubes. He has to emphasize the Sputnik Moment as he and Secretary Chu talk about the challenges from China on clean energy and high-speed rails. He also has to reiterate the government's commitment to education. But here as in Tucson it will be the tone that will give him and us lift.

About all I see coming from this coming Congress is additional spending on infrastructure but nothing else. With the recent poll showing 71% of Americans opposing raising the debt ceiling, this rather mundane fact will be an unnecessary controversy. A right-winger e-mailed me about blocking the rise in the debt ceiling. I asked him why he never said anything the ten times it was done under George W.