The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin: What She Believes and What It Means for America (Book Review)
I’ll start this review in an unusual way, with a question about a book that hasn’t been written. Why don’t we have a book called The Faith and Values of Barack Obama? After all, he has been president for nearly two years, and ran for president for about two years before that. He was in public life as a senator and a state senator before that. And he wrote a couple of autobiographical books before he’d actually done very much of the stuff that usually fills autobiographies. It isn’t as though no one is curious about the faith and values that animate our president: Nearly everyone is interested in the man’s inner workings, if only to determine what makes him tick to predict what he might do next. Yet there is no such book called The Faith and Values of Barack Obama. Why?
There has been a flotilla of books written about Barack Obama, most notably David Remnick’s The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. But even that book depicts Obama as less a human being than, well, a bridge — a thing that connects one era, the Civil Rights struggle, to the present. And like all other books about him, it relies heavily on Dreams from My Father, which is Obama’s own telling of his tale. The absence of solid information about significant parts of Obama’s worldview has lately spawned a new argument, concerning whether Obama is an “anticolonialist” or not, with Dinesh D’Souza arguing that he is and that that explains many of his actions, while on the other side Christopher Hitchens is content to denounce D’Souza without bothering himself to refute a single thing D’Souza actually wrote. And so it goes with Obamology.
Obama has never granted any author the kind of access and cooperation, yet editorial detachment, that makes a book like The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin possible, while obviously Palin has and we’re better off for it. Obama has simply never been that open with the American people, hiding in plain sight behind soaring rhetoric and grand staging and an army of policy czars, while Palin’s entire life and the lives even of her children have been out in the open for two years running. Obama has never really allowed his inner story to get out without his direct control.
Palin, by contrast, granted authors Stephen Mansfield and David A. Holland tremendous access to a wide range of people who have known her personally from childhood on. There is no hint in the book of her controlling the story, certainly not in the way that autobiographer Barack Obama dictated his own story, nor is there any hint that Palin made any attempt to keep anything out of bounds. The result here is a book that tells us much about Palin, and much about today’s American elites who hate her or at least are so wary of her.
Since this is a book about faith and values, it begins appropriately enough at baby Sarah Heath’s baptism into the Catholic Church. It goes on to weave Sarah’s faith through her upbringing in rugged Alaska, through her own family’s life, and to her political career. The picture we get is almost shockingly normal for anyone who grew up away from the big cities on the two coasts in the lower 48. Sarah’s family had the usual tensions of belief and direction, yet their house was known for being the hangout for all the stray kids in town. The family went to church. They discussed things over dinner. They clung together when times got tough. They read lots of books. They prayed. As for Sarah, growing up in Alaska she was athletic, bookish, driven, and focused, used to going hunting before heading to school, and active in her church and community. Some may bristle at the idea that she felt a “special calling” via her faith to go into public service, but that’s very standard fare in evangelical church and community settings. Her whole story reads well here, and comes off as strikingly not strange at all.
As a bookish person myself, I’d be very curious to know just what Sarah Heath Palin reads now and what she read growing up, both for intellectual stimulation and for fun.
There is actually a chapter in that book that deals with the books Palin read and was influenced by. It is part of a broader analysis of her overall worldview.
The liberal elites and MSM (twins separated at birth methinks) have helped to give airtime to the very person they fear most – Sarah Palin.
To which I say thank you.
I think the Republican nomination will come down to Palin vs Romney. Romney epitomizes everything I’ve come to dislike about RINOs. The old ‘give in to get along’ strategy no longer works – hasn’t in a long time or we wouldn’t be where we are now – broke busted disgusted!
This leaves Sarah Palin for whom I’d have no qualms about voting for. FWIW I didn’t vote for her and the old RINO fart in 2008 – but I simply didn’t vote for POTUS. Could not do it. McCain is no better than Romney. Romney vs Obama you ask? – hold my nose and vote for Romney if it comes to that – and I pray it does not.
I’m betting a lot of Americans will see it the same way once confronted with the ballot box realities – 4 more years of this narcissistic elite (who else writes a book about themselves before becoming well-known?) – or Sarah Palin who best reflects what is great and good about this country. Obama will have the black vote locked up no matter (but they ain’t racist are they?) but anyone with a brain or a bank account left will flee the Nigerian (or whatever he is).
Betcha Hillary will be running against obama..
That should be an interesting race.
I would rather see a Palin run against an obama than a Hillary. Hillary will be an outright dirty nasty candidate. More corruption than we have ever seen..Alinsky at his best and Palin will be slaughtered.
Don’t misunderstand..We like Palin, a lot. However, there’s a lot of crap to be thrown by the Dems and Republicans seldom answer back like they should…
Certainly Hilary can sling a load of crap around as good as anyone – but she’d be going against the grain – up against a sitting president in her own party. That alone will be a slug-fest of monumental proportions. Whomever limps across the democrat finish line won’t be in one piece with a united party behind them. Carter had his problems when Ted Kennedy ran against him – the democrats were very disoriented after that mud-wrestling episode.
