The Night We All Were Vets and Witnessed Commander-in-Chief To Be

By Isabel Matos

I can’t express how amazing this woman is, just like Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Dakota Meyer said in his introduction which was strong and heartfelt.  It was such an impressive gesture (aside from the flawless delivery) to dedicate the entire speech to just veterans in such an appropriate and genuine tribute which we were so much more informed by. Who could have guessed this was what she was going to talk about and yet, it made perfect sense. She was serious. She showed command of foreign policy and personalized for us what vets and their families have gone through. We were all vets last night. Sarah shined and will continue to shine in God’s grace as well (I’m not an openly prayerful writer but..) who can deny it, or explain how she does it. How does she keep topping herself each time? What a treasure, America. What a future ahead.  This was done the way she likes things done-get the tough message across but without being disagreeable, nasty or assigning blame except to those who are putting us in harm’s way: corrupt government, Obama and his naively dangerous policies. I love you, Sarah. We love you, vets.  ~ IM   

Sgt. Dakota Meyer Introduces Gov. Sarah Palin 

“I want to give a special thank you to veterans and military spouses, along with gold star families in the audience.

“Our next guest needs no introduction, so I was truly honored Gov. Palin asked me to introduce her. I want to talk about the Gov. Palin I know, who’s not only in public service but who’s a mother, a wife, and a mother of a service member. This is important because today, .5%, serves in the military. And yet we have politicians from both parties who feel they’re experts in foreign policy who want to commit the U.S. military every time there is a playground fight between two oil barons in the Middle East. And look.. We’re not afraid to fight by no means, trust me on that, but how about give us a fight we can win? APPLAUSE. A fight where politicians and bureaucrats stay out of our way, because we’ll get it done. APPLAUSE.

That .5% is carrying the burden of the 95.5 percent of this country. We’ve heard a lot about the 98% and 2% in the media from these politicians. But you know what? They are talking about money, about how rich or how poor we are, about how large of a soft drink we can drink, about who’s up and who’s down. That’s what this town spends its days on. But you know what no one is talking about? The .5%. That’s okay. Because we, the .5%, we are proud to serve. Because of the service of so many of our country’s men and women in Washington is free to talk about what Washington feels it is important to talk about.. Washington can sit and worry about who got the committee assignment and who was invited to what party, who got snubbed or who got caught off guard on camera. But those of us like Track Palin who served in Iraq and like Governor Palin, a mother, who stayed up nights worrying about the unthinkable if her child would make it home. Well, we’ll continue to serve.

Now a lot of you are probably thinking, where is he going? Is he going to introduce Governor Palin or not? (laughter). I say all of this to make a point. The amazing woman that I’m introducing knows what veterans have gone through. She knows that we’re not charity cases and that we want nothing more than to serve our great nation. She knows that when the bell is rung again, that we will be ready. We will be there. We will be ready to do the nation’s bidding at a moment’s notice again, and whatever is necessary to defend our rights as Americans but also those across the globe who are less fortunate than us. She knows, because she’s lived it. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Governor Palin.

Governor Sarah Palin’s speech at CPAC 2015.

Thank you so much. I am so honored to get to be here. Thank you. I’m glad to be here. And I am so honored to be able to speak about America’s finest, our veterans. I was asked to speak about veterans and I said absolutely. Talk about near and dear to my heart, this subject. Sgt. Dakota Meyer, I thank you so much for that introduction. Applause. His selfless service reminds us of that love, that patriotic love that our country was built upon and his selfless service inspires us. He and his generation of vets remind us of that courage that founded this country. In fact, I’d like to tell you a story about America’s first veterans and what this city’s namesake said about them.

1783. It was just days after the last British troop left our soil and the father of our country General George Washington. He gathered his officers in a New York City tavern to bid them farewell. These hardened men they had fought for years they fought against the greatest military might in the world at that time. Against all odds they won freedom, freedom for themselves and freedom for every American since.

Standing before them Washington was overcome with emotion knowing the sacrifices that they had made. He said with a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable. That was the wish for our first veterans and it should be ours for every veteran that’s followed. But we must ask, have we lived up to that?

From then until now, there’s been a long line of heroic vets and they connect our history, from George Washington to Chris Kyle. Millions like them. APPLAUSE. Millions like them, ordinary Americans, equipped for extraordinary things because they have come forward to serve and to save Americans’ lives. How many have done more than this generation in uniform, though?

The war on terror is the longest military engagement in U.S. history. So many have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tens of thousands wounded. More than 6800 dead. The strain of military and their families is enormous.

