Can You Feel It?
As we were riding along somewhere in Kansas, on our journey home to Texas from the Restoring America Rally on Saturday in Indianola, I had time to gather some of my thoughts about what we had experienced. One result from the weekend trip is the indelible impression with which I’ve been left about the nature of Sarah Palin’s supporters. Much like my experience on the opening night of The Undefeated, there’s a commonality of purpose and values that has no analog outside the concept of family. The people who I met throughout the trip were like me, inasmuch as they were simply humble, hard-working Americans. They came from all over the country, and the last time I heard such a wide-ranging collection of accents was during my service in the Army. They were all wonderful, each of them fighting in their own ways for a common goal. I spent much of my time blushing, inside or out, as people who have read my posts came to know who I was and immediately set out to tell me so. To each of you now reading this, I want to tell you to the hearing of the world: Thank you! You’ve made this website a success by any measure.
Much more importantly, you’ve permitted me to become a part of your family, as you have become part of mine, and the value of that privilege cannot be overstated. Your comments, suggestions, and sincere encouragement mean the world to me. The other thing I noticed, as I spoke to fellow attendees was that another theme is becoming clear, and it’s more than the simple expression of words can convey: We’ve come to a moment of clarity, about our world, our national future, and who will lead us there. Sarah Palin is that leader.
During Saturday’s address, Governor Palin spoke about the future of the country, and offered real, pragmatic, but also principled ideas for the first steps in restoring the economic health of our nation. Her life’s experiences have taught her that we cannot have a system composed half of loot and half of property. Capitalism works when it is essentially laissez faire. As she spoke to the rain-drenched crowd, many chilled to the bone by the torrents of rain, she sounded like John Galt as she explained how government must get out of the way of the private sector. Not a leader with timid proposals, she offered a reform that would empower the private sector to generate new strength and vitality. More than this, however, she offered a new and more sharply focused vision of the direction she would take the country. In the book Atlas Shrugged, John Galt was said to be creating a new kind of Atlantis, an advanced civilization not of legend or myth, but one built upon the concrete foundations of the principles of liberty based in reason. As I listened to Tea Party speakers, and listened to the thundering approval of the crowd, I knew I had arrived at the right place, in just the right time.
Like Rand’s protagonist, Palin understands that no system of freedom can be adopted by a people not willing to live it. Liberty isn’t a quantity you can maintain by any other means. You must choose it. It can’t be forced upon you, and as our recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan ought to have taught us, freedom is a choice you must embrace of your own volition. Our people have become accustomed to a fading, shrinking notion of liberty overwhelmed by a growing, magnifying tyranny. It’s a different kind of choice, and for far too long, in the name of expedience, and on the ever-widening claims of necessity, we’ve been on a consistent retreat from our founders’ principles toward a form of government that promises only a burgeoning misery, more equally distributed. Sarah Palin understands that to reverse this decline, at each crossroad, and each point of decision along the way, the choices in the direction of liberty will provide the only viable path to national restoration. So do you.
The sense with which this Tea Party event left me is that my fellow Sarah Palin supporters have come to a sense of calm about all the drama the media has tried in vain to create over whether she will announce on this day or that, or at all. None among us will fall prey to this any longer. We’re ready. If Governor Palin chooses to announce a candidacy tomorrow, or the next day, or any day thereafter, we are chomping at the bit to get into this race. Like well-schooled racehorses, we’re steady in the gates. No longer any pre-race jitters or jumpiness, we’re more seasoned now while patiently awaiting the starting bell, in firm concentration to achieve a clean start. There won’t be any more bolting from the gates, or late scratches from the race. We await that sound, whatever form it takes, and we’ll know, and we’ll break cleanly. Just like on Saturday in Indianola, we’ll urge her to run, but if it’s not yet the moment, we’ll wait longer.
Some have claimed that’s she has missed her moment. I beg to differ, and so do you. I watched Del Parker and Jelayne Sessler from the DFW area put together a remarkable bus trip. I saw Donna Galloway put together a van-load from Southeast Texas on a shoestring. I watched Ron Devito deploy equipment to capture the event while keeping US4Palin updated consistently. I observed Martha Cano and other Texas O4P volunteers signing up new folks. I watched people young and old conduct themselves with honor. I watched Peter Singleton of Iowa O4P make a remarkable little speech with great insights. I met many of the folks from C4P, and all of them had the same energy and excitement though each showed it in his or her own way. I listened to Tammy Bruce give a stirring talk(Special note here to Del Parker for putting us in the right place at the right time to hear Tammy speak.) I met Frank Aquila, whose book I’m now reading. I met the exceedingly gracious Nicole Coulter who writes wonderful articles and cleans up my postings before they’re put onto the pages of Conservatives4Palin. In truth, I met so many fine people it’s impossible to list them all. I saw enthusiasm like I’ve never seen at any other event. Some will point to the rain-depressed turn-out, but I would say to such critics that they are missing the point. The intensity in this awesome core of supporters who arrived to cheer for the Tea Party event and Sarah Palin are rugged, determined, and persistent, and they represent the finest traditions and values of our Republic. All of them exhibited an enduring reverence for the constitutional principles on which our nation had been founded. All of them know what is at stake.
Most all of them seemed to sense the same clarity of purpose. Our nation is really on the ropes. We know a lesser candidate can’t fix what ails us. It’s not that we’re looking for some Messiah or savior, as the left thought they found in Barack Obama, but instead for something nearly as rare in contemporary politics: An honest broker. A truthful spokesperson. A sincere advocate. A political warrior. We’ve found that person in Sarah Palin. Now we must continue toprepare while we wait. It isn’t going to be easy. We’re going to be accosted from all sides. Still, that moment in time is upon us, and there isn’t one amongst us who doesn’t see and sense its approach. We’ve waited and watched and prepared. There is much more yet to do, but we’re the people to do it. The critics will say what they always do, but for you and I, who’ve been there, and have seen what was offered, it’s clear that the moment is still coming. We’re ready.