And the American public is increasingly looking at the character of who they are voting for instead of looking for the D or the R by the name. Hilary has no class and it shows – Americans aren’t blind.
I think Sarah Palin could beat Clinton or Obama handily. Like the old guard in the republican party is finding out – like a surfer hitching a ride on a 20 footer – they can ride the wave (Tea Party) but harnessing it is wishful thinking.
There is no way on God’s green earth that Sarah Palin would have or could have done as poor a job at being POTUS than the dumb ass now occupying that office.
Bingo, you nailed it TBranin! Please forgive my urge to elaborate.
Two years ago it was already obvious that the number two on the losing ticket had more than the number one on the winning ticket in authentic leadership disposition, business experience and insight, and identification with America from a positive perspective. We are so used to candidates affected by the mannerism of Ivy league graduates, we seem to have developed a mindless expectation that presidents should be one of these, not one of us, like she is. I keep hearing that Mamma-Grizzlie-in-chief could not possibly be a president because she lacks precisely all the attributes of the fakery so typical of ordinary candidates, such as Romney, for instance. Not that there is so much wrong with the man himself, but he does not look like the guy to say something to the effect that “We are Americans, dammit!”. She would not put it exactly in these words, of course, but I easily visualize her saying something of more a presidential tone, but exactly to the same effect, as Ronald Reagan was apt to do.
Two years after our memorable unicorns-and-polystyrene-columns themed election, Mr. Numero Uno has already unceremoniously descended from his former pedestal, all by his own gravity, while she has climbed to the national conscience, all by her own talent and earnestness. She still attracts the mindless attacks from the panicked liberals who have just about reached the threshold of discredit, precisely because she is the archetype of the normally obscure American patriot, usually minding his or her own business, until threatened by some shockingly un-American “transformation”. These so-called “negatives” are to her credit in my book.
Who becomes president is not so much determined by the approving nod of the intelligentia, but rather by who is the person of the moment at election time. Two years ago, the moment was the tantrum of an electorate ready for a vacation from reality. Plenty can happen between now and two years hence, when reality will have made a dramatic come-back, and what the moment happens to be by then will naturally sort out who is the most appropriate candidate, by the lights of awakened Americans. For my money, she could be! In the meantime let’s not lose focus on this coming November, which we can all see from our houses.
I’m elated. The Country Class folks are seemingly becoming engaged in the political process.
The aforementioned Palin or Romney as a choice in 2012 would get me to the polling place. One the other hand, Mitch Daniels would not.
If Victor Davis Hanson would fire up a campaingn committee I’s send him aa buck or two and vote for him twice like the folks in Chicago get to do for their candidates.
Palin/Prager 2012
I too would vote for VDH if he would run, he’s my guy.
Failing that,,, Sarah’s my gal.
Daniels or Ryan for President. Palin, Daniels, Ryan for VP, whatever the mix, just not Sarah for President would be a blockbuster ticket. Scrap all the old guard Republicans, Gingrich, Romney etc.
I like Mitch–he has been an excellent governor. He is willing to try new things, and if they do not work, as his attempts to outsource parts of the welfare system did not, he backs away and corrects. The ability to recognize a mistake and to move correct it is something that is missing with the current president. However, Mitch is about as uncharismatic as a politician can be, so I doubt that he can be a viable candidate for president. Palin, in contrast, rivals Bill Clinton in the charisma department.
‘Almost worthless near son-in-law’ – twenty year old kid. Waste of a comment. Sarah Palin has two main problems – lack of knowledge and the fact that she quit as Gov. of her state. The first is a problem, which can be dealt with politically by 1) learning more, 2) political attacks on the opponents. Since most politicians are not exactly great intellectuals, she can probably survive that one. The part about quitting the very executive job to which she was elected – a public-service position that she sought – because of obscure reasons is a far bigger hurdle. It seems she did not like some of the bad publicity and that she wanted to make big dough on the lecture circuit. How this positions someone to be President, I just don’t know.
The same way Obama was elected President I guess, he had zero executive experience. Admitted he didn’t quit anything, he just never started anything to quit.
Excellent point
However, if Palin were to run, her quitting the Gov job would be a major campaign issue that the liberals would ride day and night. Obama is the epitome of what America does NOT need..ever again.
We never know. Maybe Obama will bow out and allow Hillary to run “un”opposed. And maybe the tooth fairy will bring me back all me teeth..who knows??? AND!!! The only reason John McCain got any votes was because he brought Palin on board. She could never do worse than Obama..never folks.
No it wouldn’t. When asked she’ll simply say the truth and come off as the selfless public servant she is.
