All The President's Teleprompters...

The WaPo and the NY Times st the stage for President Obama's address tonight from Arizona.  From the WaPo:

Obama is likely to deliver a speech about tolerance, a theme that could also be featured in his State of the Union address on Jan. 25.

However, with liberals and conservatives assuming their assigned battle stations over whether gun laws and partisan rhetoric are to blame, the White House is undecided about the exact message the president will send.

It is not clear whether ideology motivated the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, and Obama's advisers may conclude it unwise for the president to lecture the nation on mutual respect - which could leave him open to criticism that he is using the tragedy for political gain.

And the Times:

President Obama will focus his speech at a memorial service in Tucson on Wednesday evening on the victims of the attack and on the idea of service to the country, avoiding any overt commentary on the debate over violence and the nation’s political culture.

Instead, Mr. Obama, who was still working with his speechwriters on his remarks on Tuesday, will call for unity among Americans, while trying to honor the victims, including their service to government, as an example to all Americans. He will share the anecdotes about the victims that he has learned during private phone calls to the families, aides said.

...

But when Mr. Obama walks onto the basketball court at the University of Arizona at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday night, he will be facing both a challenge, to find the words and the tone that a horrified country will find comforting, and an opportunity, to appear as a leader first instead of a politician.

“The president needs to go to the highest ground here and really be a source of comfort and inspiration to the whole country,” said John Podesta, the head of the Center for American Progress, a policy group that has deep ties to the Democratic Party. “He should, as much as possible, personally stay away from anything that could possibly be accused of politics.”

Well, that is the plan.  And I assume they have reviewed Reagan's Challenger speech, Clinton's Oklahoma City speech, and Bush's address after 9/11.

But I still expect an Epic Presidential Fail.  I think asking Obama to not think about the politics makes as much sense as asking him not to breathe; more importantly, I think a guy who would describe his Republican counterparts as "hostage-takers" really has internalized the Huffington Post /Frank Rich / Paul Krugman world view that Republicans are evil, evil, EVIL.

In addition to those hurdles, President Me will have to avoid the temptation to weave his endlessly self-fascinating personal narrative into this story. 

We will see soon enough.  One would think it wouldn't be too hard for a President to unite the country aroud the ideas that mental illness is bad and violence is worse, but I don't see him doing it while successfully avoiding his condescending, professorial, on the other hand approach.  There shouldn't be another hand here, but Obama will instinctively look for one, and probably settle on criticizing those of us who raise our voices, or some such phrase that will be easily interpreted as a swipe at the right.

Time will tell.  It would be nice to be wrong, but you go to memorial services with the President you have.

MORE:  This is the passage from Clinton's Oklahoma City bombing that will tempt Obama's teleprompter:

To all my fellow Americans beyond this hall, I say, one thing we owe those who have sacrificed is the duty to purge ourselves of the dark forces which gave rise to this evil. They are forces that threaten our common peace, our freedom, our way of life. Let us teach our children that the God of comfort is also the God of righteousness: Those who trouble their own house will inherit the wind.¹ Justice will prevail.

Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear. When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life. As St. Paul admonished us, Let us "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

That made some sense in the context of a militia bombing,(although blaming Rush Limbaugh did not); it makes no sense whatsover in the case of a madman who saw an orange sky and blue grass.  But I expect Obama to try for something similar, becasue he and I believe different things.

Comments

[glenda]

"He and I believe different things" Amen.

love it, and praying Obama reads JOM, where all well-informed ,thoughtful & powerful beautiful people read everyday to enlighten their world. ;)

[lyle]

...the White House is undecided about the exact message the president will send.

Here's a novel idea: why not take a pass on the whole thing and really show some leadership. In other words, why is he even doing this other than another reason for a scold?

which could leave him open to criticism that he is using the tragedy for political gain.

You don't say...

[Threadkiller]

--"I think asking Obama to not think about the politics makes as much sense as asking him not to breathe"--

Such hate.

[Extraneus]

which could leave him open to criticism that he is using the tragedy for political gain.

