-cross posted at Patrick's World USA
This blogger believes the most important contribution that I can make to the conservative cause is to be one of many numbers - numbers which must grow in order to achieve our ultimate goal: returning America back to the people who truly understand the Constitution and what has to be done to make our nation great and exceptional again. As one of many who do this by educating our readers, each other and non-believers simultaneously, I'm not only comforted, but excited to see that there are so many out there who see what I see and what Ronald Reagan saw. Which is why, when reading Josh Painter's latest
post, I couldn't help but be blown away by the keen and exact picture
xMadMike drew - a picture in words that could not be clearer if it was placed on a 1000 mega-pixel flat screen TV.
Painter's reference to
xMadMike's post brings it out front and provides us with an important educational read with a precise explanation of the dangerous narrative which liberals and progressives have been trying to get Americans to believe since the beginning of their movements. If you read
The Shadow Party and you also look at
The 50 Year Strategy, it all makes sense. The liberals, progressives and radicals have been "fundamentaly transforming America" for years by infiltrating the media, the pop culture and the halls of power.
The historical parallels between Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin are glaring. While Sarah Palin is her own person, understanding her requires one to understand Ronald Reagan. Having come into adulthood at the beginning of Reagan's presidency at the same time as Sarah Palin (we are the same age), it is our common view of Reagan's greatness which is the connection between me the supporter and Sarah the leader.
No one sets out to be the "next Reagan." But they do set out to be
like him. Reagan created the blueprint for keeping America strong both domestically and internationally. Many in the Republican party have strayed from that blueprint. As such, they have suffered the wrath of the people the way Bush the father and Bush the son have. This is not to say they didn't believe in Ronald Reagan - they did. They just did not execute on Reagan's philosophy properly. Those who have stuck closest to the Reagan philosophy have had the most political success.
If people are to be their own people and if someone is going to chart a political course in the modern era, simply copying cold war theory and supply side economics is not going to save the GOP. It's the full and total embracement of Reagan's spirit which contributes to how well one can do in today's political climate. Developing the same philosophical, ethical and intellectual core that Reagan had and demonstrating that in your own unique way while applying it to modern problems and solutions is the key to Sarah Palin's greatness.
Americans want a leader that will motivate them to act and make them feel confident and patriotic. They thought they had that in Barack Obama. With his fiery speeches and "messianic" promises, Americans were excited that the horrors of war and economic uncertainty could be behind us. But when Obama failed to deliver on that excitement, rather than return to the usually cynical point of apathy and political disenchantment, Americans rose up and formed the Tea party movement. They embraced a positive message of real change and set out to do what the Founders of our nation would have wanted them to do: become self reliant and unite behind the cause of freedom.
The movement was built bottom up. Yet the philosophy and vision are definitely top down from our Founders through Reagan. There are some still uncertain about Palin's future in this movement. Having been scorched by the failures of Obama, having had their hearts broken by the falling of Mark Sanford and having become generally skiddish of a mainstream media that continues to vilify Palin to this day, it's hard to expect those so jilted to succumb to "political love" again.
But, I have seen it in the eyes of the people at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in 2008. I have read it in the writings of Palin supporters since the day she was chosen to run on the ticket. I have heard Sarah Palin herself weave the spirit and fabric of Reagan's existence into her own Alaskan accented style. I was not looking that hard for the next Reagan because I never thought I'd find him (or her).
In fact, I questioned whether comparing her to Reagan was political blasphemy at first.
And its because of this, I know it's not wishful thinking. I was not a "political romantic" in 2008. In fact, I was quite the opposite. I was very cynical. I was very demoralized. I felt as if I was watching the beginning of the thousand years of darkness Reagan warned us of. Each Republican candidate had a component of Reagan, but not one was Reagan. I understood that and I've been accepting that since 1988.
When Palin hit the scene, my first reaction wasn't "oh wow, this is the one we've been waiting for." My first reaction was "this is too good to be true, where's the gotcha?" I could have crumbled like a lawn chair the minute the media started smearing her. I could have cut and run when Troopergate hit. Instead, I researched her. If anything, the media lost its credibility in being able to sway me when I realized what they were saying was totally untrue. Palin won me over. The media just helped harden my resolve with their lies and smears.
I watched her speech in Minneapolis on TV and was just as mesmerized as those in the crowd not because I wanted to be mesmerized, but because I saw Ronald Reagan's spirit fill that room. I saw a look in the people's eyes that I have only seen when Reagan spoke. I saw a look in Todd's eyes that I have only seen in Nancy's.
I will probably get beat on for writing this post. But let's be real. If it took an outsider who took on the establishment, was smeared by the media and who rose to power by tenacity and a truly benevolent desire to save his country from the madness of liberalism, which the Carter administration came to symbolize, how could it be any different for what's required to save this country from the madness of the radicalism that the current Obama administration symbolizes?
Some sweat Palin's viability in a national election. The media has figured out that even if we know they lie, they are still able to place enough doubts in the peoples' heads that they may not pick Palin to be the GOP nominee and spare them the threat of having their liberal "narrative" destroyed. If the media squeaks by with a Gingrich, Huckabee or Romney presidency, they will consider that a win. Opposition is easier to deal with than destruction.
It is important to point out that people felt the same way about Ronald Reagan, even after he got the nomination in 1980. It wasn't until after the "There you go again"
debate on September 24, 1980, that those who were not dedicated followers began to really take him seriously. Just as today's GOP insider elitists complain that we can't put a hockey mom from Wasilla at the top of the ticket, so yesterday's GOP insider elitists fretted about doing the same with a B grade movie actor.
It should give those skeptical of Palin's chances something to think about. If the media can bash you and make fun of you for starring in a movie with a chimpanzee and you can still make it to the White House, seeing "Russia from my house" shouldn't be that big of a deal considering Palin never actually said that.
Let's just hope Palin doesn't cut it as close as Reagan did. Winning over the people just a mere six weeks away from the election is not my idea of keeping my blood pressure low or my fingernails long. Recognize that not everyone is going to see what Palin supporters see right away. Palin is working hard to convince them and I believe she will. I just don't know how long its going to take and how much damage Barack Obama is going to have to do to the country before the fence sitters finally get up and say "give the lady a try."