Here’s some of the pointless speculation you expect from the press

It is typical of the national media that they are already speculating about 2012. Even though it is utterly foolish to do so, let’s join them for a minute or two.

The speculation has centered on Sarah Palin. Will she be content to return to Alaska and serve as governor and nothing else? Will she attempt to remain in the national spotlight? Will she become the new leader of the hapless Republicans, trying to whip them into shape for the next run? Might she even make a try for the top spot in four years?

All of this says only that some people in the writing and broadcasting games have too much time on their hands.

If the next four years turn out reasonably well, nobody is going to care about the Republican nominee in 2012. The office won’t come open again until 2016.

And if things go sour between now and 2010 or so, going from bad today to even worse, lots of people will spring up, all of them aspiring to save the country.

At the moment there is all this hope, not just in this country but around the world. But hope does not accomplish anything. You cannot count on it.

Early signs are that worldwide jubilation about the election results is not a good indicator of future well-being. Russia started it off by announcing plans to place short-range missiles near its border with Poland. Nobody could possibly benefit from such a move, not even Russia. It’s a clear indication that Putin or somebody there thinks this is a good time to start picking fights with the United States and the West for no other reason than to show it can be done.

As for Palin, she is likely to remain in the national spotlight because she is an attractive person and has strong convictions, though currently out of fashion. She can make a career as a spokeswoman for those convictions and hope against hope to shape public opinion her way. Unless she does, she’ll remain a prominent public figure but not a serious contender for national office.

The national mood is not likely to change, though, and if she tried to accommodate herself to the winds of public opinion, she would lose her best side, which is that she speaks her mind without worrying too much what anybody thinks.

Another American who is not afraid to speak his mind is Joe the Plumber. He has been making appearances on cable, and because he obviously is no politician he sounds authentic.

Joe the Plumber makes no apologies for his opinion that it’s wrong to increase taxes on people who work for a living and earn what they get.

Depending on how things go in the arena of federal taxes during the first few Obama years — how fast taxes go up and who gets hurt the most — we could end up with a national opposition ticket that has Joe the Plumber at the top. (hh)