During WWII the average deployment in combat theater it was 6 months. Korean war, 9 months. Vietnam, 13 months. For Iraq and Afghanistan, an initial enlistment was 45 months. These deployment costs, they are huge and they are hidden.

The longer someone’s deployed and then re-deployed, the more likely they will suffer PTSD. Half a million of our returning vets suffer some form of it.

And they suffer a disproportionate unemployment rate. The average divorce rate is around 80%. And worse, and worse the suicide rate among our best and our brightest, is 23 a day. As we gather here today we think we’re secure, we’re having fun. Four days together in a conference, in these four days 92 of our veterans will have taken their lives.

So have we lived up to Washington’s wish for our vets?

I don’t ask this as a politician, as Dakota was suggesting there. No. I ask this as one of so many mothers of a combat vet. When my son went off to war the first time as a teenager, I was confronted with the same reality that all the other moms have to face- that’s realizing that, man, I wasn’t going to be there to help, to protect. Moms can’t be there when they hurt. I can pray and I did, and I do. But few things are more difficult than to kiss a child goodbye into harms way knowing that you’re not going to be there to protect. Those first deployments, that is when a parent goes from calling them son to calling them sir.

America hands over her sons and her daughters in service with the promise that they will be taken care of. Our troops are promised that no one will be left behind on the battlefield. Their promise that a grateful nation will spare no expense to patch them up and bring them back to health when wounded. And now, they come wounded too many broken in body and spirit. Well, we, their mothers and their fathers and their husbands and their wives, we’re here to collect on their promises made. We can’t wait for DC to fix their bureaucratic blunders.

This bureaucracy is killing our vets. APPLAUSE. They wait for months. They wait for years to get treatment at the VA and they’re losing hope. The VA’s mistakes and cover-ups? They have lost the lives of 500 vets in just the last four years and that doesn’t account for those who took their own lives in despair.

We’ve witnessed the way corrupt government treats our vets, the VA putting them on secret waiting lists and deceiving Congress, and spying on investigators who are just trying to get to the bottom of it. And don’t be fooled into thinking the problem’s resolved simply the media doesn’t cover lame duck scandals anymore. Just because one guy at the top resigned, the problems didn’t resigned. The reason that you don’t hear about them is that our vets don’t whine. They’re not wired to complain. That’s why this ran under the radar for so long. APPLAUSE.

Our debt of gratitude starts payment with 3 simple solutions that government can and should do right now because it is time to demand solutions.

1st – with Health Care. Give vouchers for treatment outside the VA. Give our VETS the same freedom that they gave us, and Instead of illegal aliens cutting in line being rewarded with a handout of U.S. Benefits, that we demand that U.S. vets are first in line!! BIG APPLAUSE….Cheers, standing.

2nd – Allow vets who are re-entering the civilian work force.. let them use the skills that they learned in military. Today, say a vet with superb computer or mechanical skills often they have to go backward go back and take classes to get a paper degree or paper certificate to slap on the wall that says okay now I’m certified in a field that they already knew. Let them test out and their military certification transfer over. Common sense. Yeah. APPLAUSE. Common sense is a think I know is an endangered species in these parts.

3rd – Secure their Benefits. Congress secured t.h.e.i.r. benefits. Did you know that LAST year Congress actually voted to cut vets’ retirement benefits by 20 percent. Did they vote to cut their own? No. They only reverse course when enough of us rose up in protest. Take the issue away from the politicians or after legislation to secure benefits permanently.

Health Care and Benefits, this is just part of the equation. General Washington wished for our veterans that their deeds in war would be recognized as glorious and honorable. But the thing that those vets from the revolutionary war had that today’s troops don’t.. is VICTORY. And that is the thing they cherish most. They deserve to know that their sacrifices are not in vain, to know that what they fought for and that what their friends died for was worth it. APPLAUSE.

It is said that old men declare wars and they send the young ones to fight them. So it’s the duty of he who sends them to actually make sure that we can win those wars.. And it’s our duty to elect an honorable commander in chief who is willing to make the same sacrifices he sends others away to make. BIG APPLAUSE.

We must provide our troops with the political will to win and the rules of engagement to win. How many Americans are harmed today because politically correct rules of engagement are imposed by those who are too uncomfortable to give troops the tools and the trust that they need to win. That leads to a very unpleasant question. And it is one that every gold star mom and every veteran will live with forever.

“Did we actually win in Iraq and Afghanistan before we waved the white flag?” The jury is still out.

