Kathleen Parker

Opinion Source Information:

From this Reliable Sources transcript:  "You can't blame anyone for a crime except the person who commits the crime, clearly.People on the far left are always looking for an excuse to attack Bill O'Reilly, and Keith Olbermann and O'Reilly tend to bounce off each other a good bit. So I'm not sure who this argument is really between."

Opinion Source Information:

Source

Obama opposition is not race-based

Racism is nothing to laugh about. But some of the commentary lately has been so overwrought as to be laughable. It is profoundly irresponsible, for example, to call Wilson a racist under the circumstances - as bad as, if not worse than, calling someone a liar.

All of these are reasons enough to be sensitive to race, but also to be wary of the racist epithet. Our racially divided past, and hoped-for unified future, is too important to be co-opted for political purposes - by either side.

Opinion Source Information:

From Washington Post:

Suddenly, after a lifetime shunning publicity -- one of her charms -- Kennedy is a likely U.S. senator solely on the basis of having decided that she'd like that quite a lot.

The question for detractors isn't so much whether she's qualified, smart enough or even experienced enough. Respectively, "no," "yes," and "it may not matter" are reasonable responses. Among her qualifications is an ability to raise money and broker deals on the weight of her name. That such power is endowed by birthright doesn't diminish its political value.

The real rub is that she hasn't earned it. The sense of entitlement implicit in Kennedy's plea for appointment mocks our national narrative. We honor rags-to-riches, but riches-to-riches animates our revolutionary spirit.

Opinion Source Information:

From WaPo:

Obama's outreach to Muslims via his visit to Turkey was similarly inspired. He delivered virtually the same message that Bush did countless times -- that the U.S. is not at war with Islam -- but without the reminder that either you're with us or against us.

It didn't hurt that Obama dusted off his middle name, Hussein, and mentioned having lived in a Muslim country. "I get you," he implied. "We are not enemies."

A man who listens may be perceived as weak by those who prefer to talk big. But playground wisdom holds that showoffs are usually overcompensating, and the strongest one has nothing to prove. To answer the original question: When you're the big dog, you can afford to smile. The saber is understood.