Palin Passes Kobayashi Maru

reprinted and edited from a post I did on Team Sarah July 7, 2009 (three days after Palin announced her resignation as Alaska governor)

The Kobayashi Maru is a test in the fictional Star Trek universe. It is a Starfleet training exercise designed to test the character of cadets in the command track at Starfleet Academy. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and also appears in the 2009 film Star Trek. This provided context for how the main character ensign (later admiral) James T. Kirk deals with the possibility of unwinnable situations in general and death in particular.

The civilian vessel Kobayashi Maru is in a simulated battle with the Klingons. The ship is disabled and the approaching cadet crew must decide whether or not to attempt rescue of the Maru crew - potentially endangering their own ship/lives - or leave the Kobayashi Maru to certain destruction. The difficult decision to assist "Maru" revolves around the issue of the disabled ship's location being in the Klingon Neutral Zone, as entering the zone would be in violation of the Organian Peace Treaty. (The test itself is to see how a starfleet captain would handle a no-win scenario.)

James T. Kirk takes the test three times while at Starfleet Academy. Prior to his third attempt, Kirk "surreptitiously reprograms the simulator so that it is possible to rescue the freighter." This fact finally comes out, later in the movie, as Kirk, Saavik and others appear marooned, near death. Saavik's response is, "Then you never faced that situation. Faced death." Kirk replies, "I don't believe in the no-win scenario." Despite having cheated, Kirk was awarded a commendation for "original thinking." - Wickipedia

Like Kirk, Palin doesn't believe in the no-win situation.

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Leigh Scott wrote :

Then, as Sarah Palin announced her resignation, it hit me. Sarah Palin is Captain Kirk. Why? Because she just passed the Kobayashi Maru.

The article is a good read and supports my point about how Sarah Palin has beaten a no-win situation where she would be hacked at by ankle biting ethics complainers until she was bankrupt and could no longer conduct the state of Alaska's business effectively.

Resigning was the most dangerous political move she could make, but it was also the shrewdist. As we watch her complete an enormously successful book tour, we see the brilliance and genius of Sarah Palin who now commands 6 figures for speeches, will make millions on the book, will be exposed to the types of donors needed to fund SarahPac and will be able to speak freely about her political opinions without the risk of being slapped with an ethics complaint because she is "neglecting the business of the state" for doing all the above from her desk in Anchorage.

It's clearer now more than ever that had she stayed on as governor of Alaska, she would have been destroyed by the media and the ankle biters.

She has followed all the principles outlined in my web page: Fight For the Right. The web page was designed originally as my suggestion as to how the conservative movement should rebuild itself. Written shortly after the 2008 election, it outlined what I believed were the key ingredients to a return to power for the Republican party and the conservative movement. It then goes on to ask:

Rank and file: Are we ready?

Congressional leaders: Are you ready?

Sarah?

Ironically, the page was not designed to tell Sarah Palin how to revive the movement or sell Sarah Palin to the movement; it was directed at everyone in the movement. But as Sarah Palin fulfilled more and more of the "requirements" on this page, references to her were added to support the original theories. I also added the Courageous Conservatism section after the Carrie Prejean incident. It was around that same time that Palin gave the "If I die, I die" speech.

It's amazing how Sarah Palin has such a "shared world view" or a "unity of thought" with this blogger. These were the same characteristics that attracted me so strongly to Ronald Reagan. Sarah Palin is quickly becoming an example that supports everything that I wrote on that page.

One of the things I wrote about (and included quotes from Andrew Breitbart to support this) was our need to infiltrate the pop culture. The years of ridiculing that George W. Bush took from pop culture, the shots at conservative values that are constantly being taken, and finally the Tina Fey caricatures led me to believe that we conservatives needed to get writers and actors to infiltrate Hollywood and use the techniques of the left for our purpose. The days when conservative Dan Aykroyd called called liberal Jane Curtain, "Jane, you ignorant slut" came to mind, but I chose to leave it out of the page.

I never dreamed that Sarah Palin herself would take to a Hollywood set and handle this part for me.

