1. The President’s Speech and Killing Sarah Palin

2. Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone

3. Thoughtful, On-Target Palin Responds To Attacks; Left Loses Last Grip On Reality

4. Herman Cain announces presidential exploratory committee

5. Witness to Atrocity

1. The President’s Speech and Killing Sarah Palin

What was billed as a “memorial service” in Arizona last night was more of a pep-rally and celebration of life. It was complete with sloganeering, bumper stickers, and t-shirts.It is what was needed.What’s more, Mr. Obama gave a stunning rebuke to his own base who’ve engaged in a horrific blame game all week.While many will say parts of his speech were campaign-ish, let’s not forget that the President has failed miserably at every speech he has given as President. So a campaign style speech was the only way for him to deliver.And I think he did as a President must do.But can he himself, the man who implored Democratic voters to “punish our enemies” and only recently referred to Republicans as “hostage takers” live up to his own words?This is, after all, a man who got his political start in the home of a terrorist who’d dedicated a book to Robert F. Kennedy’s killer — a man who never repented but who Mr. Obama then gave grant money to.Will the President live up to his own standard? Everyone can change. Everyone can repent. Let’s hope this President will.But there is much that still must be done and much the left must still learn.Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone

Last night on John King USA I tried very hard to keep my blood from boiling. Cornell Belcher, a very good guy, tried to claim that the right’s history of rhetoric is worse than the left’s.I’ll meet you half way on that, just for the sake of argument, and say the left and right can at times be equally vile, but only for the sake of argument.But really, maybe the right’s history of rhetoric is greater if only because the left goes beyond rhetoric to outright violence.And that’s the jumping off point here for the media. Because suddenly the media wants to talk about changing the political tone in this country — a tone the media itself has helped contribute to with its selective sensationalizing of subjects.Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Thoughtful, On-Target Palin Responds To Attacks; Left Loses Last Grip On Reality

I know, my use of the term on-target makes me a vitriolic, hateful rhetoric espouser in the eyes of some. It’s not conducive to the “new tone” we are all supposed to embrace for some unfathomable and delusional reason. Of course, this new tone doesn’t apply if one is speaking about Sarah Palin, who is apparently the cause of All Bad Things Ever, in perpetuity. Even here, we are on day three of no school due to snow. In South Carolina. Does Palin’s evil reach have no bounds?!The Left and the media, as always concentric circles on a Venn diagram, attempted for days to spin a false and odious narrative placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on Sarah Palin and everyone like her. Because, vitriol. Or something. Days of vile political opportunism, on the backs of the dead. Days of disgusting smears the likes of which I’ve never seen before in my lifetime. Days of giddily and gleefully exploiting deaths, including those of a federal judge and a nine year old child, all in an attempt to score political points and to silence and demonize those with whom they disagree.Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Herman Cain announces presidential exploratory committee

It begins.There has been a good bit of ‘presidential’ buzz about Herman Cain in the right online community, and in the conservative camp in general. He’s not been shy about admitting that he’s considering it. Now he’s taking the next step. I had the privilege of speaking with him for a half-hour last night after he was done with his nationally syndicated talk show, and I am pleased to make the following announcement on RedState.Herman Cain announced on FoxNews’ Your World Cavuto that he is forming an exploratory committee to determine the feasability of a run for President of the United States in the 2012 election.[Full disclosure: I work with Herman Cain at WSB Radio and have filled in for him on the radio. — Erick]Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Witness to Atrocity

Although it is a fact that we only dare to confront in the occasional dark night of our souls, this country has been teetering on the brink of moral illegitimacy for the last 38 years. Yesterday, I was forcibly reminded of this when someone sent me this excerpt from the forthcoming book Unplanned, in which former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson explains her conversion from pro-choice activist to pro-life activist, as she watched an abortion being performed live on an ultrasound.Please click here for the rest of the post.