The week before the 11th Circuit Court begins to hear arguments in the case concerning the Constitutionality of Obamacare, brought by attorneys representing the 26 states that are appealing it, President Barack Hussein Obama’s acting Solicitor General has come up with brilliant advice for the majority of Americans who remain opposed to socialized medicine and the pecuniary taxes which our government will impose upon us with its implementation.

Acting Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal was standing before the 6th Circuit Court on Wednesday, defending Obamacare against an appeal by the Thomas More Law Center. He told the federal appeals court that Americans who didn’t like the individual mandate could always avoid it by choosing to earn less money.

You see, SG Katyal was struggling to defending the unconstitutional law in front of the three-judge panel, which was comprised of two Republican-appointed judges and a Democratic-appointed judge. The judges were actively expressing their doubts about the government’s defense of the health care law, more so than the Fourth Circuit panel that heard the Virginia-based Obamacare challenge last month in Richmond did.

Of course, the Fourth Circuit panel is made up entirely of Democrats, and two of the judges were appointed by Obama himself.

I’m shocked.

Katyal was put on the spot, when Judge Jeffrey Sutton, nominated by President George W. Bush, asked Katyal if he could name one Supreme Court case which considered the same question as the one posed by the mandate, in which Congress used the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution as a tool to compel action.

Katyal had to admit that the Supreme Court had “never been confronted directly” with the question, but deferred to the Heart of Atlanta Motel case as a relevant example.

The Heart of Atlanta Motel case was a landmark 1964 civil rights case in which the Court ruled that Congress could use its Commerce Clause power to bar discrimination by private businesses such as hotels and restaurants.

Judge Sutton wasn’t buying that argument:

They’re in the business. They’re told if you’re going to be in the business, this is what you have to do. In response to that law, they could have said, ‘We now exit the business.’ Individuals don’t have that option.

Then, Katyal, desperately attempting to come up with a brilliant argument, replied:

If we’re going to play that game, I think that game can be played here as well, because after all, the minimum coverage provision only kicks in after people have earned a minimum amount of income. So it’s a penalty on earning a certain amount of income and self insuring. It’s not just on self insuring on its own. So I guess one could say, just as the restaurant owner could depart the market in Heart of Atlanta Motel, someone doesn’t need to earn that much income. I think both are kind of fanciful and I think get at…

Sutton stopped him cold, saying:

That wasn’t in a single speech given in Congress about this…the idea that the solution if you don’t like it is make a little less money.

Katyal’s problem was that fact that the so-called “hardship exemption” in the health care law that he was referring to is limited, and only applies to people who cannot obtain insurance for less than 8 percent of their income. So earning less isn’t necessarily a solution, because it could then qualify the person for government-subsidized insurance which could make their contribution to premiums fall below the 8 percent threshold.

Katyal floundered about during the oral arguments in a vain attempt to respond to the judges’ questions concerning what the limits of Congressional power would be if the courts ruled that they have the ability under the Commerce Clause to force individuals to purchase something.

Per Judge Sutton, it would it be “hard to see this limit” in Congressional power if the mandate is upheld, and he concentrated on the word “regulate” in the Commerce clause, explaining that the word implies you’re in a market. According to the Judge:

You don’t put them in the market to regulate them.

And, in a related story, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney announced the kick-off of his Presidential Campaign yesterday, at Stratham Farm in New Hampshire, a must-stop location for all GOP contenders.

On May 12th of this year, Romney gave a speech defending his role in the passage of the Massachusetts state-run Healthcare system, affectionately known as Romneycare.

He argued that his state-based approach was different than the president’s and was the right legislation for Massachusetts:

…I also recognize, a lot of pundits are saying I should stand up and say this whole thing was a mistake.

But there’s only one problem with that—it wouldn’t be honest. I, in fact, did what I felt was right for the people of my state.

We’re going to care for one another. I’m proud of the fact that in our state, when we faced real challenges … we didn’t just say, ‘Well, it’s a problem no one can solve.’ We said, ‘We gotta job to do. We gotta help people.

It wasn’t perfect. It included a number of things I’d do differently.… But overall, am I proud of fact we did our best for people, and we got people insured? Absolutely.

The first distinction between what we did in my state and President Obama did was our plan was a state solution to a state problem, and his was a power grab by federal government to put in place a one-size-fits-all plan.

