“Sarah Palin to Values Voters: Stand Up Stiffen Your Spine; Best is Yet to Come.”

By Isabel Matos

This is an excerpt from a great write-up by Breitbart News writer, Kevin Scholla, “Sarah Palin to Values Voters:  Stand Up and Stiffen Your Spine; the Best is Yet to Come” published on September 28, 2014:

“It truly is an honor to get to be here with all of you, and I just want to take some time here to thank you for your boldness, your courage, your ignoring of what the lamestream media does to you and a lot of us so often,” said Palin. “You’re strong and America needs you, needs your voice. So, to just get to kind of share some of that, to empower us all and inspire us all, to enlarge our ranks, I want to take the time to thank you.”

She said it was an honor to speak “to Americans who give more and volunteer more and serve more and do all those things behind the scenes that make America so exceptional.”

“You’re the Americans that the media loves to hate, but, you know, I think there – there’s a book out there that maybe some of them just haven’t really understood and in it, it says, consider it pure joy, my sisters and brothers, when you suffer trials of many kinds,” she said. “And considering the trials that the media dumps on you, this is the most joyful room in Washington.”

The speech closed with a glass half-full take delivered in plain speak. “Keep faith in the American Dream and share it, because the message resonates, and it has since that band of brothers dumped tea in Boston Harbor,” Palin said. “We can be optimistic, as they were. We can be optimistic about the future of our one nation because we’re under God. So stand up and stiffen your spine. The best is yet to come.”

He continues..

The audience clearly enjoyed Palin’s style. Joking about very serious issues to drive home vital points. That’s exactly what makes Palin Palin. In a day and age when we are inundated with teleprompter-reading academic milquetoasts, Palin’s brand of populism is a welcome relief.

As she always does in her speeches, Palin tipped her hat to our military. She also tied that into another disrespectful move by Obama. Recently a photo was taken of the president saluting one of our Marines while holding a Styrofoam cup. Mama grizzlies don’t like that. “Our honored military — when we talk about these national security issues, our honored military, on behalf of all Americans who do support you — and we honor you, we respect you — on behalf of all Americans who feel like I do, to your commander-in-chief, well, we then will salute him,” said Palin. “He still hasn’t learned how to salute our Marines.”

A core message in Palin’s comments was a call to stand up for morals and American beliefs. “It is time for the politics of values,” Palin said. “And I don’t want anybody to be afraid or ashamed of the core values that we are here celebrating.”After all of the hits Palin has taken over the years she still can knock lines like this out of the park with a huge smile on her face. It drives liberals nuts. It delighted those at the summit on Friday.

Palin called out liberals for their tactics of hate. She called those who question why she sometimes doesn’t wear a wedding ring “haters” and intolerant.” We all know media members and politicians engage in these gutter tactics. Few however have the guts to call them out so explicitly like Palin does….

He concludes..

Palin finished on a powerful note. “Don’t be ashamed to proclaim your values and to live them,” said Palin. “We are the movement that says yes — yes to time-tested truths, great virtues, great values. And approaching elections, we’re going to support great leaders that are hammering out and working so hard at that restoration agenda to break this country again from a failed liberal agenda — defeating crony capitalism and respecting and supporting, again, our armed forces so that we may have peace — peace through red, white and blue strength — and to value the sanctity of innocent life, where children are not seen as disposable and babies as punishment as our own president referred to — now, children are the best ingredients in this messed up world. Why in the world would you want to get rid of them? So we’ll support leaders who are not afraid of truth, and we’ll fight for it as ones worthy of a great nation.”

During the speech, Palin inadvertently referred to the White House address as 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue instead of 1600. Despite all of the important fact-filled components of her remarks the media blew that minor faux pas up, passing over her message of hope and traditional values to try to once again slam their favorite Alaskan target.

The response from Palin was perfect. She tweeted shortly after the speech “Doggone it! That explains why my Christmas cards keeps getting returned!”  To read the rest of article, go here.

That was what our conservative values warrior said in her Speech. The attempt by the media to exaggerate the importance of her mistake is appalling. Mark Levin slams national Media for Mocking Palin gaffe.  Think about all the back-to-back interviews, speeches, appearances at rallies, book signings, and other predictions of course which she has talked and written about. Think of all the great pieces on her timeline and articles she has written to wake voters up as to what is happening in Washington. Each one is only topped by the next.  Sarah Palin also has a new channel (not an inexpensive venture) so she can be available to her supporters. But Mum is the Media word on that, Impeaching the lawless President, and all the above.

Sarah Palin is tireless. We know hard she has worked. I was just heartsick how one little instant as opposed to the sheer volume of her active engagements and her courage in taking on the president and the GOPe.  It will be used to embarrass her in the future. (Fox had better not go there. Fox Nation did take Tony Lee’s article: Sarah Palin Goes Rogue on Pennsylvania Ave and published it on their site. I suspect the worst (for political expediency later on).

It is those who are unworthy who are glued to the set, FB or near her home just waiting to see her slip (even fall).  I felt badly because she has worked so hard and because they will hang to something as irrelevant as this to spread a depiction the does do damage.  The fact is, she has succeeded at proving the media wrong, even under all the scrutiny she has been under, time and again. And she handled this latest beautifully. It’s time to move on. Again.