“I resigned because of frivolous ethics complaints filed through a loophole in Alaska’s laws that enabled opponents of my Administration to pin down over 80% of the time of government workers, force me to spend my own money to defend myself while governor, and cost the state over two million dollars. Since I finished EVERY major objective of my first term early, and knowing these attacks were because of me, I stepped down to allow the Executive branch to function properly and then stepped UP and took the fight NATIONALLY against the most leftist President and administration in US history knowing full-well that it may destroy my political future. There are other things more important than me, including my state and my country and I chose to STAND UP and do something about it.”
I don’t think that will be an issue, especially if the left is reminded that BO quit both the Il and U.S. senate to further his political career. He started his prez campaign as soon as he was elected to the U.S. senate. Also, Hillary bailed out of NY to further her pol career. IMO, Palin’s reasons for quitting AK are far more honorable than either BO or Hillary’s were. Look what a leader Palin has turned out to be – fearless against critiquing BO.
Bingo. When it got tough, she ran.
There was a lot more to it than she simply ran, a lot more.
“she ran”
Yeah…straight into the fight. Right into Obama’s and the Dem’s front yard, poking them in the face on a daily basis. Unlike the rest of the guys in the GOP hiding in the tall grass…letting the girl do all the fighting.
But don’t let any pertinent facts get in your way. Please pay attention.
I guess you’re assuming she would run against BHO. I am assuming he will not run. However, let’s say he survives politically to run again. In my opinion, if I were Barry and had to choose my ‘favorite’ candidate, Sarah would be in the top two or three – and primarily because she quit as Governor.
So as to be clear, I am sure she had her reasons. It’s simply a crippling political handicap to have done so. I am not saying anything else – I wish she had not.
Didn’t ANYONE read what Sarah said about her resignation? Really now! She said she was spending too much time and too much money investigating the 20 lawsuits filed against her (and the state) about various things. None of them ended up in court and most were dismissed, but she wasn’t able to do her job as governor because of it. That’s what she said, folks, and that’s what I believe. She was thinking of the state of Alaska and tax monies being spent on frivolous lawsuits, so she resigned.
Check back if you don’t remember.
Well, if you are truly concerned about someone quitting in the middle of the job, why did you vote for Obama? He quit as State Senator in Illinois and he quit as U.S. Senator from Illinois. Did that bother you at the time? I sure as hell hope he quits as President of the United States before the end of his term, too, but I’m not gonna bet on that.
I am tempted…no, I won’t go there.
Mr. Spinoneone, I did not vote for Barack Obama.
Actually, I will go there – I lost a few friends and ‘earned’ severe punishment from my remaining sibling because I in fact told them what I thought of them for voting for Obama. Nice try, though.
“[quitting] because of obscure reasons is a far bigger hurdle.”
Because of obscure reasons? Did you completely miss the campaign to bankrupt her by filing endless bogus “ethics” charges?
“Did you completely miss the campaign to bankrupt her by filing endless bogus “ethics” charges?”
Yes Rob, they usually do miss things like that. And willfully so. Facts usually hurt their HuffPo-issued memes.
If their ‘quitter’ meme held any water with the American people, Sarah wouldn’t be polling evenyly with, or ahead of Obama at this point in time (yet she is)–she wouldn’t be the political kingmaker she is…and we wouldn’t be speculating about her 2012 prospects.
The Dems can’t see the forest for the trees.
Exactly. Here’s a more succinct statement about Sarah Palin resigning from Governor: “I resigned as Governor of Alaska to save my family and Alaska from financial ruin.” Is that clear enough?
To Larry in the Silicon: From what I’ve read, Sarah fully intended to return to the Governorship of Alaska after the 2008 election. But, the libs and MSM had other plans for her. They recognized from her dynamic appearance on the political stage as being a threat to liberalism that they needed to squash asap. (According to my readings), they knew she would only gain strength and momentum after serving as AK governor for her 2 remaining years and possibly with re-election, 4 more years. So, they formed the “annihilate Sarah” project immediately after the election. It resulted in her not being able to effectively serve her AK constituents by finishing her term.
OTOH, Obama has a record of using every office he was elected to as a stepping stone to the next higher one, including quitting the senate to run for pres. I regard Sarah’s reasons for resigning the AK governorship much more valid and honorable than Obama’s quitting the IL senate after only 150 days of actual service.
“Nearly everyone is interested in the man’s inner workings, if only to determine what makes him tick to predict what IDIOTIC THING he might do next.”
There, I fixed it for you.
he has what any other dummy has inside…
I posted on arah Palin 29 months ago, commenting on her absolute integrity and scrappiness, predicting that she would do exactly what she said, fight free of any ties to the Republican elites who had shoved her off the dock, and that she would not run for political office because she is not motivated by political of monetary ambition. and thoroughly turned off by machine and dynastic politics. I did, however,believe that she would take a more direct leadership role in wha
I still believe the irst part but can’t really understand her current strategy, nor know who she is depending on for counsel. A recent mailing from the RNC, with a covering letter by her, genuinely pules me. Outside the fence? I wish she were doing more that twittering.t I view as the “exceptionalist movement”.
