SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:27 P.M. ET:

HIS AND HERS, HOW LOVELY – It turns out that President Obama and Michelle Obama took separate government jets to Martha's Vineyard just hours apart to begin their 1,207th vacation since the president was sworn in.  You would think there'd be more sensitivity to the appearances, to the extra costs involved, but this administration shows utter contempt for the very people it claims to represent.  The liberals used to complain about "the imperial presidency."  Well, they've created one.  God save the king, and queen, and Jeeves will fetch their aircraft.

A GENTLE SLAP – Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi, former Republican national chairman and a man who may know more about national politics than anyone around, has delivered a gentle slap on the wrist to his friend, Rick Perry.  After saying that southern conservatives are going to be "nitpicked" by the liberal media over everything they say, Barbour nonetheless gently derided Perry for some of Perry's loose-cannon language this week, especially Perry's description of possible moves by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as "treasonous."  Barbour said, "I think Rick Perry has to get prepared for the fact that he's gonna be nitpicked by the liberal media elite for everything he says and that he has to be very careful because everything that he says that can be taken out of context, will be taken out of context."  Barbour said he would not have used Perry's language.  Governor Perry, that's good advice from a good man.

THE POOR TASTE AWARD – I hate to give it to a conservative, but State Senator Frank Antenori of Tucson has expressed interest in running for the Congressional seat now held by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was horrendously wounded in a shooting in Tucson earlier this year.  I wish he'd just availed himself of the Constitutional right to shut up.  Gabrielle Giffords, a traditional pro-defense Democrat married to a recently retired Navy officer and astronaut, has become a revered figure, respected for her service and the medical fight she's been waging.   It appears that she'll be well enough to run again.  Unless her district is heavily gerrymandered, she has no chance of losing.  What should Republicans do?  Just endorse her and send her on her way.  It would be a respected, appreciated gesture, and she might even feel a connection to both parties.  Many of her instincts, after all, like passionate support for the Second Amendment, are conservative.  Joint endorsements are not unknown.  There's a place in politics for some class.

SARAH'S KNACK – Whatever anyone thinks of Sarah Palin, she has an unparalleled knack for attracting attention and publicity.  There's now renewed buzz that she's soon going to announce her candidacy for president.  She's dropped a number of hints in recent days, and Karl Rove said on Fox today that her schedule after Labor Day looks suspiciously like a candidate's.  Will she make a difference if she gets in?  Hard to say.  She's lost substantial popularity within the Republican Party, and I've long felt that her resignation from the Alaska governorship was fatal.  But she's going to attract massive news coverage, and inevitably it will be said that she was just jealous of Michele Bachmann.  I don't think one can easily predict what will happen if she gets in, but she'll certainly sell more books.  The key, if she does take the plunge, will be for her to surprise us by coming thoroughly briefed and prepared to discuss any issue in detail.

August 19, 2011