Seriously though, I agree. I’m sick of Palin supporters attacking me with the fervor of a PCP-addled Ron Paul acolyte. I like her, I agree with her on many things, but we need to be able to disagree with her — otherwise, she is every bit the sacred cow that Barack Obama is to the MSM.

I think she’s making an unforced error avoiding CPAC…I’m not sure yet whether addressing the Tea Party convention is a mistake…it depends on what she says…if she discourages a third party movement as the keynote speaker…she’ll be an asset to us all…

If on the other hand…she doesn’t address what a mess we’d be in if there is a third party candidate in twelve…or worse…she tries to be that candidate…She is toast…and more’s the pity!

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

It’s because most Palin posts go like this:

1. I like SP
2. She can never be President, because libs hate her, lacks experience, etc.
3. If you disagree, remember I said I liked her?

It’s because people like us who live politics 24/7 are convinced that her negatives are too high. But I don’t think they are, and neither do her followers. I think she can win the Presidency.

Note: I am not endorsing her.

Just kidding.

It is arguable that the intense (constructive) criticism of Sarah Palin is the best thing for her. She has the chance, and is willing, to soak up the concerns of the grassroots, so when she does run for federal office, her credibility on the “big” issues will be more in touch and articulate. We need to remember she’s still quite fresh on the national scene. We must not be too hasty in giving her adoration and hands-down credibility before the time is right, or her supporters will just be portrayed as cult-like, and reviled by the media (and the under-the-influence sector of the electorate).

Everyone should be allowed to speak their mind regarding tactics/logistics and leave the ultimate shot-calling to Palin. I have not heard that Palin has “handlers”? Why would Palin ever submit to “handlers” after her previous experience in the McCain campaign. Palin is going to require lots of loyal support and $ for whatever role she decides to play in reforming the GOP. That is what this is about right now, isn’t it?

I think that the duality of support for Palin is shown to be true by the fact that many view RS as an anti-Palin site, despite the fact that the majority of posters, and most of the front-page posters, like and support Palin in her current endeavors. I’m glad that you guys have taken a middle-of-the road approach to Palin, and that she isn’t in the spotlight at all times.

Mike Huckabie supporters behave much in the same way. Both candidates are treated very unfairly by the media and the natural reaction of many conservatives will naturally be to go on the strong offensive on anyone who speaks with anything other than praise.

Two unfortunate events come out of this.

The biggest is I believe that both of their political career is over, and liberals / democrats / MSM folks will believe it is due to their full court press on them. The reason I believe that Huckabie really never had a chance at the top tier but was close. Once he had the blood of four police officers on his hands, he was finished. Palin’s problem is quitting. We need a fighter, and if she really was the one to go to the next level, she would have fought on and never quit. But the libs won’t see that as the reason. They’ll believe it was the lies and smears that did it. Palin scared them greatly because she is the right’s answer to 0bama as you point out. She’s someone who isn’t a Washington insider who says the things that make many happy. This will only embolden them to push harder at our front runners.

The second part of that is exactly what you note Erick. The left’s vile treatment made us band together in defense, but also crippled our ability to have a good discourse among ourselves. I did exactly that with Achance, and in hindsight I was out of line. I believe that we need to recognize the motives long standing members who have demonstrated their conservative cred by posting as such and give them the benefit of the doubt that they are saying things from the perspective of furthering the cause.

Most of all we need to ALL back the candidate that covers all three legs of conservatism. That way we aren’t selling out anyone but the squishies. I’m a libertarian leaning conservative and federalist small government is my highest priority. But I won’t expect a social conservative to support a socially liberal candidate. All I want in return is the respect to not attempt to cram a big government social conservative on me.

Go back and read the post again. You must have told us half a dozen times in parenthetical phrases that you love Palin. The fact that you need to keep repeating this, est others misunderstand and get mad at you has got to tell you something: the Palin supporters are hyper-sensitive to any kind of potential criticism (potential – i.e., even if it isn’t actually criticism but might be interpreted that way erroneously). In other words they are rabid junkyard dogs, ready to snarl at anyone who doesn’t stick to the script, which boils down to “I adore Sarah and she walks on water and is beyond reproach.”

