Bad Education: 'Pleasures of Sex' for Kids

From Megyn Kelly's new show:

Seriously.

See the International Planned Parenthood Federation's homepage.

Leon Wieseltier on Andrew Sullivan's Anti-Semitism

It's been a while, but I wrote of Andrew Sullivan's anti-Semitism previously. See, "Andrew Sullivan: Anti-Semitic Neocon Derangement."

As good a case as I might make, it's nothing compared to Leon Wieseltier's utterly breathtaking decimation of Sully, "Something Much Darker" (via Memeorandum):

Consider some squibs that Sullivan recently posted on his blog. “Most American Jews, of course, retain a respect for learning, compassion for the other, and support for minorities (Jews, for example, are the ethnic group most sympathetic to gay rights),” he declared on January 13. “But the Goldfarb-Krauthammer wing–that celebrates and believes in government torture, endorses the pulverization of Gazans with glee, and wants to attack Iran–is something else. Something much darker.” Michael Goldfarb is the former online editor of The Weekly Standard, about whom the less said, the better. Charles Krauthammer is Charles Krauthammer. I was not aware that they comprise a “wing” of American Jewry, or that American Jewry has “wings.” What sets them apart from their more enlightened brethren is the unacceptability of their politics to Sullivan. That is his criterion for dividing the American Jewish community into good Jews and bad Jews–a practice with a sordid history.

As far as I can tell, Krauthammer’s position on torture is owed to a deep and sometimes frantic concern for American security, and his position on the war in Gaza to a deep and sometimes frantic concern for Israeli security, and his position on Iran to a deep and sometime frantic concern for American and Israeli security. Whatever the merits of his views, I do not see that his motives are despicable. Moreover, Krauthammer argues for his views; the premises of his analysis are coldly clear, and may be engaged analytically, and when necessary refuted. Unlike Sullivan, he does not present feelings as ideas. Most important, the grounds of Krauthammer’s opinions are no more to be found in, or reduced to, his Jewishness than the grounds of the contrary opinions–the contentions of dovish Jews who denounce torture, and oppose Israeli abuses in the Gaza war, and insist upon a diplomatic solution to the threat of an Iranian nuclear capability–are to be found in, or reduced to, their Jewishness. All these “wings” are fervent Jews and friends of Israel. There are many “Jewish” answers to these questions. We all want the Torah on our side. And the truth is that the Torah has almost nothing to do with it.

Sullivan is hunting for motives, not reasons; for conspiracies, which is the surest sign of a mind’s bankruptcy. These days the self-congratulatory motto above his blog is “Of No Party or Clique,” but in fact Sullivan belongs to the party of Mearsheimer and the clique of Walt (whom he cites frequently and deferentially), to the herd of fearless dissidents who proclaim in all seriousness, without in any way being haunted by the history of such an idea, that Jews control Washington. Sullivan might have a look at the domestic pressures–in lobbies and other forms–upon American diplomacy toward China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Cuba, and give a thought or two to the elaborate and sometimes exasperating nature of foreign-policy-making in a democracy; but he prefers not to dive deep into the substance of anything. It is less immediately satisfying than cursing and linking. Does Sullivan think that Obama’s engagement with Iran–which, accurately described, is an engagement with the Iranian dictatorship and not with the Iranian people–is paying off? Does he believe that the Israeli war against Hamas was an unjust war, or that Israel should have continued to absorb Hamas’s rocket attacks–which were indisputably criminal–and not acted with force against them? His answers may be inferred from his various ejaculations–“the pulverization of Gazans,” for example, is a phrase that is calculatedly indifferent to the wrenching moral and strategic perplexities that are contained in the awful reality of asymmetrical warfare–but they are not so much answers as bar-room retorts; moody explosions of verbal violence; more invective from another American crank. Worst of all, the explanation that Sullivan adopts for almost everything that he does not like about America’s foreign policy, and America’s wars, and America’s role in the world–that it is all the result of the clandestine and cunningly organized power of a single and small ethnic group–has a provenance that should disgust all thinking people.

