First it was Rev. Wright…then Bill Ayers….with all the accompanying non-biased, and Pulitzer-Prize-caliber reporting. Then came the "Hillary Clinton was cheated," narrative suggesting (wrongly) that she had more primary votes than Barak Obama. All this was followed by "Obama's only a celebrity like Paris." Then came the "how can Obama overcome his problem with white voters?" question.

Sarah Palin's entry brought with it the "palling around with terrorists", "Obama is a Marxist", "real Americans in real America", and "Obama is not sufficiently patriotic." All accusations that had to be deeply plumbed for there wingnut wisdom.

Immediately following Obama's election, it became full metal jacket Blago. Obama is from Illinois, (via Kenya) Emmanuel is from Illinois, Blagojevich was governor of Illinois….ipso facto, weeks and weeks were spent "informing" us about an Illinois governor who did what every American elected official does….traded on his influence.

In January came Rush's "hope he fails" comedy routine….and a Serious search to unpack the deep profundity in that statement. The stimulus "discussion" gave opportunity for corporate-whore media to entertain (on a 2-1 basis over Democrats) the thoughts and demagoguing of Republicans and conservatives on the Sunday morning "news" programs. Despite having his electoral ass kicked, and despite the fact that McCain now plays an insignificant role in a 40 GOP'er Senate, John McCain recorded his 14th appearance on the Sunday morning "news" shows recently.

Ordering that Guantanomo would be closed brought with it such an unhinged response from dishonest neo-conservatives and their obedient knee-jerk children that the thought of dangerous criminals being held on "American soil" became the most imminent national threat. Terrorists in American prisons?….How can we ever be safe?

And then it really started to get crazy. March brought with it the TeaParty Blitz….and the long awaited return of Dick Cheney to national corporate-whore media…..this time with mini-me-Dick, daughter Liz, out spreading the "torture love" doctrine of Father Dick. Neither holds public office, Father Dick is hated by most Americans….but there they were, "news" program after "news" program, telling us to be very, very afraid if America stops torturing. You see, the Dicks are Serious.

Don't forget the marvelously patriotic and sensible "birther" movement still championed by over half of Republicans and the recently released CNN xenophobe, Lou Dobbs….and naturally, all of the AM radio talkers and FOX.

The summer of 2009 may just be referred to in the history books as the "Summer of Incoherence"….as BeckerHeads, TeaBaggers, and Townhall Buster-Uppers, some carrying loaded weapons, saturated the "news" with their sour grapes of discontent with a black Democratic president intent on destroying America and replacing it with (take your pick)….socialism, communism Maoism, Stalinism, or Nazism……all conveniently interchangeable at a moment's notice. Desperate cries of, "I want my country back", echoed repeatedly through the TeaBags.

ACORN became, overnight, one of America's most dangerous domestic enemies. Amateur wingnut videographers, working with FOX, stung those primarily-black-employee-run Acorn offices in a daring and patriotic commando raid to save us all…..I guess from signing up more black voters. "Breaking News" ensued.

"Killing grandma", "death panels", (another 1/2 term Governor Palin gem), "death books for veterans", "Obama will take away your Medicare",…filled the late summer and early fall, with yet more incoherent TeaParties and 9-12'er events, led by America's brilliant new Paul Revere, Glenn Beck…and of course, FOX. No one is sure how many Baggers turned out on Beckerhead day. Somewhere between 60,000…..and 2 million. No way to know.

Now we're being flooded with "Obama and the Democrats are sneaking in tax-payer abortions", "Obama is 'dithering' on Afghanistan", and the recent election (which added a new Democrat to the House) is a "sign that Americans are rejecting Obama's leadership," "Obama and the Democrats (after 10 months) are in deep trouble."

This past week has brought with it the "Ft. Hood massacre is the first terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9-11," proving, I'm sure, that without the Dick's torture, we are all doomed. Calls for renewing "investigations" into American Muslims and Muslim groups are rampant.

Obama left today on an Asian-countries tour….and dollars to donuts….I bet we'll get to hear all about how Obama had to get out of D.C. to avoid all the "controversies" he's created. Just more "dithering."