One should never judge a person by how they fall, but by how they pick themselves up from the fall.  She’s proven to be a leader for that alone. It takes character to do what she does every day.  She is real. People love that. Just to make the point, Gov. Palin asks NOT to have teleprompters at her speeches.

No teleprompters!  Just think how anyone else would fare without them? It shows her confidence as a competent, impressive and compelling speaker.

So where are the potential 2016 candidates. Are they calling attention to this country’s issues or Obama? Where IS Jeb Bush? He does not chime in on much.  He doesn’t take media hits for taking risks by going against Obama like Sarah does.  So he is the perfect candidate? For the media, yes. To fail.  What to do know about Jeb Bush? He is for acts of love, but what else? What does he spend all his time doing.. Fundraising? Plotting? Can we know?!

Well, here’s an update (9/29/2014) on what he plans to run on: Common Core and Acts of Love.  You heard me. That’s it, voters. Bring it, Jeb!

 

Dedicated to Bush “Standing in the Shadows of Love” by the Four Tops

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If You’re Taking Flak, You’re Over the Target

by Whitney Pitcher

A lot has already been written about the John Avlon piece at the Daily Beast that casts Governor Palin as some kind of hypocritical charlatan who exploits donors to her PAC. I don’t want to re-hash what has already been said too much.  Please just read here, here, and here.

I do want to make a few points though. Please excuse this atypical format. I’m writing after a long work day combined with overindulgence in caffeine. If it’s not too violence inciting, I just want to make a few bullet points. I’m italicizing my sarcasm to avoid confusion:

* John Avlon is the co-founder of No Labels, an organization that is supposedly centrist, but stands for nothing in particular. This No Labels organization is classified as a 501c4, which is not required to itemize their disbursements nor reveal their donors. While Avlon is decrying SarahPAC’s FEC report, he himself doesn’t even have to report anything specific. No labels, no transparency. (By the way, Avlon’s wife is Margaret Hoover, former staffer in the Bush White House and in Bush’s 2004 campaign, meaning she worked with the likes of Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace).

* Avlon also tries to conflate a PAC with a political campaign. When Governor Palin called for consultants to be fired and pollsters to be furloughed, she was referring to the types of overweight consultant schmucks who told her what to eat, micromanaged her every move, and suggested to her running mate that suspending his campaign was a good idea in 2008.  If you want to look at the kind of “consultants” Governor Palin hired, consider the following descriptions  The speechwriter she hired, that Avalon snarkily blasted, is as grassroots as you can get, yet could run circles around Peggy “Thousand Points of Spite” Noonan. This speech writer is a from far outside the beltway and started as #justablogger who started a site you may have heard of with a $10 domain name purchase. Other “consultants” the Governor hired include advance people. You know the people who ensure that all the logistics are worked out when she stumps for candidates. Yes, those are the real entrenched guys who corrupt the political process that the Governor called out–the guys who make sure that she gets from the airport to the stump, make sure her notes are on the podium, and usher the Governor through rope lines, among a lot of other tasks. But wait, weren’t we told earlier this week that the Governor never talks to the grassroots? Additionally, there are those who do things like assist with clerical and administrative things like websites and mailing lists, and of course, a treasurer. But, no, Palin should not pay a treasurer to make sure she’s in compliance with the oh-so-simple FEC regulations! She should just use TurboTax, just like that smart guy who used to be a Cabinet secretary. 

*Avlon also mentions that Governor Palin spent a chunk of change on postage for direct mailings. What’s that? A political figure sends out direct mailers. That never happens! It’s amazing that Governor Palin employed a government agency like the post office as a “consultant”! Shouldn’t the Left be praising the Governor for being so generous to an agency that is essentially bankrupt? Or are they saying that Governor Palin should hand deliver her mailings by snowmachine? This piece at RedState, written by a fellow Illinois conservative, goes into more details on specifics. Yes, I’m recommending a piece at RedState. They’re few and far between, but there are some good ones.

*Avlon also whines about the return on investment of Palin’s endorsements and the amount of overhead, but he fails to mention the limits that PACs have on giving. He’d rather take advantage of the fact that casual readers won’t know the FEC caps on giving. The maximum amount a PAC can give is $5,000 per election (general and primary are counted separately). Even if the Governor devoted one-third of her spending to candidates, she would have to give the maximum to both the primary and general elections to over 150 candidates, but even then I suppose she would be criticized for hiring any staff and not supporting 450 candidates.  She should have endorsed every GOP Congressional candidate! However, Palin is a force multiplier (h/t RefudiateGOPe). When Governor Palin gives an endorsement, the phone rings off the hook  for those candidates. Perhaps we should just ask Senator Dewhurst how effective Governor Palin’s endorsement? No? 

* A final point. Social media is not the absolute barometer of what we loosely call the “conservative movement”, but it is a barometer. People who decried this news are the same ones who tongue lashed conservatives who were critical of Romney in 2012. They certainly didn’t have a problem when news came out weeks before the 2012 general election that Governor Romney’s campaign invested over a hundred million dollars in consulting firms owned by his senior staffers and he lost! No circular firing squads, they say! Unless they’re the ones who get to hold the gun. This is par for the course in the “conservative movement” though. When Governor Palin worked her butt off to try to get McCain elected generating more excitement in the GOP than had been there in over 25 years, she ultimately got blamed for the loss. When Governor Walker was getting hit with a recall, the GOP and “conservative movement” was eager to help, but when Governor Palin got inundated with dozens of frivolous ethics complaints, crickets. When Governor Palin was cast as accomplice to murder in Tucson, there were conservative bloggers and some media personality who defended her, yet again, overwhelming crickets from her own party machinery. However, when Ann Romney was told “she never worked a day in her life”, you couldn’t get Mr.overgrown college Republican and the RNC to calm down in demanding an apology.  Today, you certainly didn’t hear outrage when Marco Golden Boy spent over 90K of his PAC donors’ money on political consultants in just the month of February alone, did you?