But when evil Islamic terrorists is on the march screaming Allahu Akbar from Syria to Iraq, Libya and Yemen, in the streets of Paris.. Well it doesn’t look like victory. The Middle East is a tinderbox, and it’s coming apart at the seams. It’s a death cult’s playground. ISIS expands. It takes back land that we just built on blood to secure, when their ultimate goal is the caliphate that extends from Baghdad to Damascus to Jerusalem itself. Only in Egypt is Jihad in retreat and that is no thanks to Obama’s administration. Remember, they supported the Muslim Brotherhood, which was finally toppled by the people in one of the largest popular revolts in history.  APPLAUSE.

Now in 09 when Obama took over the war on terror, Islamists were in retreat and Al-Qaeda was a broken force. Now Islamists, they control more territory than ever. It’s where they train and launch more attacks on us and our allies, and that was predictable. Military brass warned the left, do not pull out without allowing a residual force to remain, to keep a lid on it, and to retain the ground that the good guys just gained.

Friends, the rise of ISIS.. it is the direct result of this administration’s refusal to heed that warning. APPLAUSE.

And now everywhere you look Islamists are on the march from Boko Haram selling school girls as slaves and ISIS crucifying Christians and burning the innocent alive in cages and beheading children, babies. Aside from God almighty what is the only force strong enough to keep this barbaric rolling tide at bay. The only thing standing between us and savages, it’s the red white and blue, which is the United States military!! LOUD APPLAUSE, CHEERS.

We are in a long-term civilizational struggle against the forces of evil. And if we intend to beat them, we better get serious about victory. The consequences of weakness is retreat and defeat. In the past our leaders confronted evil with moral clarity, eliminated fascists and the Nazis. They confined communism to the dustbin of history.

Make no mistake. Radical Islamists are just as dangerous as those ideologies. And Islamists now swear they’re going to bring the fight to our shores. ISIS threatens to raise the white flag over our White House. They told president Obama. We will cut off your head in the White House. But our lead-from-behind president thinks that we can co-exist with these genocidal thugs. He thinks the Islamic State isn’t really Islamic?! Pretending it’s not there doesn’t make it go away. Calling it something else won’t make it so, and lecturing Christians to get off our high horse about calling them radical Islamists won’t stop the Islamists from killing Christians. APPLAUSE.

Stop blaming the victim and wake up, Mr. President. While Christians bow our heads to pray for you, radical Islamists want to cut off your head. The world that they want is a world that would submit.  We will never submit to evil. APPLAUSE.. We will consign radical Islam to the ash-heap of history just like the Nazis before them. Oh, the naive Obama State Department. They say we can’t kill our way out of war. Really? Tell that to the Nazis. Oh, wait. You can’t because they’re dead. We killed them.

History proves the destruction of the enemy’s military apparatus. That leads to victory. And from victory to peace. So we will not tolerate politicians who squander the precious lives of our sons and our daughters on the battlefield and then when they come home politicians callously refusing to respect and repay them. Our vets deserve better.

And we demand better. Because friends, if you want look for the virtues that set our nation apart from the enemy, you will find them in those who wear the uniform, who take the oath, who pay the price for our freedom. The Jihadists fight out of hatred of Jews, Christians and women and diversity and freedom. Our troops they fight out of love. Love of family and country and freedom. And if you love freedom, thank a vet! And I would ask any veteran here today or active duty military, honor us by please standing. APPLAUSE.. We want to thank you. We salute you. We ask you to stand. We love you. STANDING APPLAUSE … Thank you. Sarah applauds. We love you.

Points to sign. Look, conservative action starts here, okay? Here’s our call to action and not just here but everywhere every day find a vet. Thank them and honor them and tell them yes, you love your freedom and you know who it is that needs to be thanked. So we will honor General Washington’s wish said with heart full of love and gratitude to achieve glorious and honorable victory on the battlefield and help our freedom fighters’ civilian days be as prosperous and happy as their service to us was brave and true. So with one voice, let us say, God Bless the United States Military. We thank you veterans and God bless the United States of America.

STANDING OVATION. CHEERS. LOUD APPLAUSE.

Thank you so much and of course I’m happy to take some questions that you all would have for me as much as time permits.

Moderator: We will do a lightning round of one-word answers for the following:

Barack Obama –

Gov. Palin: Sorry

Moderator: Hillary RodhamClinton –

Gov. Palin: I’m sorry. .

Moderator: Lady Margaret Thatcher –

Gov. Palin:  Iron

Moderator: We have a lot of young people here tonight in the audience, what do you think are the issues of concern for them today as the next generation of leaders:

Gov. Palin: Hopefully some of the message I just delivered will be received. I know that the folks in this room get it. They have that great love and I know they understand they have to sacrifice all in terms of service. These kids need to understand, like Thomas Paine said: ‘If there be trouble let it be in my day that my child will have peace’, meaning we need to make sacrifices today and not be so doggone selfish they they would give these kids and their kids after that so in debt that they are so constrained and confined that they are shackled. I think it’s illegal.