He already is.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

IN all seriousness, the massive failure of taste in running this like a rally gives me little hope that he will suddenly develop a sense of decency and decorum while pulling an all nighter writing the speech.

[clarice]

Because I don't watch or listen to the news, I am in no position to say, but someone who does says Sarah's message was perfectly timed to preempt O's and is dominating the airwaves.

Obama was tricked into this disastrous appearance because he listening to the lies of the sheriff and the rantings of the clearly disturbed media exemplified by Krugman who is now passing neurosis into something far more serious.

[Porchlight]

In addition to those hurdles, President Me will have to avoid the temptation to weave his endlessly self-fascinating personal narrative into this story.

A commenter at HotAir had a great take on this yesterday (hilarious but too long to post).

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Boy Clarice, I think you nailed it on both counts. I'm trying to decide whether to watch (because I watch everything) and really fighting the temptation to snark blog. It's too bad it is no longer about the victims, but I don't think even I can be that crass.

[clarice]

**because he listened to the lies****

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

LOL Porch. That guy has a way with words.

I read Sarah's remarks and cannot see what all the fuss is about. Other than trying to score points against her of course.

[Jack is Back!]

Two things strike me about this and what his message will be and why he will lose a substantial portion of the listening and watching audience.

One, if he takes any tangential vector toward guns, gun ownership, gun rights, use of gun symbols (remember the left are metaphyisically certain to paraphrase John McLaughlin that that was a gunsight Palin had on Arizona) he will lose America since we are still over 60% 2nd amendment hawks.

Two, if he tries (and knowing him now, I believe he will) to paint this tragedy as anything other than a mentally unstable individual gone beserk then he puts himself, as POTUS, in the same company as Krugman and Co. (his base). The person watching this speech with the most interest is of course Loughner's attorney. Every word will be magnified on her version of an Obamalator. We all know this is not going to be tried in Arizona as it is a Federal crime and all the Federal judges in Arizona have to recuse themselves since they all worked for John Roll. Anything pre-judgemental by the POTUS will be snatched up and stored for use later.

In fact, I think Obama just put himself in a box and his only action is to keep himself in the middle of the box and avoid the corners. Of course, if its a hole he is in, he can always dig his way out of it...LUN

But Palin is the idiot and a grad of Idaho unlike Columbia where you can major in Metaphoric Usage and Tactics.

[Porchlight]

Is it just me or is Jared Loughner getting everything he wanted out of this hideous act? The left is blaming the right and the media can't shut up about it. The freaking PRESIDENT of the WORLD is flying to Tucson and making a huge speech at a big rally.

All because of what little Jared did.

Far worse than Virginia Tech, because that perp was dead. Loughner gets to sit back and enjoy the fame. It's disgusting.

[clarice]

You're a better woman than I, Jane or it's just that I'm older and have to try harder to make every minute count.This has meant that popular books, Hollywood Movies and msm newscasts have been kicked to the curb as stupid time wasters.

I saw only two movies in theaters this year (I used to go every week) Winter's Bone (thanks, Capt-or was it Iggy?-- for the tip) and the King's Speech. I liked them both. Everything else looked to me like crap.

[Rob Crawford]

It stopped being about the victims the moment someone thought it would be a good idea to come up with a title and design a logo.

[MayBee]

Tolerance?

I believe in tolerance, but how is that the message out of this? As far as I can tell, Jared was tolerated to the point that his problems were ignored. Of all times that tolerance is NOT the message, this is it.

[bgates]

trying to honor the victims, including their service to government

In America, we say the government offers service to the people.

[Porchlight]

That guy has a way with words.

Thanks, Jim, I thought so too. And I needed the laugh.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Obama gets "tricked" because he's dumber than a doorstop. This "event" is Copenhagen III and Sara already nailed his foot to the floor this morning so that we can watch him run in tight circles until he falls down.

The only question is whether he'll embarrass himself (and every fool who voted for him) worse than he did by barging into the "big boys" meeting between India and China on his last Copenhagen trip.

[bgates]

when Mr. Obama walks onto the basketball court

Cool. Maybe after the campaign funeral, he can make the survivors feel better by letting them watch him play a pick-up game with good players.

