Day: June 12, 2009

After five months of the Obama Presidency, the good news is that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen above its 2008 close in December.

The Dow has also risen in 12 of the past 14 weeks and gained 34 percent in that time, making for the best 14 week performance since 1975, when Gerald Ford was President.  In addition, the S&P 500 has improved this year by 40 percent and the Nasdaq by 47 percent.

Additionally,  polls indicate that Obama remains very popular with about 64 percent favorable toward the new President.

These signs of optimism compare to the constant negative and critical assessments of conservative talk show hosts and Republican leaders and spokesmen.  At the same time, most Americans cannot figure out who the leaders of the Republican party are.  So it looks as if a vast majority of Americans, including people who have in the past voted Republican,  are quite disgusted with the GOP,  and quite content with Barack Obama’s  performance,  and that investors are showing the same faith on the stock market.

David Letterman, the CBS late night comedian, showed very poor taste when he joked about Sarah Palin’s daughter being "raped" by Yankee star Alex Rodriguez in the seventh inning "stretch".  There is no way to justify what he said.  However, he made an apology for it, which I think should have been accepted by Sarah Palin, and life should have moved on.

But not for Sarah Palin, who has decided to dramatize and drag out the cause of  "motherhood"  as part of her attempt to draw attention for a possible Presidential race in 2012.  If this mother had been more attentive and aware, maybe  her 18 year old daughter would not have become pregnant, actually at the age of 17 by 18 year old Levi Johnston, which technically meant it was an act of statutory rape, something she now claims Letterman was joking about regarding her 14 year old daughter, when he was referring to the new mother of Trig, Sarah Palin’s first grandchild.

Sarah Palin fails to realize that when one enters the political world, one is subject to constant scrutiny, criticism, and jokes, and unfortunately, even the children, particularly the adult children, cannot escape being exposed to that reality.  Comedians all of the time are saying outrageous things that many could object to, but the only way to escape this in a world of freedom of speech is to leave the public spotlight, which Sarah Palin is not about to do.

It is hard to see how this situation will end, as David Letterman DID apologize and offered to have Sarah and Todd Palin on his show, which they refused.  Many politicians who have been "wronged" as they see it end up making up with the talk show host or comedian, and are able to laugh about it, including John McCain with David Letterman during the campaign last year.  Why can’t Sarah Palin stop promoting the "outrage" image and allow us to spend our time dealing with really important issues and problems?  I think it is because she wants to exploit it for all it is worth and maybe create a movement to take her to the White House.

I find it hard to believe that the American people are gullible enough to react in the way she wants.  As always, there is the temptation to say to Sarah Palin:   "We have heard enough and BE GONE!"