Sarah Palin buzz dominates blogs for 2nd week in a row

According to the Pew Research Center, which tracks such things, for the second week in a row Sarah Palin was the most-discussed topic in the blogosphere:

The governor of Alaska garnered 33% of the blogger links this past week as the conversation followed two different news stories.

One was a July 14 column Palin wrote for the Washington Post opposing the cap-and-trade energy proposal being debated in Congress. The other was a July 13 Los Angeles Times story that focused on the criticism Palin has received from members of her own party.

About the op-ed, Pew notes, some bloggers praised her opinion piece as a home run:

"The op-ed piece you wrote in the Post about Cap and Trade was not only right on the mark, but hit the exact tone and language many of us need to hear," wrote Ashok at the blog Rethink. "We need a general outline of a given situation, the arguments presented, and the facts that support one position or another: without any wasted words you made your case."

Some of Palin's detractors, however, not only questioned her position, but also her motives.

"Palin clearly wants to be relevant in her forthcoming post-resignation days, and what better way than by declaring herself the lead spokesperson attacking efforts to stop climate change?" asked Kevin Grandia at desmogblog. "In true GOP fashion, Palin seeks to put the fear of God and all things scary into readers minds, foretelling an apocalyptic future for any who subscribe to the idea that we need to curb carbon emissions to save the climate and protect our economy from carbon dependence."

Who's scaring who? Sarah Palin is not the one going around like some creepy Al Gore, bloated on carbon credits and trying to frighten everyone into believing that man-made global warming is the end of the world as we know it. But I feel fine: In fact, in Big Al's home town of Nashville, TN, the National Weather Service has recorded record low July temperatures three days in a row.

- JP