It's been a wild series of news stories this week, and just because today is a national holiday, the news hasn't gotten any less weird. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced in a press conference today that not only is she not going to re-run for a second term as governor, she is resigning as governor in two weeks, turning the job over to Lt. Governor San Parnell.

What was a meteoric rise to national prominence after being selected as John McCain's vice president candidate last fall, Palin's announcement today all but ends any speculation that she is a front-runner for the presidency in 2012. 

I was at the Xcel Center in St. Paul when Governor Palin gave her acceptance speech, which was a remarkable moment in electoral politics. Conservatives instantly fell in love with her energy, spunk and toughness. She injected much-needed enthusiasm into the GOP campaign, and regardless of the attacks on her by the media, continued to this day to be talked about as a potential 2012 contender. 

The speculation now, of course, will be to determine why she is resigning during her first term. Some Sarah fans will try to spin this as a shrewd political move to a possible presidential run, but what remains to be seen is if Governor Palin can not only overcome all of the stereotypes and ridicule the left has heaped upon her and her family, with much aid and assistance from mainstream media, but if she can overcome the stigma of being a quitter on top of that. 

We thank Governor Palin for her impact on politics, and for bringing new voters to Republican ranks last fall. We wish her continued success on whatever new ventures she undertakes.  

As America prepares for a weekend of watching fireworks, the Pentagon is apparently ready to shoot at least the North Korean-made one down, if necessary.  Some are calling a potential missile shoot-down a bold move. I disagree. A bold move, and maybe a more proper one, would be to blow the missile up on the pad in North Korea before it gets launched. 

If Kim Jung Il does fire off the rocket as expected in the general direction of Hawaii, and the military deems it to be on a trajectory that could do damage and has to shoot it down, will the media recognize and thank George W. Bush for allowing for the defensive capability to become realized? Will a reporter go visit Michigan Senator Carl Levin, who has always been the point man for the anti-missile defense crowd in Congress, and ask him if America truly would have been safer allowing the missile to hit wherever on Hawaii it was aimed?
 
Furthermore, will there be one question asked of Barack Obama in his next press conference about whether it's really a good idea to cut missile defense spending in the military budget precisely when it's turning out it's a really, really good idea to have that weapon in the defense arsenal?

Meanwhile, we hope that Hawaii is able to enjoy a safe and sane 4th of July, free of Taepodong-2 rockets.

My new Townhall.com column looks ahead to the weekend.

Transcripts of yesterday's conversations with Mark Steyn about Michael Jackson as well as the offensive in Afghanistan and the turmoil in Honduras, and with Mitt Romney about President Obama's push for the "government option/public plan" are posted.

Today's program begins with an interview with Richard Botkin about his new book, Ride the Thunder:  A Vietnam War Story of Triumph and Honor.



Botkin's book is a history of Vietnam told through the stories of five Marines: three American and two Vietnamese.  Though the heart of the book is the desperate days around the 1972 Easter Offensive, the book begins with the first deployments of American troops and ends with the reeducation camps and the long journey to America of some of our greatest allies in the long war we eventually gave up on.  As the country watches the pull-out of our troops from Iraq's cities and the deployment of thousands of Marines into Helmland River Valley yesterday, the book could not be more timely or more riveting.  The peril that our military faces in combat competes with a thousand silly stories every day, and Botkin's book helps civilians understand what it is like for the warrior, then and now, to fight for freedom --our own and that of our allies.

The third hour today continues the set-up for our Fourth of July celebrations by asking Biola University's John Mark Reynolds and David Allen White, just retired from three decades of teach at the United States Naval Academy, what it was the Framers thought they were borrowing from the ancients and why we even ought to care today.

Tomorrow's program is a long conversation with one of the country's greatest intellects, Professor Harry Jaffa on the central ideas surrounding the American founding.

I know that today and tomorrow aren't all Michael Jackson all the time, but the genius and courage of Philadelphia 1776 deserve some attention even as the LKMs (see below) pile up around Jackson.

