Sarah Palin: The Best is Yet to Come

American Thinker ^ | July 06, 2009 | J.R. Dunn

[neverdem]

The response to Sarah Palin's surprise resignation last Friday clearly reveals the limitations of the American political class, right, left, or what have you.

There's an old academic joke, probably apocryphal, about Count Metternich, Austria's foreign minister during the Napoleonic era. While attending the Congress of Vienna, Metternich is sleeping off a banquet when one of his aides bursts in at three in the morning. "Your excellency! Count Nesselrode, the Russian ambassador, just died."

Metternich jerks awake. "Died, you say? What a terrible thing! I was speaking to him only tonight... Uhh... send a message to the Tsar -- Austria regrets, and so forth..."

The aide leaves. Metternich gets up and paces the floor. After a moment he stops and rubs his chin. "So... Why did Nesselrode decide to do that now..."

We're seeing the same thing today. Obsessive figures confronted with a simple human contingency and, unable to comprehend what's right in front of their eyes, retreating instead into irrelevant speculation about whatever they know best. Simply put, in resigning her governorship and stepping away from active politics, Sarah Palin is not pulling any tricks, carrying out any maneuvers, or putting in motion any long-range plans. She is doing exactly what any normal, rational, un-driven human being would do under the same circumstances.

What are those circumstances? Consider her situation at the moment. By which we mean, her situation. Not the country's situation, not the GOP's situation, not the political situation in any sense at all. 

Her eldest son is serving in the military, in the war zone, at a particularly dangerous and violent moment, when the U.S. is transferring responsibility to the new and still untried Iraqi army.

Her eldest daughter is dealing with the twin burdens of a failed marriage and single motherhood, while also serving as a national joke for the same type of people who insisted that Chelsea Clinton and the Obama girls are off limits. This is a state of affairs that undoubtedly requires much in the way of TLC from Palin.

Her youngest daughter has recently come under the gun thanks to that epitome of class, David Letterman. All excuses aside, the A-Rod joke was a transparent attempt at seeing if it was now safe to go after Willow, the rest of the Palin family having been run through the mill one after the other. It occurred at an awkward age for a girl, when events such as this can leave a serious mark. Another instance where mom must be available.

And lastly, Palin has a disabled infant child, one who has already been victimized by the left-wing blogosphere and the mass media. Downs children are very high-functioning. It's easily possible for Trig to have a golden life as long as close attention is paid to his upbringing and education. His mother will be the crucial figure here.

So what does a woman do under such circumstances? A real woman, not a pol in a skirt.  A wife and a mother, someone with a clear hierarchy of values. Why, she steps out. She removes herself from the firing line. Returns to what matters. She retreats from the public world for the verities of family and community.

There's nothing difficult to understand here. All the comments we've heard from the mass media, from the political experts, and from the operatives, merely reveal the limitations of the commentators.

But what about her greater obligations? To that of conservatism as a movement, for instance? It happens to have been the movement conservatives -- at least those of the Northeast Corridor, who on the basis of tradition consider themselves to be the core of the movement -- who led the charge against Palin on her selection as vice-presidential candidate. Not the left. Not the mass media. But conservatives (I won't add quotes -- not yet, anyway) such as Frum, Parker, and Brooks, who found her to be just the slightest touch déclassé. She did not understand the Modern Dance. Her taste in claret was undependable. Her reading of the Federalist No. 63 was, shall we say, idiosyncratic? These people have no call on her whatsoever.

And the GOP? Doesn't she owe her party anything? Just a few short days after her youngest daughter was humiliated on one of the most widely-watched late-night shows in the country, an obvious hit piece appeared in that balanced journal of the higher intellect, Vanity Fair, in which certain unnamed GOP officials revealed the true Sarah Palin: Sarah as Michael Jackson, Sarah the narcissist, who lived in a dream world and was overwhelmed by "demons".  The fact that GOP figures would cooperate with a rag like Vanity Fair in the first place puts a period to any talk of a party connection. The GOP obviously has an agenda. It is not Sarah Palin's agenda. Nor, more than likely, ours either.

