With Sarah Palin now saying that, “it would be absurd to not consider” running for president, I think it’s time I finally throw all my feelings about the FORMER Alaskan Governor on the table.
If I had to sum up Sarah Palin in one sentence it would be: Someone I’m desperately trying to like. I say this because I like a lot of things about her but those few things I disapprove of I feel very strongly about and seem to balance surprisingly evenly with the good. It’s a love/hate relationship that I’ve been struggling with for quite a while now so I’m going to get out all my opinions now and let you, my readers, weigh in with your thoughts.
When it comes to the issues, Mrs. Palin and I are almost the same. While we may disagree on a few opinionated topics like homosexuality, religion and abortion, we are almost always in agreement on how to handle these issues on the political stage. I adore her commitment to the Constitution and think that her dedication to the governing document of our nation is almost unrivaled by other politicians all over the country. She’s a strong advocator for upholding the second amendment, strengthening our borders and national security, ending wasteful spending and cutting taxes for ALL Americans, not just certain income brackets. Regardless of my overall feelings for the woman, I would definitely sleep better than I do now if she were the one in the Oval Office instead of Barack Obama.
In addition to these issues, I respect her background, her spirit and her wisdom when it comes to what’s right for America. She really does well to embody the ideals of American politics. She didn’t come from money and her family held no claim to fame before she stepped into the national spotlight. She was simply a woman who didn’t like the way her government was operating and decided to make a difference. In many ways, this aspect of her character is also displayed in how she interacts with Americans all over the country. Her Facebook posts are always very insightful and well written and she is very good at actually connecting with her audience rather than just lecturing them. She’s the kind of person that talks TO a group, not AT them. I can’t help but respect these wonderful attributes about Sarah Palin and wish such character traits were more prominent in American politics.
HOWEVER!
Despite these wonderful things about Sarah Palin there are a handful of things that really bug me about her tremendously. The first and foremost reason that I tend to distrust her is the reason why I always overly stress “former” when referring to her governor title. See, I really take issue with politicians that abandon their posts without a REALLY good reason. Richard Nixon had a good reason to give up his seat but I cannot see a single acceptable reason why Sarah Palin should have quit as the governor of Alaska.
See, when you are elected by a body of Americans to do a job, they trust you to do that job. You have an obligation to serve your constituents should they choose you to do so. If you are unwilling to make that kind of a commitment, you have no business running for office. What does this say about her commitment to the American people? Why should we elect her as president if she feels that the step-down office of governor was somehow not worth her time anymore? If she had a really good reason to quit her post, I at least think she owes it to the people of Alaska to let them know exactly what that reason is. If not, I see no reason why the people of Alaska should ever trust her again.
My other reason for not liking Sarah Palin came from the recent Tea Party Convention held in Nashville by the for-profit group Tea Party Nation. See, I had qualms with the event to begin with. The Tea Party movement is one of the best grassroots groups in our nation’s history and such exclusivity and profiteering as this acts as a spit in the face of all the movement stands for. I was happy to see representatives Michelle Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn drop out of the event and hoped that FORMER Governor Palin would do the same. Not only did Mrs. Palin not back out but she charged $100,000 to speak at the convention. Remember that Glenn Beck did a live show from last year’s rally in Texas just because he believed in the cause and you have to wonder what her motives are. Sure, she said she would donate the money to fund candidates and causes but that doesn’t change the fact that she basically said give me all this money or I’m not coming. To me, that doesn’t speak of fighting for a cause as much as it does looking out for one’s own interests.
Her speech at the convention also gave rise to the concern that the Republican Party is trying to hijack the tea party movement as their own doing. The message of the tea party is that America is tired of the lies, political games and unconstitutional dealings on BOTH sides of the isle! Americans who rallied at the first tea party spoke of disgust towards both Democrats AND Republicans. Sarah Palin and other Republicans are trying to not only jump onboard but move to the front and act like they’ve been leading the charge the whole time. If these politicians really believed in the cause they would denounce affiliation with ANY party. I’m so very proud of the tea party movement and what it has accomplished and I don’t want to see it fall prey to politics as usual, even if the politicians doing it have good intentions.
All in all, Sarah Palin is someone I would vote for as president but only if I had no better option to choose from. I would pick her over Mike Huckabee but not Ron Paul. She’s better than John McCain but not Rick Perry or John Huntsman Jr. I guess it will all come down to what we’re looking at come 2012.