And this is not all that is disgusting about Sullivan’s approach. His assumption, in his outburst about “the Goldfarb-Krauthammer wing,” that every thought that a Jew thinks is a Jewish thought is an anti-Semitic assumption, and a rather classical one. Bigotry has always made representatives of individuals, and discerned the voice of the group in the voice of every one of its members. Is everything that every gay man says a gay statement? I will give an example. On October 15, 2001, when the ruins of the World Trade Center still smoldered, Sullivan published a piece in the Times of London called “A British View of the US Post-September 11.” In this piece he accused Bill Clinton of “appeasement,” and praised George W. Bush for assembling “the ideal team” for a “task” that “cannot be done by airpower alone,” and had kind words for America’s “world hegemony”–the politics changes, the fever remains the same–and also included this unforgettable sentence: “The decadent Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead – and may well mount what amounts to a fifth column.” A fifth column! It is a genuinely sinister sentence. I wish to emphasize two features of Sullivan’s comment. The first is that it is an exercise in demonization: it divides the American people into good Americans and bad Americans. The second is that it is in no way an expression of Sullivan’s homosexuality. It must never be said that when Sullivan lauded the bellicosity of Cheney and Rumsfeld–which wing of American Christianity, by the way, shall we blame for them? –he exchanged the company of the good gays for the company of the bad gays. To say that would be homophobic. Here is what such homophobia would look like: Most American homosexuals, of course, retain a respect for art, and compassion for the other, and support for minorities. But the Sullivan-Shmullivan wing of American homosexuality–that celebrates and believes in torture and war, and endorses the pulverization of Afghan villages with glee, and wants to attack any country where Al Qaeda may be found–is something else. Something much darker. Get it?

RTWT at the link.

Dan Riehl says the enormity is much more than anti-Semitism: "Sullivan is Actually Not An Anti-Semite." Brad DeLong, in a wide, winding path, comes to the same conclusion. And others on the left have circled the wagons.

But I'm with Wieseltier on this one. See also, Darleen Click, "Excitable Andy: ‘Watch out for the Jooooos!’."

Audi's 'Green Police'

One guy's thoughts about the Audi "green police" ad:

Now, because I have more than two brain cells, served my country, got an education, and actually give a flying crap about the state of our nation, I consider it a better use of my time to study the vast injustices and crimes our government is committing against us on a daily basis than to watch something as inane and useless as fat men in pads slamming each other to the ground. Thus, I did not get a chance to see this commercial air live or I would have had a coronary on the spot.

Pretty good, except for the "inane and useless" part. The rest is here.

Andrew Breitbart in Nashville!

The remainder of the clips are at Big Government:

OMG Brooklyn Decker!

I think Sports Illustrated plays hardball with their copyright claims. Photobucket deletes any bikini images I've ever saved from SI, and it took practically no time for their prowling image-hawks to delete the brand new cover shot of Brooklyn Decker. We do have video, in any case, so I guess that makes up for it somewhat:

See also, ABC News, "Brooklyn Decker: Sports Illustrated Bikini Bombshell: North Carolina-Bred Model Brooklyn Decker Is New Swimsuit Issue Star."

And by the way, Blazing Cat Fur has a pinup competition underway (triggered in part by my on Anne Hathaway blogging). More on that later.

Pamela Geller!

One thing about blogging, is that it's all in the family when your conservative cohorts are on the air. Pamela Geller speaks for me, via Gateway Pundit, "Pamela Geller Destroys Ron Reagan Jr. on Joy Behar Show (Video)":

Via Memeorandum. See also, JammieWearingFool, Theb Blog Prof, and POWIP.

And at Atlas Shrugs, "VIDEO: Pamela Geller on Joy Behar, Liberal Meltdown." Be sure to read the comments there.

Chuck DeVore on Glenn Beck's

It's a great interview, via Left Coast Rebel:

And from Sunday's Los Angeles Times:

If any major candidate should be able to marshal that sentiment in California it is DeVore, a lifetime conservative rumbler whose policy positions dovetail perfectly with the mojo of the nation's guerrilla movement of the moment. Almost a third of Californians, according to a recent poll, identify with Tea Partiers like those at this gathering about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento; Republicans here and across the nation are salivating over the possibility of defeating their long-time Democratic nemesis, Boxer.

Burying Murtha

The post-Murtha congressional jockeying started to heat up even before Murtha got cold. Folks are eyeing their partisan chances in the special election (see,"Fight Shapes Up for Murtha's Seat"). And then there's talk about the impact of the loss for legislative passage. Philip Klein has this, for example: "How Murtha's Death Could Make It Harder to Pass a Health Care Bill" (via Memeorandum).

