• Former President George W. Bush starts a 2009 speaking tour next month that will take him to several foreign nations. He’s now listed with the Washington Speakers Bureau and, to date, has ten speeches scheduled. I can’t help wondering who would actually pay good money to hear him speak. Public speaker he is not. Never was. Never will be.
• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate, appears in a just-released documentary about how the news media sought to destroy her. Speaking as only she can, the governor says, “This is for the sake of our democracy that there is fairness in this other branch of government, if you will, called the media.” Reports on MSNBC today noted the governer includes “Saturday Night Live,” “The Daily Show,” and “The Colbert Report” among the news media she is criticizing. Methinks the governor had better develop a thicker skin if she wants to play with the big boys on the national political stage.
• Illinois Senator Roland Burris, appointed by impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill Barack Obama’s vacated seat, has come under increasingly heavy fire for being … umm … less than forthcoming about his dealings with the governor’s office just prior to his appointment. Okay, Senator, you’ve been in Washington a couple of weeks now. You’ve earned the addition of “U.S. Senator” to that list of achievements on your monument. Now go home. Just go.