PAGE TWO

" 'That's you, baby, I whispered to Piper...' "

We are still at the Alaska State Fair in the final, fair days of August, 2008, a few days before Sarah Palin Day, as we now know it.

" 'That's you, baby, I whispered to Piper...' "

Sarah says, "Ahead, on my right, I saw the Alaska Right to Life (RTL) booth, where a poster caught my eye, taking my breath away. It featured the sweetest baby girl swathed in pink, pretend angel wings fastened to her soft shoulders."

We all know that Sarah is pro-life; the whole world knows it. We love her for it; for the hard Left, it is one of the principal reasons that they hate her so deeply. It was especially, of course, her bringing of little Trig into this world that stirred and pricked and roused, I believe, millions of guilty consciences on the Left, and caused them to react to her with a ferocity that was stunning, shocking, and unprecedented in our political annals.

However, I think that the matter may run even deeper than that. Sarah possesses, I think, what one may term the fecundity of courage. To illustrate what I mean, let me take a couple of examples. We all delighted in her appearance the other night on Jay Leno's show. The preliminary portion was great; the highlight, however, for most of us was the sparkling comedy performance she gave at the end!!

I have already watched it over and over; so have you guys, I would imagine! But let's think about it. What if she had not had the guts to get up and do this routine? What if she had "hunkered down" and played it safe? What if she had said, "It's enough to simply appear on Leno; I don't want to press my luck"? But, no, she "went deep," she "threw the bomb."

And what was the result?

She flashed LIFE and FIRE from her wonderful eyes; she showed the poise and self-possession of a born leader of men and women; she undoubtedly began to change some of the minds and hearts that have been prejudiced against her;...and she gave us all five minutes that will live in the tablets of our memories forever.

It was courage that conceived and brought into this world those priceless, nonpareil moments on Tuesday night. If she had not had that spine of steel in her lithe, lovely, elf-like (Tolkien) frame, we never would have known those golden moments. They were the gift to us of a mom's brave heart.

How about her RNC speech of 3 September, 2008? When her teleprompter failed (was sabotaged?), did she freeze up? Did she stagger and stutter and stumble? Did she lose her composure and disappoint the millions of us who were already coming to love and admire her? NO, NO, NO!!!

She delivered one of the great speeches in American political history...and perhaps the crowning instant, the one that "anointed" her as the heir of Ronald Reagan, as the bearer of our hopes and aspirations, was the deathless "lipstick" moment. It took her all of about ten seconds to pronounce those words; they will live always in the memory of all who listened to her and watched her that beautiful evening!

Sarah is a MOTHER, a MOM, in the deepest sense. Courage, Guts, Faith in the Lord, Love are the foundation and source of this calling...and the Left are terrified of her! Think, guys, of all that she has already "conceived" and brought to birth and fruition in this world. There are her kids, of course...

Piper, her "constant sidekick since the moment she was born" (pp.1-2);

Trig, who has a "heart of gold," according to Sarah (recent interview);

Track, her eldest, a young patriot, and Bristol and Willow.

However, can we even begin to imagine, enumerate, tot up, measure the noble actions, brave deeds, salutary resolutions, and patriotic resolve that she has already elicited and inspired in the minds and spirits of millions of Americans? Courage begets courage; nobility begets nobility; Love conceives and begets Love.

If I may be permitted to speak personally for a second, I am a stronger and better person because of the example and inspiration that Sarah Louise Heath Palin of Wasilla, Alaska has provided. I truly believe that Sarah has been chosen by the All-Highest to be the Mother of Her Country, as George Washington was the Father.

Maybe someday some of the youngsters in our ranks will write their accounts of taking their grandchildren to a certain place of fame called Mount Rushmore... perhaps they will pen words like unto these:

"Ahead on my right I saw Mount Rushmore, where a lofty monument caught my eye, taking my breath away. It featured the noblest, sweetest countenance, clothed, even on this cloudy day, with the radiance of angels' grace.

" 'That's Sarah Palin, I whispered to my little ones...' "



Read It For Yourself:

Read It For Yourself:

Other Great Sarah Books:

Other Great Sarah Books:

Palin Essentials:

Palin Essentials:

Credits:

All sidebar photos are from Wikimedia. I have tried to post all royalty-free images or to get permission, but in a few cases I could not locate the original source of a photograph or find a way to ask permission.


Contact info: bbrianus@gmail.com.