Again, the fact you had to write this the way you did speaks volumes. The Palin contingent is dangerous, closed-minded, prickly, temperamental, and maybe just a wee bit stupid. Grow up, people. No one is beyond criticism. If you appear to be wild-eyed fanatics it will turn off every independent and moderate in the country – and independents already have enough of a hard time with Sarah, as you all should know.

Obama wasn’t vetted. He wasn’t forced to answer hard questions or stand up to criticism. We’re paying the price of electing a candidate who went an entire campaign with the media’s lips pressed firmly against his butt.

Governor Palin has certainly been subjected to hard questions and criticism – the media’s treatment of her to date has been deplorable.

Unfortunately, none of that matters – - – nothing we say or do is going to change that. The only way Governor Palin wins a national office is to OVERCOME that treatment.

Conservatives trying to shout down fellow conservatives who have questions, issues, criticisms is counter-productive. Not only that, it indicates a surprising lack of confidence in Governor Palin’s ability to defend herself.

She’s smart. She connects with people. And, as the old saying goes, that which does not kill me makes her stronger.

Let her become stronger.

common people I couldnt have been the first to think that one up.

Based on the Biblical record, and by the confession of Ms. Palin’s faith, I have no doubt the heavenly Father knows both His Son and little doubt He doesn’t know Ms. Palin by name. Of course many dispute the reliability and veracity of the Biblical record, but that is not the question here. That has been questioned for centuries. Tthe Bible simply makes many straightforward assertions; such as ‘He that knows the Son has life, and He that knows not the Son does not have life.” Moreover, it is written that “there is no other name under heaven whereby a man must call upon to be saved.” The fact that I reference those verses does not make me arrogant or narrow minded, for I am not mightier or wiser than God that I must clarify for Him what He really meant to say to make the Gospel politically correct. At the end of my life I will die, and in the introduction of the hereafter, if I erred; then I erred. I know of no religion or teaching that condemnation awaits those who so arrogantly speak in this life. No harm; no foul. On the other hand, those who presume to know differently and call me arrogant today… what if they’re wrong? Who then is so arrogant to say to the very Creator and the Father who gave His only begotton Son…. that such is not so? Interesting dilemna I’d say.

Since you just had to bring Jesus into it, Erick

Almost all of us who are Christian have had to deal with someone who is a very recent convert. These people, while there’s nothing wrong with them, are often the most enthusiastic and yet the least effectual at communicating the Gospel: they’ll find a way to bring Jesus into Every Single Conversation, to the point of stopping random people on the street and asking them if they have been saved. Needless to say, these efforts on their part, while admirable for their enthusiasm, are almost always counter-productive. Back in the days of the Book of Acts they might have had some positive effect, but it’s been about 2000 years since then, and there’s scarcely anyone left in the United States that hasn’t had at least some exposure to Christianity already.

This phenomenon is in no way limited just to Christians. The vast majority of Islamic terrorists could probably be dubbed ‘born-again Muslims’; universities every year churn out numerous born-again Marxist students (even if they themselves don’t recognize that they’re Marxists); even atheists can be born-again atheists, just look at Penn Jillette as an example– he will refuse to be friends with anyone that he knows has any religious belief.

I believe that this phenomenon also explains the excessive enthusiasm of many Sarah Palin fans. She has done a wondrous thing in getting many people into and excited about politics that never were before, but just like the September That Never Ended, the quality of conversation can take a nosedive until these people get assimilated into the overall discussion.

The concern I have about doing this is how to do it without breaking their spirit? We can use their enthusiasm and vigor, we just need to channel them in the right direction. This is why I’m not sure that Erick’s article here really strikes the proper tone. These people are for the most part not ‘robots’, they’re just very inexperienced in the world of politics, and there isn’t one of us who hasn’t been there before. There will of course always be some who won’t listen to reason, but the vast majority can be brought along and become useful and productive members of the community. Just think of how as a Christian, you would handle being out in public with an over-enthusiastic brand-new convert (if you’re not Christian, substitute here some other cause that you follow).

I’ll close this by putting in a plug for Neil Stevens’ recent diary, Gandalf and the Bots. We all need to be more careful about our tone, and I most certainly do not exclude myself from that, since I know I’ve been a major part of more than one flame war that’s caused comments to be turned off on a post. Flaming someone is easy, following RedState’s “Be respectful, or be banned” rule is less so. This will become only more and more true the closer we get to the upcoming presidential election season.

My biggest beef with what you guys say is not that you are attacking Palin. I see it as that you are doing everything in your ability to ensure that TPN (or any other new conservative group) becomes automatically illegitimate as you try to force more and more people away from them. With little or no information, you take any and all slanders and derogatory statements and try to make sure they gain legitimacy. Where CPAC has documented and factual proof of corruption, you try to insinuate that TPN is most assuredly a corrupt endeavor with no likely chance of ever becoming anything productive for conservatives. In your apparent zeal to protect the dug in special interests and corrupted officials that have infiltrated or become corrupted inside the Republican party, you must destroy any legitimacy that a potential competitor might gain. In the process, you are becoming damaged goods, just as you are trying to lay claim to trying to defend Palin from becoming damaged goods. Many uncorrupted companies, groups and people do their level best to avoid even appearances of wrongdoing, and as you continue to trash the TPN with no evidence, these conscientious companies, groups and people start to distance themselves from TPN, leaving nothing behind, so you force a self fulfilling prophecy, which is pretty much how the ‘mainstream’ media works. You could have certainly decided earlier on to help ensure that the TPN was on the up and up, giving advice in place of innuendo of wrongdoing, or moral support in lieu of disparaging remarks. Of course, that might have come at the expense of CPAC giving the bloggers the legitimacy that they crave, which if you ask me seems to be a pretty big corrupting force, the need for legitimacy.

CPAC has been around how long? How has that worked out for us? While it was useful in the early years, the last decades of its existence has certainly not accomplished what it was set up to do. The reason is because it has lost its way, and that is due to corruption of its leadership and thus mission. Sure, it is perfectly willing to allow you ‘conservative’ bloggers a voice, and I am certain that the privilege of that is worth a significant amount to you (I bet those table crumbs are sprinkled with caviar). Probably worth enough for you to keep your mouth shut when the stench of corruption reaches your noses and the shady dealings are within view of your diverted eyes. This episode is certainly enlightening, but it is not at the expense of Palin, at least not yet, but at the expense of your image to Tea Partiers and other true conservatives..

Related…

My response to Pajamas Media “Why Is Sarah Palin Associating with the For-Profit Tea Party Nation?”

It is starting to look like there are pretty much zero semi independent conservative blogs to look to anymore that have not started to make their beds with the corrupted establishment part of the Republican party. Erick Erickson (Red State), Followed by Dan Riehl (Riehl World) and now Melissa Clouthier (Pajamas Media). If it is not; pre-established, already has its own membership and thus hierarchy, is part and partial to the special interests of Washington, it is not and should not be considered a viable place for a conservative to go, according to thse three ‘conservatives’.

But hey, lets look at how great the establishment is.
1) A major sponsor for CPAC, apparently the only valid place for a conservative to speak according to these ‘conservative’ bloggers is GOProud, an extremist wing of the Republican that is very far from conservative. GOProud’s goals are to institutionalize the degradation of the covenant of marriage and thus the family unit. The core of conservatives is the family unit. A father, mother and some number of children unit is by far the most socially and more importantly, fiscally conservative. After that, you have married couples sans children as conservative. Next up are single working males. Then single males. Followed by single women sans children. Then single women. At the very end of the spectrum of conservative groups, are special interest people who need special treatment to make them feel all warm and good inside, named as anti discrimination laws, but known to be pro discrimination laws. You have blacks and Hispanics on one side (racial minority) and on the other side you have welfare queens, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals, pedophiles, beastialists and other groups of deviant behaviors that want to be made mainstream by having laws enacted that say they are natural and welcomed into our society. If you need a law to say that you are normal and welcomed, then you are a freak and very far from conservative. So, what these ‘conservative’ bloggers consider to be good places for a conservative to become legitimate is a place where the least conservative possible groups have a large say in what is talked about. Think about that for a while, GOProud wants to change the social fabric of America, in the exact same way that communism stated was the correct way to destroy a Democratic Capitalist country, by destroying the social fabric of family, and this is what these three think is the best place to show you are a true conservative. Completely unbelievable!

2) Then you have the actual establishment people. Lawyers who have never had a real job who can fast talk themselves out of illegal and immoral situations that they make for themselves. The leader of CPAC makes a pay for play situation that is obviously real, and every last one of these weasels is perfectly happy with his explanation that it just is not so (Who are you gonna believe? Me or your lyin’ eyes?). Tells you all you need to know about how they feel about corruption, since we know exactly how Sarah Palin would feel about corruption.

If these three ‘conservatives’ were really interested in the tea party people, then they would make a stand on the side of Palin, instead of trying to make certain that the stand she did take becomes a bad one by trying to drive away any legitimacy of the group she chose to support with her views. It is easy to sew corruption and it becomes vastly difficult to get rid of once it is part of a group. Palin likely knows that CPAC is close to unsalvageable on the corruption side so long as ‘conservatives’ are willing to allow a corrupted person to head the organization, but also does not want to break Reagan’s commandment of not attacking other conservatives. The best way to do this is to simply marginalize the bad actors and force them out of the system, with no direct attacks. If these ‘conservatives’ really wanted to make the Republican party the party that Tea Partiers would feel welcome, they would marginalize the bad actors and force them out of the party, or at least out of leadership roles in the party. So long as the corrupted officials remain, the Tea Partiers will remain outside the fold. That includes me.

For what it is worth, I like Sarah Palin very much, just like all three of these ‘conservatives’ claim to, but at least I understand why I like Sarah Palin, which is something I doubt the three ‘conservatives’ do. Palin knows the root of what makes government bad. Power, money, corruption and special interests. The first is power, the more power government takes from people and gives to itself, the more money that is required to run the system. The more money in the system, the more special interests want to use that power and money to their advantage. The more special interests that are lobbying for power and funding from an over-sized government, the more corruption that becomes ingrained through back room closed door deals ($2.1m in support from you will lead to our supporting you and thus your company gaining $210M in business).

The way to fix our government is not the way that it became broken, it has to go backwards. You must get rid of the corruption first. When you have uncorrupted officials in power, special interests will learn that they cannot put 1% down on power and funding. This will then lead to people being in positions of power that are not corrupted and will be willing to return the money and power back to the people and the states, where it constitutionally belongs. We the people are entitled to a government that lives within the plain text original meaning of the Constitution of the United States of America and the Amendments at the time of enactment. There is a way in which the constitution can be a living document, and that method is written in the constitution, amendments.

Go ahead and keep supporting the corrupted actors in the Republican party by giving them legitimacy and knocking down potential new groups that have the chance to start with no corruption. It will lead to exactly where we have been in the past. I for one would rather start with an uncorrupted group that has a chance to grow and attract the uncorrupted people from the corrupted groups. I think Palin has that same idea.

Sarah Palin is a human being who seems to like politics.
Good for her.

Let her succeed or fail on her own.
Let her rise to the top on her own merits or not.

If people could just (gasp!) ignore her for a bit, and let things unfold more naturally, we might find out what’s what.

The hand-wringing on both sides needs to stop.

Hot Air — Red State editor: Gee, some of Palin’s fans are awfully quick to attack critics
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/01/14/red-state-editor-gee-some-of-palins-fans-are-awfully-quick-to-attack-critics/

Dan Riehl
“What has been the issue causing some to question Sarah Palin is, if one knows how grassroots training should and shouldn’t be done to be cost-effective for attendees – the Nashville model is not it. And why Palin didn’t appreciate that issue remains a mystery to some of us, unfortunately. And it’s why I have been put in the difficult position of questioning whether she really understood the underlying dynamics involved here, or not.”