[clarice]

About "blood libel" I believe Prof Jacobson who by all appearances is Jewish' was the first to say the anti-tea party/anti-Palin remarks were "blood libel"

There are those who are trying to make something of this characterization to which he responds deftly.

Update: Some people (actually, much of the left-stream media) is taking issue with Palin's use of the term "blood libel," which has it's origins in the accusation in Europe (and more modern times, in the Middle East) that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make matzoh.

As Jim Geraghty at National Review documents, the term is used with considerable frequency on both the left and the right in our political discourse. Yet the term only seems to be objectionable based on the traditional meaning now that Palin has used it."

If you falsely accuse someone or a group of people of having been responsible for a murder committed by another it is "blood libel" even if the murder wan't to make matzohs.

Trust me, the bitch about "blood libel" is designed to frost the britches of reform Jews most of whose rabbis are already big in Tikkun and J Street and who actually care less about the Holocaust and its survivors than one might suppose..

[centralcal]

God Bless Drudge!!! I mean that sincerely. To bring out the siren and quote Jared Loughner's friend is the right thing to do and puts the MFM firmly in their places - stepping on their dicks as DoT said so succinctly.

[lyle]

Well, he's certainly true to form. I mean, after the Ft. Hood shooting he ran right down to Texas and delivered that powerful oration, right? Oh, wait...

[Captain Hate]

Winter's Bone (thanks, Capt-or was it Iggy?-- for the tip)

Iggy might have said something about it but I definitely did; and on the subject of movie tips: The Fighter.

Is tonight's abomination gonna be on all network stations? I really can't stand to watch the Indonesian Imbecile.

[BumperStickerist]

The best, most apt, speech Obama can give about Tucson has been already given -

It's on 'West Wing' - the speech Bartlett "extemporizes" about the victims of a pipe bombing.

"Joy Cometh in the Morning"
http://youtu.be/eSTTc_-JTpoS

The middle section is up for discussion, but the "They weren't born wanting to do this" closing seems like a good starting place.

or, at least as good a starting place as we can have.

[Extraneus]

Just do what I do, Captain. Leave the TV off and read the perfect combination of facts and snark right here.

[clarice]

Jim R's comments, contrasting Bush's statement at Va Tech is so good. Jim I wish you'd send that to AT for their blog. editoratamericanthinkerdotcom. Tell them I sent you.

[RichatUF]

centralcal-

No siren at Drudge, but the quote is big across the top. Can't wait for Obama to give us the "larger context" and to find for us "the teachable moment".

[Captain Hate]

Ext that is what I usually do; switching between here and AoS.

[RichatUF]

bgates-

I feel bad for laughing about that comment.

[Jack is Back!]

Ex,

Good idea. I plan on doing what I do every night that a good football or baseball game is not on. I am sitting outside in freezing Florida moonlit night and reading my latest book, "The Sentry" by Robert Crais featuring my new best friend in flyover fiction - Joe Pike. I might bring the iPad or laptop out and lurk around JOM or Vodka Pundit (he likes to drink and blog The Won's speeches), open a nice bottle of Clos Pegase and savor the moment of not having to 1) listen to his uppity-self and 2) not having to watch his chin rise above his nose as he talks down to the country.

[clarice]

I expect good hunters like Sarah know that you have to take your time before firing. Just sit in the weeds and watch and wait for the right opportunity to fire,

Obama doesn't know that. He either shoots his mouth off before he has the facts (Cambridge fiasco) or tries to turn something to his advantage when it will only work to his disadvantage because he is (as here, I think) trying to make too much hay out of a handful of grass.Again before he moved before he knew what had happened.

He should have waited for an invitation, made something low key like Bush' at Va Tech, foregone the big ceremony and logo and motto.

[clarice]

***Again , he moved before he knew what had happened.*****

[Porchlight]

Maybe after the campaign funeral, he can make the survivors feel better by letting them watch him play a pick-up game with good players.

Maybe he can go throw a rose on top of the pile of flowers at the shrine for the victims.