Now….it could just be me….but it sure as hell seems like corporate-whore media has joined with conservative and GOP wingnuts in "creating reality" for the last year and a half. An anti-Obama-and-the-Democrats narrative template has been placed overtop of ALL events since the beginning of last year.

Or maybe not. Like I said….it could just be me.

No, crystal balling it ain't as arousing or provocative as, say, Teabagging it…but crystal balling it is a bit more coherent and understandable than TeaBagging it…so there's that.

One year ago on October 13th, in a blog post entitled, The Upcoming Obama Presidency, The Reverend typed out these predictions….

".…..after having paid very close attention to what took place between the years of 1992-2000, I think it's safe for me to predict…..if you liked the savaging-Clinton days, you're gonna' just love the savaging-Obama days starting after January 20, 2009."

A media so corrupt, so perverse, that they couldn't even use the word lie or liar in any article they had written or on any teevee appearance for 8 straight years of an openly fraudulent and lying Bush administration…..will….magically…..snap out of the spell they've been under….and begin microscopically examining every word that Obama speaks. A main media so covered-up in their own mistaken, propagandistic, slime encrusted wrongheadedness for 8 straight years, a media who never really ever considered impeachment as worthy of discussion for the worst president America has ever known….will be balls-to-the-wall aggressive in not only savaging a President Obama but encouraging an obstructionistic-minded Republican minority to gum up the federal works with impeachment talk and accusations."

"With the upcoming Obama presidency….Democrats will have near total control. This, in itself, will anger and frustrate the extreme right so badly that (I can't help but say this) actions of violence will follow. I believe that is what we witnessed last week at McCain-Palin gatherings. The first-fruits realization by the extremist nuts on the right that they've lost the game and lost it badly, is beginning to sink in."

Maybe I should change my name to The Prophet.

But wait….there's more.

Less than 9 months into the Obama presidency and just look at what is being suggested by some of the crazy folks at Newsmax…..

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it.

…..

Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

…..

Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for "fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America.

After only 9 months of a new Democratic president, radical conservatives are suggesting that America needs a "military intervention" to deal with the "Obama problem."

Newsmax is a primary source for American wingnuts. I am sure that main-whore-media will soon be asking conservative Democrats, and in all seriousness, whether, indeed, the military should intervene to stop President Obama from carrying out his Constitutional duties as president.

It is the job of main-whore-media to investigate and report on the unhinged and insane beliefs of the American wingnuts….as witnessed in the main-whore-media's coverage of Rush Limbaugh's "I want Obama to fail", the TeaBagger incoherent nuttiness, townhall bust-ups complete with semi-automatic weaponry, and most recently, the Beck-ClusterFox 9-12'er event attended by a minimum of one zillion people. (one zillion equaling approximately 60,000.)

No matter how crazy American wingnuts behave, or talk, (like in the cases of Sarah Palin or Joe "You Lie" Wilson), main-whore-media, just like they did during Bill Clinton's days, MUST take it very seriously and dwell on all the "implications" for weeks.

What I'm saying, after having predicted one year ago what we're now experiencing, is that the ugliness will get worse. The craziness, the frenziness, the threats, the intimidation, the witchhunts…..and, eventually, the calls for violence…unfortunately….will only get worse.

America has entered a domestic crisis period.

In a front page Beacon article today entitled, "Obama message optional in schools", staff writer John Higgins relates what Medina City Schools Superintendent, Randy Stepp, has decided to do about Tuesday's Obama speech to school kids. Censor it.

Superintendent Stepp says he has received "about 100 e-mails and calls" and they are "evenly split over the issue."

Imagine….the calls are evenly split for and against the President of the United States talking to school children about working hard and staying in school. Encouraging America's children to learn, to work hard at learning, and to stay in school until graduation…..is now a 50-50 call out in Medina.

Yesterday, in blogging on this topic, I asked what in the hell is wrong with American conservatives. Anti-health care reform conservatives actually shouted down a woman in a freaking wheelchair at a New Jersey townhall.

Today, I ask these questions: what in the hell is wrong with Medina parents?……and why in the hell does Superintendent Stepp think he's qualified, or correct, in doing this….