Which brings us to Captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru again. One can't help but to think that biographers should make a note that the video below is going to be a major player in a historical discussion of how Sarah Palin overcame the ridicule. It's also really cool that part of beating the political Kobayashi Maru included a roasting of the actor who played the character who defeated the original Kobayashi Maru.



Ronald Reagan used humor to defuse the ridicule that was directed at him, too.

Conservatives4Palin.com could not have made a more accurate assessment of the positive effect that Palin's appearance on the Tonight Show had.

Sarah Palin’s book tour has ended, and its cessation coincides with the end of the media’s vile attempt to de-legitimize her. That doesn’t mean the smears will come to a halt or the condescension will lessen, it means that this character assassination will no longer be taken seriously by serious political observers or by the portion of the American public at large who can be described as anything other than “Palin-hater.” What Gov. Palin did at the Gridiron and on Conan put an end to such foolishness.

Set a course for the shining city on a hill. Warp factor 4, Mr. Sulu.

Shining Brightly in the Snow

I’m truly humbled by the response to my book tour by everyday Americans, and if traveling by plane means that I can meet more of these wonderful people, I’ll travel by plane (or bus or train or canoe or dog sled or whatever it takes). - Sarah Palin

And because you feel this way about us, we will wait in the dead of night, sleep in our cars, in the pouring rain, the blinding snow or whatever it takes to meet you, too.



I arrived at the BJ's parking lot in Fairfax, VA around 1 am. I tweeted some and then took a two hour nap in the "Right Wing Express," otherwise known as my car, the one with the "Sarah kicks (picture of a donkey)" and "Palin 2012" bumper stickers. Not exactly a dog sled, but a pretty good liberal tweaker while riding by on the highway.

Whe I awoke around 4 am, the crowd was getting in line as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees. Dressed in layers, I situated my chair and chatted on the phone with a friend of mine who works the night shift as a newspaper distributor. The conversation was full of politics: discussions about climategate, how hypocritical liberals are and what Palin's chances for 2012 were.

Light rain began to fall prior to dawn, so I headed back to the car, tweeted some more, got my umbrella and headed back to my chair. It was cold, and the temperature was dropping.

As the dark sky morphed into a cloudy daylight, the rain fell heavier and heavier. Umbrellas were open everywhere. It was miserable, except for the mood of the people. There was no complaining. There was no disconnect between the people. This was not a mightier than thou leader that people would have thoughts of like "I bet she's sleeping in some warm bed somewhere while we freeze." Instead, the conversation was about how distastefully the media treated Sarah about "the plane." We talked about how great the plane was because, as I pointed out to another gentleman in the crowd, "did you see her schedule? It's crazy."

There were discussions of how many seconds would be needed per person for Sarah Palin to sign her name. It wasn't about us, it was about how hard Sarah was working. It wasn't about "give me the autograph, I waited hours for it." It was about "let's follow the rules and move quickly out of respect for Sarah's time."

At a little after 8 am, the rain changed to snow. As the snow fell heavier and the temperature had dropped even more, the crowd still grew as did the anticipation. BJ's employees gave out wrist bands. More people joined the line. The police and BJ officials saw to it that those of us who did not have the book yet or a BJ's membership were given the opportunity to take care of those issues without losing their place in line.

The one police officer who kept me informed so I knew when it would be my turn to get my membership and pick up my books performed his duty with good humor and professionalism despite being covered in snow.

When I returned to the line armed with my books, a man named Jimmy and I talked about Sarah Palin's qualifications. She's not part of that Washington establishment. People are turned off by the establishment. She's one of us. She's a mother of five. If America is to elect its first woman president, it will have to be someone of good moral character and without the blemishes of scandals and affairs. He said that her resignation helped her put the time in necessary to meet the people and learn more about foreign policy. I mentioned how she was demonstrating that on her Facebook page.

The line moved and we were now on the sidewalk heading for the door. Ironically, it was during a conversation about Fox News that we were having that I heard people toward the back of the line yelling out "it's Greta Van Susteran!" Greta had emerged from a car and was walking away, passing the line behind me toward a side entrance into BJ's.