This is what we would call [the] free-rider program.It wasn’t a larger number of people, but a growing problem.

On the other hand…former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin thinks that ol’ Mitt should be hanging his political future on how wonderful Romneycare is:

I think that he’ll have maybe a bit more challenges with independents who make up the tea party movement, wanting to make sure we are not going to — we won’t have any excuses or perceived political reasons to grow government. In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, obviously, and I am not the only one to say so. But obviously there will be more explanation coming from Governor Romney for his support of government mandates.

The day after Gov. Romney’s announcement of his candidacy, my mind strays back to this exchange he had with Charlie Gibson and Fred Thompson during ABC’s January 2008 Republican presidential debate:

GIBSON: But Government Romney’s system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.

ROMNEY: No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.

THOMPSON: I beg your pardon? I didn’t know you were going to admit that. You like mandates.

Well, Gov. Romney, I don’t.  Like Governor Palin, and the majority of Americans, I prefer FREEDOM.

The Press – The Main Stream Media, a rapidly deteriorating collection of subjective Progressives, hiding under the camouflage of the entity formerly known as the Fourth Estate.

Palin -Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin

–scopy – Viewing; seeing; observation

Palinoscopy – The treatment that these so-called “broadcast journalists” are receiving from former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin during her national bus tour, exposing them for the clueless paparazzi that they are, foiling their well-worn ambush tactics and any Progressive “spontaneous” protests.

A prime example of the hissy fit that these broadcast journalists are having over Gov. Palin’s national bus tour can be found in the words of Martin Bashir, an ex-patriot Brit, presently seen on the White House’s propaganda arm, MSNBC:

It’s time now to Clear the Air and to ask a question: what is the purpose behind Sarah Palin’s current bus tour? It’s difficult to ask that question directly because Sarah Palin specializes in checkbook journalism. That is, she only gives interviews to a network that pays her in excess of $1 million a year. So we’re forced to make judgements from the outside and it all looks like the precursor to a presidential campaign. The vehicle itself reminds us of all those campaign buses that crisscross the nation at election time. The media are ever-present, catching her every handshake and every book signing. And the journey itself – visiting locations of national importance along the East Coast and proclaiming once again as the most patriotic American that ever lived.

And yet, even in her paid-for interview, she seems coy and almost confused about what she’s doing. “This is not a campaign bus,” she said on Fox News. “This is a bus to express to American how much we appreciate our foundation and to invite more people to be interested about all that is good about America.” It all sounds like a wonderful commitment to American values and American history, but it’s nothing of the kind. In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States. Under standards of respect and etiquette, it’s made clear that the flag of the United States should never be used for any advertising purpose whatsoever. Yet that’s precisely what Sarah Palin is doing. She’s using the flag of the United States for her own financial purposes. She drapes herself in the stars and stripes and makes millions of dollars in the process. This has got nothing to do with the presidency and everything to do with filling her pockets. And by raising her profile, she raises her income. It is as simple as that. So she was right when she said that hers is not a campaign bus. It’s a cash bus and she’ll keep it rolling for as long as she can. Thanks so much for watching.

Now, that’s funny.  A British Progressive lecturing an American Conservative on the proper use of our country’s flag.  I guess that he forgot that his channel’s logo used to be intertwined with an image of the American flag from 2001 – 2003 when MSNBC was going through its America’s Newschannel phase.

In an article posted May 31st, 2011 on latimes.com, for a regular column titled On the Media, James Rainey writes:

The people complaining about Palin’s tour act as if she would no longer be a political player, perhaps even disappear from public life, if reporters didn’t ask her what she was up to. Alert: Sarah Palin has found a way to reach an audience via Fox News, Facebook, Twitter and her SarahPAC.com website.

Whether she will run for president, those who love Palin and those who loathe her exhibit a relentless attention to what she does. Television ratings jump when she goes on air. Web posts with her name in the headline draw more hits and many more comments.

It shouldn’t be the sole variable for judging newsworthiness, but at some point writers, editors and producers have to give their audiences a dose of what they are interested in.

Then he gets sarcastic:

Palin has signaled she is intent on teaching those smart-alecky reporters a lesson or two. She greets them with a smile at her events, then depicts them in her blog posts and interviews as slothful and unaware of the significance of the history she is putting in front of their noses.