Stepp, "After he does his speech, I think our high school can review it to see if it is pushing one way or the other politically, and if it's not, the next day they can come in and talk about it and see the video. I think by not showing it live and waiting, it's probably the safest decision."

Jesus. The Medina Schools Superintendent, fearful of what could happen when Obama speaks live to America's students, thinks it's "the safest decision" to not show it live. I don't know Mr. Superintendent of Medina Schools, but I gotta' say…….(put your hands over your ears)…..what the f*ck is wrong with an educational professional in the U.S. who speaks of censoring President Obama's talk to children as "the safest decision?"

Does Mr. Stepp get to decide, after reviewing Obama's talk, if the speech "is pushing one way or the other politically?" How neutral would Mr Stepp and his underlings at Medina Schools be in making that evaluation? Should Mr. Stepp's voting registration be checked to see which party he favors? What does it mean to say "our high school can review it?" That would be Mr. Stepp and his administration staff, would it not? And who in the hell qualified them to censor the president of the United States? What objective guidelines will be used by Mr. Stepp to determine whether Obama's encouragement to students to work hard and stay in school is "pushing one way or the other politically?"

Now here's the obligatory rant…..

What we're seeing now in Medina Schools over a "work hard and stay in school" message from the President to America's school children is a continuation of what Sarah Palin began during the presidential campaign. Divisive, hate-filled, xenophobic, and nonsensical displays of bitterness were part and parcel of every Palin campaign stop last fall. Palin spoke of "real America" and "real Americans." Candidate Obama, and those planning on voting for him, were not part of Palin's "real Americans."

That hatred, that bitterness, has continued and intensified since Obama's inauguration. Now, 8 months into it, and the same hateful, ignorant and bitter-losers who consider themselves the only "real Americans" are deciding whether it's "safe" for children to hear President Obama on the teevee.

The year is 2009. School districts throughout America are deciding whether it's safe for the children to hear and see the POTUS speak to them. School districts, like Medina's, fearful, I guess, that Obama has a secret plan to turn kids into "Village of the Damned" children by talking to them, will censor Obama's talk and then decide later whether Obama's talk is "safe" for kids to hear.

This craziness, this demonstration of insanity, this totally unhinged hatred from the right…..is not going to work out well for the nation.

I was an ardent supporter of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries of last year. Obama campaigned, correctly saying that he, alone, of all the candidates, could build a new coalition of voters in America by talking straight and confronting decades-old national problems. He promised a new kind of politics and he delivered, rising above the crazy politics of personal destruction still so often played by conservatives.

Barack Obama was America's best choice for president last November. That fact still remains.

But Obama has made several costly mistakes as president. Costly for America.

The new president's biggest error, I think, was his stance from the beginning that he would not pursue investigations or prosecutions of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney's administration's numerous crimes and acts of treason. Mr. Obama explained that "looking forward" rather than backwards would be his practice more often than not. Obama explained that the pressing issues of our day would get sidelined in some grand spectacle if the rule of law was followed in regard to the Bush administration.

All the "oxygen" in Washington D.C. would be sucked out if Bush and Cheney were held accountable…..and no oxygen would be left for health care reform, global warming legislation, card check, re-regulation of the banksters, etc. That was, and still is, Obama's argument. It's a losing argument.

If Obama would have appointed a special prosecutor from the get go to deal with the past administration, Americans…Republicans, corporate-media whores, would have realized the new president meant business…..wasn't just going to f*ck around. But he didn't.

Now, even though Obama has not gone after George and Dick, you know, to save all that political oxygen, his opponents have pounced on his refusal as a sign of weakness and are feverishly working to deprive Obama from breathing life into his campaign plans. While Obama was preserving political "oxygen" by refusing to re-instate the rule of law in America, his opponents were sucking all the political oxygen from Obama's new presidency by continually repeating the craziest sh*t imaginable, lying and propagandizing at every turn.

Which brings me to the next mistake by Obama. I realize that talk of bipartisanship is usually just that….talk….but with Obama, bipartisanship has not just been talk. It's been a feature. While it is true that Obama got three GOP votes for his stimulus bill….that's basically been the extent of any Republican cooperation.

