Run, Sarah, run

On Friday, Sarah Palin resigned from her office as governor of Alaska, effective July 26. Everyone in the media has been running around asking why. I thought she explained why -- because her critics are making all kinds of ridiculous claims against her that must be at least investigated and perhaps defended at considerable expense to the state. She doesn't like these critics attacking her family, either. Does she need more reasons?

I looked up at least one critic, an Alaskan woman and self-proclaimed "progressive to the core" who writes a blog called Celtic Diva or something like that. For several reasons I won't go into, lest I be accused of less than civil commentary (actually, that ship has sailed), I'll just say Celtic Diva's major problem with Sarah Palin very well might be envy in all its nasty manifestations. See my blog for March 8, "The mediocrity of evil."

Personally, I don't know where Sarah Palin stands on every issue, only those that were debated during the presidential campaign. I do know she favors free markets over government control, although she understands that governmental power can be used well; she believes in limiting government to preserve individual liberty; and she doesn't like the corruption of the typical "good ol' boys network" in politics. And I believe she's honest. She's not in politics to make a million or to accumulate adoring fans, but because she feels like she can do something to help the country, and that's important to her.

More than being just physically attractive, Sarah Palin is able to think and speak on her feet. That usually results from understanding and holding certain clearly defined principles and being able to apply them to real life and real issues, rather than simply memorizing talking points.

So I like Sarah Palin. Even if I couldn't agree with her on everything, I would have to respect her. Not too many other politicians in that category.

The socialists hate her and, to my way of thinking, that's a real plus. I'm sure most socialists haven't got a clue what Sarah Palin believes in -- they can't afford to consider any other point of view but their own. Their hatred is just a kind of knee-jerk reaction to Sarah Palin's attitude, her honesty, intelligence, and most of all, her self-assurance.

If there's one thing socialists can't tolerate, it's self-assurance. Self-assured people don't need the socialists or their approval, so the socialists can't bully them. Socialism is fueled by a few key things, depending upon whether you believe you'd be among the elite who run it or one of the "great unwashed" collecting the benefits:

• The elite believe, like ancient monarchs, that they're better than most people and therefore deserve to rule. They honestly think they're morally and otherwise superior, so everyone else needs and should be forced to take their advice. Their arrogance is literally Hitlerian.
• The great unwashed are afraid they can't make it on their own, or they want a reason to not try so hard. In an essay in Imprimis, a newsletter published by Hillsdale College, journalist Mark Steyn noted that socialism tends to "infantalize" a population. That is, they aren't quite adult, refuse to accept the responsibility for their own lives, and seek Big Daddy or Mommy or a Nanny State to rely on. They're perennially dependent, emotionally and every other way.

Neither of these groups would care for someone like Sarah Palin. They probably feel threatened by her. She doesn't play their game and is likely to blurt out some uncomfortable truth without worrying over much about inspiring their disapproval or hurting their feelings. I don't know of any other reason for the really vicious and so far baseless attacks against Sarah Palin. It's almost sociopathic. If the socialists truly believe that Sarah Palin is a non-entity, they'd just leave her alone.

Right now, so many people are deeply outraged at the direction the nation is taking, like the Tea Party protesters. But so far, their anger and indignation has had very little impact. Those in power seem to think they can just steamroller any dissent, just ignore it... and once they legislate all the crap they want to legislate, they can just put those people in jail, or threaten to.

I think Sarah Palin can galvanize this discontent, perhaps more than anyone else can right now. Whether or not she runs for the presidency in 2012, she can unite conservatives around the principles of freedom and free enterprise. And it's leadership that is lacking right now. Her major problem is that she might be pushed into running for the presidency or some other office before she's ready for it, or that her "star power" might overwhelm the issues -- which is exactly how Comrade Osama got elected.

I hope she does act somehow to develop these fragmented groups of disaffected voters into a unified block of voters. Not necessarily Republican, either. It's the independent voters who are falling away from the current regime in droves.

By the way, Comrade Osama is supposed to be on his way to Moscow.... If it were 20 years ago, he'd probably feel right at home there, or might be forced to confront the nightmare reality he's hoping to re-create in the USA right now. But more like he'll just come back with a bunch of new (to him) ideas and rationalizations for suppressing human rights.