[Rob Crawford]

Question: if there are large screens behind the podium, during O's speech, will they show him or pictures of the victims?

That will tell you who the event is really about.

[DebinNC]

will call for unity among Americans, while trying to honor the victims, including their service to government, as an example to all Americans

How many of the dead and injured were gov employees? Given reporting of how well gov employees are faring, re employment, benefits, pay compared to private sector, etc., singling out victims "serving government" as worthy of special honor seems incomprehensible.

[Jack is Back!]

Dr. K has probably the thought that needed to be said and answered:

The origins of Loughner’s delusions are clear: mental illness. What are the origins of Krugman’s?

/Morris Dees is on this like stink on a turd

[bgates]

President Me will have to avoid the temptation to weave his endlessly self-fascinating personal narrative into this story

"So I was listening to Sheriff Dupnik - who's done a great job, by the way - and he described Saturday's events. And I’m thinking to myself, think about what this means. You’ve got a majority Latino state. You’ve got an African American President named Barack Obama. And you've got a white serial killer - white as the snow that covers Alaska. Yet there wasn't any indiscriminate retaliatory violence against whites. It wasn't always like that. Just thirty or fifty or 100 years ago, news of a crime or allegations of a crime by one solitary isolated black man would lead to lynch mobs and race riots by the majority in every state in the union. Not today. The new majority doesn't lash out blindly. We know who our friends are."

"That doesn't mean we're all together yet. There are still people who want to go back to the old divisions and the old hatreds. We saw that in November. And my Christian faith, which teaches me that the victims of Saturday's massacre are at peace, and teaches me to forgive the young white man who was driven to these awful crimes by angry voices he could not escape, also teaches me that there is such a thing as original sin, and we will always have with us people who choose to sin and choose to hate."

"But hear the good news: They cannot defeat us. They had their moment, among the Citizens' Councils of Yazoo City, Mississippi and the white supremacists of Sandpoint, Idaho; but now America is united against their hate. Black, brown, Asian, Jewish, and well-meaning white people stand together. We have overcome. Thank you, and bless America."

[narciso]

That would not be in his character, she firmly
'refudiated' the premise of the last five days, came up with a new metaphor for what the MSM has been doing, for just as long.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Clarice,

I don't do movies, I do ambient noise. It just happens to be news.

Is it just me or is Jared Loughner getting everything he wanted out of this hideous act? The left is blaming the right and the media can't shut up about it. The freaking PRESIDENT of the WORLD is flying to Tucson and making a huge speech at a big rally.

Hopefully he is not in a position to know what is going on.

[Extraneus]

What's the sense of being the world's greatest-ever orator if you can't deliver some soaring rhetoric when you're in trouble?

Just imagine the memorable lines that are being crafted right now.

[Jim Ryan]

OBAMA: [AFTER FIST-BUMPING SHERIFF DRUPNIK] We had several people wounded and killed, but let's try to remember what this memorial is all about....[BROAD GRIN AT THE CAMERA, PAUSES TO DO "YOU THE MAN" POINT TO MEMBER OF AUDIENCE] This is a time for hope and change. While you can't directly link these killings to extreme political rhetoric of certain parts of the media, it's time to make a fundamental transformation of our society. Some of us are reluctant to change, afraid, and even angry to do so. The anger has to stop. We're going to change this country together! [WILD CHEERING ERUPTS FROM THE ASTROTURF SECTIONS OF THE AUDIENCE, STUNNED SILENCE IN REST OF AUDIENCE] We're not going to let the angry reactionary forces stop us. [WILD CHEERING] These murders won't stop us. [WILD CHEERING]

[bgates]

The freaking PRESIDENT of the WORLD is flying to Tucson

Hu Jintao's coming? Is he bringing one of those 5th-gen F22 killers they're not supposed to have for another decade?

[Appalled]

Obama can unite the country, by embracing the First Amendment and the political process in which the dead and wounded were engaged. He did something like this in his Nobel Prize speech, so I think he is capable of speaking unexpectedly in a sensible fashion.

If he engages in a one-sided cry for civility, there will be an epic fail.