There are no more "moderate" Republicans left, with possibly the exception of Olympia Snowe (R-ME). There's literally no Republicans left to be bipartisan with. Obama was correct in sensing that the voters wanted bipartisanship, wanted cooperation in order to get stuff done, he was right that the "old politics" had worn out it's welcome……where he was wrong was in assuming that today's Republican Party was something other than a calcified fossil of radically partisan status quo-ism. Where he was wrong was in assuming he had honest-brokers in today's Republicans. He doesn't.

Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, Jon Kyl, John Cornyn, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and their cheerleaders, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, et.al. are anything BUT negotiating partners. To these leaders of the modern GOP, bipartisanship is a disease to be avoided at all costs when Democrats are in power. And bipartisanship, when Republicans are in power, is considered date rape.

So, why the foolish notion by Obama that bipartisanship must always be considered, must be first and foremost in any of his political dealings? Beats the hell out of me. On this one, I am completely stymied.

If Obama is looking to hold moderates and independents by acting oh-so-bipartisan……it's working out just the opposite. By not standing up to the crazed and radicalized Republicans, the new president has shown moderates and independents that he is weak. Current polling suggests that independents and moderates have caught on to that weakness and don't like it.

Does all this portend a return to power of the insanity-filled party of Bush? Not likely. It just means that conservatives will get their way for now…..nothing of much value will be accomplished for the American people during Obama's first term.

Oh well, there's always another election around the corner. The answer to our national paralysis is…….more and better Democrats.

The profound wisdom of Duncan Black, aka, Atrios….

"Nobody could've predicted that electing a black man president would drive this country completely f*cking insane."

The milder, less abrasive thoughtfulness of today's AB Journal editorialist….

"The furor at town-hall meetings has been revealing. It has exposed a disturbing depth of ignorance regarding the national structure of health care."

Are the swastikas, the shouting, the rudeness, the guns, the bitter signs, and all the rest of the nonsense surrounding health care reform "town halls"….. evidence of ignorance….or are they evidence of bigotry?

There are those who would argue that the staged and orchestrated brutishness we're all witnessing in and around the health care reform "town hall" meetings is a result of legitimate anger, rage even. I heard Wall Street Journal writer, Stephen Moore, say as much on Tweety's show last night. Moore said that liberals were not appreciating the depth and breadth of the rage out there in the grassroots over the "direction" in which Obama and the Democrats were taking the country.

The town hall bust-ups are simply a retread of the rage-filled Tea Party "protests"….

From The Reverend's April 15th, 2009 blog post….

'…now Cavuto (of Fox) is telling me the Sacramento protestors are protesting a state tax increase. "The rage is palpable and the rage is everywhere." Now it's rage.'

On April 8, 2009, I included a link to photos of several Tea Parties. I think it's helpful for today's discussions about town hall bust-ups to review those pictures.

This, from a 2/27/09 Cleveland Tea Party, is also indicative of what the "rage", the "passion" is all about….

But the alleged rage started back during the presidential campaign. That "rage", or bigotry, (you decide), was in full flower especially at Sarah Palin rallies last fall. Take a look….from Strongsville, Ohio….

See the theme here? The "rage" is not over government spending….or tax rates…..or deficits….or any of the flimsy excuses laid down by oh-so-serious conservatives and libertarians.

The rage, the passion has been caused by the man, now the president, Barack Obama. He is a black man. He is a Democrat. And that's what the bust-ups of health reform town halls are all about.

It won't matter what the issue, policy or topic is……the rage we've seen from before the election, the rage we see at the Tea Parties, and the rage we see at the town hall bust-ups…..will be repeated over and over BECAUSE…..America elected a black Democratic president.

It really ain't that complicated.

Updated below with Palin resignation speech
Updated again with FOX's response.
Updated Sunday morning with more from Palin.

KTUU. com, Alaska….

Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor's Picnic at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks the weekend of July 25, Palin said.

And it's all the bad, bad media's fault….

Reporter Andrew Wellner from the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman just appeared on CNN after attending Palin's press conference. She said, Wellner reported, that Palin said she could be more effective outside of government.

And she wholly blamed the national press, saying they were creating national distractions that cost the state money. Palin said: "You are naive if you don't see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard."

Maybe she's going to go to work for Runner's World, you know, as a model….

