NINETY-SEVEN
On p. 97 of GR, Sarah continues her discussion of the crisis that confronted her as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as a result of the unethical actions of fellow AOGCC member Randy Ruedrich, a "big shot" in the Republican Party Establishment. She writes, "As commissioner, I was prohibited by law from publicly discussing my concerns, but I responded to this citizen [someone who sent her an e-mail about the matter] with a message that I meant with every keystroke: 'This will not be swept under the rug.' "
I think that it is all too easy for us to take certain verbal expressions for granted, without subjecting them to careful scrutiny and examination.
I would like to ponder and reflect upon two such expressions in this passage, "swept under the rug" and "that I meant with every keystroke."
First is "sweeping under the rug."
Why is this kind of action wrong? We must look at the literal sense of the expression first. It will then be readily apparent why metaphorical acts of the same type are wrong.
Why, then, is a literal sweeping of something under the rug not right? I think it is out of line and disordered because it violates the "telos," the "finis," the purpose, the goal of several entities that are involved in the action.
First, the purpose of sweeping with a broom is to clear away dust and dirt, to be rid of it; it is not to hide and conceal it.
Second, the purpose of a rug is to bestow beauty on a room and to protect a floor; it is not to hide filth.
Third, men and women were created to know and to profess, to live in, Truth!
The action of sweeping under a rug thus involves a MENDACIUM TRIPLEX, a triple lie and falsehood.
It operates against the nature and purpose, against the "truth," of sweeping.
It operates against the nature and purpose, against the "truth," of a rug.
IT OPERATES AGAINST THE SOUL OF ANYONE WHO DOES THIS.
Literal sweeping under the rug may seem like a small matter; metaphorical sweeping under the rug, especially by officials who bear and carry the public trust, is not a trivial matter!!
Let us now think for a moment of the rewards that have evidently flowed to the Governor for her courageous and steadfast refusal, even at the cost of a six-figure salary, to "sweep under the rug."
I believe that a just Lord has bestowed a double fruit on her soul.
If the "lips" refuse to lie, then a reward comes to the "eyes" of the mind and heart. One who tells the Truth can perceive the Truth! Sarah thus now has the EAGLE'S EYES to see right through frauds, frauds like barack hussein obama.
To perceive the truth does not suffice if one has not the courage and cojones to "ascend a lofty mountain" and proclaim the truth in a voice of thunder to one and all, regardless of any and all consequences to one's own person. Sarah has the GUTS OF THE LIONESS to denounce the frauds that she sees so clearly with her eagle's eyes … frauds like barack hussein obama and his whole cursed and corrupt "administration."
The Warrior of the North Country will never allow the misdeeds, the malfeasances, the mendacities of the obama "presidency" to be "swept under the rug."
She confronted the smaller fish, Randy Ruedrich, many years ago; today, she confronts the big-fish usurper who sits (for the moment) at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!!!
Now let us turn briefly to the expression "that I meant with every keystroke."
What does this mean?
After all, each keystroke stands for and produces only one letter or punctuation mark or space. However, the writer has the ENTIRE message in mind. The letters and punctuation marks do not stand isolated and on their own. Rather, they stand in RELATION to each other and in relation to the whole of the message. The integral message "informs," breathes life and meaning into, each individual part of that same message. These parts, taken in isolation, would signify nothing; taken in the integrity and indivisibility of the full message, they signify and communicate, with a power and puissance that stand in direct relationship to the effectiveness in written oratory of the scribe and writer who composes them, a message of truth and beauty!!
Another way to think of this phenomenon is to reflect on the various parts of the body human. Taken in isolation and torn apart, these parts would have no life and vitality in them. Taken together, they are "INFORMED" BY THE SOUL. In a sense THE SOUL DWELLS IN EVER CENTIMETER AND IN EVERY INCH OF THE WHOLE BODY.
In the same way, Sarah's INTEGRAL MIND AND HEART AND INTENTIONS DWELL IN EVERY LETTER SHE TYPES AND IN EVERY SYLLABLE SHE UTTERS.
Thus she was able to refer, in fullness of power and of truth, to "a message that I meant with every keystroke."
This, then, is the Lady Warrior who, IMHO, is destined and marked out, by Divine Providence and by her own brave moral choices, to lead the United States of America in this hour that is so fraught and filled both with dire dangers and with glorious opportunities!!!
