in his recent piece on what he dubs the “Bloomberg Syndrome,” Victor Davis Hanson, the Clio of punditry, faults a number of local politicians like Pima County sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik for neglecting the task they were elected to perform in order to grandstand on issues of global import:

Just as disturbing as the incoherence of Dupnik’s demagoguery was his apparent professional incompetence. As the sheriff’s nationally televised blame narrative imploded, it was also disclosed that Loughner had a long record of aberrant behavior and substance abuse in Pima County — known to local law enforcement, including Dupnik’s own department.

More disturbing still, if Dupnik were right that a pre-existing climate of conservative-engendered hate was not only pervasive in Tucson, but might also prompt an unstable person to kill, why had he not dispatched at least one of his 500 officers to patrol the open-air public event sponsored by Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords?

Dupnik is a good example of the increasingly common bad habit of local politicians to resort to cosmic sermonizing when more mundane challenges go unaddressed. In Dupnik’s case, it is hard to monitor all the nuts like Loughner in the sheriff’s department files to ensure they don’t get guns and bullets and pop up at political events, but apparently far easier to deflect subsequent responsibility by sounding off on political issues.

(Via Instapundit.)

This sage scholar does show some sympathy for Dupnik et al:  ”It is a human trait to focus on cheap and lofty rhetoric rather than costly, earthy reality.”   Read the whole thing as he also offers a nice synopsis of the problems plaguing California under once and current Governor Jerry Brown.

NB:  Changed the title since I initially posted this.

That might be a better solution than something said journalist proposed:   Milbank declares February a Palin-free month.

Nu?

South Carolina’s Republican U.S. Senators do seem to be in the business of marginalizing themselves.  While generally  toeing a conservative line on the Judiciary Committee, Lindsay Graham does sometimes seem often a bit too eager to work with Democrats on regulatory issues — even if it means abandoning conservative principles.  Meanwhile, Jim DeMint seems to brush conservative principle aside if it’ll help make him curry favor with some social conservatives on the fringes of the movement.

While, as Allahpundit reminds us, “plenty of big-name social cons are still planning to intend” CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) including “Rick Santorum(!),” DeMint has decided to garner himself a headline by staying away from the conservative confab:

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint will skip this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, making him the most prominent conservative figure yet to express objections to what critics see as a pro-gay, libertarian tilt to the 38-year old event.

“With leading conservatives organizations not participating this year, Senator DeMint will not be attending. He hopes to attend a unified CPAC next year,” DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton said in an email. 

Leading conservative organizations?  Well, Heritage isn’t participating.  That’s about the only leading conservative organization I can think of that’s passing on the event.  Seems some of those supposedly leading groups are up in arms that GOProud is participating organization.

Despite their upset, the confab seems set to be a stellar shindig.  According to Ed Morrissey, last year’s CPAC blogger of the year:

Attendance at last year’s CPAC broke records even with a similar boycott in place from GOProud’s initial inclusion as a participating group.  This year’s registrations are at the same level as last year’s at this point of days before the event, and last year CPAC had already announced Glenn Beck as their featured speaker and had experienced a big spike in registrations.  (Keene didn’t say when CPAC would announce this year’s speaker.)  Last year, CPAC had 103 participating groups and sponsors, and so far in 2011, CPAC has confirmed 117.

14 more participating groups and sponsors than last year?!?! Well, I guess none of them are leading conservative organizations.