Upon further consideration…."could be more effective outside of government"…..I think, translates into…'I can cash in my instant-celebrity chips right now.'

Bet we see her on the teevee soon, possibly with her own program. Teevee celebrities make way more money than governors. Hey, more power to her.

Update: I don't think I've heard a more rambling, nonsensical piece of sound than Sarah Palin's 7 minute resignation announcement. Honestly, it makes NO logical sense whatsoever….

The National Review's Jonah Goldberg writes an open letter to Ms. Palin…..

"… every time I see you on TV, you’re whining about unfair press coverage…….You are constantly taking the bait, taking up the fights your biggest fans want you to take up…..Politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you seem entirely uninterested in that, preferring instead to play the victim. Well, victims don’t get elected president."

Indeed.

Neo-con extraordinaire, Bill Kristol at the Weekly Standard….

"If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today? It's an enormous gamble – but it could be a shrewd one…… The odds are against her pulling it off. But I wouldn't bet against it."

It could be a safe bet that Palin will enter the GOP primaries in 2012. Less safe bet that she'll take the primaries. Very bad bet that she would even come close to defeating a popular Obama. Kristol's not betting, mind you, but, you know, if he were….

Best comment thus far on the Palin resignation from a conservative site…..

MY dream ticket 2012 = Sarah Palin / Liz Cheney

those two ladies would kick Bambi (Obama)’s a~~ ; )

Palin's words from her speech announcing that she would quit as Alaska's governor….

Life is too short to compromise time and resources… it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and "go with the flow".

Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

That registers a 9.0 on the WTF Richter scale.

One more observation. Sarah, The Barracuda, Palin, ex-high school basketball player seems to have a unique way of approaching the game of…umm….basketball….

She has the ball, but is being trapped in the back court….

"You are naive if you don't see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard."

What to do when trapped?….

"A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN."

When trapped, knowing the precise time to pass the ball is everything….

"And I know when it's time to pass the ball – for victory."

Question. Who did The Barracuda pass the ball to yesterday?

Answer. The other team.

@nd Update: The FOX response….

Headline: Sarah Palin Outsmarts the Left, no, really, that's the headline.

From the body of the piece: "Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska is a brilliant liberating move for her career, and a potential truning point for the national conservative movement…..
No one hears of the good work she has been doing there, and the left is free to paint their own false caricature of her."

My personal favorite: "And I hope she starts a new national think tank in Washington."

More: "She should also lead the nation's mothers to oppose mandating replacement of incandescent light bulbs with the new mercury poison gas bulbs."……"If she does all that, the left won't be making jokes about her any more,…"

Hard to make stuff like this up.

Update: Palin issues message….

She, alone, is being persecuted. It's the Jesus syndrome….

"And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make."

There is no "different standard" being used with Palin. She taunts the media, dares them, and then points to her victimhood when they have the audacity to write anything about her. It's a self-fulfilling, perpetual-motion, persecution-creation machine.

Immediately following Sunday night's appearance of President Obama on Sixty Minutes, I told the Mrs. that Obama's smiling would be the Villager story dominating Monday's "news" cycle.

Politico….

Even his awkward laughter highlighted an issue Obama has faced dating back to the campaign, a sense that he sometimes is too “cool” and detached to fully grasp the public anxiety over mounting job losses and economic worries.

Fox News….

In a wide ranging interview broadcast Sunday night, Obama was pressed by Steve Kroft on "60 Minutes" for at times laughing or smiling while discussing the global economic crisis.

AOL.com….

The president's demeanor in discussing the economy was so noticeably inappropriate that interviewer Steve Kroft confronted him about it, asking if Obama was, "punch drunk." (13:34) Obama explained his jokes at the economy's troubles as, "a little gallows humor to get you through the day."

The nutty NewsBusters.org took an immediate poll asking this question…..

Was Obama Too Flippant in His 60 Minutes Interview About the Economy?

Media Matters…..

Echoing a March 22 Politico article that was hyped by the Drudge Report, the March 23 editions of Today, Morning Joe, MSNBC Live, and Fox & Friends all featured segments on President Obama's laughter during a 60 Minutes interview. The segments are reminiscent of the media's echoing Drudge by seizing on Hillary Clinton's laugh as a new subject of attention following Clinton's talk show appearances in September 2007.