A blog post Tuesday was headlined that she was “Reminding Reporters, too, of America’s Foundations.” She told Van Susteren reporters wanted too many handouts like, gasp, a schedule of her events.

“I want them to have to do a little bit of work on a tour like this, and that would include not necessarily telling them beforehand where every stop is going to be.”

Yes, fellow Americans, that’s really the biggest failing of the media: not overlooking crucial topics or obsessing on horse-race-style coverage. It’s the way those lazy-bones reporters expect you to tell them what you are doing.

Hey, Mr. Rainey…you want some cheese with that whine?

By the way, Main Stream Media… If you guys had been objective reporters, instead of subjective Progressives, you wouldn’t be receiving such a painfully public Palinoscopy…would you?

As most Americans spent Memorial Day Weekend relaxing with family and friends, (or, in President Barack Hussein Obama’s case, playing his 70th round of golf as POTUS, but I digress), Urban youth in several major American cities participated in something different:  violence and chaos.

For the past 10 years, in Miami’s Art Deco District on South Beach, the trendy area has turned into a hip-hop street party during Memorial Day weekend, called Urban Weekend, with a substantial police presence trying to watch hundreds of thousands of young revelers.

However, early morning shootings on Monday, leaving in one dead, four bystanders hit by stray bullets, and three police officers injured, has prompted a call to replace the hip-hop themed festival with something less dangerous — or do away with it altogether.

Gay Latino activist Herb Sosa wrote the following in an open letter to the Miami Beach City Commission:

There isn’t a residential street in South Beach not affected by tons of garbage, crime to our vehicles, excessive noise 24 hours a day, and simply a lack of respect for our community, citizens and property. Make the difficult but correct decision to put an end to Urban Weekend in Miami Beach.

Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin wrote on Facebook that he supports a Memorial Day weekend curfew, supposedly proposed by City Manager Jorge Gonzalez.

Libbin, also president and CEO of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, proclaimed:

I think we need to take back the city for the residents. It’s just not right that people live in fear.

Miami Beach resident Aaron Sugarman wrote a letter to the Miami Beach mayor and commissioners, which suggested replacing the hip-hop themed festival with a less rowdy event featuring jazz and blues music.

At police headquarters Monday morning, Libbin also suggested the city needs to rethink the way it handles Memorial Day weekend.

Oh, really.  Ya think?

Per thesun.news.com:

Myrtle Beach [South Carolina] police received reports of five armed robberies, a stabbing, a shooting and an incident involving a shotgun being pointed at a security guard during a nearly eight-hour period in the city early Sunday and Monday.

Because so many people were in the area for Memorial Day celebrations and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, officers responded to numerous criminal complaints and traffic violations, said Myrtle Beach police Capt. David Knipes.

“Policing this event has always come with huge challenges. Unfortunately, criminal activity is often associated with large events, which is why we have deployed additional officers to allow us to respond to this increase in activity,” Knipes said Monday afternoon. “All of the officers working this event have done an outstanding job in very stressful conditions.”

In Rochester, NY, fights broke out among at least 100 youth:

Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies shut down Ontario Beach Park, prompting a traffic jam. Large crowds of youth ran south on Lake Ave.

Sheriff’s and Rochester police arrested 13 people on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to drug and alcohol offenses.

Erica Blake, 34, allegedly assaulted a deputy who responded to the scene. She’s been charged with second-degree assault. Police say the deputy was scratched on the face as he was pulled into the fracas.

Witnesses said there were many young children on the beach. When a large scramble suddenly became more like a fight, parents feared the worst.

Meanwhile, on Long Island Beach in New York:

A Long Island police department says it had to call for backup to quell a beach melee involving hundreds of people that spilled out onto the streets and a nearby bus depot.

Long Beach police say they are investigating the incident. There was no immediate word on arrests.

No injuries were reported.

According to Newsday , 11 Nassau police cars and two Metropolitan Transportation Authority police units assisted with the crowd control on Monday evening.

Police say a series of fights erupted on the beach just before it closed at 6 p.m. and continued for several hours. It was not clear whether the fights involved the same group of young people or different groups.

