Obama Must Be Thanking the Lord for Joe Wilson

And the conservative excuse – whoops, argument -- that Wilson's outburst was justified because Obama had just driven a stake through the heart of the "death panels'' fiction – yes, Sarah Palin, he was lookin' at you -- is more of the same old "he started it!'' kid stuff.

(Though it wasn't widely noticed, Palin shrewdly got out in front of the death of death panels yesterday, admitting in her Wednesday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that there isn't going to be any such thing -- and even taking credit for that fact.)

In the conservative blogosphere today, Wilson is being hailed as a hero, receiving such charming bouquets as "Send Joe Wilson an email thanking him.'' Some even fault him for not going far enough: "Why didn't Joe Wilson throw a shoe at Obama?''

Would I feel similarly outraged if a Democrat had become delirious during a Bush address? Without question, yes; there is never any excuse for such a lapse, and I give Wilson zero points for immediately apologizing. If he wants to keep his job and the respect of voters who may not agree with the president but were taught better by their mamas, he had no choice at all.

Speaking of which, what about that killer mama-bear look Nancy Pelosi shot to the chamber after Wilson's eruption? But as others have said, not even Wilson's bad manners could eclipse the true focal point of the evening: The letter from the Great Beyond, where Ted Kennedy, who orchestrated the whole thing, was doubtless thundering, "Of course milk my death for all it's worth; are you kidding me?" And more softly, "Psst, Orrin, it's me. Hellllo, old buddy, old friend.'' I can't wait to see how many more of these notes he's left around Washington.