And what about Alaska? Palin is one of the outstanding governors of our time, possibly surpassed only by Rick Perry, infinitely superior to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jennifer Granholm, or Mitt Romney, to mention only a few members of a large crowd. She went a long way toward cleaning up the Anchorage cesspool, wound up the negotiations for a gas pipeline that had been languishing for decades, and put her state on the national radar screen for the first time since 1958. But her usefulness as governor was probably drawing to an end. If she were to show interest in a 2012 run, she could depend on Obama's crew doing everything possible to drag her down -- and going through her state to do it.

Chicago would put Alaska through the grinder, a very easy thing to accomplish from Washington. In fact, it could be argued that this campaign has already begun, with the slow death-by-cuts action against the National Missile Defense center at Fort Greeley. Even as the ballistic missile threat from North Korea and Iran grows more urgent, Obama is dismantling the sole serious defense against it. (Am I implying that O would jeopardize the country's safety to assure his political career? Well, what do you think?) In a real sense, Palin's resignation at this time can be viewed as yet another service to her state.

So Sarah Palin has left the stage, for perfectly justifiable reasons, and taken her family with her. The mob still waits, unfamiliar with normal behavior from a public figure, eager for more cheap laughs. But there will be no encore. Not right away.

She will be back. Not for 2012. The GOP has its plans already worked out. Very clever ones, too. The Republicans will do what they always do when they're up against it: grab an empty suit and run around shaking it in people's faces while shouting, "Here's the man!" By 2012, after his policies really hit home, as gas and home fuel prices triple and quadruple, as medical rationing begins, as the renewed Axis of Evil runs wild across Eurasia, Obama will be ready to drop. At that point he could be defeated by a ticket consisting of Charley Manson and Jojo the Dogface Boy. But the GOP will blow it all the same. Exactly as the party did in '96, following the same script to the letter. They will, to coin a phrase, Mitt it up.

That moment will mark the start of a new phase for Sarah Palin. The exquisite branch of conservatism will drift away, assuring each other that "It's still possible to live well in a dying civilization." The GOP operatives will, as always, be blaming the "legacy of Reagan" and looking for a RINO who can somehow fool the backwoods rubes. Obama will spend his entire second term racing back and forth trying to put out forest fires using buckets with holes in them. Palin's enemies will have destroyed themselves, and her moment will come at last.

Democracies never stop halfway, no matter what it is: good or bad, intelligent or stupid, harmful or beneficial, they have to go the whole route before at last changing course. The U.S. could not abandon Great Society liberalism in 1976, it had to wait until 1980. The UK could not put aside postwar Labour policies until they were ground down to the last (the Brits went so far as to elect Harold Wilson to two nonconsecutive terms -- something similar to re-electing Jimmy Carter in 1984. Talk about desperation moves!)

While that process unfolded, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan served long apprenticeships, learning all they had to know. Sarah Palin is embarking on the same course now.

Sarah Palin is not ready, they insist. It's just as apt to say that we -- the GOP, the conservative establishment, the country -- are not ready for her. An electorate will always fall for the professional pol, slick, convincing, and empty, before turning in desperation to the truly human candidate. But the time will come.

In a few years her children will be settled, she will no longer have hostages to fortune, and the laughter will have long died away. That is when the lady will start shuffling the cards. We will all have further opportunity to wonder what Sarah Palin is up to.

J.R. Dunn is contributing editor of American Thinker.

[neverdem]

Sarah Palin has a great chance in 2012. She's cutting her losses quickly. She has nothing to gan but more lawsuits. The rats are doing nothing right.

[joejm65]

Nice article. Just one slip - Willow is not Sarah’s youngest daughter, as mentioned in this article. Piper is. Other than that, an interesting analysis.

[jonrick46]

"She has nothing to gain but more lawsuits

I had to re-read the above statement. In fact, the tables are about to be turned on the Liberals. I heard her lawyer say today that the gloves are off and character defamation lawsuits will be issued. They are not going to let things slide anymore.

[9YearLurker]

And Bristol hasn’t suffered a failed marriage, and with a seven-year-old and a one-year-old, her kids won’t all be ‘settled’ in a few years, and with a supportive husband she can manage family and career—but a nice effort, I suppose.