In Mayor Rahm (Rahmbo) Emmanuel’s Chicago:

WLS Radio’s Monica DeSantis Reports that it may have been a flash mob that forced the closure of North Avenue beach on Memorial Day:

Chicago Police News Affairs released a statement saying they had to close the beach for safety reasons, as people were suffering heat exhaustion and emergency vehicles couldn’t get through to help. But, WLS listeners say there was what they called a “large gangbanger element” at the Oak Street and North Avenue beaches.

…Listeners report being at the beach, and seeing dozens of gang bangers pushing people off their bikes. Another listener says those causing havoc were not dressed for the beach and looked like “bad elements.”

In Boston, Massachusetts:

Fights broke out among rival gang members on Carson Beach in South Boston yesterday and spilled out across the city, triggering a massive law enforcement response from at least five agencies to stem the violence.

Police said the gang members are part of a group of more than 1,000 youths who have used social media sites like Facebook to plan unruly gatherings on the beach on three of the past four nights. The beach falls under the jurisdiction of the State Police, who have been unable to prevent the violence.

In Charlotte, NC:

Questions continue to swirl as investigators search for whoever fired shots during one of many fights in uptown Charlotte early Sunday.

Investigators say Antwan Terrell Smith was shot and killed after someone pulled a gun just after 1 a.m. during a large fight on 3rd Street. Durante Kavon James was shot in the leg.

It was one of several fights that broke out after the Speed Street celebration in Uptown. CMPD called out its Civil Emergency Unit after reporting that many large groups of people were disobeying police, flashing gang signs, blocking traffic and fighting.

A manager at a convenience store on North Tryon Street tells NewsChannel 36 a huge crowd swarmed the store, broke a window, and began stealing things, before running away.

In all, 70 people were arrested – including 15 juveniles. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, fighting, assault, and impeding traffic.

And, finally, in Nashville, TN:

Nearly two dozen police officers were called out to Wave Country on Monday afternoon after large crowds of people became unruly. The disturbance forced park managers to close the facility two hours early on Memorial Day.

Metro Parks director Tommy Lynch said Wave Country was nowhere near capacity, but there were plenty of problems that caused the park to close early.

“Once we got to the point that the turmoil at the front of the facility also got inside the facility, we felt for everyone’s safety the best thing to do was to close it,” Lynch explained.

Metro Police were called out to Wave Country around 1 p.m. because the crowd outside the gates and inside the park was acting up.

“That crowd refused to follow any kind of instructions. They became disorderly,” according to Cpt. Marlene Pardue from Metro Police.

There were several fights inside. Police said one of the biggest problems was people jumping the fence to get into the park, creating chaos inside the park.

“Not just kids jumping the fence, but adults, with children and strollers, putting them over the fence, then jumping the fence,” Cpt. Pardue said.

Visitors inside the park said the chaos made them feel unsafe.

In an unrelated story, it was announced yesterday that SNAP (the Federal Food Assistance Program) has expanded by 39 % under President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

It’s going to be a long, hot summer.

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin began the first leg of her National Bus Tour, visiting historical sites in the Northeastern United States, by riding a motorcycle into Washington , D.C. on Sunday with several hundred thousand other patriotic Americans.

And the Main Stream Media, the Libs, the GOP Elite, and political pundits everywhere are having a screaming hissy fit.

Politico.com ran an article yesterday, claiming that Palin’s bus tour has left everyone confused. Im response, Governor Palin answered:

This isn’t a campaign bus. This is a bus to be able to express to America how much we appreciate our foundation and to invite more people to be interested in all that is good about America and to remind ourselves we don’t need to fundamentally transform America, we need to restore what’s good about America.

You see, Palin’s staff has been keeping mum about where she’s visiting, driving the Main Street Media crazy.

If they don’t know what she’s up to, how can they criticize her, and how can protestors “spontaneously” show up?

Palin’s staff is simply telling reporters ’to check the SarahPAC website, which updates with information only after she’s stopped somewhere.

The GOP Elite is joining the Pity Party. Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason told POLITICO:

I have had no contact. I question the value of the ‘theater’ by some candidates, we seldom hear from presidential candidates as they are all focused on the early primary states. They will need us some day and we will remember those who helped us with party building.

Gleason made a point to remind reporters that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently helped raise funds for the Allegheny County GOP. He also said former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has been active in the state.