[Ignatz]

--I saw only two movies in theaters this year (I used to go every week) Winter's Bone (thanks, Capt-or was it Iggy?--

Had to be the Cap, as he notes above, cause I don't think we went to one movie last year.
TCM, AMC and Fox Movie Channel are about the only places we see movies.

[Dave (in MA)]

Are the styrofoam columns making the trip to Tucson?

[Rob Crawford]

He did something like this in his Nobel Prize speech...

That event was already all about him.

[Neo]

How about ...

Jered Laughner acted stupidly

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

There is only one course TOTUS can take that would even begin to diminish the contempt I have for that piece of work: That would be if he condemns the lefties in politics and the media who tried to pin Loughner on the right--by name for the more egregious--and then announces an investigation into Dupnik and his office's role in sweeping Loughner's past crimes under the rug.

Can this Nixon go to China?

[Captain Hate]

I hate to say it but bgates and Jim Ryan have both given very plausible previews in terms of capturing, if not the exact words, the level of taste to be displayed.

[clarice]

Rush says ABC's the note is attacking Sarah's statement, accusing her of injecting herself into the matter.
HEHHEHEHEHEHE

These people are almost as crazy as Loughner.

[Captain Hate]

I sit corrected thanks to Appalled; the Nobel speech was unexpectedly gracious.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Clarice,

Clearly "these people" sent brain waves to Loughner and made him do it.

[Neo]

Maybe the could exhume the body of Paul Wellstone for the event.

[Boatbuilder]

ABCNews The Note: "Sarah Palin, once again, has found a way to make herself part of the story."

You just can't make this stuff up.

[Rob Crawford]

I sit corrected thanks to Appalled; the Nobel speech was unexpectedly gracious.

As I said, that's because the entire event was already about him. He's going to find a way to make this one about him, too.

[Extraneus]

Scary thought, FRONT. A Sistah Soldjah moment?

[Threadkiller]

When 'O' lands in Arizona, do you think they will check his citizenship status?

[Mike Huggins]

Does anyone have any doubt that, no matter what Obama actually says, the MSM, by and large, will declare it "brilliant", "just the right tone," etc., etc. The fawning hyperbole will be sickening, taking away from the actual sadness of the event.

[Porchlight]

Uh oh..CBS says Loughner and his father had a confrontation the morning of the shooting when the father found Loughner removing a black bag from the family car.

Loughner Fled Dad before Attack; Notes Detailed
Suspect in Tucson Rampage Ran into Desert Carrying Mysterious Black Bag; "Die Bitch" among Handwritten Notes Found

Perhaps an enterprising reporter might want to look into whether Loughner's father contacted police after this incident.

[DebinNC]

I bet Obama called the families this week so that aides could record every emotional anecdote, and those anecdotes will comprise a majority of Obama's speech. He will identify himself with the pain of the grieving father, he will associate himself with the need for "the God of all comfort" to burnish his Christian bona fides. He will extol Ms Giffords' and others' willingness to serve. He wants to destroy the "cold fish" charge by giving an emotional speech in which he is not ostensibly the focus, but whose every word is structured to benefit him.

I predict the speech will be lauded as achieving the impossible...surpassing his "race speech". I'd like to think the WH is stupid enough to try Wellstone II, but I bet they're not.

[MayBee]

The father must have understood his son was dangerous if he got so upset by him taking a black bag out of the car.

[Extraneus]

So Jan Brewer is before Obama on the program. I wonder if she'd be willing to zing those who have tried to profit from this tragedy, just a little. No need to name names.

[Jack is Back!]

The father didn't have to contact the police. An Arizona Fish and Wildlife Officer (like in Florida they have state police powers) stopped him at 0730hrs for running a stop light on Saturday a few hours before the shooting.

But because he had no probable cause (oustanding warrants, impaired driving, etc.) he had to give him a warning or ticket and let him go. Imagine, if Loughner had been smoking grass and was a little high, the officer would have had probable cause to search the car and could have possibly found his gun in a concealed location. Loughner did not have a CCP for the Glock from what I understand.

