Steve Benen, writing for the Washington Monthly, aptly characterizes yesterday's remarks by President Obama in Tucson and those of Alaska's former half-term Governor Sarah "Mama Fizzley" Palin as "rhetorical bookends." Benen writes:
"The political world spent a fair amount of time yesterday pondering the career-changing errors of Sarah Palin's video message, and its petty, defensive, resentful qualities. A half-day later, that same political world saw President Obama speak at a memorial service, delivering an inspiring address."Precisely. Praise for Obama and criticism of Mama Fizzley has been equal opportunity, from the New York Times to right wingers like columnist Charles Kraphammer. While Fizzley has a right to object to people linking her directly with the deranged shooter in Tucson, she failed to reflect on her own angry rhetoric and to pledge to "do better" as the President put it. She was, in short, angry, defiant and unwilling to change her tune, in stark contrast to the President's tone at the memorial. Did we really expect something different from her at this point?
Our prediction: this will hasten her decline as a political force of any consequence. Fizzle, as it were.
