SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

SARAH WATCHERS, PLEASE NOTE –  Sarah Palin has accepted an invitation to keynote a Tea Party rally in Iowa on September 3rd, just at the start of the political season.  Some Sarah observers see this as another hint that she'll soon enter the presidential contest.  She must make a decision by the end of September to get her operation going well enough to be competitive in upcoming primaries.

PERRY RISING – A new Gallup Poll reports that Governor Rick Perry of Texas would start his presidential campaign in second place, behind only Mitt Romney, who's been running for president since Theodore Roosevelt's day.  I would expect that Perry would find himself as leader of the pack in short order, as he outdistances Romney by many laps as a campaigner.  Palin was third in the survey, and Giuliani and Bachmann tied for fourth.

BOEHNER ALSO RISING – The speaker, along with Majority Leader Eric Cantor, are starting to get high marks over the way they're whipping their House majority in line behind Boehner's debt proposal.  There had been a brief rebellion by the Tea Party stalwarts, but that seems to be fading in the face of calls by Boehner and others for a practical approach to the debt crisis.  Boehner, whose proposal is not perfect, is correct.  He's following the Reagan mantra that it's better to have 80% of something than 100% of nothing.  If the House passes the Boehner plan, the Dem Senate will be in the position of attempting to vote down the only coherent plan out there.

DEVIL HOT DOGS! – A billboard near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is warning race goers of the health dangers of demon hot dogs.  There is apparently not much evidence to back up the claim, but we're glad to know the munchies police are on the job.  I suspect, but cannot prove, that the billboard is being sponsored by the Take-All-The-Fun-Out-Of-Life Coalition, a group of people who wear sensible shoes.

July 27, 2011