The Presence of Sarah Palin

One of the things that impresses me about Sarah Palin is the presence of being that she brings to a room. It’s hard to describe and I haven’t experienced it personally, but it seems palpable.

It reminds me a little bit of the time that Robert Kennedy ran for President. I was in 8th grade and he happened to make a trip to my home town. As luck would have it, his motorcade drove right past my grade school. Being that it was a Catholic school, the nuns and teachers were more than willing to let us line the street as RFK drove by. I remember it well as he waved to us from the convertible limousine he was in. Several weeks later, after I “graduated” from 8th grade, I was crushed when my mother woke me up the morning after that fateful California primary and told me that Robert Kennedy had been shot and wasn’t expected to survive.

The Kennedys carried a charisma with them during their political life, although I would venture to say that Teddy did not. It’s not something that is yours as a birthright, it is something transient, but real.

Sarah Palin has that charisma and following that we haven’t seen since John or Bobby Kennedy. Reagan had it, but his was born out of experience and the wisdom of age. Sarah, on the other hand, possesses both the conviction to principle, as did Reagan, and an overwhelming presence of being, the likes of which I have not seen since RFK’s drive-by so many years ago.

It’s so very hard to explain the “it” that Sarah Palin possesses. All I can say is that “it” is there and if she so chooses, “it” could realistically propel her into the White House.

I feel like a kid again, watching an icon drive by and hoping that “it” is real. Please watch “The Undefeated”. The movie will change your opinion of what “it” is.

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction

Choices…

Our lives are the result of our choices. Like them or not, they are what they are. We live or die by them, but, most importantly, they define who we are.

When we decide to enter into marriage, we are emboldened by that commitment. When we are forced to end a marriage, we are dismayed by our original choice. Why?

We choose to do what we believe in. In a marriage contract, we assume that the other party believes as we do. Our society delivers the hopeless verdict when we are wrong. It is a societal paradigm that we are unable to escape. Who is wrong, and who is right? Society deems it as unanswerable. The default judgment is both, so neither is guilty.

For a lot of us, we continue to look for the ability to make choices that demonstrate our resolve. It may be multiple choices that present themselves to us, but we recognize that our choices have consequences as we pursue those that we deem to have merit.

When we choose to pursue a certain path, our resolve is the only thing that hinders our achievement. There will always be an end-game that we must accept or reject. It defines our goals.

Do we choose to go half-way to our goal? That is not empowering. It may give us some benefits along the way, but it diminishes us.

Who has the strength to pursue their goals to fruition? Did Thomas Edison give up after countless attempts to create the light bulb? Did Steven Jobs give up when he was turned away from the very company he founded? Did Rush Limbaugh throw in the towel when he was told that his hearing was gone? The vanguard of success is perseverance. Pure and simple.

We all have roadblocks that stand in the way of our goals. What makes us unique is our resolve in transcending those roadblocks.

I have a challenge for Sarah Palin. Continue your quest. I know that you harbored a conviction that you could make a difference. Prove it! Everyone likes a winner and I have a feeling that your goals have not yet been met.

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction

A Holiday, a Harley and a Mission

Memorial Day has always signaled the start of summer for me. And what a wonderful way to begin our 15 weeks of summer, but with a holiday that commemorates those who fought and died to ensure the freedoms that underscore our enjoyment of summertime.

Enjoy your leisure time over the next 15 weeks. Travel the country. Visit a historic civil war battlefield or travel to Washington D.C. to visit the Smithsonian Institute or the National Archives. You can see the original, founding documents there. Immerse yourself in showing your kids our history, because our history is rich and meaningful. I guarantee you, they will be spellbound to hear about the Battle of Gettysburg, or “the shot heard round the world” in Lexington.

I was always focused on making sure that my kids had the opportunity to enjoy their summers. Whether playing baseball, swimming in a pool or lake with their friends and then enjoying hamburgers on the grill after a full day of fun, summer was defined as just that, FUN!

Like many of you, we all have traditions that define our summertime. Last weekend, an event in Washington, D.C. underscored our reverence in honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our liberty. Rolling Thunder is a national organization that was created to honor our POW/MIA’s. Here is their purpose:

The Rolling Thunder Story

In the fall of 1987, Vietnam veterans met to discuss their personal concerns about the POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War. Having honorably served their country and having taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies…” and to “bear true faith and allegiance to same,” they were deeply troubled by the abhorrent neglect of attention given to those who did not make it out with their lives or their freedom. These veterans discussed the more than 10,000 reported sightings of live Americans living in dismal captivity. Intelligence reports of these sightings were generally ignored by the government and mainstream press.

The First Rolling Thunder Demonstration

The Founders of Rolling Thunder were ordinary men who understood that they had a right to have their voices heard and proceeded to lay down the plans for a gathering in Washington, D.C. during the 1988 Memorial Day weekend. They reached out to their families, fellow veterans and veteran’s advocates to unify and form a march and demonstration in the nation’s Capitol. Their arrival would be announced by the roar of their motorcycles, a sound not unlike the 1965 bombing campaign against North Vietnam dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder. Hence, they would call themselves “Rolling Thunder” a title that would endure time and be trademarked in 1990. Word spread quickly and by Memorial Day weekend in 1988, approximately 2,500 motorcycles from all over the country converged on Washington, D.C. to demand from our leaders a full accounting of all POW/MIAs. As the Founders of Rolling Thunder made their stand that day in front of the Capitol, they reflected thankfully for the people who came in support of the POW/ MIAs and for the unity that was felt. This was Rolling Thunder’s first demonstration. Only until ALL POW/MIAs ARE ACCOUNTED FOR, it will not be their last. On that day, the foundation was laid for the annual “Ride for Freedom” to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall (also referred to as the “Ride to the Wall”). The number of participants/spectators in the Memorial Day weekend Ride for Freedom has grown from 2,500 to an estimated 900,000.

Wow, wouldn’t that be fun to participate in? I think my kids would have been ecstatic to participate in such an event. After it was over, they would have been excited to travel on a heritage trail, visiting Mount Vernon, Monticello and walking the streets of Philadelphia. From there, I would want to travel to Boston, and follow the path of Paul Revere’s ride, as he awakened the countryside to the approaching British army, which led, ultimately, to “the shot heard round the world” on April 19th, 1775.

You see, kids love to learn about history. How many of you remember sitting at your grandfather’s knee while he reminisced about his youth? I was always enthralled to be around my grandfather. He brought history alive for me, with both his knowledge and his grace. He was the ultimate gentleman and never ventured out on a Sunday without a suit and tie.

Today, we are being treated with another family’s similar story. Would you not love to be able to afford a motor-home to travel the country and show your kids all the things that we just talked about? Of course you would! I would have hand-painted signs to festoon our car to get the kids fired up about the vacation.

Sarah Palin and her family are living the American dream. After participating in the “Rolling Thunder” rally in Washington D.C. yesterday, they have embarked on a tour to re-enact the foundational events that define us as a country. Where else would you go to learn about our founding besides the Northeast? It has to be the very first stop on a tour to appreciate our history. It too bad that the current residents of the area have forgotten our history. Perhaps Sarah and her family will change that in their search for knowledge and, hopefully, ours.

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction

Bristol Dating Rumor Refudiated

According to to website Rumor Fixed:

The National Enquirer is living in la la land this week with a ludicrous report that Bristol Palin and Kyle Massey are secretly dating.

“Sarah Palin and daughter Bristol are at war over Bristol’s new boyfriend – Disney cutie patootie Kyle Massey!”

Bristol, 20, and Kyle, 19, became friends when they appeared on last season’s Dancing with the Stars and secretly began dating.

And sources say their relationship is what led to the new BIO Channel reality show featuring Bristol, Kyle and Kyle’s big brother Chris.

RumorFix can confirm that the two did become friends while on Dancing, and they are shooting a reality show together, but anything beyond that is completely fictitious.

RumorFix, unlike some people, decided to check up on this rumor by reaching out to Kyle’s mother, Angel. She tells us the Enquirer report is bologna.

“They are not dating,” she reveals while laughing. “They’re good friends. I understand the media wants to push sales or whatever, but no, they’re not dating.”

Angel goes on to say, “Both of our families gelled during Dancing with the Stars. Sarah would be in the audience cheering for Kyle, and we’d be in the audience rooting for Bristol. We all became close.”

Mama Massey adds, “The Palins are really funny, nice and genuinely warm to us.”

Sarah, we have your back!

When all the world is falling down around us, we look for leaders. We look for those few amongst us that exhibit the characteristics that we wish we had. But we are all human.

We have concerns about family, income and our walk with God. We pray that we will be guided to do the right thing.

What if we were called to a task that seemed to be in conflict with our primary concerns? What if we were called to leadership on a level that confronted every thing we ever felt was the primary focus in our life? What if we were called to lead our nation?

I can’t imagine the thoughts that must be coursing through the Palin family’s mind. Do we take this plunge into national leadership, or do we take solace in the knowledge that we are convicted toward our love of family and stay put?

I can only say one thing. Sarah, if you believe that you’re inclined to run for President, we have your back. We can’t be there to guard the door, but we can deliver a withering defense of everything that you believe in.

We will defend your family with our dying breath. We will hold Trig up upon our shoulders to acknowledge your commitment to his life, because it is part and parcel to our own.

We will stand in defense of everything you say and will stand in the vanguard of your cause. Sarah, we are your avant-garde and will defend you to our lives’ end, in defense of this country, and in all that we call our own.

Sarah, don’t ever think that you embark on this campaign without allies. You have so many more than you could ever imagine.

The Siren’s Call

We are standing on the precipice of a descent into the abyss of socialism. How we came to this point is left up to historians. I, however, suggest that we are on a different path. I believe that we are seeing the evolution of our country toward even greater relevance.

What country in history has withstood the siren’s call to government-run societies? None, to date. Is this country to become just another failed experiment, or our we willing to re-establish ourselves as the transformational country that we have been throughout the last 235 years?

We’ve weathered some mighty storms. From the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, to the World Wars, we have endured. Why does this war with socialism seem so daunting? It is because we are living through it right now. We are at a focus point that all our citizens are beginning to recognize. We are at the fork in the road.

Will we accept the failed policies of socialism, or will we continue to re-affirm our greatness as the “last, best hope of earth”? Do we crumble in the face of a growing, governmental leviathan, or do we re-assert ourselves to follow a path that no country has followed before?

The upcoming election in 2012 is truly a tipping point for our form of government, as defined by our Constitution and re-affirmed by our greatest Presidents. Do we follow the advice of a few, modern voices, or do we re-examine our history to re-invoke the commitment to liberty that has made us strong?

The future unfolds before the eyes of the living, as it has done since our inception. We are no less challenged now that we were at every pivotal moment in our history. We are once again faced with a challenge toward our commitment to liberty. Will we succumb to the siren’s call, or will we once again rise up to defeat it?

What candidate in 2012 will resist our plunge into socialism? What candidate will we support, and why? For myself, I am looking for a candidate that hasn’t been steeped in the Washington way, for those are all talking in the siren’s voice. I am looking for the human amongst us who will cover their ears and follow their heart and our history.

I can think of someone from Alaska who seems to have all the proper credentials. Her name is Sarah Palin, but is she up to the task? We wait with breathless pause.

Sarah Palin: GAME ON!

Sarah Palin delivered a rousing speech to the Madison Tea Party today. It was only remotely reminiscent of her acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican Convention. Today’s speech was much more in keeping with Sarah’s Mama Grizzly image. She went after Obama with unflinching candor and delivered some stinging barbs. She also was not deterred from going after the “Republican establishment”, in her words, and lambasted the latest compromise on the 2011 budget as failing to deliver on the promises of the 2010 election.

This speech could best be described as Sarah-Unplugged. It delivered a stinging rebuke to the union leaders that have cast Madison as the centerpiece of Obama’s world vision and spoke of the Tea Party as the voice of America. This was as close to a campaign speech that I have ever seen her deliver, hence the comparison to 2008.

This was not the Sarah Palin who has worked hard to deliver thoughtful speeches to enhance her bona fides in the world of national politics. This was a tit-for-tat response to Obama’s partisanship, as delivered in his deficit-reduction speech on Wednesday. In it, Obama targeted Republican efforts toward spending reductions and overtly focused on Paul Ryan, lambasting his and the Republican’s plans as being against the aging, women and the less-advantaged.

Sarah Pain ripped into Obama’s characterization of Paul Ryan’s plan and left no doubt about her feelings when she said of The White House: “you lie”! She called out Obama for his lack of leadership and mocked him for his use of the terms “hope” and “change”. This was the most direct attack on Obama that I have seen Sarah Palin deliver since her acceptance speech at the GOP Convention.

As she wound down her speech, she implored the Madison Tea Party to consider itself as the beginning of the 2012 Presidential campaign. She invoked a well-accepted battle cry of “Game On” and compared it to the spirit of the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl victory to rally those in attendance.