But the history of mass murder and crazy people are filled with "almost" incidents.

[glenda]

bgates !! clarice !! jimr !! Rick !! Porch!!

@ Abc's Palin rant...MSM was hoping she would stay quiet and let them continue their libel and slander until they could blather on about their idol, Obama (I still wonder if they idolize Obama, or work so hard to pump him up to cover their A's for promoting such a loser to the White House.)
After all, the journohaters will be forgotten in history or assigned to chapters titled: Dark Ages of Journalism

[Ignatz]

This may be a callous distraction from what's truly important, the putrid left wing flight of the vultures, but what apparently has been lost in all this is the other four dead people and the other wounded.
In an admittedly quick look I can't even find out who they were or are or anything about them.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

I took your suggestion, Clarice.

[Porchlight]

The father must have understood his son was dangerous if he got so upset by him taking a black bag out of the car.

That's what I think, too. I think he probably had reason to suspect what was in the bag if he did something so drastic as get into a vehicle and pursue his son (who was on foot) right into the desert.

[Jack is Back!]

Iggy,

I heared the Clerk of the House reading a proclamation today before Boehner spoke in which all the victims were identified including the number of great-grandchildren one had. It has to be available on Google.

But I just tried "list of victims of Tuscon shooting" and got zilch. Got Obama, got Palin, got a short clip of the resolution but nothiing much else. Must be the meta tags. That's it it is those meta tags that are causing all this vitriol.

[Appalled]

Rob Crawford:

If Obama makes a stand for the 1st Amendment and American Virtues in a way that is unexpected by all of the media, then that does make the story about Obama. Because he will have executed a Man Bites Dog story..

So the man can do the right thing, and help himself at the same time, and give his ego that extra special little jolt he likes to give it. The main cost is he embarasses a sheriff in Tuscon, whose face ought to be red anyway.

None of this is meant to be an expectation that Obama will confound expectations. Speaking against the crowd is not something a community organizer usually does.

[MayBee]

I'm watching Suzanne Sommers on Megyn Kelly's show. Apparently Suzanne doesn't consider Restylane a toxin.

[Rob Crawford]

If Obama makes a stand for the 1st Amendment and American Virtues in a way that is unexpected by all of the media...

Then I'll be outside, scanning the sky for pigs.

[bunky]

He's going to to do an inside out:

"The actions of this lone man whose thoughts were distorted by an untreated illness....."

".....have unintentionally exposed our political culture as too heated, too personally destructive, blah blah blah...."

[clarice]

Thanks for keeping me up to date on the really important stuff, MayBee.

[clarice]

God, Jim. I hope they post it. It's a really good contrast.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

I hate to admit it, but I thought the ABC interview of the young man who had been friends with Loughner was very well done. He seemed genuinely devastated by the shooting. My heart went out to him.

In the face of this credible witness's first hand testimony, anyone still trying to pin this on Palin or the Right Wing press looks petty, self-serving and foolish. The polls have shown the majority of the American People have caught on. If the Dems, the MSM and other lickspittles continue their ill advised party line, they will violate the first rule of holes and that majority will substantially increase..

[bgates]

The actions of this lone man whose thoughts were distorted by an untreated illness.....

"We will never know if a national health care system, such as the one I proposed and my party enacted into law, could have prevented this tragedy if only it had been available sooner...."

[Jack is Back!]

Rob,

They've started already.

Aren't you in or near Cincy? They have a famous Flying Pig Marathon there.

[Ignatz]

Heh. Our Luciferian friend is confounding the poor folks at AmSpec now.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

JIB:

LUN is the Foxnews story on the Resolution.

[Jack is Back!]

Jim,

Yeah, and not much there either about the victims, their lives, their families, etc. but then they are what is called "collateral damage" [I can still say that, right?]

[Rob Crawford]

Aren't you in or near Cincy? They have a famous Flying Pig Marathon there.

Yeah, but people around here get all upset if you actually try to get pigs (or turkeys) to fly.

[Captain Hate]

Iggy that's hilarious; who is that idiot?

