Sarah Palin wins: Obama revises his revision on nukes

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Well, that didn't take long...

In the wake of sharp criticism by Sarah Palin and others of his revision of longstanding policy regarding the use (or non-use) of nuclear weapons to retaliate for a chemical or biological attack on the U.S., President Obama sent his subordinates to the Sunday talk shows today to revise his revision in favor of what appears to be a tougher stance.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning to "clarify" the administration's policy:

"We were concerned about the biological weapons," Gates said, "and that's why the president was very clear ... if we see states developing biological weapons that we begin to think endanger us or create serious concerns, that he reserves the right to revise this policy."

Clinton added, "If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off."

The sudden change in the changes Obama first announced last week were the spark that set off a war of words between the president and the former Alaska governor:

The spat began Wednesday when Palin criticized Obama's rewriting of the U.S. nuclear defense policy. Her comments came during an interview on Fox News, where she is a paid analyst. She likened Obama to a kid poised for a playground fight who said, "Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me."

Palin was particularly incensed about the policy that says if a non-nuclear state were to use chemical or biological weapons against the U.S. or its allies, it would face a potentially devastating conventional military strike by the U.S., but not a nuclear one.

"No administration in America's history would, I think, ever have considered such a step that we just found out President Obama is supporting today," Palin said.

Across the globe in Prague, Obama was asked by ABC News to respond to the criticism.

"I really have no response," the president said. "Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

Obama added: "If the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin."

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Palin then shot back Friday during a speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans with a reference to Obama's early career choice. Mocking the president, she dismissed "all the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer."

A Rasmussen poll released Thursday showed that a majority of American voters (55 percent) agreed with Gov. Palin, while only 25 percent thought that President Obama's new policy was a prudent one.

Sarah Palin was right. She doesn't have to hold elected office to be a leader!

Update: Great minds think alike.

- JP