Is there a double standard in the way women running for president are treated as opposed to men in the media?

Gov. Palin: Yes.

The transcription was made the old-fashioned way. By listening and writing what I heard. IM

Just wanted to remind new readers that Governor Palin served as Command-in-Chief of the only permanently deployed National Guard unit in America. She also shared Strategic Command of the 49th Missile Battalion, our nation’s first line of defense from ballistic missile attack.

~ Gary

Advertisement

Video: Governor Sarah Palin Reprises Her Commander-in-Chief Role, Honors Veterans at CPAC2015

By Gary P Jackson

Introduced by Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer, Governor Sarah Palin gave a powerful speech in support of our nation’s military. Alaska’s former Commander-in-Chief spoke, not as a politician, but as the proud mother of a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghan wars.

Governor Palin talks about the horrific treatment our veterans suffer at the hands of the federal government, and what must be done to fix things. She talks about the need to put our veterans “first in line” when it comes to health care benefits and other services, and notes illegal aliens receive far better, more preferential treatment.

The Governor also talks about the need for better opportunities for veterans returning to civilian life, and the absurdity of having to go to school to “get a piece of paper” to certify they know how to do a job they were already well trained for in the military. After all, one of the military’s selling points is you can learn skills that translate to jobs in the civilian world! [Which is true]

Almost every sentence is quotable, so instead of boring you …. here’s her full speech, courtesy of of our friends at SarahNet:

Governor Palin, who got many standing ovations, was the one speaker folks wouldn’t let leave the stage without getting a handshake from and the obligatory selfie with!

Like this one from Keira Lyn:

Selfies w/ @SarahPalinUSA Thank you for your remarks about the poor treatment of our veterans. Let's FIGHT for THEM! pic.twitter.com/lxwNOoZRQj

— Keira Lyn (@KikiFosho11) February 26, 2015

and this one:

PHOTO: @SarahPalinUSA and The Statue of Liberty. I see the resemblance! #CPAC2015 #CPAC15 #SarahPalin #PalinCPAC15 pic.twitter.com/bUTgn5tdPZ

— Vandon Gene (@vandongene) February 26, 2015

Seen.com has a collection of tweets about and user generated images of Governor Palin here.

BTW, since the “legitimate media” seems to focus on what Governor Palin wears as much, or more than what she says, let me just say what a great outfit she had on. Loved the skirt and the shoes! That would be a great outfit to have her official White House photo made in!

“Irrelevant” Sarah Palin Steals the Headlines at SNL’s 40th Anniversary Bash

Politics is downstream from pop culture.

~ Andrew Breitbart

Sarah Palin definitely gets pop culture. She has a transcendent pop culture factor.

~ Andrew Breitbart

By Gary P Jackson

On Sunday night Lorne Michaels and his team put on an excellent tribute to 40 years of Saturday Night Live. It was a well done stroll down memory lane, and the entire cast deserves accolades. That said, it’s the little hockey mom from Wasilla, Alaska who grabbed all the headlines.

From the dress she wore on the red carpet [and who may have worn it before] to who she was seen with: Alec Baldwin, Al Sharpton, and Taylor Swift; to her skit with Jerry Seinfeld, tongues are wagging and the media is spinning.

First the dress! Governor Palin, who turned 51 a couple of days ago, was absolutely stunning in her white dress and trademark Kawasaki glasses.

What had lips flappin’ though, is the dress is the same one Bristol Palin wore to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in 2011.

Was Sarah Palin wearing the same dress on #SNL40 that her daughter Bristol wore to the WHCA dinner in 2011? pic.twitter.com/pim7sfk2Vr

— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) February 16, 2015

While the lamestream media was doing it’s thing, haters gotta hate, Michelle Malkin and others noted women often share clothes with their daughters.

@SalenaZitoTrib Until my daughter had a 3-inch growth spurt, we did the same. Still share shoes, though! 🙂 @thegarance

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) February 16, 2015

There is glory in sharing shoes!! @michellemalkin: Until my daughter had a 3-inch growth spurt did same. Still share shoes, tho! @thegarance

— SalenaZito (@SalenaZitoTrib) February 16, 2015

In the real world, women wear dresses more than once! Shocker, I know.

