Gov. Palin in Montana: 'Government is the problem'

*
Here are excerpts from the Missoulian's coverage of Gov. Palin's Sunday appearance in Montana:

Praising God and America, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin brought an adoring crowd to its feet with her message of faith, family and the power of prayer during a Sunday fundraising event to support a Christ-centered Missoula women's residential center.

"God and family and country - take a stand in that order and things fall into place," Palin told a sold-out crowd of 1,600 at the Hilton Garden Inn during her 40-minute talk at the "Raise the Roof" capital campaign for Teen Challenge.

"Taking a stand for God is not always easy ... but it is always right and worthwhile," Palin said.

God and prayer help people find their true calling and innate talents, she said, and in God's "cosmic calculus" for each of us he provides the lessons we each must learn in our individual journeys.

Teen Challenge, she said, is an example of God's work in action. Each day, the national program helps alcoholics become sober, drug addicts come clean and helps scared unwed teen mothers turn that hardship into life's great blessing.

The 2008 GOPvice presidential candidate occasionally got political in her address, taking swipes at the media and the left, remarking at one point that "moles" were in the audience texting about her belief in prayer and taking it all out of context. She was sharply critical of the nation's leadership in Washington, D.C., who she said are steering the country in the wrong direction:

Finally, she criticized those in America who believe it is politically extreme to pray and believe in God.

To the roar of her appreciative crowd, Palin fired off several one-liners over the course of her talk.

"Why is it called the far right when it is just common sense?" she asked. "The government that governs least governs best."

Robust applause erupted when Palin boldly laid out her no-holds-barred opinion about the way the country is currently being governed.

"The things they are doing in Washington, D.C., are absolutely whacked," she said. "They are upside-down."

[...]

"I love my country and I love our system, but government can't fix the problems - government is the problem," she said. "Government can't dry a tear or lend a shoulder or put back together a family, or country or state."

The governor said that healing is the job of God and neighbors who help neighbors, not the government.

- JP