I was respectful yesterday of Murtha's family, but my good friend Ken Davenport had a hard time restraining himself:

You are much more charitable than I, Donald. Murtha was corrupt ethically and despite his Vietnam service, proved himself to be a shill for the anti-war crowd at a time when American troops were in daily combat in Iraq. I make no distinction between Murtha and Harry Reid and his "the war is lost" comments. Murtha was no patriot. Sorry to say this but my feeling is "good riddance".

Image Credit: IOWNTHEWORLD, "Obama Bids Murtha Goodbye."

RELATED: Left Coast Rebel, "Obama Eulogizes Woman Buried in an Obama T-Shirt, 'She Insisted She's Going to be Buried in an Obama T-Shirt'."

Eagles at Honda Center, Anaheim, April 25th

Well, they weren't cheap, but I picked up some tickets for The Eagles at the Honda Center on April 25th. I blame Stogie. Just kidding. The event page is here, in any case. And The Eagles' website is here.

My wife and I will be in Section 104, on the floor at center. We'll be standing once the concert starts. My wife prefers to sit, actually. But I'm stoked, personally. These are pretty choice seats. And I'm not sure if I could have gotten anything better, for example, in the 220 section, etc. I bought the tickets online at Ticketmaster. General ticket sales opened at 10:00am this morning. American Express card holders got first crack over the weekend, as well as those with VIP packages. I first checked for tickets at the top range of $190.00 each, but my password didn't work and I got logged out. After getting a new password I checked for tickets in the $145.00 range. I kept getting a "nothing available ... try again" notice (or something), and I thought I'd better just get what I could get. It's going to fine, of course, but I want my wife to be comfortable.

Anyway, I'll be listening to a lot of Eagles over the next couple of months. I don't have their new CD, but I'll check it out soon. And I'll be listening the "Greatest Hits" CDs that I do have. I'll be posting songs here as well.

In the meanwhile, see some of my previous posts:

* "Eagles to Play Hollywood Bowl in April 2010."

* "I've been searching for an angel in white..."

* "But the Dreams I've Seen Lately... "

O.C. Tea Party Rally, February 13, 2010, Laguna Hills

In my in-box, from my good friends at O.C. Tea Party Patriots!

More information here!

Roy Edroso's Bikini Burlesque (NSFW)

This really was too good to pass up!

Some readers might be familiar with Roy Edroso. He blogs at alicublog, but his home away from home is at the Village Voice, where he writes the smear-merchandising column, "Running Scared." Well, I saw Roy's link just now at Memeorandum. I thought, "boy that'd be kinda quick to post a reaction to the conservative blogosphere on the death of John Murtha." And that's correct. In fact, Roy posted a brief obituary, "John Murtha, 1932-2010." But what's priceless is that while conservatives spend a lot of time posting pinups for Sunday's "Rule 5" extravaganza, lefties need go no further than the Village Voice for some full-on T&A! Seriously. I made a screencap to preserve the moment, which is truly NSFW. Although no doubt those great defenders of women like Scott Lemieux, T-Bogg, and Thers will find some excellent non-Sarah Palin hand-job material: "Bikini Burlesque (NSFW)"!

You da man, Roy!

And great job on that "Runnin' Scared" tea party roundup: "Rightbloggers Share Tea Party Rage at Gov't Spending -- Until a GOP Senator Puts His Hand Out." I'm sure that's REALLY why folks head over to Village Voice!

Tracy Porter's Interception

As always, I was busy blogging away during the final minutes of yesterday's game. I was searching around for videos on best Super Bowl ads, but I thought I should just watch for a second. Sometimes I need to stop and say "what's going on"? Well, it did, and it was just in time to see Tracy Porter make his spectacular interception return right into the end zone. The video's a bit blurry, but watch it here. New Orleans is celebrating, and I wish I was down there with folks. Good times can't be beat, especially when you've just recently been down low, real wet and low.

Pat in Shreveport's been living it up a bit, so check her out: "The Morning After The Super Bowl Round Up." You go girl!

John Murtha, 1932-2010

Representative John Murtha has died. House Minority Leader John Boehner is quoted at the New York Times, via Memeorandum:

“Today, our nation has lost a decorated veteran and the House of Representatives has lost one of its own. I was saddened to hear of John Murtha’s passing, and my thoughts and prayers are with his friends and loved ones. I also want to express my condolences to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who valued Congressman Murtha’s advice and friendship. He will be missed.”