LUN for Alan Dershowitz revealing the blanks in the clips that the remaining few true believers are going to battle with. David Corn reportedly sobbing uncontrollably.

[centralcal]

Wow - I just read a Jennifer Rubin piece at Washington Post. Absolutely stunned. I guess we can count her as a Palin hater.

[Danube of Thought]

Very dumb to allow this to devolve into a rally. Not done, old boy. Not done.

[Boatbuilder]

Captain: The best part about Palin using the term "blood libel" is that she didn't try to explain it. She knows what it means and used it absolutely correctly. She said, in effect--"Look it up, you bastards."

[Porchlight]

Wow - I just read a Jennifer Rubin piece at Washington Post. Absolutely stunned. I guess we can count her as a Palin hater.

I suspected as much a few months ago, but it's been more or less confirmed since she moved to WaPo. I took her off the reading list.

[Ignatz]

Here and here at Reason are two fairly stupid and incoherent posts by Jacob Sullum on Loughner. In the second one he can't even bring himself to use the terms mental illness or schizophrenia, coming perilously close to Szaaz's odious ideas which clarice has chronicled here before. People like Loughner are merely oddballs, malcontents and eccentrics to Sullum. Absolutist fools like him are why I can never take the plunge into the irrationality of full fledged libertarianism.

[Captain Hate]

Boatbuilder, she's so deep in those dumbasses' empty noggins that they must wake up screaming "She winked at me".

[Porchlight]

I took her off the reading list.

And I should say, not just because of her views on Palin. Let's just say she writes as if she's been newly liberated from her former conservatism thanks to the benificence of WaPo. No thanks.

[clarice]

When you're normally nuts 18 y.o. Laing and Szasz sound just right. Hang around psychotics a while and you change your mind fast.

As I said the producer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest said a few years ago that he'd come to empathize with Nurse Ratched

[daddy]

Amazing.

Richard Socarides is a former Clinton advisor who is on Meghan Kelly's show this instant. The topic is Socialist Bernie Sander's Fund Raising letter. The letter accuses the right as the reason for the killings and tries to raise funds on that despicable lie.

Meghan is naturally outraged, but Socarides gives Bernie Sander's a pass by trying to weasel around the definition of a "Fund Raising Letter" and say it's not really a fund raising letter its a news letter, but then Socarides blames who really should be blamed in this event---The Republicans.

And why does he blame the Republican's?

Because they went over the line and disseminated this Bernie Sander's Fund Raising letter to FOX News. I kid you not.

Hopefully somebody later will link the video.

[Porchlight]

I always felt incredibly sorry for Nurse Ratched.

[Extraneus]

Dumb piece by Howard Kurtz on Palin's statement today, where he plays the Jewish card on "blood libel," for which he has already been contradicted by Dershowitz. Check out the quality of Kurtz's hundreds of commenters, though.

"Even though it wasn't her fault, she should have apologized!"

[Agent J. (formally known as "J"..]

Just would like to know if it will be disrespectful on my part, if, instead of watching the President presentation tonight, that I watch KU Basket Ball instead..

[Cleo is impotent]

I saw it too Daddy. I can't believe she just doesn't laugh in their faces.

[Neo]

The latest: Loughner was stopped for running a red light the morning of the shooting rampage and had been pursued by his father after retrieving a black bag from the trunk of the family car.

This is looking more and more like Sheriff Dimwit “screwed the pooch”

[narciso]

Only Thiessen has really held up going over there, Gerson and now Rubin, have really turned soft, very blanc mange.

[centralcal]

I read her every day at Contentions, Porch. Now that she is at WaPo, I admit to reading her less frequently, so I guess I hadn't noticed any change.

Guess, I won't be reading her any longer either. Which, actually is a positive thing - I hated giving the WaPo any traffic at all.

[clarice]

I read her a few times since she went to the WaPo and found her to be fine.I always liked her at Contentions.

[Porchlight]

I used to go to Contentions every day to read her, too, centralcal. She began to repeat herself, though, and her use of "the Obami" got real old. Though she probably doesn't do that any more now that she works for the enlightened folks.