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Moving target
14 February 2010 | Ron Pickrell

Posted on 02/13/2010 5:59:12 PM PST by pickrell

It may be difficult for many to understand, who did not see the movie, but a simple fact remains. There were many who fought their way across France and Germany in World War Two... in addition to General Patton.

There were infantry, signal intelligence, military police, and yes, morale and propaganda officers. And every last one of them played a significant part in the victory.

Yet, when it comes to politics in the United States, the pundits would have us believe that there are two, and only two, categories of persons. One category is the A. list- those being groomed for the run in 2012. The other is the B. list- everyone else.

It seems that for the pundits, the only useful function for publically known figures, outside of the circle of punditry itself, is to claw their way onto the Presidential ticket.

Some might say that this is a fear reaction wafting in from the pundits themselves, now being threatened with yet one more highly visible up and comer promising to further dilute each of their face-times. When Glen Beck showed up at the Fox Studios a while back, it has been rumored that certain highly paid celebrities there were rather unhappy with the new competition. How much less might someone like Sarah Palin be appreciated, at least while she isn't in the room?

It is far safer to immediately place her into the 2012 race, all by herself, now that Obama seems bent on an approval rating he can signify with just his left fingers. There, in that category, she can be pounded by all sides with relish and abandon.

And yet, for those of us who had some misgivings about George Bush at the very beginning, do we really want another nominee who can't spar verbally and hold their own with the worst the left can offer? It is true in many respects that George Bush was exactly the best man to be in power when the war on terror first became unignorable. The idea that a President elect takes the time to select the very best cabinet members and support staff that he can find, rather than emulate the Clintons and the Obamas by simply combing the university starbucks for the most controllable examples of political extremism, seems starkly more adult now.

Bush's faith led him to believe that history would judge, and that no useful purpose could be served by him trading punch for punch with the opposition. Plus to which his verbal dislexia prevented it even if he wanted to. This was a mistake that primary voters made. And yet, who did they have to choose from?

That all politics is local has had a wide circulation. What hasn't been widely understood, at least since Margaret Thatcher retired, is that all politics is also immediate. History, when finally ready to pronounce judgement, will be left in an empty auditorium.

The writer Terry Pratchett has noted that a lie can run halfway around the world before the truth can get it's boots on. This central truism has been the defining tactic of the left. And when unanswered immediately, and without hesitation, the lie can certainly do great damage. Yet even the lie cannot match the corrosiveness of the successfully embargoed truth.

Ronald Reagan understood that defeating the forces of leftism was a core function of his job, part and parcel of defending the nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. What many never consider is that the domestic enemies to our constitution need not rely on throw weight ratios, like our foreign enemies rattle. In that respect they are far more dangerous, having made pact with those of the self-styled mainstream media, and tenured university types. For anyone to aspire to the highest office in the land, and yet be unrehearsed and untested in circumventing and sidestepping that treacherous media, to speak to America directly, is to be simply a failure in waiting.

Our next nominee must be a gifted, hardened street fighter, as far as politics is concerned. He must challenge ruthlessly and immediately the untruths, the sophomoric thinking, and downright amoral mindset of his, and our, opponents. He, or she, will be facing a leftist opposition which is realizing that their traditional camouflage has suddenly, inexplicably, been torn aside for all to see, and that they now fight desparately for their very political lives.

Who wants to bet that they will, under those circumstances, put on their softest gloves?

Does that mean then that Sarah Palin needs to go home to enjoy all of the richness of life? No. Not at all. What it means is that she needs to understand- and that we need to understand (since there is good evidence she already well understands)- that she can do a far better job for now as an "armored column", if you will allow, absorbing the very worst the enemy aims to stop our progress...rather than as a "headquarters company". The media is focused on her, past the point of simple obsession, as the standard bearer of the invading army, threatening to undo all that they have wrought over the last few decades.

They have shifted all of their artillery to fire-for-effect at what they fear most- an uncontrollable and attractive woman. A woman who puts the lie to everything the feminists have ever advocated.

And in doing so, they have unavoidably exposed two things. One is that they have offered a brief respite to the other several thousand normally targeted Republicans, who now find themselves out of the media crosshairs for a "quick smoke and a cuppa", as the Brits might say. For if Sarah is the anti-anti-Christ, then how much bad press can they spare to fling at a mere Senator?