Don’t be too put off…she has been doing to drive the National debate on issues more with her Tweets and Facebook postings, than the DNC can do with the lamestream media can do put together.
Twitter and Facebook are to Sarah Palin in 2010, as weekly radio addresses were to Reagan from 77 – 80. It’s her way of addressing issues and speaking directly to the people, just as Ronaldus did.
You really should read the book, it’ll disabuse you of many of these delusions,
Glass @ 7 and Larry in the Silicon @ 8 – you are so palpably “compassionate troll” plants it’s not even funny. Peddle your wares where people won’t recognise you.
That’s great. I’ll have to go to my handlers now and ask for a raise. You represent idiots very well.
Correction: Should read “20 months ago” and “,,,leadership role in what I view as the “exceptionalist movement.”
The reason we don’t see a book about Obama’s personal visions and values is because he is only symbolic or a perception of a person. He has been packaged, branded, test marketed, and shipping out to people who have been told to expect a product exactly like him as the final evolution of our leader. When he falls short, Obama engineers simply repackage the product as new and improved while insisting that deep down inside that bag of Cheesy Obama Flakes, the same perfect product remained crispy all along. It’s what kids want!
Here is a great real world example: when Bush failed, the media jumped on Bush as a dullard. When Obama fails, the media portrays him as a professor struggling to hold his overwhelmed staff together and get them educated, brought to speed, so he won’t be further held back from saving the planet by the mere mortals plaguing his existence.
About Palin: I was disappointed by what Palin didn’t know when she spoke as the VP candidate. But then, I thought more about it and changed my mind. Ask Palin a question and you might get a “don’t know” and back when she was handled by Mac’s team, she was not comfortable with “not knowing” an answer. She only needs confidence on the national scene and a team representing her interests.
I will welcome the “don’t know” answer of honesty over this BS we’ve come to expect from our professional politicians:
“Many Americas ask me that same question and so it’s a great one! And I will answer by saying that the best answer is the one that’s best for those American’s out there asking it. So the short answer is, I respect the American people and what they ask is what I will answer or else I’m not right for the job!”
As for her quitting the Governor job, I understand her stated reason: political opponents attacking her with frivolous lawsuits were costing Alaska money while distracting her from her sworn duty. I think it took more courage to step down than to stick it out.
Also, its unavoidable point that politics today are different than ever before. The news media is almost entirely behind the Democrat pol and that means fighting for them everywhere from newspapers to feature films and from the SNL to TV sitcoms. They’ve broken every rule of journalism fighting for Dems. And since when have they attacked any candidate so viciously as Palin? She even caught hell from (moderate) republicans. Why? Because she is exactly the kind of candidate they fear most.
They’re afraid she won’t sell out to some big picture solution that costs us another trillion dollars worth of pork when it can be done immediately and for nothing. She’ll make them look bad and that’s keeping them awake at night.
Regarding “Don’t Know.”
Several years ago National Lampoon sent reporters to the Senat Building to ask Senators thier position regarding the “War in Freedoinia.”
Patty Murry answered “My staff is looking into the ramifications of the situation even now. We are all very concerned as to what this means to U.S. influence and interests in that area.”
The answeres from the rest of that august deliberative body were pretty much the same.
Only Bob Dole (why did it have to be him?) got it. And he was quick on the uptake.
Dole said, “We’er looking at a Bill to aid Mr. Firefly in purchasing Ready Made Trenches.”
The war in Fredonia was a Reference to the movie Duck Soup featuring the Marx Brothers.
Google ‘dumbest senator’ and Patty Murray’s name comes up often – she runs a close second to Babs Boxer. building roads and schools This is the same brainiac that announced that OBL is over there building roads – schools and other civic minded things. How could you make things like this up?
We’ve been saddled with this brain-dead twit for 18 years – and while Rossi seems to be just another well-connected RINO I’ll grit my teeth (what I have left) and vote for him. It does look like we have a good chance to be rid of her come November.
“Why don’t we have a book called The Faith and Values of Barack Obama?”
We do. Ok, it’s not exactly the same title, it’s “The Faith of Barack Obama”. It’s one of a series, and it’s written by the same author who wrote this one about palin:
http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Barack-Obama-Stephen-Mansfield/dp/B002UXS2EG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285145530&sr=1-1
I gotta say … that’s not a great start to a column. If you’d even read the blurb on that amazon page you’d have known that.
But lets go on:
“And he wrote a couple of autobiographical books before he’d actually done very much of the stuff that usually fills autobiographies.”
Do you want a book about his values, or do you want a book about his presidency? The Audacity Of Hope is probably the book you’re looking for – the one you reckon doesn’t exist. It was published after he joined the senate and just before he announced his presidential bid. I expect he hasn’t had a lot of time since for writing another bio.
Lets put aside “faith and values” for a minute. That’s just pandering to the feel-don’t-think crowd. I want to hear about the ETHICS of the candidates, as demonstrated by their past actions. That’s ultimately what lets me judge their characters and probable future behavior.
