PRESIDENTIN' IS JUST LIKE BEING A B.M.O.C., AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T AGREE IS A BIG GIRL

President Obama threw out the first pitch at the All-Star Game tonight, and already Fox Nation and Gateway Pundit are running the Obama pitch back-to-back with George W. Bush's 2001 World Series first pitch (The enlightened GP calls Obama's toss a "sissy pitch," while Fox adds a sneering comment about Obama's pitch "barely reaching the plate.")

So, yeah -- I guess what we really want is four more years of Bush. Right?

But this is still the right-wing formula: evidence of toughness or brawn or some other jockish virtue is the mark of a fine president, and is even more important than actually being good as president. I say that because even at Fox you'll see Bush denounced these days for running up deficits and destroying the GOP brand. But he can do a manly thing Joe Lunchpail can relate to, which is why we thought he would be a great president, and it's why it's still true, dammit, that he was a great president, even though he was a terrible president.

And it's why Sarah Palin will be a great president, dammit -- she knows it's all about point-guardin' and hockey, and it's not about, y'know, actually grasping the reasons for a cap-and-trade program. Because leadership isn't about actually knowing things and applying knowledge to effect change. Leadership is about feelings. Leadership is about making people feel you're a leader because you remind them of the high school hero jock or the head cheerleader. Only sissies don't understand that.