Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sarah Palin: America's Enduring Strength...A Response


Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

For those who don't care to watch the video, below is the transcript from Sarah's Facebook page:

Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sympathy.
I agree with the sentiments shared yesterday at the beautiful Catholic mass held in honor of the victims. The mass will hopefully help begin a healing process for the families touched by this tragedy and for our country.
Our exceptional nation, so vibrant with ideas and the passionate exchange and debate of ideas, is a light to the rest of the world. Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to exchange ideas that day, to celebrate our Republic’s core values and peacefully assemble to petition our government. It’s inexcusable and incomprehensible why a single evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day.
There is a bittersweet irony that the strength of the American spirit shines brightest in times of tragedy. We saw that in Arizona. We saw the tenacity of those clinging to life, the compassion of those who kept the victims alive, and the heroism of those who overpowered a deranged gunman.
Like many, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event.
President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.
The last election was all about taking responsibility for our country’s future. President Obama and I may not agree on everything, but I know he would join me in affirming the health of our democratic process. Two years ago his party was victorious. Last November, the other party won. In both elections the will of the American people was heard, and the peaceful transition of power proved yet again the enduring strength of our Republic.
Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.
As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.” Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences respectfully at the ballot box – as we did just two months ago, and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next. That’s who we are as Americans and how we were meant to be. Public discourse and debate isn’t a sign of crisis, but of our enduring strength. It is part of why America is exceptional.
No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.
Just days before she was shot, Congresswoman Giffords read the First Amendment on the floor of the House. It was a beautiful moment and more than simply “symbolic,” as some claim, to have the Constitution read by our Congress. I am confident she knew that reading our sacred charter of liberty was more than just “symbolic.” But less than a week after Congresswoman Giffords reaffirmed our protected freedoms, another member of Congress announced that he would propose a law that would criminalize speech he found offensive.
It is in the hour when our values are challenged that we must remain resolved to protect those values. Recall how the events of 9-11 challenged our values and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security. And so it is today.
Let us honor those precious lives cut short in Tucson by praying for them and their families and by cherishing their memories. Let us pray for the full recovery of the wounded. And let us pray for our country. In times like this we need God’s guidance and the peace He provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves, or weaken our solid foundation, or provide a pretext to stifle debate.
America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country. May God bless America.
- Sarah Palin

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Hate-Filled Liberal Left Politicizes Yet Another Crisis

There's nothing that makes an honest person angrier than to see the innocent used as pawns in a political game by those who will stop at nothing to advance an agenda. What we saw this past weekend is nothing short of outrageous, yet if you're waiting for the apologies to start rolling in, hell stands a good chance of freezing over first. 


While the rest of us watched in horror as the details of Saturday's shooting unfolded, the left was busy pulling an old oh-so-predictable page from its political playbook, and within a matter of hours began blaming Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement for this terrible act. Even the sheriff who, in my opinion, just wanted some air time and a way to stir things up to get his 'fifteen minutes', began immediately blaming those on the airways and behind microphones--all the while, admitting he had absolutely no evidence whatsoever to back up his claims


The bodies of the victims were barely cold before Jane Fonda, of all people, began to share her two cents--does anyone really care what she thinks? She blamed Sarah, Glenn Beck, and the Tea Party. But where was the evidence that these parties had anything at all to do with this crime? Evidence shmevidence...who needs that when you have the mainstream, drive by media lapping up every crumb they can, truth be damned? 


It wasn't long before CBS jumped on the bandwagon, citing the Palin political "target list" as evidence--never mind the fact that Democrats had one of their own in the same election. Pretty soon, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman followed suit, throwing Limbaugh into the mix. (nah, that wasn't the least bit predictable)


Lest you think somethings gone awry, no worries. MSNBC's Kieth Olbermann did what all good bootlicker's do. He followed talking points to the 't', turning things up a notch. ABC then interviewed a friend of the shooter, ignoring her claims that he's a liberal, suggesting early in their report that Congresswoman Gifford's father had named "the whole Tea Party" as being enemy number one of the Representative. 


In the early morning hours of January 9th, The New York Daily News claimed in their headline that "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' blood is on Sarah Palin's hands...". Later that day, Washington Post associate editor Eugene Robinson joined the rhetoric


Obama's home town newspaper, the Chicago Sun Times, posted this garbage. (Is it any wonder newspapers are barely making it these days?) Bob Schieffer then graced us with his undoubtedly unbiased opinion on Face the Nation, lecturing us on the meaning of words. I wonder what we'd do without the amazing knowledge "journalists" like Scheiffer bring to the table? (note the sarcasm) I imagine we'd find the truth a little sooner...


The list continues, the left wing media now beginning to shift gears to go after gun laws. (Nope, that wasn't predictable either) Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin has documented information on just who Loughner, the lone gunman, actually is. Not only that, she's gone to great lengths to document for us who the progressive left really is, as well, in her post  The progressive "climate of hate": An illustrated primer, 2000-2010.  It never hurts to be reminded of what they are, lest you buy into their "let's all get along" rhetoric. What they truly mean is "agree with us or shut up and sit down". And, like all good leftists, if you don't, they will destroy you. Or die trying. 


So, while the liberal left is busy playing games, exploiting Saturday's tragedy, let us not forget who the actual victims are. Congresswoman Giffords, and the other victims who were shot, need our sincere prayers for a full recovery. The families of those who didn't make it are the ones who are truly suffering in this tragedy. Perhaps instead of using them as pawns in a political game of chess, we could remember them in prayer and do all we can to let them know we grieve with them during this time. Perhaps we could put ourselves in their shoes for a moment, realizing how heartbreaking it would be to hear all the garbage being spewed, rather than knowing your loved one is being remembered. 


"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." - Ronald Reagan