The second thing they have done is expose, in a way they really don't understand, just who they really are, what they really think of the average American, and what they are willing to do to anyone... to get their way. The Freepers have of course known this for many years, but the average middle American never really understood this before. That someone who unapologetically beams with love at her unaborted Downs Syndrome child, shines a harsh light on others who simply found inconvenience to be sufficient grounds. That someone embraces the joy of the outdoors, enthusiastically fishing and hunting, is unbearable to those who consider man a scourge to nature. But most dangerous of all, that a woman with sufficient support from her nuclear family can have a career in her own right, without establishment approval.

Sarah, if she finds she is up to this sort of thing- and as we have all seen, the punishment will be intense and harsh- can be the one who stood, much like the Marines at Guadalcanal, while the rest of the country gathers itself together to deal a little payback. Those who tilt their head into the wind of the kamikazi left, and don't back up, need to be supported by the headquarters types.

But this likely won't happen. They are pleased that someone else is in the line of fire. But many of the McCain supporters want no truck with a woman who can bring down crooked Republicans, as well as Democrats. This isn't how the old-boy rules are supposed to go. This is blatant conservatism. This is dabbling in middle class wisdom.

And so it falls, as always, to a slowly arousing American public, to support as best they can those troops, or in this case that woman, who can serve as the 'idee fixe' for the enemies of Constitutional America.

And if she toys with the idea of another Presidential run, so be it. We as conservatives need to never again allow the media to decide for us who is an 'acceptable maverick candidate.' There will be adequate time to see who has survived intense sweeping fire... and who merely hid in the brush, waiting for it all to die down. It will be good training, if it takes.

We'll have plenty of time to see if Margaret Thatcher is getting her revenge. And if not, then we won't be guilty of the leftist fixation on the idol, instead of the message. We'll be polite to Sarah, and continue the search for the next Thatcher/Patton.

And realize that in the end, it still all comes down to the common sense of the American voter and those of us who try to crank open his eyes.


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: palin; target

1 posted on 02/13/2010 5:59:12 PM PST by pickrell
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To: pickrell

That was well written.
You should get it published somewhere.


2 posted on 02/13/2010 6:07:30 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: pickrell

I like this. You put in to words what I have been thinking too. Thanks!


3 posted on 02/13/2010 6:12:48 PM PST by almost done by half
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To: pickrell
I'm sorry. Maybe its that fact that I'm on my second glass of bourbon after an incredibly lame day at work, but, ....


4 posted on 02/13/2010 6:13:47 PM PST by scoobysnak71 (I'm light skinned with no negro dialect. Could you milk me?)
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To: almost done by half; Lorianne

Thank you.


5 posted on 02/13/2010 6:17:34 PM PST by pickrell (Old dog, new trick...sort of)
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To: pickrell
what a boatload of crap.

your entire argument can be boiled down to Palin needs to be a cheerleader and let the quarterback win the game.

It is Palin that brings the supporters out for her and her message not for the GOP message. It is her and her alone which raises the money and gets the voters to pledge to donate time and effort. Without her the next in line GOP candidate would be forced to give away pizza for 50 people to come and listen to him.

This argument that you make has been done many times in many ways. You seem to want the cook that went and bought the ingredients, that spent the day in the kitchen cooking and preparing the feast, the person that set the table to “leave the room” and let her “betters” eat at the main table while she waits for the scraps.

If Palin brings the voters, the money and the enthusiasm she deserves the head seat at the table. simple as that.

If you want someone else to sit at the head of the table that person needs to bring his supporters, their money and their drive with them.

Wanting what Palin delivers without giving her her due is the height of selfishness, and pettiness.

and will make sure that the GOP stays out of the whitehouse for years. I will never vote for a liberal be he/she a GOP candidate (like Bush or McCain) or a dem(like Obama or Clinton)

deal with reality and stop telling Palin to “leave the room”.

6 posted on 02/13/2010 7:25:44 PM PST by unseen1
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To: unseen1

Thanks for setting this straight.


7 posted on 02/13/2010 7:32:56 PM PST by reasonisfaith (Hey you noble leftists. If what you are doing is worth anything, it should be worth saying out loud.)
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To: unseen1; pickrell

What unseen1 said. Now go back to mitt-romney-central and tell them it didn’t work.


8 posted on 02/14/2010 4:00:09 AM PST by JApost
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