There’s plenty of information available about obama. If journalists aren’t publishing it, take it up with them – they seem pretty happy to print fairy tales. It’s not like he hasn’t furnished them with plenty of material to work with. After all, like you say, he’s written two autobiographies.
Now, my problem with palin is that she’s an artificial construct. She avoids questions by communicating with the world only through one-way channels and set-piece invite-only stump speeches. There is, IMHO, no way to actually know anything about her. For all I know, that vanity fair hatchet piece might even be accurate – I doubt it, but I can’t know. You can’t know. Nobody who is talking knows. Meanwhile she has yet to sit through any interviews of the sort obama has done – the series with o’reilly, for example.
Sorry, but the mystery candidate here isn’t obama, it’s palin.
Sarah Palin has no need to interact, reply, or debate with anybody at this time. SHE ISN’T RUNNING FOR ANYTHING! She is a private citizen who can communicate with her fans any way she wants and ignore talking to anybody she wants. The time for her to interact, reply and debate people is when she declares her candidacy. And that may never happen. No one is debating Romney, Polenty, Huckaby or any other Republican possible candidate at this time. So lay off Palin.
Bernie, maybe you’ve missed the point of this entire thread?
Hm. That should have been directed at Immanuel Goldstein.
A feature of the feedback button is that I was looking at the wrong name when I typed it.
Thanks to Bryan Preston, the book authors and to Pajamas Media.
And then, of course, thanks for Miss Sarah. She is a treasure. I follow all the Time Rag and Swampland reports of her and when their cynics start with how useless, ignorant blah … blah … Sarah Palin is, I always say to them:
“So why do you give her so much publicity if she is so worthless, firstly?” Secondly for a working Mom who [look at her, she took six years to get a college degree, they always say, and then sneer at her for having made 12 million in the past year], well then I ask the speaker: “Sir or madam, you seem to be so much better than Miss Sarah so please tell me what you have achieved, or tell me how much you have made and all on your own like Miss Sarah.”
Our lady has guts too apart from her other qualities. She is what America needs right now.
AND she is what the World needs in an American President right now too.
We will all be saying “Miss Sarah” if this first female fascist is elected.
Ray
Like you, I respect Sarah Palin when she says “I don’t know” when she doesn’t know. We have far too many politicians in the world “that know everything.” Give me the person who tells me that he/she doesn’t know but who will go back to investigate and give me the truth later on.
Quitting is a negative? Really? Murkowski, by contrast, won’t quit running, even when defeated. She cannot let go of the power. Palin was willing to give it up. Her celebrity was making her ineffectual as a Governor… and she had bigger fish to fry.
She didn’t quit. She got promoted! She went from Governor to Chief of the Opposition. Most ex-VP candidates fade into some obscurity. She has gained tremendously in influence. The Passed Pawn has been Queened! This Queen now harries the enemy all over the board and takes out his pieces.
Why do I back her? Because she has a track record of bringing down institutional pols on both sides of the aisle. The Alaskan landscape is littered with the bodies of her foes from both parties, Murkowski being the most recent. She throws the bums out! Her win/loss rate in the primaries is truly astounding.
The path to real reform starts with fresh blood. This is her greatest strength, the ability to clean house.
This election is not about who has the greatest erudition. Nay, it is about who shall be the greatest Servant of the People. Palin would serve us to the best of her ability. You say her abilities are limited? I would prefer baby steps in the right direction to running in the wrong direction.
Character and morality matter!
As for her quitting, what about Obama quitting his Senate seat that he held hardly long enough to know where the men’s rooms were in the Senate building? Or Hillary, who quit her Senate seat to run two years into her second term? Or Kathleen Sebalias (sp) who quit her Governor’s seat in Kansas to join the Obama administration, or Napolatano who quit her Governor’s seat in Arizona to join the administration or… There are any numbers of politicians who quit elected positions to either seek higher office or are forced to resign for ethics problems or that old chestnut, “to be with the family.” Why is Palin held to a different standard?
Marc Malone
I don’t normally enter a Post more than once but your comment called me in for the third time.
Ditto every word and thought as you expressed it. There is nothing whatsoever that I can add to it. Well said.
Thanks for the book review. I will go read it.
I voted for her in ’08, and Mccain rode her coattails, as far as I’m concerned.
I don’t have to know her every big or little position. I trust that she is trustworthy. She is effective. She’s proven herself from school board on up. That’s a bunch of elections, over and over and over. I sincerely, dearly hope she runs again.
May I point out that Reagan was on the speechmaker circuit for years? And built his ideas and his base on his radio show? I assume the same thing happens- she talks, and then people talk back, and she listens.