If any of the conversations prompt you to appreciate the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of today, please consider marking the holiday with a contribution to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Now a blogging note.  I won't be totally missing from these pages over the next two weeks, but I am trying to get the tendonitis in my elbow to move on, which my doctor tells me won't happen until I move away from the keyboard.  So that's what I'll be doing, which means less blogging and far fewer e-mail responses for a couple of weeks. 

Duane will pick up his blogging pace, and to pitch in, my pal Jude will throw in as well.  If you haven't yet become acquainted with this exceptional musician and very thoughtful commentator via his posts Big Hollywood, you will quickly come to agree with me that he is a much-needed voice of reason from within a portion of the entertainment industry that doesn't often provide center-right commentary.  Thanks in advance to Jude and Duane and to you for your patience as I slack off for a couple of weeks.

The June jobs report is out, and almost half a million Americans who had employment at the beginning of June have now lost their jobs. Do you remember the rhetoric used by the Obama administration earlier in the year to sell the non-stimulus stimulus bill, which turned out to be a trillion dollars, more or less, of pork projects?

Larry Summers told Wolf Blitzer on CNN back in February that, "You'll see the effects begin almost immediately. Christina Romer told Fox News around the same time that, "We will start adding jobs, rather than losing them at more than a half million a month." 

Let's face it - they were wrong. And Republicans said they'd be wrong, and voted en masse in the Congress against the bill. For a stimulus to be effective, it has to be targeted, temporary and actually stimulative. President Obama and the Democrats put forth no such bill, and the results speak for themselves.  

We're now four months later, and the same Democrats who brought you the non-stimulus bill, that hasn't stimulated anything except the deficit and national debt by any measurable standard, are not only trying to say, 'trust us' again with the cap and tax and tax and tax bill, but trust us with taking over the entire country's health care system.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and thrice, shame on me. Call your Senators. The dollars proposed are too massive to cede to a group of people who just went to the well and came up rocks. 202-224-3121. It doesn't matter whether they're Democrat or Republican. Just say no.  

"LKM" stands for Larry King Minutes --the number of broadcast minutes that Larry King would devote to your death if it occurred today.  Michael Jackson has set a very high standard, swamping all other coverage from Larry's show and triggering hours and hours of extra programming from Larry.

Steven Pressfield has written some of my favorite novels --Gates of Fires, The Tides of War and Killing Rommel.

Now Pressfield has produced a series of op-ed videos, available at this website.  He's my guest today and will be back next Wednesday during fiction week.

I interviewed Michael Steele yesterday, and pressed the GOP Chair on the obvious problem ahead in 2012 when Democrats with nothing better to do will swamp GOP primaries and caucuses with the intention of screwing up the Republican nomination process.  Read the transcript of the whole interview here, but this is the key exchange:

HH: But what about, you know, bringing up some closed primaries to compete with Iowa and New Hampshire, say you know, we’re only going to allow you to vote at the same…so that they don’t have the disproportioned impact that they have right now?

MS: Well, we’re looking, we’ve started the review of the 2012 primary process last week. We’re going to have a first set of hearings at our summer meeting in July. And we’re beginning to look right now at all the critical steps that we need to take to protect our primaries, to be competitive, and to allow for a process in which, again, the vote is not hijacked by the Democrats, and you know, as some Republicans feel we get a candidate that we don’t want or deserve or whatever. We want a process that we control, that we have the ultimate say in the outcome in, and not be beholden to the Democrats front-loading with…

HH: Well, who’s going to…how’s that going to work, Chairman Steele? Who’s on that committee? When do they report? Who decides?

MS: Well, that committee, again, was formed largely before I became chairman by two members from each of the regions of the country. Then I made the completing selections, six members who are, excuse me, nine members who are non-RNC members…

HH: Hey, my phone didn’t ring, Michael?

MS: (laughing)

HH: Did I not check my messages?

MS: Look, I need you where you are…

HH: Oh, I can do both.

MS: You can do both?

HH: Yeah, I’m waiting here. That is my committee. I’ve got to be on that, because I’m serious as death on this stuff. They’re going to steal this from us.