This is where I feel obligated to remind readers that, as Governor, one of the first things Palin did was get rid of the Executive Chef at the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau, looking to save the state money, while saying she didn’t want to “spoil” her kids. She also famously put the jet Governor Murkowski bought on eBay. [later selling it through a broker, when eBay created the buzz, but no buyer] A jet that worked well when Murkowski wanted to go live it up with his cronies in Washington, but useless for traveling in most of Alaska, a state that has more pilots per-capita than any other state, but with most airfields considered primitive, at best, and unsuitable for jet use.

As most know, with Juneau, the state capitol, being so remote and inaccessible, much of the state’s business is done in Anchorage, and there is a Governor’s office there. When working out of Anchorage, Governor Palin would drive herself to work, a sixty mile trip, one way, in her own car, without a security detail. Governor Palin cut spending in her office by a cool million dollars annually vs the previous two governors; Republican Frank Murkowski and democrat Tony Knowels. Borrowing Bristol’s dress, rather than spending money on a new one, is typical of Governor Palin’s fiscal ethics, and just another reason millions would support her if she runs for President.

Others have more to say about this:

Apparently you are supposed to wear a dress once and never again. The things I learn from liberals. @michellemalkin @thegarance

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 16, 2015

@KurtSchlichter Palin doesn't have to worry about ruining a dress like other liberals, like Monica Lewinsky @michellemalkin @thegarance

— Ask Dr. #Dude® PhD (@Jesse_sDad) February 16, 2015

Proves that Sarah Palin is a fiscal conservative and that she looks great . @Jesse_sDad @KurtSchlichter @michellemalkin @thegarance

— Gideon Gutenberg (@GideonGutenberg) February 16, 2015

@GideonGutenberg @KurtSchlichter @michellemalkin @thegarance and she has the self respect

— Ask Dr. #Dude® PhD (@Jesse_sDad) February 16, 2015

And of course ….

@KurtSchlichter @michellemalkin @thegarance I'm old enough to remember when Liberals were crying about Sarah spending too much on clothes.

— Keep Calm and Carry (@johnnyfriegas) February 16, 2015

Me too!

Governor Palin showed up on the red carpet with Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria in tow.

You gotta love it when Sarah tells Baldwin she still loves his brother even more! As the story goes, Palin and Baldwin actually hit it off when she appeared on SNL in 2008. Like Lorne Michaels, Baldwin was said to be impressed with Palin, the person. Something most people who meet Palin, even those who disagree with her politics, have said.

One of the bits during the show included a question and answer session with Jerry Seinfeld. This is a bit that was popular on SNL years ago. Governor Palin stood up to ask a question, and Seinfeld pretended to confuse her with Tina Fey. Palin corrects Seinfeld, then asks how much Lorne [Michaels] would pay her to run for president in 2016, a nod to how much mileage Tina Fey got out of portraying the Governor. The whole bit is hilarious, Palin’s part is at the end:

The media made a big deal about who the Governor sat with in the audience, Taylor Swift …. who was seated next to Steven Spielberg. Our friends a Twitchy said it best: 2 women who know how to Shake It Off

Then there was this:

And in the "Hell Has Frozen Over" department…. pic.twitter.com/cCuDEAYLQc

— James Power (@jameskpower) February 16, 2015

Of course, noted tax cheat and race bater Sharpton tweeted:

On the red carpet with Sarah Palin at the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/dzYD4gdRwD

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) February 16, 2015

…. and, while Governor Palin showed nothing but class, Rev Al tweeted this:

I saw Sarah Palin on the red carpet and we talked to Xtra together. I urged her to run in 2016 and help the Democrats out.

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) February 16, 2015

Many responded to Sharpton’s tweet by reminding the racist pig to pay his taxes! [He owes some $4.5 MILLION in back taxes -local, state, and federal]

I find it interesting how much heat a supposedly “irrelevant” woman can bring!

The great Andrew Breitbart often said politics were simply downstream of pop culture. He knew the only way to win the culture wars, as well as the political wars, was to be among them. To take part, instead of just set back and bitch about it. He also noted Governor Palin was one of the few that “got it,” having high praise for her ability to connect with people using pop culture.

I think this tweet from Stephen Miller says it all:

Palin stood up for a skit in a room full of people that hate her. She's already more qualified than Hillary is. #SNL40

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 16, 2015

The entire show was great, but as usual, it’s Sarah Palin who garnered the lion’s share of the attention.

Ratings Gold: Governor Sarah Palin Joins SNL’s 40Th Anniversary TV Special on Sunday

Sarah Palin and Lorne Michaels on SNL in 2008
Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

By Gary P Jackson

In 2008 Governor Palin hosted Saturday Night Live, which netted the show it’s best ratings in 17 years, so it’s no surprise Lorne Michaels asked her to return for this 40th anniversary special. SNL is hoping for big numbers and has basically taken over VH1 Classic which has been showing nothing but past episodes, 24/7, all month.