Congressman Murtha generated tremendous heat for his outspoken views on the Iraq war a few years ago. He seemed to characterize the Democratic Party's "cut-and-run" defeatism. Murtha was also the most prolific pork-barreler in recent Congresses, and thus epitomized the Democrats' hypocrisy on "earmark" reform.

That said, I appaud Representative Boehner for his statement, and I hope that other conservatives will avoid the kinds of demonization campaigns that are so familiar on the left upon the death of controversial political leaders.

Bless this man and his family as he's laid to rest. We can all fight another day.

A full obituary is at the Washington Post, "Rep. John Murtha dies at 77."

Added: Check Michelle Malkin as well, who notes, "we can show Murtha’s family more decency and respect than he ever showed the Haditha Marines."

Is Markos Moulitsas an Extremist?

A discussion at Bloggingheads:

Kos' forthcoming book is entitled "American Taliban." Here's how Kos describes it:

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m putting the finishing touches on my new book, American Taliban, which catalogues the ways in which modern-day conservatives share the same agenda as radical Jihadists in the Islamic world ...

Rich Lowry's criteria is that to attack the other side as equivalent to the Taliban makes you an extremist. So, that begs the question: What about those who criticize the Obama administration, which has given direct access to Jody Evans? The Code Pink Founder met with the Taliban in Afghanistan last November, and she's had direct access to the president? So even if we give the president credit for trying to do right in Afghanistan, his ties to Taliban enablers is deeply troubling.

Does that make me an extremist? It all depends on the evidence, I guess. See, "Jodie Evans is Barack Obama's Code Pink Liaison to Taliban Insurgents."

Shuttle Endeavour Launch

You can count on my good friend AubreyJ to have comprehensive coverage of NASA shuttle missions. No disappointment today. See his post from yesterday, "Endeavour Set to Launch Early Sunday Morning," which includes updates on the launch delay until this morning:

Here’s a little about...

Endeavour's STS-130 Mission.

Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Terry Virts will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts will be making his first trip to space.

Shuttle Endeavour and its crew will deliver to the space station a third connecting module, the Italian-built Tranquility node and the seven-windowed cupola, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks.

Liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for February 7, 2010, at 4:39am EST .

P.S. I love to watch videos of the shuttle launches, especially the separation of the solid fuel booster.

RELATED: From the New York Times, "Shuttle Endeavour Blasts Off for Space Station."

Best Super Bowl Ads

Well, that Tracy Porter interception pretty much clinched it. So now it's time to rate some of the Super Bowl ads. A pre-game advertising roundup is at AdAge, "Who's Buying What in the Super Bowl 2010."

I especially liked the FLO-TV spot, with a remix of The Who's "My Generation." Seemed to strike the right tone, with the band doing an awesome halftime show:

You can vote for your favorites here, although not all the sponsors submitted spots.

Tebow Super Bowl Advertisements

Here they are. Can't imagine all the fuss from the left over this (actually, come to think of it, that's not true):

But see the Blog Prof, "More on Tim Tebow Super Bowl Commerical Derangement Syndrome (SBCDS)."

Cases in Palin Derangment: High School Crib Notes Edition

This is the leftists rage of the day, so, what the heck, I'm gonna throw old Sully a link, and in turn I'll get linked at Memeorandum:

I was too busy tapping away at my laptop to notice this little high-school trick. Having mocked president Obama for using a TelePrompter - not long after he made mincemeat of Republicans with no such TelePrompter at their retreat - she had to scribble down her priorities as president on her palm for the truly tough-as-nails Q and A she had to endure for ten minutes or so last night.

Written on her hand:

"Energy"

"Budget [crossed out] (Cuts)"

"Tax"

"Lift American spirits"

My favorite detail is "[Budget] Cuts". Which just about sums up the real Tea Party agenda on spending. But it also suggests that she was told in advance of the questions she would be asked, one of which was what would be you priorities if you were elected president? Now think about this: she had to write on her hand her priorities as president.

I stand by my belief that none of this matters to the people who support her, and that she remains a very potent, content-free and destructive force in American politics.

There's more where that came from, but you get the idea. And with that, we're having a whole new era of Palin Derangment Syndrome.

And here's a test: How many readers have NEVER written crib notes on their hand? Perhaps a few. Now, how many have pronounced "corpsman" as "corpse-man" in a nationally televised broadcast? I see. None. And with that, the trophy for ultimate stupidity goes to TOTUS.

