If you want something to be grateful for, here it is. Sarah Palin was one smart advisor away from becoming the new leader of this country.
Had Sarah Palin's response to the shooting in Tucson, AZ been this:
I stand before you today to accept responsibility for my "rifle site" diagram which targeted Gabrielle Gifford as well as nineteen other Democrats. I was caught up in the zeal of campaigning, the push to see the Republicans win and I. WAS. WRONG.
Pause: Jaws drop across America
Journalists drop everything to cover this.
Palin continues:
But, it is not enough to just say I'm sorry. I owe the American people much more than that. For that reason, today I pledge I will never used the "hyped-up" rhetoric again. Yes, I will criticize politicians, that is the American way, but I guarantee you, it will be done by disagreeing without being disagreeable.
Pause as tweets go out across the nation. Palin continues:
Furthermore, I will make it my goal to work with Beck, Limbaugh and anyone else who chooses to use ramped up rhetoric. It is no longer acceptable. I've already approached them on this and they have both agreed to work with me on setting up guidelines for themselves and their guests.
The results would have been:
ABC:
Palin has shown she has character and guts as well as a love for the future of America, the likes of which we've never seen before.
Katie Couric:
Wow, I'll be honest folks, I misunderstood Palin. She may have floundered when she first went on the national stage, but wipe the slate clean because a new day has dawned.
Chris Mattews:
Wake up America! Whether you are Republican or Democrat, you can't deny that Palin has captured America and it's spirit in a way that no other politician in my lifetime has.
And so it would have gone. Because Palin had no responsible person to guide her, she responded just like we thought she would. Defensive to the max! Scrubbing her website, denying that her map with gun sites had anything to do with anything.
Thank you Ms. Palin for thinking for yourself and reacting exactly like we thought you would.
Today we can do highfives (as can Huck, Romney, Gingrich and the rest of the possible presidential candidates) and we should all breathe a sigh of relief and thank our lucky stars that she did not have a bright person who could have made her the damned biggest hero ever.
Whew!