From People Magazine:

Live from New York, it’s … Sarah Palin!

Saturday Night Live’s one-woman ratings bonanza, Sarah Palin will participate in the show’s 40th anniversary special, a political source tells PEOPLE.

SNL producer Lorne Michaels invited Palin to return to the show and the former Alaska governor accepted, a source close to Palin confirms.

Palin, the Republican VP candidate who was regularly spoofed on the show by spot-on comic doppelgänger Tina Fey during – and after – the 2008 presidential race, showed she was a good sport by appearing on the show herself two weeks before Election Day that year.

No hard feelings since then? You betcha!

PEOPLE hears that Palin will return to SNL’s 30 Rock studios bearing gifts – three “Alaska Grown” hoodie sweatshirts for Fey and her two little girls.

SNL’s 40th anniversary special airs Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC

Multiple Standing Ovations For Governor Sarah Palin at Houston Energy Summit

Before Sarah Palin was Governor of Alaska [and after she was term limited out as Mayor of Wasilla] she was Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. One of the most powerful jobs in Alaska, and the oil and gas industry as a whole.

Once elected Governor, Palin was then elected Chairman of the nation’s Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, which comprises all of the oil and gas producing states in America. The National Governors Association, comprised of Governors from all 50 states elected Palin as Chairman of their Natural Resources Commission.

Palin is a recognized expert on oil and gas production and has been involved in exploration and developing best practices and ethics for the industry.

She is quite famous for taking on Big Oil, numerous times. So much so, industry insiders wrote the best seller Sarah Takes On Big Oil which is still available through Amazon.

By Gary P Jackson

Governor Palin headlined the Decision’s Maker’s Breakfast at the North American Prospect Expo in Houston on Thursday. She was greeted by a standing ovation and left to one as well. “It’s always a pleasure to be back in Alaska’s sister state Texas.” Palin told the excited audience.

When asked, she still isn’t ruling out a presidential run in 2016. Many in the media are ridiculing her for not committing, never mind most so-called hopefuls haven’t either. Here’s the thing. Governor Palin still has her TV show on The Sportsman Channel and new episodes, already filmed, are still airing. Once she declares, The Sportsman Channel will be forced to discontinue airing episodes. There are only a handful of episodes left that haven’t aired. I have no idea whether Palin will, or will not run. I do know there is absolutely no hurry for her to declare, especially when basically no one else has, yet. We all know the rules seem to be different for Governor Palin, but come on!

We have some excepts from Governor Palin’s speech, sourced from several reports. Her speech included a moderated question and answer session. [Which will be reflected by highlighting questions asked]

“Energy is my baby. I absolutely love it. It’s the theme that I miss most about my governing responsibilities. Being able to help spur investment and exploration and development and, you know, responsibly extracting that most valuable resource we have in Alaska and so many other places. And being able to feed and fuel our great nation with what God has created for man’s responsible use.”

“My husband Todd started off with BP on the North Slope of Alaska. We raised our kids with that North Slope lifestyle. Thank you so much for paying my bills for many years.”

About Obama asking Congress to designate parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as a wilderness area, although he will look into opening the Atlantic coast to oil and gas exploration: “That’s a bogus exchange. The Atlantic potential out there has already been tried. … Picture a football field — that’s ANWR — and a postage stamp. That’s the size of what we need to explore.”

Not to mention the fact offshore drilling has major environmental risks not found when drilling on land! ~ Gary

Concerning slumping oil prices and job cuts: “Now is the time to start planning for more drilling, for more production. With downturned prices like this, it gives y’all a chance to sort of catch a breath, right, and plan for the future. We can look at it as the glass half empty or half full. Of course, the half empty part is the job losses. From a humanitarian standpoint, it’s sad to see people threatened with their employment. But, on the other hand, these low oil prices can actually really help spur our economy and, ultimately, help the industry.”

“Right now low oil prices are helping to spur our economy, though they are hurting the oil and gas industry. Now is the time to plan for more drilling and more production. It’s a time to catch your breath and plan for the future.”

Can government do anything to help the industry at this time? “Usually government just gets in the way, and is so much of the problem in our economy. But right now government can spur more production by lifting the export ban.”

“But instead of common sense moves like that, the administration is hurting the industry by blocking Keystone XL, by pursuing land grab in Alaska. By enabling an EPA guilty of vast regulatory overreach. The punative aspect of it is to really stick it to the American people.”

“The president is not for American energy independence. If he were he wouldn’t be trying to lock up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. That’s 20 million more acres he wants to lock up from development.”

