The Sole Beacon

-from Liberty's Lamp



I was attending a success training class for people learning how to build a business in the 1990's when the speaker told us "be prepared for success" and that "success is a language." The speaker also said "be a student of success." For those who have studied success, Tammy Bruce's interview with Sarah Palin yesterday was one to add to the curriculum. Palin's message was powerful. If success is a language, Sarah Palin is fluent in that language. If everyone understood the power of her message and united behind it, we could build a movement that would get this country out of its downturn and back to greatness again; but we can't be scared.

Before I had the recording, here are some notes I took:

-People smart enough to gather their own information when the lame stream media doesn't do its job.
-United effort for what we need to do for our country.
-Always be prepared for success.
-She knows we have her back. It's not about her, it's about the message.

One thing I learned in these seminars is becoming successful is simple, but it's not easy. And if Sarah Palin's story is any indication of that, then we're in for a long hard ride if we want to take our country back. But we can do it. We have to do it. And the key component to doing it really is simple. It simply requires courage and unity.

Achieving great things or fighting existentially threatening enemies is not work for the weary, weak or wussified. It took great sacrifice and hard work to win the Revolutionary War, end slavery in America, defeat Nazi Germany and end the Soviet stronghold over Europe. Taking back that last great bastion of freedom is not for the guy who sat on the couch beforehand saying "ah this will never work" or "George Washington what? Beat the King of England in a war? No way."

Abraham Lincoln was mocked before he won the presidency. They called him a loser. There wasn't a political race he couldn't finish better than 2nd place. Ronald Reagan was mocked before he won the presidency. Bedtime for Bonzo. Let's look around today and see whose being mocked the most to find our next great one. Then let's have the guts to back this person.

Let's understand what Sarah Palin really means when she tells us we have to "stiffen our spines."

Are you strong enough, resolute enough, confident enough and tough enough to have "Caribou Barbie" as your president the way Reaganites were to have "Bedtime for Bonzo" as theirs? If you're not, please check your purse or man bag at the door before reading further. Don't be the guy on the Miller Lite commercial.

Erick Erickson says it best:

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to believe that we are now fully engaged in a political war for the very future of our nation. It is no time for us to go wobbly.

While he doesn't mention Sarah Palin in the article, he encourages us to stand strong behind her candidates and other strong Republican women who are ready to stand up to the establishment. We all know that Sarah Palin is more courageous and more resolute now after what the haters have done to her. Her courage goes beyond any limit we've ever seen in modern American politics. And these women candidates have been inspired by her example.

There are people who want to destroy Sarah Palin. We know that. Her mere existence is a threat to socialists, liberals, establishment insiders and cronies. Her message is freedom, ethics and the fact that our government should be for free enterprise and not free rides. Our government should not be making laws to benefit the leaders at the expense of the people. Our government should protect its people and their freedoms, not trample over them. This does not go over well in "enlightened circles."

Sarah Palin is humble. She downplayed the effect her endorsements had on the primaries of Carly Fiorina and Nikki Haley. When asked why she is so vilified, Palin says it's not about her. It's about the message. The woman with the "servant's heart" may not want to flaunt this, but the reason why it is about her is that she gets the message exactly and articulates it directly, correctly and effectively.

Ronald Reagan was one of us. But he rose from our ranks to lead us due to his courage and sheer determination. He told us that "I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things." Yet, he did extraordinary things on the national and world stages. His power came from all of us standing in unison and reveling in his leadership because he was dead on the nail right. His message was the message. It was the exact message.

After watching the message get watered down and forgotten, it seemed that the truths that Ronald Reagan articulated to us were slowly disappearing from our collective conscience.

It wasn't until Sarah Palin spoke at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis that I heard the message again. I could see it in the eyes of the people in the crowd that they knew, too, that the message was back. It was Ronald Reagan - no not the man, but the message. Sarah Palin may not have realized it, but she so humbly explained to Tammy Bruce why she is so great. She understands and articulates the message, the only message.

