ONE HUNDRED


On p. 100 of GR, Sarah describes the time that followed her heroic and principled resignation from her six-figure-salary job as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She writes:

"The snow melted, the sun rose again, and summer rounded the corner--a glorious time up North!"

I believe that these words, so simple on their face and surface, contain great matter for reflection and meditation and consolation for us--especially during the dark days through which we are passing right now.

CYCLICAL MOTION, revolutionary (in the spatial sense) movement, would seem to be at the heart and the core of the nature of things.

I am no physicist, but, as I recall, electrons ROTATE around a nucleus in atoms in much the way that planets revolve around a sun in solar systems.

Our physical seasons proceed in an ordered march and succession: Spring, summer, autumn, winter and back to spring.

Physically, we sleep, then we awaken, we sleep, then we awaken, and on and on.

Psychologically, times of grief, times of labor, times of conflict rotate and alternate with seasons of joy and peace and rest!!

Even spiritually, while, the Lord willing, we make progress towards Him, this movement is usually not in a direct and straight line, but rather in a circular motion that involves constant "falling down" in temptation and weakness, followed by times of getting up and advancing along the royal road to Heaven. It is sort of like an UPWARD SPIRAL!!

I think that this LAW OF THE CIRCLE is so deeply imprinted on our nature and on our consciousness that we do not reflect on it as often as perhaps we should.

For example, if we did not know that spring and summer follow autumn and winter, might not the whole human race panic, thinking, as the hours of light are curtailed by envious darkness, as the days grow shorter and shorter, might not everyone think: "Light will soon be gone forever!! Look at the trend. Soon eternal darkness will be upon us!!"

Of course, thoughts like these seem absurd. But that is only because we so take for granted that the circle of the seasons will bring back to us light and warmth and life and joy!!

I think that, as we move along the temporal and straight line of our lives from birth through life to death, the circular and "eternal" cycles give us hope that all will not be over for us when death comes knocking, knocking upon our chamber doors!

The STRAIGHT LINE to the grave is a reminder that we are "dust and unto dust we shall return."

The CIRCLE is a reminder of life eternal.

AND the presence of so many CIRCULAR PATTERNS, even within the confines of this mortal life, gives us the precious ANCHOR OF HOPE!!!

So, let us return to the above citation from the Governor in its context.

She has just finished talking about the agonizing period in her life when she had to make the most difficult decision to resign her lucrative job, AOGCC chairman!!

Shortly after, she turns to the consolation of the LORD, THE AUTHOR OF NATURE, and speaks so simply and yet movingly of the return of the glorious summertide!!!

Let us take her words, and in HOLY and RATIONAL HOPE, apply them to the current hour through which we are now passing and suffering:

"The snow melted."

Surely this horrible political hour and season, during which our only November choice seems to be between an out-and-out Communist and an uninspiring, weak political hack, during which the most brilliant patriot of our generation seems to have been relegated to the "bench" through the machinations and maneuvers of truly evil and power-ravenous men and women, during which tens of millions of Americans are left crying out for SARAH OF ALASKA, surely the grim ice and snow of this time shall pass!!--THE SNOW SHALL MELT!

"… the sun rose again, and summer rounded the corner …"

George Washington really lived--and the mighty sound and symphony of his heroic life reverberates and echoes to this very day and hour!

Calvin Coolidge, old "Silent Cal," really did preside over the magnificent "Roaring Twenties."

Ronald Reagan--no, we did not imagine it!!--really did win two overwhelming victories at the ballot box in the 1980s, and became one of our greatest presidents ever---he belongs on Mount Rushmore!!

And as surely and certainly as Babe Ruth could clobber and bash a baseball, Joe Montana could hurl and fling a football, and Vince Lombardi could win and win and win football games, SARAH PALIN OF ALASKA will be President of the United States one day. It will take a miracle for her to be elected this year (and I still pray and hope for this miracle), but it will happen, sooner or later.

NO ONE in our time is more clothed and covered with the golden mantle and majesty of mind, spirit, character, eloquence, guts, leadership, love of her people, and LOVE OF HER COUNTRY than America's NORTH STAR AND LIONESS OF LIBERTY, Governor Palin!!

THE SUN SHALL RISE AND SUMMER SHALL ROUND THE CORNER!!!

And finally, "… a glorious time up North!"

And a glorious time it shall be in the "north" of our nation's capital on THAT DAY, Sarah's Inauguration Day:

A beautiful and fearless patriot rises and places her left hand on the Holy Bible, held by the soon-to-be First Dude of the United States, slowly raises her right hand, and pronounces in clear and resonating tones, tones that cut through the crisp air of a January day in Washington DC, the majestic and ancient words of the Presidential Oath of Office:

"I, Sarah Louise Palin, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God."

The roll of Ruffles and Flourishes … the thunder of twenty-one guns firing in salute … the splendor and majesty of "Hail to the Chief," played for the first time in honor of President Sarah Palin.

Then, an Inaugural Address for the ages … and eight years of a Presidency for the ages!!!

THE SUN SHALL RISE AGAIN!!


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.

  © Blogger templates Sunset by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP