Posted on 12/30/2009 10:22:00 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
2009 was an extraordinary year in which ordinary people did extraordinary things not because they were the easy things to do, but because they were the right thing to do. The people ranged from young Hannah Giles who jump-started her journalism career by donning a hooker’s garb to bring down the racketeer influenced corrupt organization known as ACORN, to Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, who culminated the decades of his life that he worked toward airline safety simply by landing a engineless plane on the Hudson River.
Michael Paul Mizzone, a carpenter’s business representative, pulled Josef R. Bruckuf, 82, out of a burning house, severely burning himself in the rescue. Police Sergeant James Crowley refused to buckle under presidential pressure and apologize for arresting a belligerent man. Economist Douglas W. Elmendorf refused to buckle under presidential pressure to cook the books for Obamacare.
The list of such candidates was long as the United States and Canada are nations that still celebrate and nurture rugged individualism. We still produce people like Stephen McIntyre who demand proof before they sign onto the global warming fad.
And lest we forget, the Netherlands gave us Jasper Schuringa, who saved Flight 253. The Dutch have our gratitude.
While each of the finalists was deserving, there can be only one man of the year — Sarah Palin. In the pantheon of people who stood up this year for that which is right, no one else stood taller or looked better.
She endured the most and came to symbolize the majority of American citizens who are stunned by the attempt to rapidly dismantle this great nation of ours and transform it into another Euro-weenie socialist country that apologizes for trying to save the rest of the world over the years.
The cynic in me said I should honor the person most responsible for reviving the conservative movement — Barack Obama. His arrogance and over-reach gave people pause. The plunder of the treasury in February caused even apolitical people to question his true motives. His slide to 44% approval among voters came lightning quick and we all know that thunder follows lightning.
But conservatives make lousy cynics. Skeptics yes. We refuse to act now, think later. This is why so many of us were cool to the theory of global warming. Climategate proved us correct. We may be suspicious, but being conservative means never saying things will not get better someday. Usually tomorrow. Conservatives are patient. Wait till next year became the battle cry by August. We shall see how that works out in November.
This post originally was written as the runner-up slot. Most readers thought Sarah Palin would be the first Man of the Year of the Don Surber blog, but I had other plans. Just as in the Miss Alaska contest a quarter-century ago, she would be the runner-up. Rush Limbaugh’s CPAC speech was a magical moment in American history and so he would win.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that while Rush Limbaugh deserved the award, Mrs. Palin did even more for the conservative movement, and therefore for America, this year than even he did. In the final days, they switched places.
Naming Sarah Palin as Man of the Year is the only logical conclusion to a year when Americans who petitioned their government for a redress of grievances were smeared as “un-American” by the people who are temporarily in charge.
And still the people rose up.
Mrs. Palin has endured more slings and more arrows than any other politician in America. She may not have gone into any burning buildings, but she was singed nonetheless. Had Obama’s mansion deal received one-tenth the scrutiny that her shopping for clothes received, we conservatives would be grousing today about President Hillary. All things considered, Mrs. Clinton would have been the better president than this one.
The personal attacks on Mrs. Palin this year were so vile that if she were the Rutgers women’s basketball team, David Letterman would have lost his job. But CBS put profits above decency. Letterman had no problem calling her a slut and her daughter a slut on national TV; it upped his ratings as liberal misogyny is alive and well and profitable.
His offer of a half-assed apology with an invitation to come on his show and boost his ratings was met with an the iciest No of the year, so cold that it actually shocked him into giving a real apology.
Mrs. Palin moved on, marching to the beat of the American drummer. She caught hell from the left for another year, and began firing back. Her Facebook posts are well-written and thought out. Tagging Obamacare as having “death panels” rattled the lefty cages and woke up Americans to the rationing of health care that was right around the bend.
Not all the criticisms of her were without substance. Many of us remain puzzled by her decision to resign abruptly as the governor of Alaska. But her campaign for the 2012 presidency continues despite this misstep. She stood up for what is right and held her head high as she marched forward — ever forward.
Half the people of the United States love her for hanging in there. They love her for sharing their values of home, hearth and country. They love her for being of the the people, by the people and for the people.
Oh, not the elites and the elitist wannabes. The little potty-mouthed drones on the left think they are so sophisticated as they mock 14-year-old girls, babies with Down syndrome and people who shop at Wal-Mart. The Washington Post’s book reviewer bragged that she did not read Sarah Palin’s book. Ignorance is now a status symbol for the left.
Ordinary people did read her book and they were impressed. The people who shop at Wal-Mart bought 1 million copies of her autobiography in just 2 weeks. Thousands of them stood in line by the thousands in the freezing nights of November and December just to get her autograph. She is of them — a hockey mom who is naive, unsophisticated and learning just how rotted from within America’s political system has become. She beat corruption in Wasilla. She beat corruption in Alaska. And well, she finished 2009 with a higher approval rating than The Won.
She did this despite nearly universal adulation in the press for him and nearly universal condemnation in the press for her.
The people know the elites hate her. Dumping on her has gone beyond the point of reason. The Tina Feying of her backfires anymore. We get it already. The more they mock her, the deeper the resolve of her fans. The odd thing is, her detractors slam her because Sarah Palin boosts ratings. They are trying to stop the hurricane with a beach umbrella.
Her appearance on Oprah Winfrey pushed Oprah’s ratings — which have sagged since Oprah publicly endorsed Obama — up by 68%. Mrs. Palin gave Oprah her highest ratings in 2 years, easily topping the appearances by anyone named Obama.
She is genuine. Her beliefs in freedom, in independence and in community service reflect how she was raised. She does not hide who she is. There are no ulterior motives. There is no one underneath her bus.
The question anymore is not whether she is ready for the presidency — unlike our current president, she has had her mettle tested in fire several times now and passed with quite more than a gentleman’s B+ — but rather the question is whether she is too pretty to be president.
Sarah Palin, Man of the Year of the Don Surber blog for 2009.
The other finalists:
Rush Limbaugh, Man of the Year Runner-up.
Kenneth Gladney, Man of the Year Finalist No. 3.
Glenn Beck, Man of the Year Finalist No. 4.
Douglas W. Elmendorf, Man of the Year Finalist No. 5.
Jim Justice, Man of the Year Finalist No. 6.
23 Carnegie Medal heroes, Man of the Year Finalist No. 7.
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, Man of the Year Finalist No. 8.
Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III, Man of the Year Finalist No. 9.
Hannah Giles, Man of the Year Finalist No. 10.
Stephen McIntyre, Man of the Year Finalist No. 11.
Rick Santelli, Man of the Year Finalist No. 12.
James Crowley, Man of the Year Finalist No. 13.
Andrew Breitbart, Man of the Year Finalist No. 14.
Jasper Schuringa, Man of the Year Finalist No. 15.
Why does the source say Charleston Daily Mail when this is just some goofs blog?
How much you wanna bet 98% of Palinistas think it’s real?
She changed the battlefield and now the attackers have to come up with a completely new strategy.
A whole lot of her books were bought as Christmas presents and will be read in the very near future. This will lead to many discussions and millions more books being bought.
This book is Sarah's ‘Mein Kampf’. It establishes who she is and gives people a choice to support her or not. I'm guessing that a very large number of Americans will choose to support her and what she and they believe to be the most desirable future for America.
I just ain’t impressed with your (lack of) knowledge of the law in Alaska, and how she will not be subject to that anomaly while in national office.
How much you wanna bet 98% of Palinistas think it’s real?"
Don Surber is a columnist with the Charleston Daily Mail and this is his blog at that newspaper. As far as the "Palinista" snark goes, see my tagline. And, oh, btw, who is your preferred candidate for 2012? Gomer "Revolving Door" Huckleberry or Myth "Romneycare" Romney?
ping
The only reason they got away with it in Alaska was due to the state laws. Most states have different laws that would not have allowed her to be sued to that point. That includes any office in the feds, including the office of President.So what happens next time she annoys some Democrat hacks? They sue, frivolously, and she quits, again?
Like I keep tellin’ FR’s Sara-philes, I just ain’t impressed.Count me as a "Sara-phile" who is aware of the fact that Palin's "good government" cred was not unrelated to ethics reform which she herself naively championed but which opened up the Alaska government to Alinskyite harassment. Recognition of that was one of the things that I looked for, and found, in Rogue.So we have in Palin a late-blooming politician who does not grasp at the perquisites of office and sincerely believes in good government - but is properly chastened by direct personal experience with ethics laws which are open to cynical abuse. I wanted to believe that Palin had learned from her experience, and I am satisfied that she has.
- - - - - - - - - To be realistic about presidential timber, no senator has ever unseated a sitting president, and only one - Harding - has ever defeated a former governor. And no one who has not attained national office within 14 years of attaining a governorship or a senate seat has been elected president.
That of course means that nominating McCain, Kerry, or Dole was a fool's errand from the start. And that realistic Republican candidates for the presidency can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And none stands taller than Palin. The unconstitutional "Campaign Finance Reform laws" disadvantage a Sarah Palin or a Ronald Reagan (who wouldn't have run for office if McCain-Feingold had been in effect at the time). So I say, we shouldn't wait for her to declare candidacy - we need serious a "Draft Palin" movement.
“YOU BETCHA!” Her quote.
Mine: Damn Tootin’!
we need serious a "Draft Palin" movement.
Obviously you don’t understand the government and the legal system in Alaska. Alaska is one of few states where the governor is on his/her own in defending themselves against charges of ethics violations.
You might wish to become better informed before casting stones. Just saying.
Care to tell us whom you support (perhaps Mitt)? Didn't think so.
I need to read her book (wild horses couldn’t pay me to read any politician’s book), I need to do more research, I don’t understand Alaskan law, etc. Is that it?
Maybe Sarah should have read a book or two. Maybe she should have done more research before swearing an oath to govern Alaska. Had she understood Alaskan law better, maybe she’d have known better, or maybe she’d have been prepared for frivolous ethics charges and a lawsuit-bankcruptcy attack from Democrat hacks? Just like she might have done a little more reading and listening (and thinking?) and been better prepared for attack interviews from Gibson and Couric?
And y’all still aren’t answering my question. What happens next time she annoys some Democrat hacks? They find a new, frivolous angle to sue, frivolously, and a frivolous Democrat judge frivolously sees merit in the case? And she’s not as prepared as she might have been, and didn’t expect such hatred and viciousness, and, for the sake of her family and of the voters of America, she quits, again? Wagerers, what odds will you give me?
Thanks to those who’re trying, politely and rationally, to show me where I’m wrong, and to those few who aren’t so polite or rational, thanks for the CAPITAL-LETTER internet yelling and for the asterisk-ized swearing. Sarah’s people is as Sarah’s people does, hayna?
First, this wasn't just "annoying some democrat hacks", this was an all out war to destroy her coming from the bowels of the Soros led DNC. They took advantage of the Alaskan laws beyond anything done before. It was purposeful in its attempt to take her down, and vicious beyond anything I've ever seen in politics to date. It paralyzed the state, and destroyed the Palin family financially, making it impossible to get anything done other than respond to mindless and frivolous complaints. Did you know that eventually every complaint was dismissed outright?
Now, she could have folded her tent by remaining as gov, taken her salary and finished her term as you suggest she should have done. Instead, she stepped aside for the sake of the state of Alaska, then took on a wonderful role as a critic of the democrat machine. In that role she has excelled, and has hit the mark weekly. The icing on the cake is that they can't go after her anymore with the same tactics cause she can now sue the crap out of them.
“or maybe she’d have been prepared for frivolous ethics charges and a lawsuit-bankcruptcy attack from Democrat hacks?”
You are blaming her for the maggots who attack her? Odd.
She threatens the status quo; that’s why she is attacked. If she was defender of the status quo; the attacks would be polite and minor.
Well said.
Kind of a Sarah Palin thing, don'tcha know. ;)
If two people agree all the time, one of them is lying. I do agree that the self edited sw&@ring and the CAPS LOCK YELLING! do become tiresome.
I continue to be impressed with SP as I learn more about her. She seems to be learning quite quickly. I still have not chosen who to support in a race that has no official candidates yet, but if it was demanded of me today, she is the only real conservative whose name I see everyday. I wrote in Duncan Hunter in Nov, and voted for him in the primary, though he was out of the race by the time we in AZ got to vote. I would do it all again if he throws his hat in.
I would be interested to know who you choose come time. But beware, you will be subject to the same criticism you so willingly submit here.
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