The Light Shines

People in Roanoke, Virginia, who stayed overnight in the parking lot waiting for Sarah Palin's appearance to sign her new book Going Rogue: An American Life, were treated to a surprise visit from the former Alaska Governor and VP candidate. The lights of a bus coming toward them from the highway may not have been recognizable at first, but in symbolic terms, it was the light that shined from those headlights that gives us the first glimmer of hope on what is about to be a long and arduous journey.

When asked by Bill O'Reilly if the brutal attacks in the press have harmed her, Sarah Palin responded "I'm still standing. Look, I'm on O'Reilly." The light continues to shine brighter with her book tour turning out to be a huge success. She is not only drawing crowds of adoring supporters, but this unfiltered by the media tour is helping to bring up her favorability ratings in recent polls as well because she literally is going directly to the people.

Now that those of us who have been wandering in the wilderness found out there was hope again, we "wait in the parking lot." We've been in the parking lot since Sarah Palin resigned as governor. We have been blogging, tweeting and protesting, quick to wield our rhetorical swords at the slightest whiff of liberal Palin haters who may leap out of the darkness, as they are prone to do.

We prepare ourselves, build our ranks and do whatever we can to support the leader who has earned her place at the helm with her unbridled patriotism, message of limited government, soul deep devotion to the principles of Ronald Reagan and oneness with who we are.

It's the middle of the night in America. But when that bus gets here, it will be morning.

Across America, people will be waiting in "the parking lot." This is the first leg of the trip back to the shining city on a hill.

I see headlights. The light shines.

What Crabs Can Teach You About Sarah Palin

Listening to people in the media talking about Sarah Palin tonight reminds me of a story I heard at a success seminar. Those who are working to be successful will always be pulled down by those who aren't.

Success trainers and positive people will tell you to shoot for the stars and if you miss, you still might hit the moon. The late Joe Ensor, a motivational speaker for Primerica Financial Services, said in a seminar that your brain is like a rubberband. Once stretched, it never goes back to it's original size. He also told a story about crabs.

He said that if you observe crabs in a barrel, you will notice that one crab makes the climb and gets to the point where it can almost get out of the barrel and over the top. But, the other crabs will latch onto it and try to drag it back down into the barrel with them. They are not willing to get out of the barrel and they won't let the one bound for success do it either.

Everyone thinks inside a box that they have been painted into by their environment. Some may choose to say "I'm a victim of circumstances." Those who reject that notion simply change their environment.

To listen to Bill O'Reilly and Mary Katharine Ham portray Sarah Palin as someone who should settle for a House or Senate seat reminds me of the crabs. It also goes against everything I have been taught about success.

So Palin should shoot for a House or Senate seat, maybe even settle there. They are missing the idea that Palin should shoot for the stars of the presidency and if she lands in a Senate seat, so be it. But don't tell her she can't be president.

That's stinking thinking.

The lamp is shining. Sarah carries the lamp. No matter what the mainstream media says about her, there are a lot of people who want the shining city on a hill back. They cannot rely on people that don't get the deal to lead us there. Palin is it right now and we should be running with her.

Will the ignorant and uniformed leave the room until they have properly researched this?


UPDATE: In all fairness to Mary Katharine Ham, I have agreed with her on many issues and think highly of her. She thinks that Sarah still needs to go through a certain path that is not a primrose road to the White House. I do agree that is a valid opinion and respect that. With that said, I think sometimes lightning in the bottle and striking while the iron is hot may be outside the box, but it's what this country needs right now.

The Evolution of Sarah (Part 2)

The first part of Sarah Palin's evolution occurred before the existence of this blog. Therefore, we will start with part 2 of what will probably be 4 or 5 parts. The first part of her evolution of course is her career as Mayor of Wasilla, Governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential Nominee for John McCain. In that portion of her evolution, we watched a wildly charismatic woman with a deep interest in Alaska's greatness meet her full blown American patriotism on the national stage and electrify the base of a party that seemed to be on its last legs. Now it's time for Part 2.

This is where Sarah Palin is given the opportunity to make a second impression against the backdrop of the lies and the politics of political destruction that dogged her through the 2008 presidential campaign. Those who follow and support Sarah Palin know who she is. Those who bought into the media malpractice or drew their own conclusions due to lack of research and the surrendering of their brains to the mainstream media are the ones who will see this as a re-branding.

Here is what to look for during the evolution of Sarah Palin (part 2):

1.The mainstream media will comment that Sarah Palin has astounded pundits and media people with a maturity, confidence and depth of knowledge that many though she could never display. Yet they will continue to tell us that she will never become president. Leave it to the mainstream media to make a few bucks off of someone they don't think is viable.

2.Palin supporters will comment that they are not surprised by the maturity, confidence and depth of knowledge that she displays.

3.Old guard elitist Republicans, moderates and independents will admit that Sarah Palin has done herself well in the PR department and while they won't come to say just yet that they see her as the savior of or the future of the GOP, they will admit that if she works hard and pulls it off that they wouldn't rule it out. In football, that's called punting.

4.The liberals will get scared again and in backroom meetings will decide that they have to take a more serious approach toward opposing Palin. Her emergence as a "beefed up" Sarah will cause the liberal movement and the Democrat party to go to DefCon4. While privately they will be taking her very seriously, publicly they will continue downplaying her chances. They will run ads against her, write op-eds and give statements in such a way as to portray her as a right wing extremist who doesn't pull a big enough plurality to win on the national scene. Ultimately, though they will admit she is a danger to the progressive movement as their ratcheted up attacks fail.

I caution Sarah Palin supporters not to draw the conclusion that now that she is a media sensation that the nasty attacks, satire and caricaturing has come to an end. Newsweek is the freshest example of that. Always remember that Ronald Reagan was lampooned in the popular culture throughout his presidency. There was a left wing presence that simmered under the surface undermining him and trying to catch him at every turn until his last day in office.

This will always be the same for Sarah Palin. Her detractors will hate her right up to the day she dies. They will be unashamed in the means and tactics they will use to try to undermine her and cast her in a negative light.

Yes, the Alaska bloggers, the media and the left in America will continue to oppose Sarah Palin. But, a majority of the American people are about to be reminded that Sarah Palin was the most brutally abused and most unfairly characterized political candidate in the history of modern politics (she surpasses Reagan in this category only because there was no internet or social media in his day). As such, although it can't be called a sympathy vote, she will earn the respect of many of the uncertains for having stood tall through all that she has been through.

That should lead us to her evolution, part 3, and her national political campaign.

Her studious embodiment of the principles and spirit of Ronald Reagan positions Sarah Palin well to become the "teflon mom" just as Reagan had become "the teflon president." She will survive the smearing and the mocking. It is what she does in the future that will determine whether her outcome is successful, not what has been done to her in the past. Those who underestimate her do so at their own peril.

This is not about narcisism, feel good hero worship or the capitalization on celebrity status for financial gain. This is about the future of the United States of America. Sarah Palin knows that. It is simply political protocol that she not say this until after the 2010 elections.

The fact that she is discussing policy on her Facebook page and will be doing more in depth policy interviews later in the week is indicative that she's not leaving the political arena, and that this book tour is not her way of lining her pockets before telling America to go screw themselves after the nonsense in Alaska and the ridiculous crap in the national media during the 2008 campaign.

Sarah Palin is not going through all of this because of some selfish motive or financial agenda. She is doing this for us Americans who know that if it's been done before, it can be done again. This country can be a shining city on a hill and a beacon of freedom for the world. There is a cause more important than Sarah Palin's personal gain that drives the woman who believes that she should act "with a servant's heart."

We have come too far as a nation to allow socialists and radicals to re-make this country in an image that is unrecognizable to those who understand our underpinnings in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Ronald Reagan did so much to bring us out of a similar darkness as this once before. His efforts and his accomplishments CANNOT go to waste! Sarah Palin is the answer whether the media likes it or not.

Reaganites Think Alike

It's more archetypical than presumptious to think that Sarah Palin thinks a lot like me. The archetype: Ronald Reagan. The unity in thought can be traced back to the Gipper. It's the thought patterns that make me really understand why Sarah thinks the way she does. There's a true connection. Ronald Reagan is the man.

The premise of this blogsite is outlined in the keynote blog: Who Should Carry Liberty's Lamp. It was Ronald Reagan's words:

after losing the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 that stand out the most now having seen the tears in Sarah Palin's eyes and hearing the disappointment in John McCain's voice that fateful November night in 2008.

If Ronald Reagan was with us that day, he would have surely repeated these words to us: "Don't get cynical because, look at yourselves and what you were willing to do and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there that want what you want, that want it to be that way (his voice cracks), that want it to be a shining city on a hill."

Don't let it be said that I am alone in feeling the pain of defeat. Sarah Palin understands. She writes on her Facebook page:

To the tireless grassroots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug, please remember Reagan’s words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976:

“The cause goes on. Don't get cynical because look at yourselves and what you were willing to do, and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there that want what you want, that want it to be that way, that want it to be a shining city on a hill.”

The cause goes on.

I'm kind of blown away.