Relatively easy prediction for me to make given the total shallowness and triviality-obsessiveness of the Village media machine……a Village media whose Dean, codger David Broder, has, after only 50 days in, declared Obama's honeymoon officially over.

The diseased condition of our main corporate media was also on full-ugly display recently with The Dick Interview by CNN's New Media Dick, John King.

Consider how ridiculous: John King interviewed (with large cushy softballs)former VP Cheney on a CNN program entitled…."State of the Union."

CNN aired The Dick Interview March 15th. The Dick no longer holds any office and he's never going to run for any office. Why, then, would CNN's New Media Dick, John King, interview The Old Dick? Did The Old Dick have some "breaking f*cking news" to share with a clueless audience? No. Why was The Old Dick on CNN? Did he demand to be on? Did CNN invite The Old Dick on? Why would they do that? To what end?

How trustworthy would answers from an 18% popular ex-VP, and unindicted co-conspirator, you know, be? Is it even appropriate for an ex-VP wih 18% popularity, a detested man, to be explaining anything about the "State of the Union?"

The King-Cheney interview then became the "news story" for the entire week, March 15-21. I saw numerous teevee and print pieces referring to the interview during that week. Then, Steve Croft of 60 Minutes made The Dick interview a major questioning launch point in his own questioning of President Obama. Why? The Dick has zero credibility, is hated throughout America for his yet-to-be-prosecuted crimes done from the shadows, and has proven to be an ignorant and lying maniac about all his neo-conservative policies.

All this, mind you, followed yet another week in which we were treated to the repeated lies and propaganda from Ari Fleischer and Frank Gaffney. Why were those two propagandistic neo-con leftovers from a 28% popular administration…..invited onto national cable and network news programs to spout more of their lies? Did THEY have any new "breaking f*cking news"? Of course not.

First it was Rod Blagojevich. Knee Padders brayed for weeks about the potential damage to a newly elected president from Illinois. Then it was the stimulus "discussion." A discussion on the teevee that favored Republican appearances 2-1 over Democrats. Democrats that were wildly favored in the November election. Following that stellar work, we were presented with another round of ridiculous "socialism" talk….talk that began with the immensely intelligent Sarah Palin. Of late, the Villagers have laid out the red carpet for disgraced neo-con regurgitations from Gaffney, Fleischer and, finally, The Dick himself.

This week's start is dominated by serious and pertinent accounts of Obama's smiling and laughter…..oh yeah, and Michelle's muscles, again.

Morons.

Fresh off the pollster presses are brand new numbers reflecting what Republicans are thinking right now about which conservative leader represents the way forward for the GOP. While the numbers aren't surprising, really…..they surely say something about the current Party of Lincoln.

From Rasmussen we find that…..

the plurality of GOP voters (43%) say their party has been too moderate over the past eight years, and 55% think it should become more like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the future, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 24% think failed presidential candidate John McCain is the best future model for the party, and 10% are undecided.

55% of Republicans surveyed think the Republican Party "should become more like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the future." Only 1 in 4 Republicans think John McCain represents the way forward for the Republican Party.

To say this is disappointing is to state the obvious. I think Sarah Palin is a cute woman Governor with a fine family. I harbor no animosity towards her, …..and her campaigning last fall, though a demonstration of her unpreparedness to be on a national or international stage, rejuvenated conservatives' interest in the election and the political process.

Republicans, naturally, have every right to choose their role model going forward…..but what would the Republican Party look like, if indeed, Sarah Palin became the de facto political model for the entire party?

An endorsement for even more divisiveness.

We just kicked a Republican adminstration to the curb that was the most divisive in my lifetime. Groups of Americans were pitted against each other constantly for political purposes. Latino Americans were isolated for derision during the foolish Limbaugh-led, talk-radio blitz against the comprehensive immigration bill that even Bush favored. Gay Americans watched as Republicans sought to, once and for all, declare gays unequal with an equal rights denying Constitutional Amendment. Those Americans believing in the right to privacy in reproductive and end-of-life matters were singled out as belonging to a "culture of death" during the national embarassment that was the Terri Schiavo episode. Critics were demonized, villified and labeled anti-American and "terrorist sympathizers", with regularity, if they dared disagree with the maniacal foreign policies of George W. Bush.