MS: Well, let me put it to you this way. When we have our hearing from the public, I’ll make sure you know about it and you come out and get on the record.

HH: I want a vote. I don’t want to be a witness. I’ve been a witness for years. I want a vote, Michael Steele. Count every vote! Count Hugh’s vote!

MS: I hear you, Hugh. I hear you.

My phone still hasn't rung, and I doubt it will because the last thing the RNC wants is a public process that encourages activists to demand accountability from the party "leadership."

Chairman Steele has been doing an excellent job when it comes to fundraising, but if the primary system remains broken, the race to retake the White House will give President Obama a headstart the GOP simply cannot afford.

Here's the list of appointees from the RNC's press release:

RNC CHAIRMAN MICHAEL STEELE ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENTS TO TEMPORARY DELEGATE SELECTION COMMITTEE
WASHINGTON - Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele today announced the appointment of Ohio National Committeeman Bob Bennett, Wisconsin National Committeeman Steve King, Florida National Committeeman Paul Senft, former Maryland Secretary of State Mary Kane, former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, former Office of Personnel Management Director Kay James, former Iowa Republican Party Chairman Brian Kennedy, former White House Spanish media spokesperson Mercy Schlapp, and former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath to the RNC Temporary Delegate Selection Committee.

"I am proud to announce the appointments of this impressive group of people to the RNC Temporary Delegate Selection Committee.  They are all exceptionally qualified people and I look forward to working with them in the future," said Chairman Steele.

The RNC Temporary Delegate Selection Committee serves to review the timing of the election, selection, allocation, or binding of delegate and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention. In accordance with The Rules of the Republican Party, the RNC Chairman appoints three RNC members and six non-members to the RNC Temporary Delegate Selection Committee, which is already comprised of four elected RNC members.

Some good people and some people I have never heard of --and no one with national name ID.  If real reform is going to come to the primary process, a group of senior figures from the heart of the party needs to be given 90 days to come up with a plan, and the states a similar hard deadline to approve of it.  Otherwise the GOP will slouch to "more of the same" in 2012, with the result that the DNC and affiliated activist groups will have a huge role in the selection of President Obama's Republican opponent.

Next week is "thrillers" week on the show with interviews with Brad Thor, Alex Berenson, Steven Pressfield, Daniel Silva and Vince Flynn running on Tuesday through Friday.

As an appetizer to next week's feast, though, I'll spend the third hour of today's program with English novelist (and very successful non-fiction writer as well) Peirs Paul Read, whose new thriller The Death of a Pope is vastly superior in every way to The DaVinci Code and others of the genre.



UPDATE: The transcript of my interview with Read is here.

President Bush must be watching today's celebrations in Iraq with great interest, though doubtless without any expectation that the MSM which was so wrong for so long about Iraq will pause to recall that in late 2006, Bush undertook a change in strategy in Iraq that led to today's celebrations in the country liberated from Saddam and now generally secure from terrorists.

Many, many senior American political figures --including President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid-- pronounced the war in Iraq lost in 2006, and declared that the surge could not work and was not worth the effort.

But today Iraq is a free country because of the surge, and though hardly a completely secure and stable democracy, Iraq is on the path that could make it the anchor of freedom in the Muslim world while its fascist neighbor Iran is convulsed with demonstrations and unmasked to the world as the most repressive regime in the region.

The new Administration could still forfeit the hard won, extremely costly victory in Iraq through fecklessness or a desperate need to please the hard-left fringe in the United States that will forever understand victory in Iraq as a rebuke to their hatred of Bush and their blindness to the true stakes of the war.  Every day of freedom the Iraqis enjoy is a day that MoveOn.org and the rest of the gang wanted to deny the Iraqi people.  They helped President Obama win an election of course, but they are losing the battle with history every single day, and days like today must drive that home and drive them into a deserved gloom over their own failed plans to see America humbled.

The Pacific Legal Foundation aks your help in appealing to Arnold to try and save tens of thousands of Californai jobs.