I’m tired of this. Tired of the lies. Tired of the finger pointing and intellectual dishonesty. Tired of the attacks. However, as the World War II saying goes, “if you’re taking flak, you’re over the target”, which is good if you’re loaded for bear:

Exclusive: The Washington Post Receives Coveted Fishwrapping Contract with Seattle’s Pike’s Place

by Whitney Pitcher

Washington D.C.–The Washington Post announced in a press conference today that they  received a coveted contract with Seattle’s famous fish market, Pike’s Place, to become the exclusive provider of fish wrap for the market.  

The Post’s Kevin Merida, who was just named managing editor earlier this month, said, “this is a step in an exciting and bold direction for the Post. We want the Washington Post to reach not just to the District of Columbia, but also to Washington state as well. We do share the same name, and we want our excellent news coverage and in depth analysis to reach from the Potomac River to Puget Sound”. 

A press release from Pike’s Place noted that the market was thrilled with the partnership: “We are known for having fun at Pike’s Place, and we think that this new relationship will added need depth and seriousness to our efforts to bring fresh fish to Seattle and its tourists.” The release also noted, ” we are glad that the Post takes diversity so seriously as to expand their outreach to new species”.  

The Sierra Club also was pleased to hear of the contract. Their executive director, Michael Brune, noted that the Washington Post prints their newspaper on post consumer recycled paper and uses soy based ink. Brune also stated, ” Pike’s Place previously used non-recycled fish wrap. This is a step in right direction to make sure that our nation’s precious trees are being preserved”. 

The contract begins in March of 2013. The Washington Post beat out the New York Times and Politico’s print edition for the contract. Newsweek had to withdraw their proposal after recently suspending their print edition. 

The above passage is quite obviously satirical. However, when a “journalist” is operating with a biased agenda, satire appears like legitimate news. Earlier today, Suzi Parker of the Washington Post based and entire post around a “story” at a satirical website that claimed Governor Sarah Palin had signed on with Al-Jazeera to reach out to religious people. The article’s overarching point was that Governor Palin was supposedly trying desperately to hang on to relevancy, yet if she were truly irrelevant, why would the media have to grasp at straws to find something to pin on Palin?

For the Washington Post, this is par for the course. Since Palin burst on to the scene in 2008, the Washington Post has aimed to smear the Governor at every turn. During the 2008 election, then blogger Dave Wiegel, who covered conservative politics at the site, operated an email list among journalists to coordinate stories. Later, in 2010, it was revealed that these email exchanges included discussion on how to cover speculation that Governor Palin was not the mother of her son, Trig. Weigel left the Washington Post shortly after the news of this email list hit only to be replaced by “conservative” Jennifer Rubin. Rubin was complementary of Palin when she wrote at Commentary, but within eight days of signing on at the Washington Post, she began to slam Palin. As I wrote nearly two years ago:

Last November, the Washington Post hired Jennifer Rubin to replace journolister, Dave Weigel, as their “conservative” blogger. Yes, those quotation marks are needed. Many, including Newsbusters, saw this hire as a step in the right direction for the Washington Post, as Rubin replaced the unscrupulous Weigel and had a great tenure writing for the neoconservative outlet Commentary.In fact, prior to her departure from Commentary, Rubin wrote at least four lengthy pieces supporting and defending Governor Palin. Rubin wrote articles supporting Governor Palin’s non-elitism, highlighting her as a strong Tea Party voice, offering high praise for Governor Palin’s political instincts, and defending Governor Palin against those who criticized her Restoring Honor rally speech.

What a difference a new employment contract makes! Rubin was announced as a new conservative commentator for the Washington Post on November 23, 2010 writing a blog called “Right Turn” and eight days later, wrote her first anti Palin screed arguing that Governor Palin was not a front runner for the GOP presidential nomination and poo pooing Governor Palin’s use of the term “death panel”–a phrase that Rubin was supportive of in her articles at Commentary. 

This kind of anti-conservative coverage has continued, as Rubin bashed Senator DeMint when he resigned from the Senate and knocked Senator Ted Cruz’s early days in Washington D.C.

Those who don’t wear the conservative moniker,and some who even claim to be objective have engaged in this type of behavior as well. When Governor Palin’s emails were released in the Summer of 2010, the Post’s “journalists”, obviously averse to the idea of performing due diligence and actual research, crowd sourced the emails, asking readers to find juicy tidbits about Palin. During the 2012 election, shortly after writing a piece on how sexist it was that the media focused on Michelle Obama’s clothes, one Washington Post “She the People” blogger spent most of a post criticizing what Governor Palin wore at a rally for Missouri Senatorial candidate Sarah Steelman.

