The Playground Monitor

It seems Rush Limbaugh and Charles Krauthammer got into a slap fight and there was hair pulling and tears and now Kathryn Jean Lopez is here to wipe their faces and give them a Charms lollipop just like Grandma used to and make the hurt go away.

My e-mail was buzzing last night about Krauthammer vs. Limbaugh.

Sigh.

Wednesday night’s speech in Tucson was the best of Obama’s presidency. Fit between an odd invocation and hooting and hollering, he was — as is appropriate to a president — presidential and focused on many powerful images, and lives. But there were also things to criticize about Obama’s speech, and Rush did.

The "odd invocation" is called someone else's religion, K-Lo. It was a Native American blessing. "One True Ring to Rule Them All" only works for hobbits, as they say on the internet.

Perhaps because he went on too long, the president’s view of America came through.

The view of a socialist Kenyan who will bankrupt America by giving money to the undeserving masses?

Rush Limbaugh doesn’t need a defense team, but “smart, articulate, or oratorical” in funeral oration only goes so far, when one’s record is what it is.

I think her record is "They're Coming To Take Me Away."

Anyway, Rush was giving his honest reaction. And listeners have come to expect nothing less from him. For three hours a day, a voice of reason and entertainment. A voice of solidarity and education.

A voice of irrational hate and spiteful mocking. A voice of conformity and propaganda.

Dr. K does the same — he gives his honest reaction to what he’s observing. He saw the commander-in-chief, the young Hamlet, not fretting, not demurring, not agonizing. And he said so. Gave him credit where due.

Alas, poor K-Lo I knew you well. A blogger of infinite zest, of most excellent obedience, she hath born Rush on her back a thousand times.

Rush couldn’t get beyond the surroundings, though, the buts (as Rush has put it) in his speech, and the reality of his presidency. And he wasn’t alone, if my e-mail is any indication.

Both are wise men with different perspectives, both on the side of the good and just.

One remains the Leader of the Opposition. The other, Critic-in-Chief. (As NR covers have told the tale.)

Another, the sycophant-in-chief.

Rush wasn’t condescending. Charles wasn’t slobbering. I respect Charles’s opinion and always want to hear it. But I was glad Rush didn’t hold back about the big picture.

Good men, honest opinions. It’s a great country.

Good men who would happily sacrifice K-Lo to an angry mob, like Lot and his daughters in the Bible.

Beyond a speech: I want to repeal Obamacare. Rush Limbaugh and Charles Krauthammer want to, too. I want Barack Obama to be a one-term president, defeated in the ballot box. Rush Limbaugh and Charles Krauthammer both want that as well.

There’s unity in that, too.

K-Lo hasn't been this conflicted since the primaries. Her two Daddies are fighting and it's giving her a tummy ache.

Incidentally, for all the divisions even on the right about Sarah Palin, I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of it faded — if only momentarily — among some conservative critics in my midst this week, as the Left really overreached.

She'll still be stumping for Palin for president when the latter is selling wrinkle cream on QVC.

UPDATE: Rush’s on-air response, with a light hand: “I was going to name my first child Krauthammer, even if it was a girl. but no more.”

Yes, Rush is known for his subtle humor. Just as K-Lo is known for her perceptiveness.