The line moved quickly. Inside, it was a matter of about 5-10 minutes that I was at the table with my books prepared for signature. Todd Palin said hello and we shook hands. I said "it's a pleasure to meet you." Then I stepped over to Sarah and she looked at my shirt, with a picture of her on it and the words "Say it ain't so, Joe." She was all energy and enthusiam. We shook hands. I had touched greatness.

"Honored to meet you," I said. She smiled and had that raised pitch in her voice, as she took immediate notice and reacted enthusiastically saying "I love your shirt!" I said "thanks, I wore it to your rallies" as she was signing two books. I thanked her and moved on. It was so quick, but worth every hour standing in the elements. She was radiant and she was genuine.

(UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE SARAH PALIN LOOKING AT MY SHIRT. END UPDATE)

I met her parents. Chuck and Sally. They were so personable. They also loved the shirt. What a cool couple of people!

I lost my bearings at that point and didn't know which way I was supposed to go. Flashes were going off, people were taking pictures and I was momentarily lost. I tried to make a mental note of the name of a person from twitter who recognized me, but I was still leaving the moments from when I was in Sarah Palin's presence.

I went to get bags to wrap my books in to protect them from the snow. The lady who worked at customer service was excited. She asked me to show her Sarah's signature, which I did. She thought that was so awesome.

I left the store in the full glow that I had finally achieved the one thing I never did when Reagan was alive.

I quickly put the books in the car to protect them from the three inches of snow that had already fallen. I got my brush out of the trunk, cleared the car and warmed it up. I tweeted and texted. All hell broke loose. The texts were flying back in. My friends were calling. I was alone in my car, yet it was mayhem.

As I drove back to Richmond, VA, I spoke to my business partner who couldn't have been happier for me. I spoke to a couple of other friends. The text messages were pouring in, but I couldn't read them while driving. As I neared the northern suburbs of Richmond, the snow changed to rain. There was no snow in Richmond. If you wanted snow, you had to go where the lady from the north was.

Prior to the trip, I told a friend of mine what I was doing. He asked me if I ever got up that early to go to Black Friday or to get to a store for a sale. I told him, "if I'm going to get up that early to go to any store, Sarah Palin better be there, otherwise forget it."

While on line, someone came back from the parking lot and said there was a small group of protestors, about 3 or 4 I surmised (UPDATE: TPM reported 4 protestors). (END UPDATE) One of the guys I was talking with said "this is great snow for packing snowballs."

"That's perfect," I said. "Where are the liberals?" We laughed.

(UPDATE) One of the first things I noticed about Governor Palin when I first saw her was her hat. She has been getting a lot of compliments about it. (END UPDATE)

On my way home, the "Right Wing Express" passed a car with an Obama bumper sticker on it. There were two 30ish year old white men inside. I showed them Going Rogue against my driver side window. The driver gave me the finger and the passenger waved, shaking his head "no, no." We were all laughing, ribbing each other. I gave them a thumbs up, pointing to the book, shaking my head affirmatively, laughing. It was great.

It's all about the great moments. It's all about the light that shines brightly in the snow.


The Hat that everyone loved


The shirt that Sarah loved


Need I say more?

I'm in this video briefly at the 1:46 mark and 2:43 mark

Sarah Palin arrives at BJ's in Fairfax, VA in the snow



Fairfax, VA Palin book signing links:

Palin fans out for a look and a book in Fairfax
Alaska? Feel like home for Gov Palin?
Sarah Palin Brings First Snow, Signs Books
Fairfax Goes Rogue
Sarah Palin Looks Nice In Fairfax The Gridiron Transcript: Biden Selling Book: Going Rogaine
Madame Meets Virginia!
Pictures: Palin book signing pics
Video: Fans wait in snow for Palin book signing
Video: Beck: Palin "looks really hot in that hat"

Other People's Experiences

My Colorado Springs Signing Extravaganza - Julie Smith
december 9 2009: meeting governor palin in colorado springs - The Design Conservative
Sarah in the Springs - Michelle Malkin
Going Rogue with Governor Palin in Rochester, NY--Pics & Video - Adrienne Ross

Conservative Girl With a Voice
Meeting Sarah: Part One
Meeting Sarah: Part Two