Just recently, Chris Cillizza, who has been less-than-objective to Governor Palin in the past wrote a lengthy post declaring Palin irrelevant following her decision not to renew her contract with FoxNews. Just a few short weeks later, Cillizza invoked Palin’s name to take a shot at both Palin and the Pope when the Pope announced his resignation. While Palin is still supposedly irrelevant in his eyes, she was still relevant enough to mock.

To be sure, the Washington Post is known to smear and misrepresent many conservatives, but it is especially   apparent and pointed when it comes to Governor Palin. When Palin gave her acceptance speech at the RNC  in September 2008, she looked right into the camera and noted that she wasn’t aiming to seek the media’s approval; she was aiming to serve the people of the country. That is what she has done. She served Alaska as governor leading to multiple credit upgrades, ethics reform, and strong budgets for the state. She has supported conservative candidates, rallied the Tea Party faithful, helped in tornado relief in Alabama, visited Haiti after a devastating earthquake, flew thousands of miles to attend the memorial service of a fallen hero on her birthday. Palin often notes that only dead fish go with the flow. Palin is no dead fish, but the media who continue to claim her irrelevance may find their writing only serve to wrap actual dead fish, proving that real irrelevancy lies with the legacy media.

President Obama’s Immigration Speech Cost Taxpayers $527 per Word

by Whitney Pitcher

Yesterday, a study from the publicly funded University of Minnesota was released noting that Governor Sarah Palin was paid $15.85 per word during her time as a FoxNews contributor. Despite all of Governor Palin’s purported irrelevancy, this study generated stories at USA Today, the Washington Post, The New York Times, Yahoo! News, and Politico, among numerous other outlets.

Meanwhile, just today, President Obama flew from Washington D.C. to Las Vegas to give a speech on immigration reform. Per the Weekly Standard, his trip cost taxpayers a $1.6 million or $182,000 per hour of flight on Air Force One. According to the transcript at the Chicago Sun Times, President Obama’s immigration speech was 3,079 words and applause instances, meaning that President Obama’s speech cost the taxpayers just under $520 per word and applause. Including the instances of applause is being generous to the President, as if those weren’t included, his speech would have cost taxpayers $527 per word. The transcript also notes that President Obama’s speech lasted 25 minutes. Using 2012 spending levels as a reference, the federal government spent $170 million during the President’s speech, at a rate of roughly $6.8 million per minute.

Those numbers won’t be found outside of the conservative blogosphere, however. The legacy media are more concerned with how much money a woman, who currently does hold publicly office, made for appearing a privately owned television station than they are with how much money the President’s junkets and astronomical spending are costing the taxpayers.

Sarah Palin Talks to Megyn Kelly About Romney/Ryan Must Expect Next

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin talks to Megyn Kelly:

Video courtsey SarahNet

University of Wisconsin Just NOW Realizes Media was Biased Against Sarah Palin in the Tank for Obama in 2008

By Gary P Jackson

It’s not like we needed a university study to point this out to us. Anyone who was paying any attention at all knows there was an incredible media bias against Sarah Palin, not only in 2008, but beyond. The big story here isn’t the study results, but why it took this bunch so long to figure it out!

The study is helpful though, and as it’s authors point out, this sort of media bias makes it impossible for our system of government to work. It makes it impossible to produce a truly representative government.

We all remember Katie Couric’s interview with Sarah. There was over 9 hours worth of taped interview that was cut and sliced together to paint Governor Palin in a negative light.

By contrast, Couric interviewed Joe Biden around the same time, and looked lovingly into his eyes, like a school girl in heat, as he spun this yarn:

Do we even have to go through and point out how idiotic Biden’s statement is?

OK, I will.

First off, and this is a biggie, there was no television in 1929. Oh sure, there were scientists and inventors playing with the idea, but none were commercially available. In fact, the first commercial TV station wasn’t granted a license by the FCC until 1941. FDR was indeed the first president to appear on TV. That was in 1939, but it was merely a closed circuit demonstration.

Furthermore, Roosevelt wasn’t president in 1929. Herbert Hoover was. Roosevelt didn’t become president until March of 1933. In 1929 Roosevelt was governor of New York. Even if there WAS TV in 1929, why would the governor of New York take to it and “comfort the American people” and why would the American people have cared if he did?

Notice that Couric never challenges Biden on this BS in any way whatsoever.

Now we know she’s not very bright, but she’s actually in the TV business. You’d think she’d know it’s history. The only other answer is she was covering for Biden’s absolutely moronic tale. So she’s either in the tank for Obama, incredibly stupid herself, or maybe a bit of both.

The “Perky One” expresses her true feelings about America and the American people

Then you had that jackass Charlie Gibson who spent two days interviewing [or should I say interrogating] Governor Palin, all the while staring down his nose at her.

The most ridiculous line of questioning centered around the so-called “Bush Doctrine.” Gibson and the dishonest media used that ridiculous question to paint Governor Palin as “dumb” on foreign policy because she asked Charlie what the hell he was talking about.

At the time, Charles Krauthammer wrote a lengthy piece noting that it wasn’t Sarah who was dumb, it was Gibson and the media. After all, it was Krauthammer that came up with the “Bush Doctrine” in the first place. It’s worth a read.

Just so you know, there is a well defined “Palin Doctrine” on foreign policy. And she laid it out herself.

