by President Obama for exemplary conduct in the face of fame-seeking (her fame is greater in abject failure than in success, and the family has bravely accepted this). Other scuttlebutt I'm hearing, however, pins Obama's Medal of Honor awarding to his attempt to divert public attention away from the media's supposedly negative spin on his handling of the BP oil spill crisis, to the Sunderland story, which is a feelgood piece. I mean, who doesn't love a starstruck and naive teenager girl being rescued somewhere? (Think "Little Red Riding Hood", or something like that.) So, the Medal of Honor thing may not be real. In any case, you gotta give her and her parents credit for milking the fame system...that takes talent and perseverance and deserves some sort of medal!

It shows just what a modern teenager can do when she or he sets his or her mind to it --or, I mean, when their parents set their mind to it. Never mind that crossing the Southern Ocean in winter in a powerful racing boat, and with little experience, and expecting others to save your ass when you inevitably run into trouble was the central operating principle of this fame-seeking stunt...

"How many teenagers die in car accidents every year?" he [father Laurence Sunderland] said in a separate interview with ABC television. "Should we stop them from driving a car?" (Oft-repeated quote from Father Sunderland.) Sure, makes sense to me . But he never did ask the rhetorical question he should have ("How many teenagers die in solo Southern Ocean crossings in the winter every year?" Well, none, it turns out. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a wise idea...)

Now, let's all link hands in Positive Prayer that holy money, shoveled by God's hands, will start flowing in for the Sunderlands' movie and book deal plans...feel the power...