From our favorite anonymous ad exec:

The last piece I wrote to you seemed to have struck a chord.  I typically get a good bit of support emails at bearinthewoods84@gmail.com when I write you, but nothing like what I got from the last post.  I've heard from people in advertising and film who feel the same way I do, and understand the issue with the GOP's communications.  Like, me, these are credentialed folks who work in communications and entertainment.  And like me, we're all questioning whether there's any understanding in the party that they truly need well-crafted messaging, on top of solid positions. 

One of the emails that made me feel the best about what I've been writing to you pointed me to this post: http://tinyurl.com/np2gg4  It's a PBS interview with Phil Dusenberry, one of the legends of the advertising industry, and one of the members of the Tuesday Team that crafted the Bear in the Woods spot.  Have a read.  Phil makes many of the same points I've made here -- the need for an emotional connection, the need to use craft to make the message something that connects with people.  These principles apply, regardless of the message, or the medium it's delivered in.  I've seen more recent interviews with Phil, and, yes, he's very old-school advertising.  But because I work almost completely in new media, I understand that the basics apply, regardless.  You still have to tell the story in a way that engages people.  Our side doesn't do that well.  We have a better story.  We craft it badly. 

The other side?  Glad you asked.  The Cannes Advertising festival finished up over the weekend.  It's a celebration and awards show for the best advertising on the planet.  Taking both the Tittanium Lion, and the Integrated Grand Prix -- "Yes We Can," the entry from the Obama/Biden campaign.  We have our work cut out for us.  I know there's an audience for a well-crafted conservative message.  I know there's the means to craft that message.  I just don't know if there's a client.  If anyone from the party has been reading along, it's past time.  

The seemingly never-ending legal debate over whether or not government can use the race of Americans in awarding benefits or inflicting penalties added another chapter today as a majority of the Supreme Court issued a narrow, Justice Kennedy-authored ruling overturning the decision below in the Ricci case and holding that "we need not reach the question whether respondents’ actions may have violated the Equal Protection Clause. "  Neither the outcome nor the split is surprising.  The text of the opinion is here.

One of the most interesting questions that senators questioning Judge Sotomayor could pose is whether this holding or the Equal Protection clause-related precedents are "superprecedents," like Roe and Casey are said to be by liberal senators.

My Washington Examiner column underscores how the cap-and-tax bill passed by the House would bring with it a metastasis of the administrative state.

I have been negotiating with and sometimes suing federal agencies for the past two decades, usually because federal officials use ambiguous language in federal statutes to adopt extremely expansive views of federal power. 

Either the cap-and-tax bill or the Obama./Pelosi/Reid "government option/public plan" approaches to health care would make these past power grabs seem small by comparison.  Either bill would empower federal agencies --some not yet even created-- to wield new and extraordinary authority over individuals and business.  When the Senate takes up cap-and-tax, the GOP must focus the public attention on the vast power grab the law envisions, and both houses must focus on the government's control over individuals' lives that would arrive with a "government option/public plan" in health care.

Abe Greenwald wants to give George Bush credit for his Iran policy.

Gabriel Schoenfeld wonders whether President Obama could deliver help to Iranian democrats even if he wanted to.

Gateway Pundit has chilling video.  (HT: Instapundit.)

The Stoning of Soraya M had a strong per screen opening for its very limited release.  As it opens in more cities this week, please help to maintain that momentum.

Michael Jackson's death sucked an enormous amount of attention away from the courage of Iranians still battling the regime, but as the posts at Twitter's #iranelection thread show, dissent and demonstrations continue.

More than 2,000 are under arrested in Iran, with hundreds more missing.  Human rights activists supported by President Obama and the rest of the west have to keep up pressure on the regime to release the demonstrators and stop the disappearances.

Politico's Jonathan Martin reports on Mitt Romney's road to 2012.

Any serious GOP contenders for right to take on President Obama will be working for Chris Cristie in New Jersey and Bob McDonnell in Virginia as the only two races of great consequence in 2009 draw closer.

And anyone seeking to seriously challenge for the nomination will have to mount an equivalent to Romney's Free and Strong America PAC to be in a position to help with the crucial 2010 races that are necessary to restore balance to a Beltway tilted far left.