And of course, the lefties didn't get too riled up about that.

You Must Be RINO If You Don't Advocate Shooting Illegal Immigrants on Sight!

Geez, I've forgotten how totally whacked old Texas Fred can be. Check out his entry, "Is Sarah Palin a TRUE Conservative?":

I may lose a few readers and fans over what I am about to say, but that’s the breaks.

I am NOT a fan of Sarah Palin. I have long said so. I believe that if Sarah Palin is the BEST the RNC can offer up, we are is some seriously deep poop. I said it when she was running with McCain on the GOP ticket and I say it now as she once again supports McCain. I have made it a topic in more than a few posts on this blog and I have yet to see anything to convince me otherwise.

Supporting John McCain now is just further proof that Palin is NOT a Conservative!

John McCain is a used up RINO. He is a wild card. You never know what McCain is going to do or who he’s going to side with. If Palin supporting him doesn’t open your eyes to the the lack of Conservatism that Sarah Palin possesses, I don’t guess anything will.

I don’t know about you, but to my way of thinking, if someone supports, and campaigns for a RINO, and make NO mistake about it, John McCain IS a RINO, that tends to make me believe that this individual supporter is quite likely a RINO too.

The Democrat party is now openly socialist while today’s Republican party is the Democrat party of 20 years ago. The results of these leftist shifts are plainly seen today with obscene deficits, a huge and growing federal government, misguided foreign policy and rising taxes on an already over-taxed working family. Conservatives have had enough! SOURCE

I could not have said it any better myself ....

There are many in the GOP that are convinced that we have to accept whatever the GOP/RNC throws out there. They say that if we don’t, we fragment the GOP and allow the Dems to gain more power. Those people do have a point, the GOP needs to be united and strong, but I have to ask; if we accept RINOs, if we are willing to settle for anything less than the very best in Conservative candidates, are we any better than straight ticket Dems and the moonbats that they vote for?

We know that politicians like Kay Bailey Hutchison, Lindsey Graham, Newt Gingrich, John Cornyn and a multitude of other self proclaimed GOP members are nothing but RINOs. Are we going to allow those RINOs to take the GOP further into the abyss of liberalism? The GOP is nothing other than Dem Lite as it currently stands. The GOP needs to be the party of Reagan!

Do YOU have the guts to stand and say so? Do YOU have the guts to fight and take the GOP back? Do YOU have the guts to declare that YOU will not accept the lesser of ANYTHING? Do YOU have the guts to vote for only the most Conservative patriots as we leave the RINOs to die off into extinction and take the GOP back?

2010 and 2012 will tell the tale.

That's interesting, and I'm not for RINOs either. But just so folks are clear on where Texas Fred's coming from, here's his litmus test on who's RINO and who's not:

We must have comprehensive immigration reform that benefits the American taxpayer at least as much as it benefits the immigrants, the LEGAL ones, and as far as I am concerned, the ILLEGALS that are literally pouring into this nation can either be rounded up and deported or allowed to starve to death or die of thirst as they cross the hot desert of the American southwest, that saves the American patriot the problem of having to buy so many rounds of ammunition.

And what the hell, the critters in the desert have got to eat too!

Somehow I doubt that Sarah Palin wants to round up illegal aliens shoot them on sight. And don't miss Texas Fred's additional points from the comments: "Just shoot the bastards and be done with it …"

See also Robert at American and Proud and Jenn at Political Jungle. These are your true conservatives: TRUE, I tell you!

RELATED: From the Washington Post, "Sarah Palin Watch: She Looks Trim, Fit — and Brimming With Energy and Plans." (Via Memeorandum.)

No Bias Here: Prop. 8 Trial Judge Vaughn Walker is Gay

First of all, I DON'T ENDORSE THE CONTENTS OF THE SIGNS AT THE IMAGE BELOW. It's mockery of the hate, and there's more at Laughing Squid, "San Francisco’s Answer to Westboro Baptist Church."

At the same time, I really am MOCKING Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who's presiding over the Proposition 8 trial in San Francisco. It turns out he's gay, and --- surprise!! --- there are questions of impartiality. See the San Francisco Chronicle, "Judge Being Gay a Nonissue During Prop. 8 Trial" (via Memeorandum):

The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay.

Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise - or advertise - his orientation.