“All we need to explore and develop ANWR is a 2,000 acre swath. Alaska is 400 million acres when you consider our water and land. A postage stamp in the middle of a football field. That’s all the land we need to develop.”

As for the Keystone XL pipline: “It’s a no-brainer. It’s basic infrastructure. We have millions of mile of pipe streaming across this country. It’s the safest way to transport friendly fuel. It’s a shame [President Obama] has taken off the possibilities for America and for Canada to transport this fuel. It will get to market somehow.”

Currently the oil in question is being transported by rail. There have been numerous spills due to derailments. NOT having the Keystone Pipeline is an environmental disaster. With the pipelines, spills are virtually none existent. Conspiracy theories have sprouted due to the fact the railroad used is owned by one of Obama’s top cronies, Warren Buffet. In public Buffet has said he is for the pipeline, even though it would hurt his bottom line. ~ Gary

“The administration is not understanding the inherent link between energy and security and energy and prosperity. He’s rewarding the environmentalists who are extreme in saying there would be environmental harm in developing ANWR. They worry about the impact on the moose and caribou. Well we’ve had the Trans-Alaska Pipeline for decades, and that pipeline has not been adverse at all.”

“On the contrary, “the animals like the warmth that the pipeline gives off. “The animals mate under the pipeline. I haven’t actually seen it but that’s what I’m told. If oil and gas development is risky to wildlife, if it is to hurt one caribou, then that one caribou should take one for the team and allow the rest of the country to benefit.”

Governor Sarah Palin and her team in front of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

“Speaker John Boehner, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, they took the time to fly up to Alaska and actually visit ANWR. The president has never been up there. Politicians need to take the time to see for themselves what they’re voting on.”

“I can’t wait for 2016. That election I can see from my house. I hope for a GOP candidate who understands energy and understands infrastructure.”

“Hillary Clinton will be the Democrat candidate because she has the money. After her, it’s a shallow bench.”

Is there any chance a dark horse could emerge to challenge her? “Not really, because of the money. Hillary Clinton will seize the opportunity to collect those funds. Hillary is it.”

As for Vice President Joe Biden? “He’s been in politics long enough to have voted against the Trans-Alaska pipeline.”

Palin says the field of GOP candidates represent ”a deep bench.”

“Common sense conservatives — we’re going to have our hands full.”

Is Sarah Palin considering a run? “I’m so sorry you asked that. It’s just too early. But a lot can change.”

Can we win? “I don’t underestimate the wisdom of the people. Enough is enough for this hopey changey stuff that didn’t work.” America needs common sense. America needs to reclaim exceptionalism.”

“Candidate Obama promised to fundamentally transform America. But we don’t need that. We need to restore what’s great about America.”

On the topic of international relations:

“It’s been said that Saudi Arabia has recently been trying to seek back bigger market share. To penalize the shale players. And that the U.S. is going along with it to extract penalties against Putin and Iran.”

“But a side effect is that the U.S. is becoming more of the global oil swing player. The Saudis are basically allowing America to take over the decide on production levels and the market.”

“With so much of the world oil supply dominated by OPEC and Saudi Arabia, it’s just such a shame that we are so enormously under the influence of foreign countries.”

“We want to get out from under that. That’s why I support things like Keystone and fracking and horizontal drilling.”

“America should have the ultimate goal of being really energy independent, instead of going over to Saudi Arabia and bowing before the king. We don’t want to have to rely on what’s going on over there.”

“It’s tough to imagine that the Middle East can get even worse than it is, when you consider the evil. The terrorists spreading out across the globe. America losing its position of strength.”

“But it will get worse.”

“The Saudis will try to get rid of competition, which includes America.”

Russia will be a problem as well. “Putin is like a wounded bear. Very unpredictable. He still has the KGB in him. He bullies his neighbors.”

“There’s reports out there that billionaire Russians out there are helping to fund some U.S. environmental groups that oppose fracking and basic developments here so that the public will want to ratchet down production. That would bolster the position of the Saudis. The Russians. These dollars coming into environmental groups. I would like to find out whether that’s true.”

“America has to stand up to all this. It’s a psychological, emotional type thing. Our young people are losing the sense of what it means to be America. The Constitution, freedoms. What we will do on our lands. How we will responsibly develop God-given resources for our use. The founding fathers created a blueprint to allow us to be exceptional. We are exceptional.”

“Freedom isn’t free. You have to fight for it. That’s why I support the U.S. military. They are America’s true heroes.”

Thanks to Michelle McCormick for her hard work and contributions.