Oh, and she can give a speech without a teleprompter.
Freedom Watch News 
The Tea Party Movement is something that will be remembered in history. I think our children will study it in school next to movements like the Civil Rights movement. And I think you are right in saying that the Republican Party has every intention of riding that wave. Not that I absolutely associate Fox News with the GOP, but they have adopted the movement giving large amounts of coverage to it, even at the expense of other important matters (not that other news stations dont do the same thing – I am aware of bias). I think the Tea Party Movement is on the verge of going mainstream and it will have a negative affect on it.
All of that was very well stated. There is no such thing as a completely unbiased news source (mainly because that goes so greatly against human nature) but I do think that Fox News does the best job of being fare. Most of the other news stations completely ignored the tea party movement and CNN brushed it off as a bunch of idiots. Keith Olbermann called it QUOTE: “...the saddest collection of people who don’t want to admit why they really hate, since the racists of the south in the sixties insisted they were really just concerned about states rights.” That isn’t reporting the news but going on an uninformed and hateful ranting spree. Fox News does make a great effort to cover all of the news and do it fairly, though they do, at times, show some bias towards the right. I agree that a mainstream tea party movement would be damaging to what I consider to be the greatest movement of the 21st century. For it to do so would make it fall in lock-step with the very things it protests and I don’t want to see that happen. They’re having another local tea party rally this April in my area and I’ve already volunteered to help in any way I can.
Sarah Palin Interview Supporting the Bail Out
Marsha Blackburn Voted FOR:
Omnibus Appropriations, Special Education, Global AIDS Initiative, Job Training, Unemployment Benefits, Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations, Agriculture Appropriations, U.S.-Singapore Trade, U.S.-Chile Trade, Supplemental Spending for Iraq & Afghanistan, Prescription Drug Benefit, Child Nutrition Programs, Surface Transportation, Job Training and Worker Services, Agriculture Appropriations, Foreign Aid, Vocational/Technical Training, Supplemental Appropriations, UN “Reforms.” Patriot Act Reauthorization, CAFTA, Katrina Hurricane-relief Appropriations, Head Start Funding, Line-item Rescission, Oman Trade Agreement, Military Tribunals, Electronic Surveillance, Head Start Funding, COPS Funding, Funding the REAL ID Act (National ID), Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, Thought Crimes “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, Peru Free Trade Agreement, Economic Stimulus, Farm Bill (Veto Override), Warrantless Searches, Employee Verification Program, Body Imaging Screening.
Marsha Blackburn Voted AGAINST:
Ban on UN Contributions, eliminate Millennium Challenge Account, WTO Withdrawal, UN Dues Decrease, Defunding the NAIS, Iran Military Operations defunding Iraq Troop Withdrawal, congress authorization of Iran Military Operations.
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://tinyurl.com/qhayna
Mickey
Ah yes, the great Katie Couric interview…
I’m not going to say that Sarah Palin at no point supported a bailout package because she is clearly talking about it in the second part of this series of clips that you have linked to. Yes, during the campaign season, Sarah Palin did show support for the TARP program, there’s no denying that. However, there are a few things I’d like to point out about this example. Please note that these point, in no way, mean I’m excusing her past actions. They are just more things for consideration.
First off remember that this was Sarah Palin’s first time doing a national interview and it was being given by Katie Couric, one of the most liberal people in media who I have no doubt was trying intentionally to throw her off and make her look bad (I’m not reporting, just opinionating). It’s amazing to compare Palin’s early speeches and interviews to her ones today. She has improved vastly in just a year and a half!
The second point is that she was trying to become Vice President at that time and, to do that, she had to get John McCain elected as president. John McCain was a big supporter of the TARP which is why he would have also made a lousy president. McCain is no more conservative than George W. Bush was; perhaps even less so. When you listen to this interview, it sounds like Sarah Palin isn’t so much defending the TARP as much as she as explaining why her running mate supported it.
Again, I don’t say these things to excuse her actions but let’s not ever lose sight of the bigger picture. It is clear today that she is fully against these wasteful spending bills now that she is fully out of John McCain shadow and has had a chance to grow in the national spotlight as her own person. It’s important to remember that people must be judged more by their current actions and stances than their past ones. I supported Barack Obama during the election and I certainly do not now. You MUST allow people to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes and not hold them to their past no matter what they do. I’m willing to put the things Mrs. Palin said during the campaign season behind me since she has spoken so adamantly for so long now against these same wasteful spending practices.