Sarah Palin has been beaten up (rhetorically speaking), slammed by the media, smeared and threatened. She nearly had it all taken away from her when evil bloggers and liberals tried to destroy her career by filing frivolous ethics complaint after ethics complaint in the hopes that one would stick and ruin her credibility ultimately for good. It backfired when she got out of the line of fire, regrouped and came out from cover with big guns blazing and a powerful army that came to her aid to back her up.

Palin told Bruce that she knows there are a lot of people who have her back. But she also expects more from those who aren't standing as tall or feeding off of her courage. There are those who have not yet joined us in having Sarah's back.

Talking about Sarah Palin doesn't go over well on the cocktail circuit or at backyard barbecues because you will always find those liberals who still believe the media memes or those conservatives whose version of conservatism doesn't conform to having someone like Palin as its leader. Some people will come to her defense, but in most cases it will be to brush off the conversation and move onto something else.

I understand this first hand. I have a friend who calls me a tea bagger and calls Palin "the old broad." He's a good guy and we have the kind of relationship where we can bust on each other and not be offended. But the fact of the matter is we all have friends like that. They're going to criticize and then go sit on the couch to watch the revolution on TV while the rest of us are in the front lines fighting for it.

I know about getting flack from people on Twitter or dealing with the frustrations of friends who just don't get it is nothing compared to the brutal beatings Sarah Palin has taken at the hands of the left, the media and the establishment. But in my own way it only furthers my resolve.

Others may be intimidated by the flack and not want to stand up the way we need to stand up if we really really want our country back. Let's see where they fit in.

There are four types of Palin people in the world. The first kind is the Palinista. The Palinista is militant. They have memberships on Team Sarah and Conservatives4Palin. They're "crazies for Sarah Palin." They're the ones that have "Palin 2012" bumper stickers on their cars or a picture of themselves with Sarah Palin on the TV stand.

Then there is the second type - the regular guy or gal. They like Newt, Mitt or Mike. Or they're not sure yet, but they don't think Palin can win in 2012. They'll give you some platitudes like she has no experience or she's not intelligent enough. But the real reason why they won't say she can win is that they are afraid of what the media says about her, what their friends say about her and what the establishment says about her. If they continue to worry about that and let it affect their thinking, then the left wing bloggers and the mainstream media win.

If Palin does get the nomination, they will vote for her as the lesser of two evils between her and Obama. If she doesn't, the candidate who wins will have to be careful not to alienate the Palin wing (if they have not already done so in the primaries) and will have to find a way to keep the Palin wing energized and active. Worse of all, liberals will tout Palin's defeat as proof they were right all along and those who were afraid of the left wing attacks will now have to withstand them anyway since they will now be directed at the nominee whose base will probably be those who couldn't stomach the attacks on Palin to begin with.

In Alaska, half the people who have an unfavorable view of Sarah Palin do so not because they don't like her, but because her political opponents made life uncomfortable for them in their state. Although Linda Kellen-Biegal doesn't like Palin, she makes the point to one of my fellow bloggers, Rachelle Friberg, that things changed in Alaska after Sarah Palin ran for Vice President. Yes, they did change. It upset the comfort level. It reminded Alaskans that there is a fight for liberty in this country and now some reluctantly have to participate in that fight on one side or, as in Kellen-Beigal's case, the other. But truth be known, if life continued like it was before Sarah Palin, they'd still be unknowingly living in their own Pottersville where the cronies, insiders and good ole boys would control their lives in exchange for a warm fire and a bottle of whiskey.

Change is uncomfortable, but it's good if it's the right kind of change.

The third type is the establishment insiders and elites. They believe protecting their jobs and social status is their  job. They make back room deals. One hand washes the other. They look on those who are not on the in with disdain and arrogance. They are the "Montgomery Burns" conservatives and the Edward Kennedy limo liberals. Having a commoner in charge is like being water boarded.

The fourth type of Palin people is the worst. They are ideologues - most are liberals, but there is a small sect of libertarians who find Palin's social conservatism a threat. These are the ones with severe Palin Derangement Syndrome. They will stop at nothing to stop her. They view her with a greater fear than we on the right ever felt toward Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. She is an existential threat to liberalism as Monica Crowley has pointed out.

We already know the first group is in. The Palin army is militant and will fight tooth and nail to get her elected president. I'll get to the second group in a minute. Type three is going to be out on their ass someday anyway because that kind of arrogance just pisses people off enough to want to knock them out. Type 4 is the liberal kool aid drinkers. There's nothing you can do about them.

It's the second group that we have to work on. There are moderates, conservatives and independents who just don't think she can win. There are people who I highly respect and admire for their conservative activism and their belief in the cause of taking back our country. The pink elephants and pollinators of information in the blogosphere have an awesome message. They make incredibly intelligent and accurate political points every day. But they have no messenger.

Or at least they think they don't.

Taking back this shining city on a hill is serious business. Like Erickson said, it really is "the political war for the very future of our nation." We can't afford to mess this up. We can't have infighting and we can't have "my candidate is better than your candidate" spats. We need leadership. We need to be grown ups and be firm and in unison when scolding the political children who now hold power. Parents divided cannot discipline their children. A movement divided cannot discipline the country's political "children" either.

Like it or not, we're an American Idol society. We watch this reality show called politics in America because Sarah Palin is a huge ratings draw whether you like her or not. Americans elected Barack Obama president because he gave great speeches and he looked like hope and change. He excited them. I'm not trying to be cynical here. I'm just trying to be a marketing major. Brand sells in America. We have to face facts.

What brings people to concerts, sporting events and speaking engagements? Excitement. Plain and simple. Some bands sound good on the radio but don't really bring in the concert crowds or perform well live. Some baseball teams play small ball and have good records, but their attendance is low. Some speakers provide excellent information from the CD player but their live audiences need crystal meth just to keep themselves awake.

The Washington Nationals have been trying everything to get their team up to caliber. They've actually put together a few good guys this year and still nothing. It was not until Stephen Strasburg came up that anyone even cared and the tickets started selling.

Sarah Palin is conservatism's Stephen Strasburg. She has done her time in the minors. It's time to bring her up now.

For those conservatives and Republicans who are not sure yet, just think about it. Add a lightning rod to your message and watch it fly. Watch the excitement. Watch the people come out in droves to see your star player. And don't worry about the fans from the other team booing her. They're supposed to do that. Stand up and shout. Be tall. Be proud. Have a set for crying out loud. Stiffen your spines and open up your hearts. Take the plunge. Jump in the water. Have faith. Trust me on this!

I understand we still have to have the 2012 primaries. I know there are many of you who are committed to your candidates. That's good. You're all great Americans. Let the primaries be the time that what I'm saying here gets put to the test. Watch Sarah Palin. She's not going to be handled by Steve Schmidt. She is not the snapshot in time you see on screen caps of her sitting across from Katie Couric. She is an evolving candidate. See how far she has evolved by the primaries and watch her evolve even further during the campaign. If she runs a strong campaign, you'll know it and believe it.

There are no seats at the table now with our current "ass kicker in chief." And let's face it, anything would be better than him, even if it is the Sarah Palin some of you are afraid to believe in. But let her get in there and clean house and I guarantee you there will be plenty of seats at the table for all of us.

If we all pull together as a team and unite behind Sarah Palin and have her back and stick her in the face of the liberal establishment like a hot poker, the gates will open and the bridge will lower over the moat and it won't be long until the Romneyites, Newtists, Ronulans and Hucksters all get into the shining city on a hill along with the rest of us. The city belongs to all of us and we want it back!

United, we can be a power and a movement the likes we have not seen since Ronald Reagan.

Lame Cherry wrote:

Just remember one year ago Jeb Bush saying Reagan was roadkill and Bobby Jindal saying we had to be like Obama and work with him. Well Arlen Specter is roadkill and Americans are about to work over the Marxist man for the American Dream again for that Shining City on the Hill. God bless Sarah Palin, as she was the [sole] beacon in this when all the other big shots abandoned the ship..."

We are all heading toward that sole beacon of light in the distance. As we draw closer and closer to the light of liberty's lamp we will soon be able to make out the figure who holds the torch and who motions us forward despite the rhetorical blood on her clothes and the politically twisted ankle she incurred while trying to help us win the championship in 2008.

Have courage.