Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up

Your one stop pundit shop.

Eugene Robinson cannot ignore Sarah Palin and says that Republicans who want to run for President in 2012 would do so at their own peril:

No force on Earth can stop Sarah Palin from becoming our very own "lite" version of Eva Perón -- a glamorous and tragic legend, minus the tragedy. Eventually, some clever composer will write a blockbuster musical about her life and times. Stage directions will include: "SARAH fires gun. MOOSE dies."   [...]

True believers will not mind. Palin's unconventional trajectory and unkempt mind are seen as authentic, in the sense that we all know people who've had ups and downs in their lives and who couldn't point to Kazakhstan on a map. Her success to date represents a triumph of authenticity over accomplishment. In the final analysis, I believe, that's not enough to make her president. But others seeking the 2012 Republican nomination underestimate her at their peril.

Toward the end of her life, Eva Perón gave a famous speech in which she vowed, "I will return, and I will be millions!" Sarah Palin, our Evita, has returned -- and she will make millions.

Richard Cohen wants an Institue for the Study of Sara Palin:

Finally, the Institute for the Study of Sarah Palin will mull what she represents. She has a phenomenal favorability rating among Republicans -- 76 percent -- who have a quite irrational belief that she would not make such a bad president. What they mean is that she will act out their resentments -- take an ax to the people and institutions they hate. The Palin Movement is fueled by high-octane bile, and it is worth watching and studying for these reasons alone.

It may be asking too much of Bush to put his money into something useful instead of the standard presidential monument of self-aggrandizement. This, though, is his chance: Study Sarah Palin. If she's a comer, then we're all goners.

Bob Herbert wonders:

What will the United States be like in 20 years when today’s toddlers are in college or trying to land that first job or maybe thinking about starting a family?

The answer will depend to a great extent on decisions we make now about the American infrastructure.

Roger Cohen says that the President should stop talking about peace between Israel and Palestine and start talking about détente.

Derrick Z. Jackson says a global climate change agreement is dead and that:

The very forces who scream that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate the activities of big business are the same ones still successfully applying a chokehold on Congress and the ability of Obama to be effective on the global stage. In a twisted version of “Think Globally, Act Locally,’’ Big Oil, Big Coal, and the biggest representative of American industries, the US Chamber of Commerce, continue to buy paralysis.

H.D.S. Greenway says that democracy is not for everyone.

Bret Stephens has a goofy complaint about the the upcoming trial of KSM, and apparently a lot of contempt for New Yorkers:

There are a few ways to predict the course of the trials. One is to consult what al Qaeda itself advises its members to do in the event that they are brought before a judge. "At the beginning of the trial . . . the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by state security before the judge," goes a line in what is known as the Manchester Document, a 180-page al Qaeda how-to obtained by British police in 2000.

This is, of course, a prescription for lying, though it shouldn't be a tough sell with the jury given that KSM was in fact waterboarded by the CIA some 183 times. If anything, it provides a perfect opening for him to turn the tables on his accusers and put the U.S. government on trial, while embellishing any which way he pleases. No small number of potential New York City jurors would find KSM a more credible witness than any number of Bush administration officials—think Alberto Gonzales or Dick Cheney—who might be called to the stand.

Tony Blankley either thinks wanting an exit strategy in Afghanistan is stupid or he's a really big George M. Cohan fan.