[jonrick46]

The law firm is in place:

http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/07/04/from-palins-lawyer/

[antceecee]

Another slip... Bristol never married her baby’s Dad.
Another slip... Palin is not retreating home she is preparing for war.
Why do these neanderthals think a woman can only do one thing at a time????
Palin can be a wife, a mom, a grandmother and a dynamic force in championing the conservative cause for America... all at one time (in between fishing, hunting and snow-machining). I think that truly gets their goats!

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link!

[Luke21]

“She will be back. Not for 2012. The GOP has its plans already worked out. Very clever ones, too. The Republicans will do what they always do when they’re up against it: grab an empty suit and run around shaking it in people’s faces while shouting, “Here’s the man!” By 2012, after his policies really hit home, as gas and home fuel prices triple and quadruple, as medical rationing begins, as the renewed Axis of Evil runs wild across Eurasia, Obama will be ready to drop. At that point he could be defeated by a ticket consisting of Charley Manson and Jojo the Dogface Boy. But the GOP will blow it all the same. Exactly as the party did in ‘96, following the same script to the letter. They will, to coin a phrase, Mitt it up.”

That is excellent writing. This guy’s a Nostradamus.

[Arthur McGowan]

I am afraid that Romney can beat Soetoro in 2012.

He won’t have the courage or integrity to reverse anything Soetoro has done. No leftists will be investigated. No FAIR TAX, just a little jiggering with the current system. The IRS will be beefed up, in the name of “fiscal responsibility” and “respect for the rule of law.” He might appoint a pro-life Justice, by accident. He will appoint a pro-abortion Justice, “by accident.” He’ll be another Bush I. He’ll be what Bob Dole would have been. A time-server. A cipher. The left will destroy him.

That sets the stage for Hillary! to come back in 2016.

IF there’s a United States after four years of Soetoro.

It’s Sarah in 2012 or never.

[techno]

This guy sounds like Charles Krauthammer’s twin brother. Palin will have her chance now to prove herself in the lower 48. In addition her book will help her credibility immensely. Fortunately for her neither Huckabee nor Romney are considered invincible. The race is wide open. Palin has a good a chance as anybody.

[techno]

All the RINO’s will be done in by one thing: white guilt.

[2ndDivisionVet]

[ccmay]

Do you really think so? I agree there are tens of millions of moderates who did in fact give Obama a chance out of a sense of fair play and white guilt. But I think that effect will be greatly attenuated the second time around. It’s easy to cast a historic vote for the charming black guy when his platform is platitudinous mush and his history is a cipher. When he’s got a four year record of failure and Marxist destruction, not so much.

[grey_whiskers]

It happens to have been the movement conservatives -- at least those of the Northeast Corridor, who on the basis of tradition consider themselves to be the core of the movement -- who led the charge against Palin on her selection as vice-presidential candidate. Not the left. Not the mass media. But conservatives (I won't add quotes -- not yet, anyway) such as Frum, Parker, and Brooks, who found her to be just the slightest touch déclassé.

I very rarely am driven to post anything like this, but --

These three are NOT movement conservatives. What a pig-fornicating IDIOT.

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

...just to be fair to this guy, he has the establishment wing of the GOP *nailed*, and they will attempt to hand the nomination to Romney (or Crist or Jeb Bush or...)

The two questions are, will Sarah's populism carry her over the heads of the RINOs, and will the Hildebeast seek to come in as a saviour for the Dems in 2012?

Cheers!

[Reagan69]

Sarah has already racked up over 1/2 million in legal fees, the state of Alaska, over 3,000,000 to defend silly false charges.

She has put a tourniquet on the bleeding, personally and for the state.

Where has the GOP been? (chirp, chirp). She owes them nothing.

And if the stupid GOP puts Mitt in for 2012, well, I think Sarah will run independent. Her platform: TOTAL DISGUST FOR BOTH MALE-CENTERED PARTIES. I think she could win.

[seekthetruth]

"I heard her lawyer say today that the gloves are off and character defamation lawsuits will be issued. They are not going to let things slide anymore."

You are correct! Those who defame with nothing by lies will have their day in court! What fun it will be to see them get what they rightly deserve!

And the GOP has another think coming if they think they can push Romney on the base in 2012! It won't work!

The National Republican Party is losing $ donations daily and will continue to do so. Why would any conservative donate hard earned cash to a party who keeps RINOS in good standing?

I received a call just yesterday from the GOP asking for a donation. I kindly told them that I will only be making donations to individual candidates who I know to be constitutional conservatives. I said I just can't let even one penny of my money go to the likes of the 8 RINOS who voted for Cap&Trade along with the DEMS! I was then given the little talk about how Chairman Steele is working so hard to bring back the "conservative Republican Party". I told the caller I just have not heard Mr. Steele call out the 8 RINOS who voted with the DEMS. I suggested that Mr. Steele needs to try to become more "conservative" himself!

I enjoyed the call, and I also asked the caller to remove me from the calling list as I have received several calls for donations and will not be donating anything to the GOP, just individual candidates of my choosing. :)

[seekthetruth]

Ping to #17. :)

[Pan_Yan]

A very insiteful article. Unfortunately, the number of easily checked facts he got wrong diminishes it quite a bit. I expected more from an American Thinker article.

[GBA]

You're not alone in your thinking as I imagine the republican fund raisers are learning.

obama, Pelosi and Reid continue to present the republicans with opportunity after opportunity while doing massive damage to the country and economy and through it all the republicans are mostly silent and clueless. Why would any one donate to or want to be in the party?

The Republicans get support and members when they show themselves worthy of either. Money and time are too hard to come by to waste on those who are either ineffective at stopping the dems or are themselves a part of the problem.

[depressed in 06]

Sarah big failing, according to the Slime Stream Media, was that she was too parochial. That, she needed to broaden her horizons. Although, I felt that what she brought to the table more than made up for what she lacked. The time off will give her the opportunity to expand.

Fred was my candidate, and, I still believe he would have been the best. Fred’s time off from politics and quick entrance into the race, left him unprepared. It took him a long time to get read into the role. His radio talk show, with Gerry, is keeping him abreast of the political world and he may be a future candidate.

I would not mind seeing a Fred/Sarah/Gerry, in no particular order, ticket in the next election. In fact, a Gerry/Fred ticket would save the Naval Observatory for special guests.

My advice to Sarah is get a gig as a substitute talk show host with Rush or Fred.

[WVKayaker]

Anther Mitt supporter, huh?

[RipSawyer]

Sarah Palin will be president if and only if women without regard to race decide they want a woman in the white house! Without that happening no woman can or will be elected simply because women are the majority of registered voters. If that happens no man can or wil be elected simply because women are the majority of registered voters. It is very simple.

So far women have not decided that they want a woman to run this country and that is why we have not had a woman in the white house already. If they wanted a woman Hillary Clinton would be sitting in the catbird seat now just as she thought she would be. All the other theories don’t count for a bucket of spit in the final analysis.

I sometimes wonder if this is not the real reason that the Democrats seem to go all out to keep the country divided between white and black. Don’t tell me that they don’t do it just because Obama was elected! The plan is to make whites feel guilty so that they vote as if they were black and it worked this time.

As long as black women can be conned into voting Democrat at a ninety plus percent rate only the Democrats have a shot at electing the first woman to the presidency. What did it take to get Hillary Clinton to fake a southern black drawl in a campaign speech? It has to be at once one of the most revealing and embarrassing moments in politics.

[jonrick46]

Ditto! Somebody needs to send Michael Steele a copy of The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World by W. Cleon Skousen. It would give him a sense of what the stakes in this game we are in. Otherwise, we can affirmative action him back to reading the help wanted adds.

[neverdem]

The two questions are, will Sarah's populism carry her over the heads of the RINOs, and will the Hildebeast seek to come in as a saviour for the Dems in 2012?

I think Palin connects with conservatives like Reagan did.

RINOs are too stupid to understand that the rats took Congress in 2006 running various pro-life and pro Second Amendment candidates who said they would be fiscally conservative also, except in the northeast where they ran regular socialists.

Hillary might do to Obama what Kennedy did to Carter in 1980. Just what has Hillary accomplished since she started getting paid by government?