(More after the jump)

By Brian No

Since announcing July 3 that she’d be stepping down as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin’s future has been the source of much discussion—but not, it turns out, all that much debate. The TV pundits have agreed (and agreed and agreed) on her way forward. Here's an extremely scientific (by which we mean not scientific at all) tally of how many mentions each pearl of wisdom has received:

Palin will/should … (approximate total mentions)

Barnstorm for Republican candidates     116

Cash in!        91

Write a book/go on book tour    87

Speechify       86

Get her own TV show/do media    62

Master the issues       34

Lead conservative movement      25

Generally expand and build support      24

Improve reputation/credibility  23     

(Data collected from CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, JULY 4-27) 

P.S. - In case you're interested, here's what we thought she should do: click here.

Photo by Pete Souza/White House

And here it is: The official White House photo of President Obama clinking beer mugs with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and his arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police. Not pictured: Joe Biden who also attended and drank, gasp, non-alcoholic beer. (Seriously Joe?)  So what happened? Well, no one apologized, but according to Crowley, the two agreed that it was more important to look forward rather than backward. Gates said he better understands the sacrifices officers like Crowley make. And Obama was just thankful to be there. Gates and Crowley apparently agreed to talk again—this time away from all the lights and cameras. And that's it. So can we talk about something else now?