This is typical of the crap we saw in 2008:

The amount of lies told about Sarah Palin, and her family, could fill a book. Everything from accusing her of banning books while she was Mayor of Wasilla [even though most of the books that she had supposedly banned weren’t even written at the time] to claiming Trig wasn’t really her son. The insanity never stopped.

From the University study:

The 2008 presidential race was one of the most watched, discussed and analyzed campaigns in U.S. history, and when it came to the vice presidential candidates, voters heard a great deal about Sarah Palin.

Much more, in fact, than they heard about her opponent, Joe Biden.

News coverage of Palin, then the Republican governor of Alaska, not only significantly outweighed that received by Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, was markedly different in substance and across media, according to a new study of media coverage of the vice presidential candidates.

Coverage of Palin was more likely to include references to her family, physical appearance and social issues, particularly in newspapers and by political blogs, while coverage of Biden dealt more with foreign policy and the economy.

“Each of these differences could have had important influences on public opinion formation and the public’s voting decisions in this particular race,” write Leticia Bode, a former graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is now an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and Valerie M. Hennings, an assistant professor at Iowa State University, in the study published in the journal Politics & Policy. She conducted the research while at UW-Madison.

“Without an examination of vice presidential contests, our understanding of the intersection of political communication and the experience of women as political candidates is incomplete,” Bode and Hennings write. “If gender stereotypes in media coverage have the ability to negatively affect women candidates, this calls into question the American political system’s ability to produce elected representatives in a fair and democratic manner.”

Bode and Hennings tested three theories: The amount of coverage Palin received was greater than Biden; gender stereotypes would be reflected in the substance of coverage and emerge on such issues as family, electability, policy issues and physical appearance; and the amount and substance of coverage Palin and Biden received would differ across media.

They performed a content analysis that included coverage from Aug. 16 to Nov. 11, 2008, the period just before the Democratic National Convention to the week after the general election. News coverage mentioning the candidates was gleaned from the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today; transcripts from the three major broadcast networks’ evening broadcasts, as well as the equivalent periods on CNN and Fox News; and entries on nearly 400 political blogs.

The research showed that the vice presidential race in 2008 was in itself unique because of the attention it received. Discussion about McCain selecting Palin accounted for 7 percent of all television election coverage of the 2008 campaign, while the debate between Palin and Biden was the most-watched vice presidential debate in U.S. history, attracting nearly 70 million viewers.

In addition, the authors said, the race was especially novel because of Palin’s selection as the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket.

The high level of interest in her candidacy was reflected in the volume of coverage that went her way. The authors found that the average number of stories a day in overall coverage was 36 for Palin, compared with 14.9 for Biden. On television, Palin was the subject of 8.8 stories a day compared with 4.6 for Biden; in newspapers, it was 15 compared with 8.2 stories a day, and on political blogs, 14.2 compared with 3.2 stories a day.

In that coverage, the authors found evidence of gender stereotypes, with stories mentioning her family, physical appearance and positions on social issues; this trend was more pronounced on television. However, on issues that might be considered “women’s issues,” such as health care or education, Biden received more coverage.

“Each of these differences could have had important influences on public opinion formation and the public’s voting decisions in this particular race,” the authors write. “If future research finds similar differences in coverage in other races, the implications could significantly affect the election process, particularly for female candidates.“

I think it’s safe to say the University of Wisconsin has the Capt Louis Renault Award locked down for 2012.

Call to Action–Boots on the Ground and Fingers on the Keyboard

by Whitney Pitcher

In Governor Palin’s most recent eviscerating Facebook post, she said, “ [r]eal hope comes from realizing how God has blessed our exceptional nation, and then doing something about it”. What an optimistic challenge to us! After we have been subject to that “hopey changey stuff” for the past two and a half years, it’s time to continue to recognize where our real hope comes from—God and the extraordinary way He has blessed this nation. You may be thinking, “what can I do, as an ordinary barbarian or unruly peasant, to make a difference?”  The revolution that founded this nation was fought by men and women who had different talents and different ways of contributing to the movement.  Thomas Jefferson was not a great orator, but he could put quill to paper to write one of the greatest documents known to man—the Declaration of Independence.  During the War for Independence, women such as Molly Pitcher (one of my personal favorites), carried water to soldiers in the Battle of Monmouth and even reportedly took control of one of the cannons when her husband fell victim to heat stroke. Benjamin Franklin was 81 during the Constitutional Convention and had to be carried in a chair to the convention due to his poor health and advanced age, but he contributed mightily to the blueprint of our nation’s government.  Suffice it to say, people with various talents and flaws and in different stations in life contributed to the revolutionary founding of our country. What can that say for our efforts to assist in the fundamental restoration of our nation?

Over recent months and recent weeks we have discussed many ways to assist in efforts to support Governor Palin and her message. One key way that you can do this is to join Organize4Palin. On national, state, and local levels, Organize4Palin is acting as a great “tundraroots” way to support Governor Palin. Please do sign up, and see how you can best contribute to efforts nationally and within your state. As CharterOakie mentioned at C4P yesterday, you can contribute financially  to efforts in the nation’s earliest primary state of Iowa where there are volunteers working tireless  hours and sacrificing much to lay groundwork for a potential Palin campaign for the Presidency. As Organize4Palin volunteers have spearheaded, you can join in Voluteering4Palin’s efforts to bring people to see “The Undefeated”—a movie event that can both serve to set the record straight on Governor Palin and to empower the grassroots conservative movement. As Nicole at C4P recently mentioned, you can write letters to your local paper to encourage people to see “The Undefeated”.