Of course, Republican strategist and GOP Elitist Karl Rove had to chime in, sharing his opinion concerning Palin’s “rather unconventional style” Monday on Fox News:

I bet you a dime to a dollar her visits to those areas are not proceeded by courtesy phone calls to the local Republican Party chairman and request they generate volunteers. She will announce her schedule and show up.

Kleenex, Karl?

Politico, itself, whined that that Twitter was the only way the media could keep up with Gov. Palin.

Gosh, Politico. Do you think she might want it that way?  Why should she deal with an unfriendly National Media when she can go straight to the people?

Even Fox News Channel Host Greta Van Susteren, riding along on the bus with Gov. Palin does not know the full itinerary:

We were told to check their website for any information they are releasing. He said they don’t want the media following them, and that includes us.

This is called Political Strategy, you idjits.

Susan Duclos is the owner and editor of the Wake up America Blogspot, where she posts as Spree. She also cross-posts at the Israel Related (Israelated) Blogspot: “A community for English blogging related to Israel and Israeli culture.”  According to her:

The media seems peeved that the only straight up original news is found at SarahPac, where the donation buttons are prominent and she can get people to sign on for her email list giving her a bigger pool of email subscribers. Yes, all this is too confusing for the media outlets to understand… right. Let us not even mention the stories that have the information wrong where even their corrections screw the whole story up…no, we will leave that to Conservatives4Palin to point out. Palin has them all running in circles, fighting to keep up and failing miserably. Palin is not only getting all the media attention she wants, she is doing it on her terms. She is showing everyone, very clearly just how “lame” the lame stream media has become.

Jim Geraghty, posting on nationalreview.com, wrote the following:

…I see this comment, from an unnamed Palinite insider to Shushannah Walshe of the Daily Beast: “According to a source with knowledge of Palin’s operation and thinking, keep a careful eye on how long the tour lasts, because it is intended as a way to test the presidential waters. If the road trip ends abruptly, it’s a sign she didn’t get the enthusiastic responses she believes she needs to launch a campaign. If the tour heads to regions outside of the Northeast like Iowa and South Carolina that, the source says, is a “big indicator” that Palin will pull the trigger.”

Would even the most unhinged anti-Palinite expect small crowds for her? Don’t answer that, of course they would, in between Trig jokes. But for those of us here on earth, not possessed by a raving fury at Palin, aren’t we all expecting big crowds? Does anyone dispute that Sarah Palin can generate enthusiastic responses? She’s the opposite of a candidate whose support is a mile-wide and an inch deep; her backers are a plurality in GOP circles, whose depth of passion rivals the Mariana Trench.

Before she began her national bus tour, Gov. Palin posted the following on sarahpac.com:

Our nation is at a critical turning point. As we look to the future, we are propelled by America’s past. It’s imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward. A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation’s historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures, which we’ll do in the coming weeks on our “One Nation” tour.

We’ll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead. I’ve said many times that America doesn’t need a “fundamental transformation,” instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America! So, together let’s prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.

We’ll celebrate the meaning of our nation’s blueprints, our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which are the threads that weave our past into the fabric necessary for the survival of American exceptionalism. Our founders declared “we were born the heirs of freedom”, and despite our difficulties and disagreements, we remain one nation under God in freedom, indivisible. Through visits to historical sites and patriotic events, we’ll share the importance of America’s foundation.

We encourage you to support the pro-America events we’ll be privileged to participate in during these coming weeks. Discover the ties that bind Americans, our history, our traditions, and the exceptional nature of our country!

I hope Gov. Palin does run.  It would be nice to have a President of the United States that actually loves America.

One week ago tonight, Armageddon came to the city of Joplin, Missouri.

An EF-5 tornado, packing 200 mph winds, tore through the town killing an estimated 139 people and injuring more than 900.

It struck the town of 50,000 at dinner time last Sunday.

Attempting to get the count right has proved to be a daunting, complex, and nearly impossible task for both authorities and loved ones.

According to Missouri officials yesterday, the number of fatalities includes nine people who have been reported dead by their families, but whose status remains unconfirmed by officials.

State officials stated that there are 142 sets of human remains at the morgue handling those killed by the storm and some could be from the same victim.

If the number of people killed in Joplin remains at 139, it would make this year’s tornado death toll number 520, singling out 2011 as the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950. Before now, the highest recorded death toll by the National Weather Service in a single year was 519 in 1953. There were supposedly worse years for tornado fatalities before 1950, but those totals came from estimates and not from a precise count.