They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing - whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians.

"There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view," said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8.

Yeah. Right.

See Ed Whelan, "Judge Walker’s Skewed Judgment."

RELATED: Michelle Malkin instead, "The Anti-Prop. 8 Mob Strikes Again."

More on Sarah Palin's Speech in Nashville

Via Dana Loesch, Piper Palin plays at the tea party convention. And Stogie has some thoughts on Palin:

While looking at Palin yesterday, I asked myself, honestly, does she "look like a president"? I had to say no. Also, I find her sing-song, happy voice kind of annoying; it doesn't sound serious enough. She needs to work on speech making and sounding serious and even somber at times. Image is very important and works on a subconscious level. Palin needs to work hard on both her message and her image.

See also, Another Black Conservative, "My Notes On Palin’s Tea Party Convention Speech."

Sarah Palin on Fox News Sunday: GOP and Tea Parties 'Should Be Merging'

A wide-ranging interview with Chris Wallace. Governor Palin settles questions about the future of the tea party movement. But as always, her comments on life and family are unmatched: "I want to empower women," at about 9:15 minutes:

Plus, Palin speaks for me perfectly on the administration and national security. See the Orlando Sentinel, "Sarah Palin Tells ‘Fox News Sunday’: Barack Obama Needs to ‘Toughen Up’ If He Wants to Be Re-Elected."

Also, at Fox News, "Palin 'Would Be Willing' to Take On Obama in 2012."

VIDEO HAT TIP: The Rigth Scoop, "Watch Sarah Palin on Fox News Sunday."

George Will on California GOP Senate Primary: Chuck DeVore Will Be the Republican Nominee

Via Chuck DeVore on Twitter:

Reactions to Sarah Palin in Nashville

This photo and more available from Founding Bloggers.

Saving me some time, there's a killer roundup of reactions at Knoxville News, "Sarah Palin Has Tea Party, Conservatives in Palm of Her Hand."

One very interesting piece is at the Nashville Post, "Beginning of the End: Sarah Palin Hijacks the Tea Party Movement"(also from Memeorandum):

The tea party movement is dead. The one I was familiar with anyway. Judson Phillips held it down and Sarah Palin drove a stake right through its heart live last night on C-Span in front of an unsuspecting audience.

Sarah Palin didn’t give a tea party speech last night. She gave a partisan Republican address. It was a purely political speech designed to position her for a presidential run in 2012 or 2016. Period. She wasn’t there to celebrate the organic nature of a movement she had nothing to do with creating. She was there to co-opt the name and claim the brand as hers. And she did.

The movement, that came to be officially recognized almost a year ago but whose roots go back further than that, has been snuffed out and replaced in the public mind. The movement that began as a people’s movement of angry independent, libertarians and conservatives will now be thought as the movement of people like Palin, Dick Armey, Judson Phillips, Mark Skoda, etc. Essentially, a wholly owned subsidiary of the “Official Conservative Movement” and the Republican Party.

This new tea party bears no resemblance to the one that began a year ago as a reaction to the collapse of our financial system and the subsequent bailout. That movement of ragtag and unorganized libertarians, independents and conservatives was something new and unique. An authentic protest movement angered not just by the new President, Barack Obama, who had presided over the bailouts but the president who started the ball rolling and whose incompetence had led to the crisis in the first place, George W. Bush.

I think that's only partly correct, especially in my personal experience as one highly active in the SoCal tea party movement. I'll have more on this, but Mark Tapscott, one of the original tea party leaders, is closer to my sense of things, "Sarah Palin is Miles Ahead of Every Other Politician in America":

Watching Sarah Palin's speech to the Tea Party National Convention last night in Nashville on PJTV, it was clear that she has a rapport and comfort with the Tea Partiers that is unmatched among politicians at the national level.

While I suspect that mine is a minority view among the leadership of conservative activism and journalism (and I am often reminded in a jocular sort of way that my view of Palin is a minority among my colleagues at The Examiner and The Weekly Standard), I believe Palin is miles ahead of every other national figure in understanding where the country has been in the last year and what the Tea Party movement means about the future course of American politics.

That doesn't mean I think Palin is or even should be a candidate for president or any other elective office in 2012 or any other time. What it does mean is I believe Palin has a unique insight into the state of things and is moving systematically and intelligently in concert with that insight. Where that leads, nobody, including Palin, likely knows at this point.