So, the last Republican model, George W. Bush…….was a relatively divisive figure. Sarah Palin-as-GOP-role-model would kick even Rovian divisiveness up a notch. Palin constantly referred, during the campaign, to "real Americans" and portions of the country where "real America" was located. To Palin, Democrats were "socialists", "communists",……Obama, one who "pals around with terrorists." The Alaskan Governor's rejection of graciousness towards her VP counterpart during their debate was rude and out of place. Her comments during her acceptance speech were mean-spirited, cocky, brash and intended to be divisive.

Is that the role model Republicans really want? After Barack Obama's successful message of all-inclusiveness, his rejection of a fragmented, red and blue states country…..does Sarah Palin's model even have a ghost of a chance of catching on with the American public? The obvious answer right now is…..no. Things can change, but after 4 or 8 years of Obama, do Republicans really, really believe that Americans will open their arms to more of the same old resurrected-from-the-dead politics of the discredited Bush-Rove era? I certainly don't think so.

If Sarah Palin's campaign methodology is an indication of who she is……she has an even stronger drive to divide America than the Rove directed George W. Bush. That's saying something. Americans still don't fully know what Palin actually knows or understands due to limited exposure to press questions, but what we do know from her campaign time is that she isn't a bit backward about being divisive.

And 55% of Republicans, apparently, want their party to be more divisive just like she is.

Gallup has come out with a new poll-map, by state, showing the importance of religion in Americans' daily lives. It seems that, on average, 65% of Americans consider religion important in their daily lives while 35% do not. Ohio ranks 25th, with Ohioans considering religion to be important in their daily lives by 65%.

Importance of religion by state

Now compare Gallup's poll findings on religious importance to the electoral map for the 2008 presidential election.

2008 presidential election by state

Those who read this blog regularly already know where The Reverend stands on the topic of religion. I will always champion the right of all Americans to practice their religious beliefs as they see fit. At the same time I believe that religion, when taken seriously, as 65% of Americans obviously do, is needlessly divisive and socially destructive.

The most religious states, in order, are Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia. Those states, coincidentally or not, are also the same states that voted by the largest margins against President Obama. Of the top 15 most religious states according to Gallup, only North Carolina voted in the majority for Obama.

It is true, just as with religious practice, that Americans have the perfect right to vote for anyone they please, regardless of religious beliefs or state residency. Again, at the same time, it is hard to dismiss the correlation of Republican-voting states with the most religious states.

If you are part of the 65%, and usually bristle when reading criticisms of religion….or Republicans, you probably should stop reading about now.

During the presidential campaign, John McCain, representing the Republican Party, targeted, almost exclusively, the GOP base. The choice of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate was made with this same base in mind. That base, as we see from the maps, is concentrated in the most religious states.

Generally, McCain campaigned on "more of the same" Republican dogma, particularly on national defense and economic issues. Sarah Palin campaigned similarly, although her rhetoric was much more abrasive. More tax cutting primarily benefitting big business, anti-reproductive choice for women, tough, militaristic talk aimed at Muslim countries, even further deregulation for the benefit of corporations, particularly Big Oil, more Supreme Court Justices like Roberts and Alito who favor the powerful at the expense of the weak, a big business-favoring plan for health care, and an overall respect for capital's rights at the expense of labor.

States with a high percentage of religious voters voted overwhelmingly for that platform….in some cases even in higher percentages than they did for Bush in the two previous elections.

The Christian Saviour, whom these religious voters worship, taught, almost exclusively, contrary to the GOP platform. Jesus spoke out against the powerful, the wealthy, the religious, the warmongers, the intolerant, the hypocrites,…..but he ALWAYS taught his followers to help the powerless, society's marginalized, the unclean, the poor, the outcasts, the oppressed. Jesus taught peace, not violence and war. Jesus spoke his harshest words to the most religious, those who elevated in importance the trivial over basic human concerns.