The call to be boots on the ground extends further though. In addition to being boots on the ground, we can be fingers at a keyboard. Not too long ago, Tammy Bruce declared that Palin supporters should ensure that there should be no more free shots on Governor Palin, meaning if the media or another politician misrepresents or attacks the Governor, we should call them out and respond. Most days with the media it seems that we’re living in PeeWee’s Playhouse and “Sarah Palin” are the perpetual secret words of the day. If you are unfamiliar with the reference see here. Following Governor Palin’s recent Newsweek article and Facebook post, stories ranged from her challenge to Speaker Boehner to not cave on debt ceiling talks to how the outfit she wore on the cover of Newsweek supposedly made her unpresidential to how a photo in the Newsweek article taken in a field of flowers was a supposed signal to supporters that she was not running for President.  Many of us visit Palin friendly blogs and comment there, but as some are doing already, we have the opportunity to visit main stream media sites and comment there. Let us change the dialogue and re-direct the narrative. Many open minded individuals visit news sites in search of just that—the news. They may not be the ones who comment on such stories, but they may read the comments. Well reasoned and supported comments may change the mind of the skeptics and plant a seed in the open minded. If an article misrepresents her record, correct them. If an article correctly states her position, highlight her boldness and consistency. If an article launches an unsubstantiated attack, call them out. There are several resources you can reference to arm yourselves with the facts. Organize4Palin has a page that outlines her stance on the issues and her record on many of these issues.  US4Palin has an extensive collection of links regarding her accomplishments as Governor and throughout her political career. Connecticut for Sarah Palin has categorized her Facebook posts by policy topic.  Commenting on articles often require a innocuous registration process, so jump in and get the word. Visit the sites of the general mainstream media news channels, the online news sites, political sites, the Republican and conservative sites. ABC,  FoxNews, CNN, The Hill, the National Review, the Weekly Standard—whatever it may be.  We have the greatest example of setting the media straight and get the truth out right in front of us—Governor Palin herself.

Whether your  talents, funds, or time allows you to get involved with Organize4Palin, assist in encouraging people to see “The Undefeated” , donating money to these efforts, commenting on articles online, or doing all of above, we have the opportunity to contribute to the fundamental restoration of the country. The future of this country lies not in the Establishment, but in the grassroots—boots on the ground, fingers on the keyboard.

Jeff Goldstein: Losing More Slowly is Now Nearing Lost

By Stacy Drake:

Jeff Goldstein recently wrote a piece regarding the release of Governor Palin’s emails, highlighting the now famous message she sent to friends and family just a few days before Trig Paxson Van Palin was born. Goldstein then shares his views of the current media culture that is so damaging to our nation, in reaction to said message. He writes (Warning: Language):

It is profoundly saddening to me to reflect on what the media — and many on our own side — have tried to do to this woman, who clearly embodies the very principles conservatives and classical liberals claim to embrace and fight for, and who is clearly (in my mind) qualified to lead this country back from the brink of socialist hell, so comfortable and committed is she to constitutional authority, and so battle-tested is she after having had to endure a 3-year pop-cultural attempt to destroy her and her family.

I hope in their most private moments, Kathy Griffin or Andrew Sullivan or Janeane Garafalo or Jen Rubin — and a host of others I can name — feel wash over them the sudden rush of shame and embarrassment they so richly deserve.

And I hope it f***ing burns.

The truth is, we have allowed a media culture to form in this country that is rotten to its core. It is petty, spiteful, vindictive, triumphalist, arrogant, profoundly biased, and undoubtedly left-leaning. We have given this media the power to shape our narratives, inform our decisions, and — because there are few if any consequences for doing so — create and destroy individuals with the impunity of a hive minded mob embarking on a wilding.

Helping the media along in such a project — as many “conservatives” do, by accepting as a matter of nature, unchangeable as a hurricane, the premises the media advances — is the kind of intellectual dereliction that has brought us to this point in our nation’s history, where 20% or less of the population controls the reins of political power, as well as the vast majority of our cultural institutions, from the media and the academy, to putative moral authority to champion the environment, the working man, the poor.

Losing more slowly is now nearing lost. And yet still we’re hearing from some on “our” side that we need to find an “electable” candidate that will appeal to “moderates” — someone who doesn’t represent the kind of “extremism” that, in an Orwellian turn, has become synonymous with the very legal conservatism and classical liberalism around which this country was founded, and which provided the template for the most free and prosperous country the world has ever known, with the most free and prosperous people history has ever produced.

I noted this before, but let me note it again: the antidote to Carter was not Howard Baker or George HW Bush. We’re at the brink. And if we can’t articulate the enormous CHASM that separates classical liberal and legal conservative principles from those on witness by the democratic socialists in power — who are actively working to increase government’s size and the people’s dependence on it, intentionally sabotaging energy production and private sector job growth while putting in place the bureaucratic structure to control us through our healthcare decisions and through regulations on the very exhalation that comes from our bodies, or the dust we kick up when we walk — we have lost our country anyway, and it’s damn certain that Mitt Romney and his carbon emission-sensitivity or his ethanol panders isn’t going to do dick structurally to help us get it back. At best he’s a kind of cultural procrastination. And at worst, he comes (courtesy of the press — and like George Bush did in his two terms) to count as the benchmark of right-wing “extremism,” against which the next leftist candidate positions himself.