Governor Sarah Palin: Why “Drill Baby, Drill” was Right

By Gary P Jackson

This op-ed by Governor Palin originally appeared in the Texas Tribune and she posted a note on Facebook :

It’s always a pleasure returning to the beautiful Lone Star State. This week I’m in Houston speaking with the industrious men and women of America’s oil patch at the North American Prospect Expo. These are the unsung heroes of our nation’s energy renaissance.

In the brutal economic environment of the last six years, one sector had good news to report, and it came straight out of America’s oil patch. From 2007 to 2012, employment in the energy industry rose a dramatic 31.6 percent while employment nationwide fell 2.7 percent. U.S. oil production increased from 6.5 million barrels per day in 2012 to 7.4 million barrels per day in 2013, and in December, the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas produced its billionth barrel of oil. Thanks to American energy entrepreneurs’ drive and innovation, we’ve surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest oil and gas producer. This truly is a great American success story, and it’s a proud moment for those of us determined to educate D.C. bureaucrats on the link between energy and our security and prosperity.

Apparently, the president is pretty proud, too. In his State of the Union address last month, he boasted about the surge in oil and gas drilling, saying, “We are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.” From the way he’s talking, you’d think he coined the phrase “drill, baby, drill.” But it was just three years ago while campaigning in Miami that he lectured, “We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices.” Respectfully, Mr. President, “yes we can.” And yes we did. Average gas prices were well over $3 in 2012, but in the first months of 2015, they’re near $2, with some states enjoying even lower prices.

Despite his newfound appreciation for drilling, the president fails to mention that most production is on private and state lands out of his control rather than on federal lands he can over-regulate and lock up. In fact, under the Obama administration, natural gas production on federal lands — onshore and offshore — has fallen an astonishing 28 percent while production on private and state lands, many sitting atop prolific shale plays like the Bakken and Eagle Ford, thankfully increased by 33 percent. Similarly, under Obama, oil production on federal lands has fallen 6 percent but increased by 61 percent on nonfederal lands.

Though they like to take credit for this energy renaissance, politicians weren’t the ones who searched the shale formations for resources to extract. It was our private sector, and its responsible use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, that spearheaded the shale gas surge.

Our nation is blessed with the natural resources, the knowledge and the workforce to now take this energy renaissance to the next level. What we lack is the political leadership and courage to do so. T. Boone Pickens summed up the problem by observing that “a five-minute conversation on energy can’t happen in Washington, because within three minutes, you’ve run out of everything they know.” The private sector’s natural adversary has always been the market forces of supply and demand, so the last thing it needs is the artificial adversarial forces of political machinations.

Alaskans understand both of these frustrations. We know the challenges of wildly fluctuating oil prices. During the heyday of our trans-Alaska oil pipeline, oil prices were high, the boom was on and state government spent fast. Then the bottom fell out: $9 per barrel. Alaskans drove around with bumper stickers that read, “Dear God, give us another oil boom and we promise not to piss it away this time.” Alaskans also know the frustration of fighting against politicians in D.C. who constantly attempt to lock up huge swaths of our resource-rich Arctic land and water. Just last month, the Obama administration released a plan to potentially expand offshore drilling in Virginia and the Carolinas while placing millions of acres in Alaska off limits to future development. The president’s advisers would have you believe he’s being pragmatic, but to those in Houston and Anchorage, it looks like pretzel logic.

If the administration sincerely wanted to help our domestic energy sector, it would lift the four-decade-old ban on exporting crude oil. American producers shouldn’t have to beg permission of our own government to export our resources while the White House negotiates increased oil exports with Iran. For an administration not shy about acting on its own, it has no excuse to ignore this and not even consider lifting the ban. I challenge the watchdog press to ask why this is so.

The energy sector has been a star athlete, and Washington is scrambling on the sidelines, unaware of how to react. Let’s remind them that our government is supposed to work for us, not get in our way. Let’s tell them, “Just watch.” Watch how America’s oil patch fuels our nation’s economic engine. Watch how continued investment, innovation, exploration and production allow the U.S. to remain the global economic powerhouse. Watch the men and women of America’s new energy boomtowns in states like Texas show the bureaucrats in D.C. that no matter what roadblocks are placed in their way, they’ll find a way through and build a stronger America.

Besides the facts Governor Palin always brings to the table, the most interesting thing, to me, is where the appeared originally. The Texas Tribune is based in Austin, Texas and is as far left in it’s editorial content as can be. Kudos to the Tribune for hosting the Governor’s op-ed and allowing it to be seen by an audience that wouldn’t normally take the time to read anything Palin writes. Now let the further speculation regarding 2016 begin!