The Joplin Tornado is proving to be the deadlist twister to hit our country since 1947.

Survivors told stories of riding out the 200 mph winds in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and, when there was no shelter available, running for their lives as the tornado bore down.

Leslie Swatosh, 22, told of hunkering down on the floor of a liquor store with other helpless Americans, holding on to each other and praying:

We were getting hit by rocks and I don’t even know what hit me.

The tornado demolished the store , but it spared Lesile and those huddled around her, clinging to each other for dear life:

Everyone in that store was blessed. There was nothing of that store left.

The tornado traveled along a path nearly six miles long and about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile wide, wiping out whole neighborhoods, splintering trees and flipping over cars and trucks. Leaving the destruction of 2,000 homes and many other businesses, schools and other buildings behind it.

180 patients had no place to run as the fierce winds blew out windows and pulled off the roof at St. John’s Hospital.  AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert reported that X-ray films from the hospital were found 70 miles away.

According to Jasper County Emergency Management Director Keith Stammers, Joplin’s residents were given about 20 minutes’ notice when 25 warning sirens sounded in the evening.

Per Joplin City Councilwoman Melodee Colbert-Kean, Vice Mayor, the town was in a state of “chaos”:

It is just utter devastation anywhere you look to the south and the east — businesses, apartment complexes, houses, cars, trees, schools, you name it, it is leveled, leveled.

By Tuesday night, the city of Joplin had posted a message on its Facebook page in an attempt to clarify the report of the 1,500 who were still missing:

This does NOT mean they are injured or deceased, just that loved ones are not aware of their whereabouts.

A commenter logged on as Chris Taylor wrote back, desperately seeking specifics:

Is there any way anyone in Joplin could list the people who are still missing? It might help many who still have no idea if a friend or relative is missing.

As Joplin’s citizens sifted through rubble for what was left of their possessions, many neighborhoods remained blocked by wreckage or by emergency officials who searched for survivors.

Jeremy Ball, 38, had to get into his home by crawling through a window. Speaking about the unimaginable horror of last Sunday night, he sadly recounted helping to search nearby homes and finding the bodies of a woman neighbor and her 15-year-old daughter. He said:

That is something you never want to have to do.

After spending the week since the tornado overseas in Ireland, England, France, and Poland, demonstrating his Smart Power! Foreign Policy skills (and gaining America absolutely nothing), President Barack Hussein Obama returned to the country that he is supposed to be leading last night.

The president will be making a quick trip (the Main Stream Media’s words, not mine) to Joplin today to meet with survivors and deliver a short speech at a memorial service.

The Joplin Community Memorial Service will be held on the campus of Missouri Southern State University. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will also speak at the service. The governor released a statement about the event, saying:

On Sunday, all Missourians will pause to morn for those killed by this devastating storm, and to stand together as we begin the process of rebuilding and recovery.

Obama is scheduled to tour the storm damage, thank first responders, and participate in meetings between local and state officials and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, before returning to Washington.

One week later.

[May God bless and comfort the citizens of Joplin, Missouri as they rebuild their town and their lives.]

Yesterday, former Minnnesota Governor, declared Republican candidate for president, and proven cure for insomnia, Tim Pawlenty, appeared on Morning Joe on the White House’s propaganda arm, MSNBC. When asked about the possible candidacy of former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, Pawlenty answered:

Who knows? I don’t know if she’s running or not. We need to quit worrying about polls and bus tours and get onto the issue of how we’re going to fix the country and get the country back on track.

Whoever’s going to get in, I hope they get in soon.I want the field to be set, so we can have the real debate.

A recent Gallup poll showed Pawlenty with only 6 percent support among Republicans, behind Herman Cain, a Tea Party-backed dark-horse candidate. That same poll showed Palin in second behind Mitt Romney, among all GOP candidates, at 15 percent.

Pawlenty, on his way to Iowa on Monday, made the statement that regardless of Palin’s decision, potential candidates on the sidelines should enter the race sooner rather than later so that the GOP can sharpen its message against President Obama.

I realize that, as a candidate, your job is to grab all the media esposure that you can, but why would you walk into a Democrat stronghold and run down another Republican?

MSNBC certainly did not need any help yesterday in their attacks on Sarah Palin and her national bus tour.