Other Great Going Rogue Reviews:

Jedediah Bila:

"Palin’s inviting first-person narration that is sometimes whimsical, often confident, and always patriotic...Going Rogue is truly one of those reads in which you put the book down after your eyes graze the final lines and you somehow feel like the writer is someone you’ve known all your life."
John Ziegler:

"I was simply blown away by Going Rogue on almost every level. For many reasons, this is by far the best book and greatest literary achievement by a political figure in my lifetime..."
Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata:
"Her book washes away all doubts that any reader might have had about her readiness to be president. She comes across as exceptionally bright, dedicated, and passionate about public service. Her moral compass is strong, pointing true North in this case. And she has a wicked sense of humor."
Don Surber:
"Conservatives know why Palin is still standing — and standing taller today than those who tried to bring her down. What does not kill you makes you stronger. Thank you, Tina Fey."

Sarah Palin is Coming to Town

Review by Stanley Fish:

When I walked into the Strand Bookstore in Manhattan last week, I headed straight for the bright young thing who wore an “Ask Me” button, and asked her to point me to the section of the store where I might find Sarah Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” She looked at me as if I had requested a copy of “Mein Kampf” signed in blood by the author....

A few days later...I had begun reading Palin’s book, and while I wouldn’t count myself a fan in the sense of being a supporter, I found it compelling and very well done....

First, the art. The book has an architectonic structure that is built around a single moment, the moment when Palin receives a call from John McCain inviting her to be the vice-presidential candidate of the Republican party. When we first hear about the call it is as much a surprise to us as it was (at least as reported) to her, because for six pages she has been recounting a wonderful family outing at the Alaska State Fair. When her phone rings, she hopes it might be a call from her son Track, a soldier soon to deploy to Iraq, but “it was Senator John McCain asking if I wanted to help him change history.”

And that’s the last we hear of it for 200 pages. In between we hear a lot about Wasilla, high school, basketball, college, marriage, children, Down syndrome, Alaska politics, the environment, a daughter’s pregnancy. The re-entry of John McCain into the narrative on page 208 introduces Palin’s account of the presidential campaign and its aftermath, especially her decision to resign the governorship before the end of her term....

Paradoxically, the effect of the neatly spaced references to the call is to de-emphasize it as a dramatic moment. It is presented not as a climax, but as an interruption of matters more central to Palin’s abiding concerns — her family, Alaska’s prosperity, energy policy. (She loves to rehearse the kind of wonkish details we associate with Hillary Clinton, whom she admires.)

Indeed, it is a feature of this narrative that events we might have expected to be foregrounded are elided or passed over. Palin introduced herself to the nation with a powerful, electrifying speech accepting McCain’s invitation to join the ticket. It gets half a sentence (“I gave my speech”)....

The only event that receives an extended discussion is her resignation. It is important to her because as an act it reflects on her integrity, and she has to be sure (as she eventually was) that she was doing it for the right reasons.

Resigning was a moral act for which she was responsible. The vice-presidential candidacy just happened to her; her account of it reads like an extended “what-I-did-on-my summer-and fall-vacation” essay.

For many politicians, family life is sandwiched in between long hours in public service. Palin wants us to know that for her it is the reverse. Political success is an accident that says nothing about you. Success as a wife, mother and citizen says everything...

I find the voice undeniably authentic...It is the voice of small-town America, with its folk wisdom, regional pride, common sense, distrust of rhetoric (itself a rhetorical trope), love of country and instinctive (not doctrinal) piety.

It says, here are some of the great things that have happened to me, but they are not what makes my life great and American. (“An American life is an extraordinary life.”) It says, don’t you agree with me that family, freedom and the beauties of nature are what sustain us?

And it also says, vote for me next time. For it is the voice of a politician, of the little girl who thought she could fly, tried it, scraped her knees, dusted herself off and “kept walking.”

In the end, perseverance, the ability to absorb defeat without falling into defeatism, is the key to Palin’s character. It’s what makes her run in both senses of the word and it is no accident that the physical act of running is throughout the book the metaphor for joy and real life. Her handlers in the McCain campaign wouldn’t let her run (a mistake, I think, even at the level of photo-op), no doubt because they feared another opportunity to go “off script,” to “go rogue.”

But run she does (and falls, but so what?), and when it is all over and she has lost the vice presidency and resigned the governorship, she goes on a long run and rehearses in her mind the eventful year she has chronicled. And as she runs, she achieves equilibrium and hope: “We’ve been through amazing days, and really, there wasn’t one thing to complain about. I feel such freedom, such hope, such thankfulness for our country, a place where nothing is hopeless.”

The message is clear. America can’t be stopped. I can’t be stopped. I’ve stumbled and fallen, but I always get up and run again. Her political opponents, especially those who dismissed Ronald Reagan before he was elected, should take note. Wherever you are, you better watch out. Sarah Palin is coming to town.

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