The American states where religion is seen as extremely important in daily life are the same states that voted overwhelmingly against the teachings of their Teacher. The American states where religion is regarded as extremely important in daily life voted overwhelmingly for our nation's most powerful and against the common human concerns of our nation's, and the world's, powerless.

These religious voters seek to defend their support for the powerful, the militaristic, and the wealthy by reverting to old pious sounding arguments over zygotes, taboo sexual orientations, fears of the "Other", "Christian" nation sponsorship of religious symbols, loving the sinner and hating the sin, defense of the Chosen at the expense of the ghettoized, and the use of violence for peaceful(!) purposes.

Wouldn't the Christian Master, if he were alive today on earth, say the same words he spoke to the most religious in his day? Wouldn't Jesus, today, still speak the same words to those who ALWAYS favored the powerful over the powerless in his day?

Wouldn't he?

Watch the first two minutes of this FOX clip from late October, 2008….

Joe. The. Plumber., embraced by American wingnuts as a representative of the 'average guy', and followed, puppy-like, by an American media who couldn't find their asses with both hands…..proudly and boldly told viewers that a vote for Barack Obama was a vote for the "death of Israel". A non-biased comment from an average non-biased American man. Objectivity, as we found out over the last number of weeks, is Joe's strong suit.

The unexplainable clusterf*ck of the McCain-Palin's campaign obsession with Mr. Plumber in the last two weeks leading up to November 4th should go down in history as an all-time WTF moment in American politics. The last days of the campaign came down to a duel between Sarah Palin and Plumber Joe to see who could be the most ignorant, nonsensical-sounding person to appear on teevee. I'm not sure who won.

What to do with such an ignorant, nonsensical buffoon like Joe after the election ended? What else? Declare Joe to be a journalist….

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, the man whose 15 minutes of fame seem inexhaustible, is heading to Israel to cover the ongoing conflict in Gaza. He told an Ohio television station he'll spend 10 days as a war correspondent for a conservative website, Pajamas TV.

So…how's the 'war correspondent' gig going?

As we learned during the campaign, Joe is not really a plumber, not licensed anyway, though he probably knows the only two things my plumber friends (yes, I have them) say are important, "sh*t flows downhill and payday is on Friday." But how is the non-plumber plumber doing as a non-journalist journalist? Well, I don't know which day of the week big Joe gets paid by Pajamas TV, but it looks like Joe still knows that sh*t flows downhill…..onto all of us…..

Here's what the Associated Press says about Joe in Israel….

"Samuel Wurzelbacher (he's even a non-Joe), also known as 'Joe the Plumber', is in Israel working as a rookie war correspondent, where he said Sunday that he believes journalists should be abolished from reporting from war zones."

Pulitzer caliber material.

Of course, non-Joe, non-plumber, non-journalist, Joe was in the Israeli town of Sderot when he said that. See video here. Odd though, or perhaps not, is the fact that Joe's view here is the same as Israeli leaders. Israeli leaders don't believe journalists should be allowed access to war zones either. Israel declared Gaza a no-reporting-zone early in November, long before the Israeli attack began.

I'm sure that Israel's boycott of journalists going into Gaza has nothing whatsoever to do with those journalists being able to witness the atrocities the Israeli military has been conducting against Gazan civilians. I take Israeli leaders word when they say the reason for the no-reporting-zone is to prevent reporting on Israel that is "unfair and one-sided."

When Israeli leaders disobey their own Supreme Court order demanding that journalists have access into Gaza, it's not because they don't want any stories about the killing of Palestinian women and children seeking refuge in UN schools getting out. No, no. It is because those "liberal media f*ckers", just as they do in the U.S., won't give Israel a fair shake.

But what the highly ethical and moral Israeli leaders WILL allow is journalistic access inside Israel, as seen in Journalist Joe's video clip. That access, by definition, could not possibly be construed as "one sided or unfair."

What of non-Joe, non-plumber, non-journalist Joe? How has this opportunistic moron been received in Israel now that he has put on a totally objective "reporter" hat? Jill, at Writes Like She Talks, a fierce and fair writer, said she was "pissed" at Israel about Journalist Joe being there. Why?

Non-Joe, non-plumber, non–journalist Joe's publicist told CNN….

"Israeli officials are very excited to have him."

That should piss everyone off.