PAGE 122

On p. 122 of GR, Sarah is discussing her inaugural address as Governor of Alaska. She writes, "When the applause died down, I began my first speech as governor of Alaska by honoring the framers of our Constitution, created to guide our state. 'It demands that Alaskans come first. It will keep my compass pointed true north. It's the tool to build Alaska with strength and with order.' "

I would like to discuss two words and concepts from this passage, "strength" and "order."

Order is rooted in the RELATION in which things stand to each other. To take a simple example, there is all the difference between the sentences "The man kills the bear" and "The bear kills the man" because of the ORDER of the words. The order establishes, for the English language, the subject of each sentence and the direct object.

In the sphere of society, it is crucial to define the RELATION in which various units or entities stand to each other.

There is a principle in Catholic Philosophy known as the Principle of Subsidiarity. This principle is one of the foundations of our Constitutional belief in LIMITED GOVERNMENT. The word "subsidiarity" derives from the Latin word "subsidium," "support, assistance, aid, HELP, protection."

The idea is that LARGER units of society exist to HELP and SUPPORT, not to DOMINATE over, smaller units, and especially the family. From this truth flows the principle that larger units, especially the federal or national government, should not carry out those functions that can better be handled at the family, local, or State levels.

The family and the People do not exist for government; government exists for the family and the People.

From this principle flows the proper RELATIONSHIP between and among various societal entities.

The family is helped and supported by the city or town or local government; the local government does not dominate the family.

The local community is helped and supported by the State government; the State government does not dominate the local community.

The State is helped and supported by the federal government; the federal government does not dominate the State.

We do not delegate to larger units those matters that can best be handled by smaller units.

So, for example, the FAMILY is primarily responsible for the education of children.

On the other hand, the federal government certainly possesses some legitimate functions, especially that of national defense, a responsibility that cannot effectively be shouldered by smaller units of society.

The ideal for society, then, is that each of its units be STRONG and healthy, but that each remain within its proper and ORDERED sphere and orbit.

STRENGTH AND ORDER!!

NOW, IMHO, OUR SARAH IS A MODEL AND EXEMPLAR OF STRENGTH ON EVERY LEVEL OF SOCIETY:

On the family level, she is a wonderful wife, mom, daughter, sister, and grandmother. Indeed, IMV, her bringing of her precious Trig into this tired old world in April of 2008, instead of murdering him, as so many political hacks, both Lefties and RINOs, would have done, is THE act that brought down on her head the fury and the obloquy and the odium of the pampered, corrupt, venal, white-collared savages of the Establishment--this and her unerring ability to prick the pompous balloon of the little "messiah" of the Left, barack hussein obama.

On the local level, she was an effective mayor of her hometown of Wasilla.

On the State level, she was a brilliant Governor of Alaska, who accomplished more in about two-and-a-half years than most State governors ever do.

On the national level, I firmly believe that she will become, not only President of the United States of America, but a great, a beloved, an unforgettable resuscitator and restorer of the Res Publica Americana--a heroine for the ages: Our Esther; our Eowyn (Tolkien), our St. Jeanne d'Arc!!!

As I bring this piece to a close, let us observe the dual effect of the expressive phrase "Mother of Her Country."

First, it serves to TIE TOGETHER the first and the last of the societal units that were discussed above, Family and Country, into a harmonious whole.

Second, it serves, through the connotative connection to George Washington, Father of His Country--it serves to TIE TOGETHER the past to the present and to the future, 1776 to 2013-2016.

Sarah Louise Heath Palin of Wasilla, of Alaska, of America will help to restore a United States built upon Strength and upon Order; built upon Character and upon Constitution; built upon Power and upon Beauty.

OUR SARAH: A LADY FOR ALL SEASONS!!!


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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