First off, Sarah Palin is nothing more than collateral damage in this run. These three were forced into attacking Palin because she gave TPN Tea Party cred.

It seems that if you want to put together a grassroots training seminar the only legitimate way is if you;
1) Get large special interests to fund you, that way prices for attending can be low. (we three are the pay czars in charge of determining what is and what is not cost effective)

2) Do not use capitalist market incentives in order to obtain the best and the brightest speakers for your event. (The market based approach is exactly what Tea Party are upset about in our current government maybe?)

3) Allow all diametrically, disruptive and condescending groups to attend. (You are not allowed to pick and chose who are allowed to attend or which media outlets are allowed into your private event, as being a discerning group is discrimination?)

Also from Dan Riehl
“And that grassroots is who people like Eric Erickson, Mellissa Clouthier and me are. So, the Palin fanatics can take their DC insider crap and shove it right back up where it came from in the first place. I couldn’t care less in that regard.”

So now we have the truth of the situation. These three people OWN the grassroots movement and how dare some upstart called the Tea Party Movement or TPN lay claim to their AstroTurfing rights. They have worked so hard for the last few years building their grassroots cred, and CPAC has given them essentially a license to operate, and thus, any other group is competition.

I think the pieces are starting to come together, and it seems that Dan Riehl and Erick Erickson are now establishment grassroots. What ever that means.

As Jesus is condemned by the left so shall be Sara.

The left condemns the Tea-Parties and their supporters no matter what.

The left condemns Sara Palin no matter what.

So why would anyone (especially you) not expect the left to condemn this Nashville Tea-Party–no matter what is said or done by the Tea-Party supporters, promoters and its speakers?

Your critical intentions may be good…but I think nonsense.

The problem is: You start with the premise; do to the “format” of the Nashville Tea-Party and its promoters that criticism by the left could hurt Sara. When has the left not criticized, with hurtful intensions, Sara?

I trust Sara’s instincts as I believe her to be genuine. I also trust Bachmann’s instincts as I believe her to be genuine.

If the Nashville Tea-Party promoters are pulling some kind of scam, then your criticism of the NashvilleTea-Party is valid; if not…then not valid.

If anyone has a “right” to claim authorship of the Tea Party thing, it seems like that would be Rick Santelli, the trader / CNN finance fellow who first threatened to “throw the (toxic) securities’ into the Chicago River (or was it Lake Michigan?) like “they did with the Boston Tea Party.”

The subsequent Tea Party “movement” was semi-spontaneous, joined by Republicans, Democrats and Independents of all stripes except far (radical) leftists. It’s a very loosely-knit coalition of Americans frustrated and demoralized by governmental overreach and non-responsiveness. Bickering over who “owns” it, or over some kind of fictitious “hierarchy” between Tea Partiers and CPAC, etc., is like arguing over whether a Rotary Club member should be “allowed” into a Chamber of Commerce meeting. It’s infantile and self-defeating.

What’s wrong with coming together where there’s common ground, and amiably stepping back where there isn’t? Lockstep belongs to Democrats and Marxists, not to rational, thinking people. This is the sort of nonsense that signals Republicans are, once again, determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Come on, People, think!

…and from time to time I put it on, so I can read a stream from the point of view of the Enemy.

About Sarah Palin, I agree with EE. Right now she is an asset to conservatism and its purposes. That she may be an asset to the Republican Party has yet to be revealed. She will reveal herself in due course, so speculations now as to what she might do or should do is uninteresting to me.

The Enemy sees her as Bad News Incarnate., and that is a Good Thing.

If she, or the Tea Party Movement strikes out as a third party, that they will see as a Good Thing, in fact, a major victory, a major threat vanquished.