From what I’ve heard, it wasn’t just the lawsuits, it was the very physical threats to her and to her family, that caused her to withdraw from office. And since we have, in print, various people wishing- per sarah bernhardt- gang-rape- on her, david letterman making uncouth comments on nat’l tv about her children- people wishing to harm her infant son— she was in unprecedented territory in regards to her family’s safety. Good night- someone went and bought the house next to hers to stalk her.( Joe Mcginniss) I’ve just listed people in the public eye. Imagine what people less well-known have thought, or communicated, or threatened?
I’d vote for her, and then pray every last single day for the sake of her bodyguards that all goes well.
ari
“…an authentically and uniquely American woman whose very ordinary beliefs have propelled her to do remarkable things.”
Her remarkable deeds qualify Sarah Heath Palin as a remarkable person: an exemplar who can hold her head up in any company. She’s head and shoulders above any other imaginable contender for the presidency.
One of the reasons the GOP was so badly treated in the 2008 presidential balloting was that our candidate was old-guard establishment, a Bob Dole type visibly without any firm convictions. No one could say that about Sarah — and from the reactions she gets wherever she goes, what she’s saying is what Americans want to hear.
Sarah Palin is just as manufactured as Obama ever was. She is an egotistical, money-grubbing, fairly dim-witted, End-of-Days believer who should not be allowed to get anywhere near the oval office. Most Republicans believe this. Hate to throw a wrench into your fawning echo-chamber here this morning, but to quote Muhammad Ali, “It ain’t never gonna happen”.
Hey Nate, she’s smarter than you! She is by far the most brilliant, powerful, and charismatic politician of her generation. Nobody else is even close to her. And given Bill Clinton’s record following his Presidency, by what standard can she be possibly considered money grubbing? When she resigned her Governorship she had no book contract, and no prospects of money, so your accusations of money grubbing make absolutely no sense at all. She is not a manufactured candidate. Who could possibly have come up with the qualities and personality traits of courage, independence, and grit that she displays. A combination of throwback frontier woman, glamor queen, CEO, and calculating politician,and biker chick is something I don’t think anybody could have conceived of, ever.
Immanuel,
I won’t talk about you because I don’t know you. I believe you are misinformed however. I could be the second most intelligent person in the world and Palin would be smarter right? Because she must be the smartest person in the world!!
I’m not convinced. I saw the Couric interview and Palin is definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Is your post satire?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkWebP2Q0Y&feature=related
Palin quit her elected post to do the lecture circuit where she charges high fees to attend. Remember China? She was under investigation at the time for abusing the power of her office. She then writes the obligatory biography (had it written for her) to make more money for herself. She abandons her disabled child except when she holds him for an occasional photo opportunity. Yes, I just said that – Palin uses her disabled kid as a prop for her faux political campaign. She knows she’ll never get elected dog catcher but she’s making plenty of money. Shameful. Don’t even get me started on her religious views. Would you want someone with an ego as big as hers in charge of the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal when she actively says doomsday will occur in our lifetimes? Funny if it wasn’t so scary. You make this too easy.
“Palin quit her elected post to do the lecture circuit where she charges high fees to attend.”
No…that’s not why she resigned…again with the intentional ignorance of facts.
“She was under investigation at the time for abusing the power of her office.”
Wow…just effing wow. You are aware of those ‘investigations’…and how they turned out…right? More intentional ignorance. She’s 26 – 0 against those accusations. The same ones that drove her from office. Why do you hate facts?
“She then writes the obligatory biography (had it written for her) to make more money for herself.”
You have a problem with capitalism? Apparently so. And hiring ghostwriters to assist in writing books is very common. Just ask Barry O.
“She abandons her disabled child except when she holds him for an occasional photo opportunity.”
More intentional stupidity. You do realize the episode you’re talking about has been debunked? The child she was getting a picture with, was not hers, but the Down’s baby of a supporter that wanted her picture taken with Gov. Palin. After the picture was taken, the Gov. handed the child back to her mother. You’ll find that most people are not scum-sucking dirtbags like yourself. Most people are genuine, as Gov. Palin is.
“Yes, I just said that – Palin uses her disabled kid as a prop for her faux political campaign.”
Yes, you did. And shown yourself to be an uninformed, hate-filled moron.
“She knows she’ll never get elected dog catcher”
Good thing…because she ain’t running for dog-catcher. She DID, however get elected Mayor, and then Governor. You dumbass.
“but she’s making plenty of money. Shameful.”
You sure hate that capitalism, don’t you?
“Don’t even get me started on her religious views.”
Why? Do tell, you hate-filled, ignorant athiest.
“Would you want someone with an ego as big as hers in charge of the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal”
If ego is your problem, then you ought to be more worried about Obammy. But I DO want someone incharge of the arsenal whose love of this country is unquestioned, like Sarah Palin. Barry on the other hand…
“when she actively says doomsday will occur in our lifetimes?”
Proof please. I want a cite of her EXACT words–WITH CONTEXT! You make the assertion, YOU back it up. I won’t hold my breath….cowards like you are immune to the truth.
“Funny if it wasn’t so scary. You make this too easy.”
