Posted on 09/08/2008 8:18:55 AM PDT by RDasher
When Senator John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate two Fridays ago, the first-term governor and would-be vice president was a complete stranger to the vast majority of Americans. But, as we soon found out, she had already charmed not just her fellow Alaskans and a devoted University of Colorado at Colorado Springs undergraduate student--the one who launched "Draft Sarah Palin" early in 2007--but also some of the most influential members of D.C.'s conservative establishment. Who were her earliest boosters in the chattering class, and how did they fall so hard, so fast?
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I personally respect anyone, Republican or Democrat, who does not seek to use their office for personal enrichment or to feed their ego. I like Palin, Jindal and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee - and it’s not coincidence that all three have high approval ratings. People are starved for integrity in government.
Palin-Jindal 2012
New Republic has been amazingly fair. It’s pretty bad when a self-described liberal journal is more fair and balanced than the MSM.
I agree, the MSM seems to have reached bottom, but just keeps digging.
The Left's aim is to demonize and discredit American mythology. As RR warned in his farewell address:
An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over thirty-five or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family, you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea of the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed, you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the midsixties.But now, we're about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs [protection].
So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important: Why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those thirty seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, four years ago on the fortieth anniversary of D day, I read a letter from a young woman writing of her late father, who'd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, "we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did." Well, let's help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let's start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.
Minor correction: There's nothing "mythical" about America's frontier spirit. Whether part of the genetic memory of those who's families lived it, or romantic admiration of those who didn't for those who did; it is ingrained in America's psyche.
SPOT ON! I would add that people are also starved for leadership (conservative leadership) and when more people like you've named come along, the 'true conservative movement' will come back, not just alive and well, but powerful and fit and ready to lead.
That line that I heard about "we went to Washington to change Washington, but instead Washington changed us..." (or something to that effect) reminded me of those new conservatives that went to Washington with their radical "contract for America" to change Washington back to basics and instead, the Washington establishment took them by the scruff of the neck and told them how things were really going to be if they wanted to remain in office and many caved-in and thus, out the window went the contract.
We need those that won't cave in and don't care if they're not re-elected, but would be just fine with one term IF they got at least a targeted conservative 'change' they went there to accomplish. Who knows, they might just get re-elected...crossing the establishment or not.
Ping to a very good article.
Several months ago conservative columnist, radio host, and TV commentator Jerry Bowyer mentioned her as his VP choice.
She has been my pick for quite a while too. I didn't really think McCain would pick her. But I am really excited about it. Makes me appreciate him more. I was pretty unimpressed with the ticket until then.
Here’s the difference:
Obama is a rockstar because the media made him one.Palin is a rockstar because WE THE PEOPLE made her one. Sort of like the difference between Britney Spears and Led Zeppelin.
I am looking forward to her campaign appearances around here (Pittsburgh / Western Pennsylvania). I hope to find that there is a larger conservative substrata made invisible by the Democrat stranglehold on politics here.
Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President - MadIvan - Feb'08
MadIvan’s analysis of Palin for VP in Feb was not the first time I had seen her suggested- but I’m a real political junkie.
I’m SURE that McCain knew of her WELL before I had - she really has shaken up some of his Senate colleagues during her rise up in Alaska - she had to have had attention of “maverick”. And there were several very bright articles written over during the six months after her win in Alaska about the GOP’s new “rising star”
I think it is so funny that she was in MY top three as VP choices, but the Dinosaur Media, and apparently snObama's campaign, was caught with their pants down.
Is MadIvan still here?
BUMP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.