From firstread.msnbc.msn.com:

WASHINGTON — One day after Sarah Palin announced her bus tour, a group sponsoring a Memorial Day weekend event she plans to attend said they never invited her.

“She wasn’t invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release she was coming to Rolling Thunder,” Ted Shpak, national legislative director of Rolling Thunder, told “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” Shpak is one of three members of Rolling Thunder’s current leadership who says he had no idea Palin was coming until it was posted on her website.

On Thursday, the former governor of Alaska and potential GOP presidential candidate announced her bus tour on her political action committee’s website, Sarahpac.com. The tour is to begin in Washington, D.C., where Palin plans to participate in the Sunday motorcycle rally sponsored by Rolling Thunder Inc., a group that raises awareness of prisoners of war and those missing in action.

“She’s not invited to speak. We’re not endorsing her … (but) we can’t stop her from coming to ride, if she wants to ride,” Shpak continued.

Organizers of Rolling Thunder say their guest speakers are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Palin’s representatives say they were invited to Rolling Thunder – by a former board member who is emceeing the event.

Mike DePaulo tells NBC News he had a standing offer for her to ride with them from the Pentagon across the bridge to D.C. – and that he got a call from what he called “the Palin campaign” on Wednesday to see if they could take him up on it. He coordinated it with a friend of his, Joe Fields, of the Alaska Veterans’ Advisory Council, who had worked with Palin when she was governor.

A spokeswoman for Rolling Thunder says they frequently invite celebrity guests to ride with them.

 Was this an intentional hit piece?  You betcha.

Per abcnews.com’s “The Note”:

ABC News’ Sheila Marikar [@sheilaym] reports: For the riders of Rolling Thunder, the news that Sarah Palin will participate in their national rally on Sunday came as a surprise. A welcome surprise.

“I think that’s wonderful,” said Gerri Tramel, president of one of Rolling Thunder’s Tennessee chapters. “Anybody that’s involved — Republican, Democrat, independent, whatever — if you’re involved with our veterans, I think that’s wonderful. Not just Sarah Palin — anyone that’s a politician.”

…Asked how Palin came to be involved with the rally, Rolling Thunder spokeswoman Nancy Regg said, “I honestly don’t know.”

“I’m not the person that invited her,” she said. “We send letters to people all the time and invite them. We invited her to ride, she has accepted and she and her husband have both agreed to ride for us.”

Regardless of Palin’s political agenda — the “Will she or won’t she?” fervor over her potential presidential run reached new heights this week — the members of Rolling Thunder agreed her participation is a boon.

“If she wants to support the troops, we’re all for it,” said Greg Benson, president of Rhode Island’s Rolling Thunder chapter.

“I certainly welcome any positive publicity surrounding our cause, anything to bring attention to POWs and MIAs,” said Jeffrey Stewart, who leads a Rolling Thunder chapter in New Hampshire, a state that will be crucial to Palin if she runs in 2012. “Whether it’s a celebrity or a politician-celebrity — I’m not exactly sure what she is right now — having Sarah Palin there means more people will be paying attention to our cause.”

Stewart considers himself a Republican. While he’s not gunning for Palin to run in 2012, he would like more politicians to recognize the country’s veterans, as she’ll do this weekend. Like many of Rolling Thunder’s members, he’s a veteran himself, having served in the Army during the 1980s.

“I’d love to see [President] Obama walk out and say, ‘Thank you,’” he said. “I’d love to see [Vice President Joe] Biden come out and say, ‘Thank you.’ Anyone who wants to be president, I’d love for them to come and acknowledge us.”

And, if you still question the fact that MSNBC’s programming purpose is to spread blatant Progressive Propaganda, ask potential Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann about what happened to her on the night of last year’s Midterm Elections:

Pawlenty certainly had the right to his opinion about Palin’s bus tour.  However, he did not have to walk right in to one of the Democrat’s biggest propaganda machines to express it.

Just when all of the smart people think that they have all the answers regarding former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin , she changes the question.

As I linked to in my update to yesterday’s post, Palin will begin a national bus tour this Sunday.

Palin’s tour, the first of a series of travels that will occur over the next several weeks, will kick-start this Sunday in Washington, when Palin addresses over 500,000 Americans at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally.

Per the rally’s website:

Rolling Thunder began in 1987 as a demonstration to bring awareness to the plight of prisoners of war (POW) and to those missing in action (MIA). Rolling Thunder originated when four Vietnam Veterans, exercising the First Amendment “Right to Petition and Assemble”, organized the first group of 2500 motorcycles to ride through the streets of Washington, DC. This first Rolling Thunder run was made in an attempt to petition the government to take responsibility for the soldiers that were abandoned after the Vietnam War ended.

Today over 250, 000 motorcycles ride during the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day weekend observance, held each year in our nation’s capital. Rolling Thunder has evolved to be not only a demonstration for the POW/MIA issue but also a demonstration of patriotism and respect for soldiers and veterans from all wars.

The tour will then work its way north through the Northeast. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd will visit other parts of the country later, stopping at historical sites along their route.

Her advisers are not linking details of her specific itinerary, nor are they spilling the beans over whether this is the launch of a presidential campaign. When a reporter asked Tim Crawford, the treasurer of Palin’s PAC, as to why Palin was beginning this journey, he said:

Because she wants to see how this nation was built and get fired up about that.

Palin herself commented on her website that:

I’ve said many times that America doesn’t need a ‘fundamental transformation,’ instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America! So, together let’s prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.

Republican and Democrat strategists and pundits are all freaking out. They did not see this coming. Their fervent hope, expressed as a certainty, was that Palin would not be running in 2012, but would instead wait until 2016.

A top GOP strategist, speaking anonymously said:

If [Palin] is doing any outreach at all, it would have to be totally under the radar and not with the traditional activist crowd.

A Gallup poll released Thursday showed Palin with 15 percent among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents. The only person ahead of her is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, coming in at 17 percent. According to Gallup, she and Romney have benefited most from the decision by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee not to run again in 2012.

So, while Gov. Palin is rocking America’s political scene, what is the author of Romneycare,  former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney doing?

Yesterday, he traveled to Chicago for the dual purpose of raising money and putting together a state campaign team for another Presidential Campaign.

Romney, as he did in 2008, named state Treasurer Dan Rutherford as his Illinois chairman, saying:

[Rutherford] was with me last time around, and made things happen here. This time we’re going to be more successful.

Romney and Rutherford had a lunch meeting with area business owners at Gino’s East pizzeria in the Near North neighborhood.

After listening to complaints about Obama’s horrible economy, Romney proclaimed that Obama has pursued policies that have weakened the economy:

You have ticked off a number of the features [taxes and health costs] that I find very troubling. Business can handle bad news. Business has a hard time with uncertainty.

After they finished eating pizza, Romney sent the remaining pies to President Barack Hussein Obama’s Chicago reelection headquarters.

Asked if the pies actually made it to Obama’s HQ, a campaign source said that they had.

Romney tweeted a photo of a delivery boy heading out with the loot, writing:

Great deep dish at @ginoseast. Sending the extra slices to @barackobama and his Chicago HQ team.

Before the pizza parlor photo op, Romney appeared at a private fundraiser consisting of about 75 people at the Hilton and Towers across from Grant Park.

After his Illinois visit, Romney will travel to the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa.

While there, he will kick-off the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s presidential candidate series on Friday. The Greater Des Moines Partnership is a business group.

Romney plans on spending a lot of time in Iowa:

I’m going to get to see some friends back in Iowa on a pretty regular basis. If this campaign goes forward, why, I certainly expect to do my effort in virtually every state in the nation.

Romney faced a residency challenge, concerning his time in Utah, during his campaign for Massachusetts governor. When asked Thursday if he felt an affinity for Rahm Emanuel, who faced his own residency challenge during his campaign for mayor of Chicago, Romney said:

I wish him the very best. It looks to me like he’s getting off to a good start, working hard. I hope he does a fine job here for the people in Chicago. My residency challenge was one I was able to bat down pretty easily.

How…nice.

Romney will formally announce his candidacy for President in New Hampshire next Thursday, June 2, at a noontime barbecue at GOP stalwart Doug and Stella Scamman’s Bittersweet Farm in Stratham. Both Scammans are former New Hampshire House members. Doug Scamman is a former Speaker of the House.

Ohhh…the excitement.

A 500,000 person rally of patriotic Americans vs. an exclusive barbeque attended by the GOP Elite.

I couldn’t have painted a better comparison if I tried.