What’s really scary, it that an easily debunkable jackass like yourself is probably licensed to drive, and even scarier, registered to vote. But you do make it very easy to look like the doofus you are.
Thank you for your service.
Nate, my call out to you is my standard challenge to anybody who so casually dismisses her intelligence. Just how would you go out to prove that you are smarter than her, that you could match up your accomplishments with hers? I don’t know who you are either. For all I know, you might be the greatest intellect since Isaac Newton. But when you present as your primary piece of evidence of Palin’s stupidity the Caty Couric interview, that doesn’t do much for your credibility. Palin was interviewed for something like six hours, and that interview was edited down to twenty minutes in order to show her in the worst possible light. Thus CBS acted as a stand in for the Obama Democrats in the middle of a heated election campaign. Such objectivity! Such “journalistic” integrity! Perhaps she was unprepared for the interview, but she learns fast and will never be sandbagged like that again.
Sarah Palin came from nowhere, with no money, became Governor, replacing a veteran and entrenched politician, cleaned out 50 plus years of good old boy corruption, forced the largest corporation in the world, Exxon to agree to her terms, and then negotiated with the Canadian government to construct the natural gas pipeline, a project that languished for three decades because nobody else could get the principals to agree on a contract. Now she has changed the political landscape of this country forever, by empowering conservative women into a potent and transformative political movement.
The Democrats tried to destroy her through ridicule, unsubstantiated rumors, lies and worthless but expensive ethics lawsuits. They failed. Now she is terrorizing them back. They can’t destroy her, they can’t stop her, and they don’t know what she is going to do next. I guess you are right. She is just a ditz, after all.
“I saw the Couric interview”
No, you did not. You saw excepts from the Couric interview. The whole interview was six hours long and CBS has never released the unedited tapes. The fact that they have not suggests that if they did, it would be obvious that they mined those six hours to find the “gotcha” moments. Context sometimes matters a lot–remember the Sherrod affair a while back? I suspect the excerpts from the Couric interview would look a lot different if they were seen in context, which again is the reason that CBS has not released the unedited tapes.
There is little that I don’t like about Palin. I especially like the moments when she causes the ultra-liberals heads to explode. Her role as a king-maker and Tea Party personage are obviously quite effective. However, I would not wish the roll of president upon her and her family.
In the 4th line, next-to-last paragraph of this article, “diners” is a typo for “dinners.”
While it is interesting to learn more about Sarah Palin herself, the more interesting point here is whether there will be a shift in the prototype we value and admire.
There has been a tension arc between placing value on the best examples of what may be called “the ordinary American” versus the “elite.” The lists of who is on which side of the ledger tell us about ourselves and the country. For example:
“best of the ordinary American” would include Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Eisenhower, Truman, Reagan.
Best of “the elite” would include Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, John Quincy Adams, William Howard Taft.
Hybrids would be Theodore Roosevelt (born elite but worked hard to be a man of the people), George Washington (relatively wealthy land owner but willing to suffer with his troops at Valley Forge), Bill Clinton (the mirror image of TR, born poor but Oxford Rhodes Scholar).
There are good and bad leaders in each group. But since the GI Bill made college education financially available to anyone, preference for “elite” leaders has increased. Hence the Harvard educated Obama was considered qualified but the University of Idaho educated Palin was not. And the ability to string together a paragraph with big words and vague concepts was regarded as a more important skill than common sense and plain talk.
Go back and listen to the speeches, and even better, the conversational record of Harry Truman and you will see the President whose way of expressing himself most closely resembled the conversational style of George W. Bush. We now look at Truman as an excellent (if not quite great) President and many still see George W. Bush as a bumbler, despite an undergraduate degree from Yale (possibly based on “gentlemen’s C’s”) but also an MBA from Harvard (and they don’t give these away frivolously).
Sarah Palin herself is a fascinating individual. Among my friends I am the most enthusiastic supporter. But the point is less Sarah Palin herself. The greater point is whether practicality, common sense, and plain talk is gaining respect among Americans after being obscured by the worship of the false god of fancy talk by “elites.”
She is going to run for POTUS because there is NO other GOP possible that has the convictions, the courage and charisma to unite the GOP, the Tea Party, Mama Grizzlies and fiscal indies fed up with the federal gov. adding employees like a draft on Dec. 8th, 1941.
A lot of people at PJ Media are not in tune with the GOP and Tea Party Movement. They don’t see the wave coming.
Sarah has the executive experience, and is not kept down by the McCain campaign. Her challenge will be winning the GOP nomination. She’ll beat Obama by taking back Indiana, Ohio (no way O gets a second term from this state), Virginia, and North Carolina. These are state where O has been abandoned by Indies. That leaves Florida out east. Throw Alan West on the ticket with a Tampa, FL convention and that’s covered. Now, with the census pushing 5+ electoral votes to red states, that means Sarah would only need one more state, probably from the following: WI, IA, CO, NV, NM, NH. Chances are it will be at least Colorado.
That’s it. That is all she needs to be President. And once she is there, you can bet if a GOP Congress on her inauguration day hands her the Repeal of Obamacare bill, she WILL sign it into law. The others lack cajones.
We need an experienced, common-sense, prudent, Constitutionalist in the White House with courage. Anything less and it will quickly degenerate to Bush/Obama-lite.
Sapwolf — I like your analysis of the coming primary and election, with Sarah winning. But I’d like to present my theory why I don’t think Obama will even run for a second term. Either 1)Obama will come to the realization that he loves the adulation, the partying, the perks that come with the Office and that he hates the work (and could have all the perks as a former president)or; 2)after the 2010 wipeout, will have a mental breakdown, caught on tape and sent virally around the world. This will cause his handlers and supporters to urge him to retire, to “spend more time with his family”. I really think one of these scenarios are possible, and just can’t see him even running for a second term…but I could be wrong.
Oh. Then Hillary would get the nod to run against Sarah. Considering Hillary went along with Obama’s disasterous foreign policy, I think Sarah could beat her easily.
26. Sapwolf: Right on! Good analysis.
“Why don’t we have a book called The Faith and Values of Barack Obama?” We do, it’s titled “The Faith of Barack Obama,” by Stephen Mansfield. You might know the author better by his other work, “The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin.”
So Obama has faith but no values?
The BETRAYAL of ISRAEL
SARAH PALIN on Israel:
Q: How would you solve Israel/Palestinian conflict?
PALIN: A two-state solution is the solution. That needs to be done, and that will be a top agenda item under a McCain-Palin administration. Israel is our strongest and best ally in the Middle East.
Source: 2008 Vice Presidential debate against Joe Biden Oct 2, 2008
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Sarah_Palin_Foreign_Policy.htm
Like Madrid, Philippines, Beslan, London, New York, Kashmir, India, Sudan, Thailand; tiny Israel is the victim of global jihad. But only in Israel’s case, is surrender to global jihad demanded by the elites – a two-state solution. Murders; pogroms; genocides. Deportations. The stealing of Jewish land and assets is the way Jews have always been treated. Abbas’s PLO/Palestinian Authority teach Muslims that ALL Israel belongs to Islam.
PLO/PA “peace” partners greatly honor Muslim terrorist killers of Jewish innocents, including pregnant Jewish mothers and children. The U.S. continually give advanced military training to the PLO/PA army. One of the U.S. trained terrorists told journalist, Aaron Klein, that all of the American military training was used against Israel.
A two-state solution will utterly destroy Israel’s security – reducing little Israel at mid-section to 9 miles wide INDEFENSIBLE, Auschwitz borders – facilitating a Second Holocaust.
Where are the leaders to stand strong for America, Israel and the Free World?
Sarah Palin made her popularity with the American people when she stood before the Republican nominating convention and introduced her Downs syndrome baby. That was an eloquent statement rivaling Williams Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech. The message that electrified the convention and all ofl; Protestant America with it was: “My Christian conscience would not allow me to take innocent life.” It was immediately understood lby the convention which unanimously rose to its feet. So did America. And so did all her enemies. I say better Sarah than Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who approved a state abortion with the declaration that three generations of imbeciles were enough. Also better than Adolf Hitler who did away with thousands of such individuals. And Sarah said that if you elect me you will have a friend and advocate for all parents who need help with such a misfortune.
Sarah Palin is an inspiration to us as we fight our own tea party insurrection in Australia.
The disgusting treatment of her by the leftstream media and the broader manipulation of the narrative signalled that we had to be tougher, more open and engage new media completely to win.
And we will win.
There is nothing ordinary about Sarah Palin. She is the embodiment of feminism that I have been waiting for, for 40 years.
Sarah Palin supported the Bailout of Wall Street and TARP in the Fall of 2008.
Am I the only one still waiting for a REAL conservative?
Sarah Palin supported TARP and the Wall Street Bailout in Fall, 2008.
Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one still waiting for a TRUE CONSERVATIVE.
http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Barack-Obama-ebook/dp/B001E0YQTQ/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Here, the book “The Faith of Barack Obama”.
You people are complete morons.
Hilariously, it’s even written by the same author as the Palin book.
Way to do your research, Bryan.
Oh snap!
I think when BP wrote “Yet there is no such book called The Faith and Values of Barack Obama. Why?”, it was after a thorough search of the desk in front of him. He may even have re-searched it. The desk, I mean.
Thanks for this article. Will order the book today.
Sarah Palin has been named “Mrs. John Galt” and for a reason by a piece called “The Nanny-State: Succeed and You Shall Be Punished”. They advance the narrative that she is at the forefront of all the Tea Party principles more than any other conservative, and that she spouses the defense of ‘individualism’ and the opposition to ‘collectivism’ more than Gingrich and Romney.
The whole piece can be read at http://www.robbingamerica.com with samples of the speeches of one of Ayn Rand characters.