The GOP is content being the more frugal, more incremental, of the two big government ruling parties.

I’m not content with that as a choice.

And so I fight on.

I’m with him 100% in that… You can read the entire piece here.

Goldstein hits the nail on the head when writing about the influence the DC establishment media class has on the direction of the country. He is especially poignant when discussing the “conservative” side of that coin, and their role in picking the types of candidates we put up against big government leaders on the left. What good does it do us to give Americans a choice between the type of overbearing Statists in the Obama administration, and someone like Mitt Romney, who obviously believes that the solutions to this nations ills can be found with federal intervention? None!

As Goldstein states, politicians like Romney are a type of “cultural procrastination.” While they don’t force us into a system of more government-less freedom, at quite the pace of a Barack Obama, the end result is the same. And if you look at the current state of the economy, our energy situation, and the size of the federal government, you quickly realize that we are on a path that is unsustainable. We do not have time for these big spenders, their cronies, or their expensive hair-brained “solutions,” which more times than not come at the price of our liberties.

I have to be honest with you… It absolutely drives me nuts to watch conservatives fall for media narratives. Don’t we of all people, know better? We cannot trust the media, and that goes for FOX News as well as many “conservative” publications. None of them are worthy of our trust. We have to weigh everything we hear and read. We have to consider the source, and stop giving these tin-can pundits the power to force real reformers out of the debate. There is a reason that people like Governor Palin are shunned by them. She would never accept their big state compromises, and she would never continue us down this path. The status quo has become dangerous, and the only solution is to ignore those who preach it.

Governor Palin Gives the Media a Lesson on Paul Revere’s Midnight Rides

by Whitney Pitcher

The mark of any successful political venture by Governor Palin often results a misrepresentation of her words that only leaves the media with egg on their faces. Governor Palin’s bus tour has been successful in allowing her to highlight the greatness of the history of America, meet everyday Americans and fellow politicians, and share her policy stances on everything from fishing regulations in New Hampshire to ethanol subsidies to the debt ceiling. Such successes leaves the media grasping at proverbial bendy straws. Today’s news is no different. Poised with the opportunity to more appropriately address political stories essentially pre-written for them, such as abysmal jobs numbers under the Obama administration or the newest report that the federal government lends financial aid to the very same countries from whom they borrow , the media have chosen to focus more on their own historical ignorance by creating a story out of a non-story and  misportraying Governor Palin’s comments on Paul Revere yesterday:

“He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”

Those quibbling with Governor Palin’s statements have their history incomplete. During Paul Revere’s ride he was stopped by British soldiers, which Revere recounts in a 1789 letter maintained by the Massachusetts Historical Society ,in his original language (emphasis mine):

I observed a Wood at a Small distance, & made for that. When I got there, out Started Six officers, on Horse back,and orderd me to dismount;-one of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from,& what my Name Was? I told him. it was Revere, he asked if it was Paul? I told him yes He asked me if  I was an express? I answered in the afirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston? I told him; and  aded, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River, and that There would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up. He imediately rode towards those who stoppd us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop; one of them, whom I afterwards found to be Major Mitchel, of the 5th Regiment, Clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name, & told me he was going to ask me some questions, & if I did not give him true answers, he would blow my brains out. He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then orderd me to mount my Horse, after searching me for arms.He then orderd them to advance, & to lead me in front. When we got to the Road, they
turned down towards Lexington. When we had got about one Mile, the Major Rode up to the officer that was leading me, & told him to give me to the Sergeant. As soon as he took me, the Major orderd him, if I attempted to run, or any body insulted them, to blow my brains out. We rode till we got near Lexington Meeting-house, when the Militia fired a Voley of Guns, which appeared to alarm them very much.

Upon being stopped, did Revere, in essence, warn the British soldiers of the colonists’ plans? Yes. The strawmen built by the media seems to almost indicate that Revere rode through the streets warning the British soldiers.  In actuality, simply put, Paul Revere told Regulars  of the colonists’ plans during his attempt to warn the colonists of the Regulars’ approach (Revere actually said, “the Regulars are coming!”. The colonist still viewed themselves as British subjects at the time and would not have said, “the British are coming”.)

Additionally, as the Paul Revere Heritage Project notes, Revere had reason for concern that the colonists’ arms would be taken away as they questioned the location of the militia’s ammunition (emphasis mine):

The Redcoats had set temporary roadblocks as a security measure and on their way to Concord they encountered British soldiers. Prescott managed to escape; Revere was captured and Dawes tried to run away but was arrested shortly thereafter. The British held Revere and interrogated him with a pistol on his chest. He was asked about the plans of the militia and where they kept their ammunition. When asked where the Patriots were hiding he told them the truth and replied that they had 500 militiamen in Concord protecting them and 1500 coming. As they rode towards Concord he was told that if he tried to escape he would be shot.

There were no claims by Governor Palin that Paul Revere’s ride had anything to do with the 2nd Amendment as some spuriously claim. She simply indicated the immediate concern of Revere and the colonists. It appears that the media once again fail to grasp the history of our Founding again. You may recall that the media were in an uproar when Governor Palin encouraged Tea Partiers to party like it’s 1773, and the media claimed she didn’t know her Revolutionary War  history. Oops. Governor Palin stated that this “One Nation” bus tour would, in part, draw attention to America’s founding and history. It looks like she is doing just that.