All in all, Sarah Palin said everything that a Presidential candidate should say, short of saying it as an announced Presidential candidate. I feel that there is a major campaign in her near future and she is only sharpening her axe as she prepares for it.

I’m awaiting a transcript of her speech and will update this post as soon as it is available. I’m sure videos of her speech will be available as well and they are well-worth your time to watch. This speech was definitely history in the making.

Ratings war on May 2nd!

I don’t know if Sarah Palin’s pro bono speech at Colorado Christian University’s fundraiser for the troops will be televised, but it should be. In light of the fact that her speech will take place at the same time as the Republican debate at the Reagan Presidential Library, we’d have an interesting comparison. I’d really love to see how the ratings of her televised appearance in Colorado compare to the ratings for the debate sponsored by left-leaning organizations like NBC and Politico.

Fox News, are you listening?

Ten Must-Have Apps for Sarah Palin Followers

I keep reading about this must-have app and that must-have app, so I decided to create a list for some creative entrepreneur that understands apps (my preference being Android). Here are my suggestions for 10 must-have apps for Sarah Palin followers:

1. Real time notices of Sarah Palin Facebook or Twitter postings. Sarah Palin followers just have to be the first to know about a new post.

2. Upcoming Sarah Palin media appearances. Whether it be Fox News or a simple radio appearance, real-time updates of coming appearances would be most helpful.

3. A register of new online polls regarding Sarah Palin. We like to vote for positive things regarding Sarah and need to know where to go to support her in any online poll.

4. Red Alerts for countering media bias regarding Sarah Palin and her family. We like to voice our opinions regarding Sarah to help counter any negative “hit piece” that is published about Sarah or her family. Links to comment pages would be a welcome thing.

5. Video archives of Sarah Palin appearances. We would like a depository of Sarah Palin videos that we could link to on our smart-phones to help counter real-time Sarah critics that we come across in our daily lives.

6. Sarah Palin’s favorite wild-game recipes. After all, you can only make Moose stew once in a while.

7. Sarah Palin quotes. She has coined or re-invented such fabulous terms as “death panels”, “going rogue”, “mama grizzlies”, “blood libel”, “a servant’s heart”, “lamestream media”, “refudiate” and others. We want to use these terms and would like instant access to new and existing ones, for whatever purpose. It would also be helpful to have links to the source where where she first used them.

8. Shoes. Okay, I throw this one out for all those wonderful ladies that notice another woman’s shoes. I suspect they might like to know what latest fashion Sarah is wearing on her feet, whether they be pumps or sloggers.

9. Sarah Palin media smack-downs. Okay, I know this could be included in #4 above, but it deserves its own app because we like Sarah’s feistiness and want to be the first to applaud it.

10. Smiles. Sarah Palin has one of the most magnificent smiles that has ever existed in a politician. We want to see every single one that comes across whatever media source runs it for a collective glimpse into her heart.

I could probably go on, but you get the idea. App-makers?

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction

Is Sarah running?

So much ink, bits and bytes have been spent on the question of whether or not Sarah Palin will run for President. We won’t know until she says so, but what will she say if the answer is no?

We all search for those who will show us the way or those who will walk alongside as we forge the way. Whether it be family, friends, colleagues or others, we look for guidance and counsel along the way to help us attain our goals.

Sarah is doing things, speaking out and going places while following a path that is hers alone. I trust that she has family, friends, colleagues and others that she relies on for counsel and guidance, as it should be. Only she and her confidants know what her goal is, but I firmly believe she has a goal in mind.

Why would anyone put up with the derision and loathing that is thrown at her as she follows her path? Who amongst us would be more than willing to cut and run after amassing a small fortune through book sales and a successful television series? What could possibly motivate us to continue to go places and speak out in spite of our financial success and the knowledge that we have secured our future and, most likely, our children’s futures?

Could it be that Sarah Palin has a higher goal in mind than that which she has already accomplished for herself and her family? I suspect so. I just don’t know what it is. All I know is that I’m sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what it will be. I can only hope that she pursues the path of leadership that I believe she is destined for. I say this because I welcome her success in leadership as an inspiration for attaining my own goals, however different than hers.

Real leadership should inspire us to believe that we, too, can aspire to greatness, on whatever scale we choose. It encourages us to move ever closer toward our goals, as it should. Whatever Sarah Palin chooses to do, she has already inspired us and I believe that she will continue to inspire us for years to come, in whatever capacity.

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction