Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Palin Palimpsest
American Thinker ^ | Dec 10, 2009 | By Jed Gladstein

Posted on 01/12/2010 1:57:04 PM PST by Jim Robinson

Sarah Palin is an authentic American phenomenon. She resonates with a majority of the American people as authentic -- because she is authentic. She is a no-BS, stand-for-the-truth, take-a-licking-and-keep-on-ticking kind of gal. In other words, she is not like the ordinary, everyday, go-along-to-get-along professional politicians who control our national political parties. And it is precisely for that reason that she can now spearhead an American political renaissance.

Our nation has been buried for decades under political pabulum. The Democrats pretend to represent average Americans, but they are controlled by wealthy elitists who pay lip service to American values while propagating cultural Marxism in every corner of the land. The Republicans pretend to be the party of fiscal responsibility, but they are more comfortable outsourcing the sinews of American power than strengthening the fabric of American society.

The American people have been held in thrall for decades to the two major political parties because there isn't a viable "none-of-the-above" option on our ballots. Worse yet, people have grown cynical about the prospects of honest and honorable government because they see that the people in power, whatever their political party, seem to have more solicitude for their own power than they have for the people.

The framers of the Constitution knew that government seats would attract people willing to trade their votes to remain in power. The framers therefore crafted a Constitution to create a limited government in order to curtail the power of such people. But government of the people, by the people, and for the people requires people to be vigilant about keeping the power of government limited. Unfortunately, the people have failed to do that, and now it is time to rectify the failure.

It would be comforting if an authentic American political phenomenon like Sarah Palin could spearhead a successful third-party movement. But that is wishful thinking. Were she to attempt such a thing, it would almost certainly fragment the huge centrist American vote and result in further radical left victories in the national polls. That would compound the present disaster and tilt America inexorably toward third-world status and misery.

Better to heed the words of Shakespeare, who wrote that "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." For America, that means Sarah Palin and the Republican Party. Here's why and here's how:

  1. The Republican Party is out, and wants in. That means it needs a champion who can generate popular enthusiasm. Sarah Palin is such a champion. Put aside the blithe criticisms of the pundits and naysayers. If an election were held today, Sarah Palin would generate a popular majority greater than the one that swept Ronald Reagan into the White House.

  2. The Republican Party is chastened. Its failure under Bush to pare back the scope of federal interference in people's lives resulted in the Devil's bargain with the Democrats to expand federal involvement in mortgage lending, and that led directly to the collapse of the real estate market and then the stock market. That has taken the Republican Party down a couple of pegs, and it is now far more amenable to the common-sense values that Sarah Palin embodies.

  3. The Republican Party has an existing political infrastructure that can be used to facilitate a national campaign by Sarah Palin, whereas a third party candidacy would need to reinvent the wheel. Time is short, the issues are vital, and the 90% rule applies to the choice of political vehicle.

  4. National campaigns require huge amounts of money. Sarah Palin can raise that money directly from the American people by way of the World Wide Web, in exactly the way Obama is alleged to have done. Millions of Americans will donate $5, $10, $20 or $100 to a political renaissance spearheaded by Sarah Palin. They will be glad to do it because they trust her.

  5. The time to begin the political renaissance is now, not in 2011 or 2012. The reason is that Sarah Palin must spearhead more than a personal political campaign. She must spearhead a political renaissance, and that means taking over the Republican Party. To do that, she will need time and allies and money. She can raise the money, and the allies are ready to hand. But time is remorseless, and assuming power in the Republican Party will be time-consuming, so she must begin that task today.

A palimpsest is a manuscript written over a partly erased older manuscript in such a way that the old words can be read beneath the new. It is time for Sarah Palin to write over the American political landscape so that the words of our Founders will resonate across this land again. She can do it, because like the Founders of this nation, she is an authentic American phenomenon.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: drillbabydrill; elections; gop; palin; palin2012; palinrocks; runsarahrun; sarahpalin; sarahsawinner; takeamericaback; time2partyagain
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

1 posted on 01/12/2010 1:57:07 PM PST by Jim Robinson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

The establishment RINOs would rather lose with one of their own (such as Romney) than win with a Reaganesque outsider conservative such as Palin. They need to get Tea Party religion in a hurry.


2 posted on 01/12/2010 2:00:01 PM PST by dirtboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

Sarah Pain...be still my heart.


3 posted on 01/12/2010 2:02:27 PM PST by Karma Police (Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dirtboy

“establishment RINOs” are the very same elitists as those on the left,

and are the political enemy of Palin, the Tea Party, and us.

They aren’t going to “get religion”. They simply must be defeated.


4 posted on 01/12/2010 2:02:46 PM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Karma Police

Make that Palin. heh.


5 posted on 01/12/2010 2:03:29 PM PST by Karma Police (Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson
There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune

Damn, I wish I could talk (write) like that!

6 posted on 01/12/2010 2:03:35 PM PST by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson
RE :”Its failure under Bush to pare back the scope of federal interference in people's lives resulted in the Devil's bargain with the Democrats to expand federal involvement in mortgage lending, and that led directly to the collapse of the real estate market and then the stock market.

‘Failure to pare back’ ? That is an understatement. I certainly hope someone articulate and visible (like Dick Armey was in 1994) can sell the message that the big problem isnt any one individual, it's the voters assumption of the role of the federal government in our lives. It seems the voters want the President to solve every domestic problem.

Will she be the one?

