So Why, After Prior Successes, Did Obama's

Entertainers Wrongly Assume That Their Fame, Money, And Influence Arise From Broad Knowledge Rather Than Natural Talent, Looks, Or Mastery Of A Narrow Skill.

For All The Criticism About Warlords, It Is Now Likely That Afghanistan Will Never Again Be Turned Over To Al Qaeda To Train Thousands To Conduct The Type Of Murder We Saw On September 11. For All Real Problems With Ambushes And Sabotage, There Will Be No More Gassings, Mass Murdering, Invading Neighbors, Sending Guided Missiles Across Borders Or No-fly Zones In Iraq, But Rather The Hard Work Of Consensual Government - A Difficult Process Easily Caricatured, But When Completed Universally Admired.

What Is About Palin That Drives The Elite, Especially Elite Women, Crazy? Great Looks? That Middle-america Accent? The 5 Kids And He-man Husband? The Lack Of A Powerful Father Or Spouse Who Could Jump-start Her 'feminist' Career With Money, Contacts, And Influence? That Idaho Ba? The Wink? The Charisma And, Indeed, Sensuality So Lacking In Her Angry Critics?

After Three Elections, Voters Finally Caught On That Obama's Faults Were Not In The Stars, But In Himself. They Apparently Tired Of The Usual Distractions From A Dismal Presidential Record.

I Wish I Could Attribute The Absence Of Any Conventional Arab Offensive In The Last 20 Years To A Change Of Political Climate Or A Willingness To Abide By Past Accords. But Unfortunately It Is More Likely That The Egyptians Or Syrians Concluded That The Next Time Their Tanks Headed To Tel Aviv, There Was Nothing Stopping The Counterassaults From Ending Up In Downtown Cairo Or Damascus.