About the Tea Party Movement: from the very beginning we here (and I’m sure others) picked up vibes of a lot of private agendas by sponsors with money, organizers and self-appointed leaders. We saw millionaires reaching out to those same concerned citizens that have come to be known as the heart and soul of the Tea Party movement, and for that matter, America, as the Founders envisioned it.

Many envisioned a movement with themselves at the head of it. Call it vanity, call it the natural response of a person who pulled himself up by the boot straps and made $10 million, so now says to himself “I can lead.”

I can’t get into the hearts of those leaders. Some are as true blue as Job. Some are misquided, and some are out and out in it for their own vanities. Hell, do the math. In a city my size, there are at least a dozen, the Tea Party group sort of umbrella’ing the others. They have individual events where only 8-10 show up, and larger events where a few hundred turn out…and here in VA, there is nothing going on politically. They’re just staying active. This is also a Good Thing, and this the Enemy sees with disdain and fear.

From the beginning RedState has pushed a pursuit of local agenda, and participation, in part, because those are things that keep them active, involved, and “continue their education”, and establish a conservative base at the grass roots, while national or statewide politics are still out ther in the future. This the Enemy also sees with fear.

The hope we (my group, but also RedState, I think) had is that by primary time 2010 most of these groups would have melded into hopefully one, but possibly 2, more defined groups, on a state or congressional district level. Since people tend to go with what appears to be winners, this a natural tendency. This is populism turning orderly, on its own accord. This the Enemy sees with even more fear.

But for this to happen (again, do the math) we also know there has to be some bruised vanities along the way, even in twelve short months. Some guys have already taken their balls and gone home…and some have set up sniping and the petty kind of back-biting that naturally occurs in office promotions. Some are not willing to take one for the team because, in their heart of hearts, they never were really in it for the team. We all see this all the time, only in different contexts. In this the Enemy finds Hope.

SO, with my Red Star cap on, I’m seeing these thing unfold in a different way. For one, the Tea Party Movement was “unplanned” for and caught the Enemy unawares, and therefore has been able to create an energy they can no longer nip in the bud. But now, a year later, they are “planned for” and the first order of business is to sow discord among what the Enemy sees are natural divisions and fault lines in the movement as I just described above, with the ultimate purpose of spinning off into a Third Party, or simply causing thousands once again, as they did in ’06 and ’08, to stay home.

Never forget the Lawyer’s Prayer: Lord, I beseech You to stir up strife among these Thy children so that this Thy servant shall not perish. Amen.

(That many in the GOP may be praying this prayer as well I find a Bad Thing indeed.)

The Enemy is simply watching and practicing the fine arts of the world’s second oldest profession.

Keep this in mind, as you split the finer hairs of Sarah’s new doo.

will damn us all, via O’s plan, division really works for him, to tear the country apart and thus the freedom’s, a lot of us hold dear. Every day they come out with a new thing to divide us racially, by party, by belief’s, etc. Their plan is to destroy the middle class thus there will be the politically connected (Elitists) and the rest of us dependent on big Government. so, reconcile our differences. Divided We Fall!!
I too like Palin , but its a long way to 2012. Country first , not demigods, When your house is on fire you don’t start building additions, till you put the fire out, and we are in the middle of an inferno.
Support our Troops
One Old Dog

Sarah Palin is right on the issues. She needs to learn to be herself and not try to appear smart; we’ve had smart-politically, financially, and culturally, and smart has driven our country into the ground. Appearing on Fox will help.

But, I’m recovering. Oh, I still love her – just for different reasons. It’s kind of like when you fall in love. You’re smitten at first and see none of the negatives – you also don’t really recognize strengths either. Today, after many months of wondering where Sarah Palin will end up, my husband helped bring clarity to my thoughts. He said, “Sarah Palin is a doer, not a talking head.” Yes. She is capable. That is one of her greatest qualities, and her record in AK proves that. She needs to be free to DO, which does not necessarily mean becoming president of the US. In my opinion, while I feel she could certainly do the job of president, we need her in a position to LEAD and DO. She accomplishes things, quickly. If the presidency offers such opportunity, then I’d say she should go for it. If it continues to be a talking-head position, then I say to her, “Find a powerful position in the Cabinet or in Congress or in the RNC or wherever!” and then get the heck out of her way.

