Am I Whitebread Enough for You Jeff?

David Brooks
Sarah Palin
Eugene Robinson

Sarah Palin has an opinion piece in today's Washington Post. Read it by clicking on the link above, tell me if her speech-writer did a coherent job or not...
Thankfully, not much is going on in the news, Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearing is soaking up the media's energy. Good for me as I still have the flu and can barely see straight... The Christian Science Monitor has an article on some drug cartel related killings of Federal officers across the state: "suspected members of the La Familia cartel in the state of Michoacán gave new meaning to the word over the weekend – even in hardened Mexico – after gunmen shot up police stations across the country, killing five officers and two soldiers by the time the revenge attacks were over on Saturday.

Mexican authorities say the series of assaults, among the most brazen since Mexican President Felipe Calderón launched an antidrug offensive in Mexico in December 2006, were a direct response to the arrest of one of their alleged leaders early Saturday.

It was characterized as a Mexican version of the "Tet offensive" by one columnist – a turning point in a nation's loss of faith that Mexico can come out from under the force of organized crime. And that questioning is perhaps no greater than in Michoacán, Mr. Calderón's home state, where his military effort began, and where a grenade was launched in a public plaza last year.

"This attack and [the grenade incident] are not just simply examples of gang violence. They have a much more profound impact on the public psyche," says Bruce Bagley, a Latin America drugs expert at the University of Miami. "They erode confidence in Calderón's strategy and the legitimacy of the state response."

I don't know why they let Jeff Sessions into the room, you could cut the vitriol with a stick... But to prove how well Sonia has prepared, here is a clip from the Political Wire: "Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), "seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 'wise Latina' speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity and sex influence judging with that of Judge Miriam Cedarbaum, who 'believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices,'" the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Sessions: "So I would just say to you, I believe in Judge Cedarbaum's formulation."

Responded Sotomayor: "My friend Judge Cedarbaum is here. We are good friends, and I believe that we both approach judging in the same way, which is looking at the facts of each individual case and applying the law to those facts."

Needless to say, Sessions looked surprised. And to add insult to injury, Judge Cedarbaum added in an interview that morning with the WSJ: "In fact, while Sessions held up Cedarbaum, a Reagan nominee, as having the superior approach to jurisprudence, Cedarbaum immediately backed Sotomayor. "I don't believe for a minute that there are any differences in our approach to judging, and her personal predilections have no affect on her approach to judging," she told the Wall Street Journal this morning.

Ian Millhiser extended some helpful advice to the conservative Alabama senator: "Note to Sessions: before you put words in a federal judge's mouth, make sure that she isn't in the hearing room to hear your false claim." Source from Political Animal.

late night political jokes

"I don't know if you're following this, but earlier today, in Vatican City, President Obama had a historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. … Or, as Fox News is reporting it, 'Obama Caught With Old Man in Dress.'" --Conan O'Brien

"President Obama had a private, 35-minute meeting at the Vatican with Pope Benedict. That's right, folks, the man considered by many followers to be infallible had a meeting with Pope Benedict." --Conan O'Brien

"Of course, the President's in Africa now. This is a big story. CNN's Anderson Cooper landed an exclusive interview with President Obama in Ghana. … So now, Obama's challenge will be to somehow pick Anderson Cooper out of a crowd of Africans." --Conan O'Brien

"Good news for GM today. They emerged from bankruptcy and the newly appointed CEO said that the company will now build cars that Americans want. After hearing this, GM employees said, 'You can tell this guy's new around here.'" --Conan O'Brien

"But General Motors announced that they are out of bankruptcy after selling nearly 10,000 Camaros. At a press conference, the head of GM said, 'Thank goodness for coke dealers.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Bristol Palin's former fiance, Levi Johnston, told the press that he thinks Sarah Palin stepped down as governor so she could cash in on fame. Levi made this accusation while hosting a party in the Hamptons for Tommy Bahama dark rum." --Conan O'Brien

"I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but in this country, people are getting fatter. But now, to add insult to injury, or injury to insult, they have isolated the fattest state in the United States. Yup. Mississippi. And I thought, well, this is no surprise. You know the state motto of Mississippi? Right there on the flag, it says, 'Are you gonna finish that?'" --David Letterman

"You know anything about -- we had a guy in town, he's gone away to jail now for 150 years -- Bernie Madoff? And now the U.S. government has started trying to find out about his wife, who had, like, $87 million. And she kept saying, now this is not money that Bernie swiped. This is not -- this is not money that he swindled. This is not swindling money. You see, this is money I saved by switching to Geico. They said, 'What?! That's -- how is that possible lady?'" --David Letterman

"So they took all of that money and she's down to $2.5 million. But I was thinking, you know, with that and her Social Security and the $10 billion she has hidden in the Cayman Islands, well, she should be all right." --David Letterman

"But Ruth Madoff says she had no idea what Bernie was up to. And I thought, well, what a coincidence, neither did the SEC." --David Letterman

"But Ruth -- listen to this -- Ruth lost her house. Ruth lost her house, lost her car; has lost her savings. I mean, I'm telling you, it's like being a Bernie Madoff client." --David Letterman

"You folks worried about North Korea? … Everybody is getting paranoid about North — I took Mom to see the fireworks and every time they set off a big one, she'd scream, 'It's North Korea!'" --David Letterman

"It's frightening times, when you think about it, with all these dictators. And they are all smallish. They're all on the small side. Kim Jong-Il, tiny guy. Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, tiny guy. Mayor Bloomberg, tiny guy." --David Letterman

"But anyway, over the weekend, North Korea test-fired several missiles. And it was their way of saying: 'Iran's not the craziest country. We are the craziest country, so get ready.'" --David Letterman