H/T Ian, Karen Allen, PalinSupporter

The Legal Insurrection has more:

  Aaron Worthing at Patterico has a round-up of all the hyperventilated left-blogospheric reaction, including by Think Progress, which writes:

It’s hard to imagine why Revere would warn the British of anything, or why he’d do it with bells and gun shots.This account in “Paul Revere’s Ride” by David Hackett Fischer (Oxford University Press 1994), may be of interest to Think Progress and all the others laughing because they purport to be so much better informed than Palin:

“A townsman remembered that ‘repeated gunshots, the beating of drums and the ringing of bells filled the air.’…. Along the North Shore of Massachusetts, church bells began to toll and the heavy beat of drums could be heard for many miles in the night air.”

It’s available on Google Books.

The AP’s Sins of Omission and Commission on Bailey’s “Tell-All” Book on Governor Palin

by Whitney Pitcher

A chapter in one of my graduate school textbooks opened with a quote from Aaron Levenstein that says, “[s]tatistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ” Research involving statistics and journalism are supposed to be similar. Both are supposed to collect the data and report objectively on those data. Neither are supposed to conceal facts or results that run counter to their hypotheses or their own personal opinions. However, it seems that Associated Press reporter Becky Bohrer has neglected the journalistic tenet of objectivity in her piece on Frank Bailey’s “tell all” book about Governor Palin. Her piece is rife with omissions. This is nothing new for Bohrer. As Stacy wrote earlier this month, Boehrer showed glaring omissions in an AP story about the most recent frivolous suit against Governor Palin by serial lawsuit filer, Chip Thoma. In this most recent piece, Bohrer is guilty of both omission and commission.

The first glaring omission from Bohrer in this piece is in that she does not even once mention Frank Bailey’s ethical lapses. One of the frivolous ethics complaints filed against Governor Palin and her staff exonerated her, but required Bailey to take ethics training. Comments made by SarahPAC staff corroborate with this:

“Frank Bailey was the only member of the Palin administration to be found to have acted unethically – twice,” Crawford said. “He is currently under investigation again by the state attorney general. Then, as the administrator of certain email accounts, he acted unethically by appropriating account information he was entrusted to protect.”

This would seem a pertinent detail, but is omitted by Bohrer. This omission allows readers unfamiliar with Bailey’s unethical behavior to assume that because Bailey once worked for the Governor, he may seem a credible source. His ethical lapse tells a different story, however.

Additionally,while Bohrer does discuss the attorney general’s investigation of Bailey’s use of emails, she is not entirely forthcoming:

The Alaska attorney general’s office has said it’s investigating Bailey’s use of the emails. Executive ethics laws bar former public officials from using information acquired during their work for personal gain if the information hasn’t been publicly disseminated.

This is not an investigatory effort started by the attorney general’s office on their own accord. This is effort is due to the filing of a complaint by serial ethics complaint filer, Andree McLeod. McLeod is no friend of Governor Palin and, in fact, is responsible for many of the frivolous ethics complaints filed against Palin in the last few years, yet Bailey’s use of emails against Governor Palin for his own gain have spawned complaint from McLeod. If another person who seems to have an agenda against Governor Palin is even questioning the ethics of Bailey in writing this book. would that not give people pause with regards to Bailey’s credibility? Would not the complete facts behind the attorney general’s investigation be pertinent to the story?

Thirdly, Bohrer neglects to identify Bailey’s co-authors in his book. She writes:

In February, the book project also made headlines when a draft manuscript was leaked. An attorney for Bailey and his co-writers accused author Joe McGinniss, who has his own Palin book coming out this year. McGinniss’ attorney acknowledged McGinniss selectively shared the manuscript, but said the manuscript included no request for confidentiality.

Who might those unnamed co-authors be? None other than Jeanne Devon and Ken Morris–bloggers from the anti-Palin blog Mudflats. Even the biased Politico was honest enough to report the names of the co-authors. Again, does not the mention of co-authors further reveal the potential intentions and credibility of Bailey’s book? Bohrer quotes Bailey as saying that he has nothing against Governor Palin, but wouldn’t his selection of such individuals as co-authors tell a different story? However, Boehrer does not bother her readers with such details.

In addition to these glaring omissions, Bohrer tops off her piece by building a strawman argument regarding Bailey’s suggestion of unethical behavior by Governor Palin and the Republican Governors Association in the production of an ad. Boehrer writes:

At that time, there was a one-year statute of limitations on complaints, and the Alaska Public Offices Commission did not receive any complaints related to Palin and the association during that period. However, the RGA was fined – unrelated to Palin – for late reporting, according to the commission’s executive director, Paul Dauphinais.

Bohrer is right to say that no complaints were filed regarding the RGA and Governor Palin. Ian has written about this false claim already. However, why would Boehrer mention a missed deadline by the RGA unrelated to Governor Palin unless she was trying to implicate Governor Palin in some kind of wrongdoing? It is a false argument with no reason for inclusion except to misrepresent Governor Palin.

Bohrer’s piece shows several sins of omission. What the media choose to report is important, but what they omit is equally vital. Journalists’ sins of commissions and omissions in attempts to reveal a “scathing” story about Governor Palin only leave their bias exposed.