Quoting Erick: “I said this again yesterday on a podcast with Dr. Melissa Clothier. I’ve also added repeated (and I’ve used this comparison frequently) that with Obama, most people are coming away disappointed in that who he actually is is quite a bit different from the hopey-changey vessel of good tidings people assumed he was. With Palin, a lot of people got it right — she’s a solid Christian, a real agent of change, a threat to the secular left and feminist movement because she can carry a baby and think at the same time, etc. That’s the benefit of being an honest Alaskan instead of a Manchurian candidate”.

IMHO, this is why SP is so popular. She is smart, tells you like it is, & what she is thinking and wears her heart on her sleeve. Real honesty, and that is why I believe so many people relate to her. And all the negative stuff that comes out, is from those who listen to the the left wing whackos spewing untrue venom about her, and then the rest of the left wing populus picking up on this crap, with no real truth to any of it. The left can’t stand her because she is so different from them. I for one am glad she took the Fox gig. She will now have her chance to prove them all wrong, and show them how smart she really is and how well she relates to all decent Americans across this country, Go Sarah!!!!!

Sometimes I will ask someone what they think the Tea Partier/Patriot groups want. They almost never get it right. So I will will put it out here.

1. Ethical adherence to Christian principles as listed in the 10 commandments. History states the Constitution was framed around these and God given rights.
2. Upholding, by not voting in opposition to the laws set down by the US Constitution. (They all swear they will, then don’t- except Ron Paul).
3. Fiscal restraint – balanced budgets and less government.
4. Religous freedom where Jesus Christ can be mentioned without sanctions.
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” Thomas Jefferson

would agree with you. She gets it.

How can I allow such a thought to exist when I want Sarah and Michelle B for pres and VP? Give official titles but Anne Coulter and Laura Ingraham as warrior princesses. Yes, I can go on, Michelle Malkin and SE Cupp for anything they want. Where did all the empty heads who voted for “the chosen one” because he is cute, come from, another gender? No wonder our pal Erich is conflicted!!!

Hello Glenn,

Unfortunately, Glenn, as an avid fan your currently sounding like Senator Foghorn detracts from your usual amiable flamboyant demeanor, and I certainly hope you get over your bout with laryngitis very soon. Naturally, along with millions of other Americans, I watched your one hour “special interview” with Sarah Palin and, quite frankly, I was somewhat disappointed because I respectfully believe it wasn’t one of your usual shining, creative and entertaining broadcast moments. Why?

While I thought your choice of the backdrop with the Statue of Liberty in the background was brilliant/perfect, I also respectfully believe the pace of your proverbial “fireside chat” was uncharacteristically too slow, schmaltzy, and most of all boring punctuated with a capital “B!”.

While a leopard can’t change its spots, and obviously Sarah Palin will neither be quite as sharp, nor noticeably as well-informed as Newt Gingrich, e.g., nonetheless, in my opinion if Sarah’s going to continue to connect and to resonate politically with the American people she’s definitely got to become much more articulate and much less vapid.

Meanwhile, Glenn, with kind personal regards, I remain…

Cordially yours,

GreyHair and GreyMatter

PS. As a registered Republican for almost a half-century has anyone heretofore seriously and constructively suggested to Sarah that she needs to read “The Great Books of the Western World” during the next three years? Quite frankly, I think it would be of significant benefit, and from Sarah’s learning experience it would do the American people a definite favor too!

I read your original post because I, too, am a Sarah Palin fan. It’s interesting to me that people attacked you. My take, not knowing the meetings players or Governor Palin’s plans, was that the Governor may have made a serious mistake. I was hoping that she did not. However, I could see no reason or need to criticize you on your post. Rather, it brought out a perspective of which I was not aware. Remember what the Rockman from The Point said: “you see what you want to see, and you hear what you want to hear.” Those that don’t want to see other sides are sure to get blind sided.

A best-selling ghost-written autobiography.