7 posted on 01/12/2010 2:04:27 PM PST by sickoflibs ( "It's not the taxes, the redistribution is spending you demand stupid")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: Jim Robinson

She is the anti-Obama, that’s for sure. And her upbringing puts her squarely in the camp of the Founding generations — family, hard work, constant work for even the basics. Happiness. True happiness — that’s where her confidence comes from. Something almost unknown here in the lower 48.

“Palimpsest” is an interesting word, don;t quite see how it works here, I’d day the the palimpsest is the perverted re-understandings of the Common Law and Constitution to the point that a Ted Olson somehow argues that homosexual marriage is a fundamental American value. They erase the true writing and write over with perversions and say “Look SAME BOOK!”


9 posted on 01/12/2010 2:09:39 PM PST by bvw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

What scares me the most is that a large percentage of Americans neither know the Constitution nor care to know it. Once that number reaches 50% (hopefully we’re not there yet) we’re doomed.


10 posted on 01/12/2010 2:14:02 PM PST by NCjim ("You can't pick up a turd by the clean end", Bob Lonsberry on Obamacare)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson
Sarah will take on the excesses of DC including the Pubbies. She will shift money from going to DC to at least staying in states. She will push the power of state government and push the Feds towards more limited gov't. She will totally (and truly) fight for a accompanying Congress to cut all the frills that even Pubbies have come to expect. She will cut down junkets like Copenhagen to a bare minimum not just in frequency but in budget and rules. No spouses, no kids, no over-genrous per-diem payments, no top hotel rooms and complete disclosure of costs immediately.

Lobbying will be reformed. She will cut down on WH extravagances like weekly parties, cut down on inauguration costs by asking voters for donations and not corporations. She will limit travel and increase virtual town halls. Etc, etc, etc. In short, just like George discovered on Seinfeld: "If everything (Obama) does is wrong, then the opposite (Palin) must be right."

And the kicker, issues aside, of why Dems hate her is because they realize she has done these things in Alaska and will do them in DC. That is why they are scared.

11 posted on 01/12/2010 2:20:37 PM PST by torchthemummy (No Obama: Not Because He's Black But Because He's Red)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NCjim

I think we’re there. Doubt the graduating classes of the last decade or two know absolutely anything about the constitution or even of the founding of America. They were taught the purpose of government is to serve the people, especially the poor or minority people, and to save the environment and the planet.

Peace, baby.


12 posted on 01/12/2010 2:23:24 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Join the TEA Party Rebellion!! May God and TEA save the Republic!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

So, are we conservatives going to fall for a political messiah the way the libs do? SP is just another politician. If you look at her record, she has no great aversion to raising taxes on companies, which, of course, means people.

All pols say what it takes to get elected. They make grandiose promises they know they cannot keep, and shortly after the election, the honeymoon ends. It happens no matter which party is in power.

If SP could truly reduce the size and power of government, it would be wonderful, but remember what happened every other time we put our trust in politicians. I have yet to see any large bureaucracies pared down, let alone eliminated.

We need some fundamental change that will put a permanent, short leash on government, and I don’t really know what that might be. The only think I have thought might do it is to devise a formula so that the taxpayers whose senators vote for less spending pay less in taxes than the people in states whose senators vote for a lot of spending. Such a law will never be passed.

Changing the people who occupy the positions of power never seems to do any good. The slide into socialism continues.

I’ve changed my political affiliation to “Cynical”. ;-)


13 posted on 01/12/2010 2:34:02 PM PST by Pining_4_TX
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: dirtboy
The establishment RINOs would rather lose with one of their own (such as Romney) than win with a Reaganesque outsider conservative such as Palin.

Up to a point. There were lots of faux-conservatives in the Reagan camp, including Nancy. If Palin stays hot, many of them will try to climb aboard her band-wagon. Given that the party apparatus is full of them, and she would need their help, she will dosome serious vetting of her own to determine who can be trusted and who not. Steve Schmidt serves as a useful template forthe kind who cannot be. Nothing beats experience, good or bad.

14 posted on 01/12/2010 2:35:02 PM PST by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

I like Palin, hope she is the Republican nominee, and becomes the next president.

I don’t think we need to pin our hopes on a conservative messiah. Reagan was as close as we could ever hope to come. After Reagan left office in 1988, how many years did it take for the Republican party to return to its old Rockefeller Republican ways? No more than two.

I hate to be cliche, but we need to do something “out of the box.” Come up with a new, novel approach that hasn’t be tried before. The same old ideas that haven’t worked in the past aren’t going to work in the future either.


15 posted on 01/12/2010 2:35:54 PM PST by Brookhaven
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

amen, brother.


16 posted on 01/12/2010 2:38:55 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (The Second Amendment. Don't MAKE me use it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

Hey if she is the nominee I don’t really care what party flag she is running under. I trust her gut instincts and values


17 posted on 01/12/2010 2:41:32 PM PST by the long march
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: torchthemummy

“And the kicker, issues aside, of why Dems hate her is because they realize she has done these things in Alaska and will do them in DC. That is why they are scared”

That’s also why so many Republicans hate her.


18 posted on 01/12/2010 2:46:10 PM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Bob J

Look! A pro-Palin thread! Descend upon us with your wisdom and instruct us sheeple what to do. ROFL


19 posted on 01/12/2010 2:47:54 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (GO GREEN BAY PACKERS GO!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

Don’t think the Lib boys who wrote the Game Change
expected Sarah Palin to sign with FOX the same week
their book is out and will have millions of viewers
to hear Sarah counter with the truth their Palin bashing
and any other bashing than comes along.


20 posted on 01/12/2010 2:56:52 PM PST by SoCalPol (Reagan Republican for Palin 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson