'America's lifeguard' by Sarah Palin

"Reagan held up a mirror to the American soul to remind us of our exceptionalism"
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In an op-ed published Monday by USA Today, Gov. Palin honors Ronald Reagan in this year, the centennial of Reagan's birth. She praises him as the lifeguard who not only saved lives in his Illinois home town, but also "rescued us with his optimism and common sense." She says the country needs more lifeguards like the Gipper.

I had the privilege of coming of age during the era of Ronald Reagan. I like to think of him as America's lifeguard. As a teenager, Ronald Reagan saved 77 lives as a lifeguard on the Rock River, which ran through his hometown of Dixon, Ill. The day he was inaugurated in 1981, a local radio announcer famously declared, "The Rock River flows for you tonight, Mr. President."

The image of the lifeguard seems to represent what Reagan was to America and to the freedom-loving people of the world. He lifted our country up at a time when we were in the depths of economic, cultural and spiritual malaise. We were told that we must accept that the era of American greatness was over; but with his optimism and common sense, President Reagan held up a mirror to the American soul to remind us of our exceptionalism.

[...]

Reagan showed us that despite a deep recession, there could still be morning in America. He could speak to the economic troubles facing ordinary Americans because he understood what it was like to live through a Great Depression where families scraped to get by. And yet, he saw us recover from our Great Depression, and under his leadership we experienced the greatest peacetime economic boom in our history. He could speak to our fears that our years as a superpower were over, because he understood what it was like to see America at war and really fear that we might lose. And yet, he saw us win two world wars, and under his leadership we won the Cold War without firing a single shot. Reagan's belief in American greatness was rooted in historic fact, not blind optimism. He was a sunny optimist because he knew that our best days are yet to come.

Today, when we hear the worry in the voices of Americans wondering where the jobs will be for our children and grandchildren and wondering if the world will be safe and prosperous in the years to come, we should remember Reagan's faith in our inherent heroism and greatness. When we see people around the globe looking to the White House for leadership, we should remember Reagan's steel spine. He understood America's purpose in this world and what we need to do to secure liberty. As Margaret Thatcher said of him, "He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism." He sought those things and he succeeded.

This year, as we celebrate the centennial of Reagan's birth, let's remember the lifeguard from the Rock River who rescued us with his optimism and common sense. We need more lifeguards like him.

- JP

Sarah Palin: It’s time to get tough with Iran

The free world must stand with the Iranian people
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Gov. Palin posted another foreign policy statement on Facebook and in a national newspaper this morning:

It’s time to get tough with Iran

The following op-ed was published by USA Today:

Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Arab leaders in the region rightly fear a nuclear-armed Iran. We suspected this before, but now we know for sure because of leaked diplomatic cables. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia "frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program," according to these communications. Officials from Jordan said the Iranian nuclear program should be stopped by any means necessary. Officials from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt saw Iran as evil, an "existential threat" and a sponsor of terrorism. If Iran isn't stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons, it could trigger a regional nuclear arms race in which these countries would seek their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves.

That wouldn't be the only catastrophic consequence for American interests in the Middle East. Our credibility and reputation would suffer a serious blow if Iran succeeds in producing its own nuclear weapons after we've been claiming for years that such an event could not and would not be tolerated. A nuclear-armed and violently anti-American Iran would be an enormous threat to us and to our allies. Israel in particular would face the gravest threat to its existence since its creation. Iran's leaders have repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, and Iran already possesses missiles that can reach Israel. Once these missiles are armed with nuclear warheads, nothing could stop the mullahs from launching a second Holocaust. It's only a matter of time before Iran develops missiles that could reach U.S. territory.

Even without nuclear weapons, Iran has provided arms used to kill American soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is also the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. It has shielded al-Qaeda leaders, including one of Osama bin Laden's sons. Imagine how much worse it would be for us if this regime acquired nuclear weapons.

Toughen up

President Obama once said a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptable." Yet, Iran's nuclear progress still continues unchecked. Russia continues to support Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors. It also continues to sell arms to Iran — despite the Obama administration's much-touted "reset" policy with Russia. The administration trumpets the United Nations sanctions passed earlier this year, but those sanctions are not the " crippling" ones we were promised. Much more can be done, such as banning insurance for shipments to Iran, banning all military sales to Iran, ending all trade credits, banning all financial dealings with Iranian banks, limiting Iran's access to international capital markets and banking services, closing air space and waters to Iran's national air and shipping lines, and, especially, ending Iran's ability to import refined petroleum. These would be truly "crippling" sanctions. They would work if implemented.

Some have said the Israelis should undertake military action on their own if they are convinced the Iranian program is approaching the point of no return. But Iran's nuclear weapons program is not just Israel's problem; it is the world's problem. I agree with the former British prime minister Tony Blair, who said recently that the West must be willing to use force "if necessary" if that is the only alternative.

Standing with the people

But we also need to encourage a positive vision for Iran. Iran is not condemned to live under the totalitarian inheritance of the Ayatollah Khomeini forever. There is an alternative — an Iran where human rights are respected, where women are not subjugated, where terrorist groups are not supported and neighbors are not threatened. A peaceful, democratic Iran should be everyone's goal. There are many hopeful signs inside Iran that reveal the Iranian people's desire for this peaceful, democratic future. We must encourage their voices.

When the brave people of Iran take to the streets in defiance of their unelected dictatorship, they must know that we in the free world stand with them. When the women of Iran rise up to demand their rights, they must know that we women of the free world who enjoy the rights won for us by our suffragist foremothers stand with our sisters there. When Iranians demand freedom of religion, freedom of conscience and freedom to simply live their lives as they choose without persecution, we in the free world must stand with them.

We can start by supporting them with diplomacy and things such as radio broadcasting, just as we did with those who suffered under the former Soviet Empire. Most of all, we should support them with confidence in the rightness of the ideals of liberty and justice.

Just as Ronald Reagan once denounced an "evil empire" and looked forward to a time when communism was left on the "ash heap of history," we should look forward to a future where the twisted ideology and aggressive will to dominate of Khomeini and his successors are consigned to history's dustbin.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

USA Today cherry picks poll data in Sarah Palin article

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In a feature article based on an interview with Sarah Palin, USA's Kathy Kiely cherry picked some old poll data to make the former governor appear to be less popular with the American public than she actually is:

"But even as her book sales soar, Palin remains a divisive figure in American politics. In an October Gallup Poll, 50% of those surveyed viewed the conservative Republican unfavorably, compared to 40% who had a favorable view."

That Gallup poll was conducted October 1-4, more than two months ago. Since then, an Opinion Research poll conducted November 17-18 for FOX News found Sarah Palin's favorable rating to be 47 percent (and just 42 percent unfavorable), and another survey conducted by the same firm for CNN December 2-3 revealed her favorable rating to be 46 percent (with 46 percent unfavorable), just one point shy of Obama's.

This is par for the course for a left-leaning Gannett publication like USA Today, which ignored two more recent polls that show Sarah Palin's favorable ratings to be on the rise to reference a poll with findings that are no longer relevant. This is an attempt to hide the fact that Sarah Palin and President Obama are in a statistical tie in the way in which they are currently perceived by the public. She is no more "divisive" than the president is.

Kiely continues to hack at the former governor elsewhere in the article, labeling Sarah Palin's endorsement of New York Congressional candidate Doug Hoffman, a Republican running on the Conservative Party's ticket, as an "intervention." The writer fails to mention that Hoffman was also endorsed by a number of other high-profile politicians, including Tim Pawlenty, Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Sen. Jim Demint and Rep. John Shadegg. Kiely makes a point of noting that Hoffman lost the race, but ignores the narrow margin of the loss and implies that the results of that election should somehow reflect negatively on Sarah Palin. USA Today's writers appear to be working from DNC talking points.

Kiely also rather gratuitously, in our opinion, reaches all the way back to August to dredge up criticism of former Gov. Palin by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski for resigning as governor. Again the writer ignores context by failing to mention the bad blood between Sarah Palin and the Murkowski family which stems from the Palin defeat of the Senator's father in the 2006 Alaska race for governor.

There are some Palin positives in the article, so we won't call it a hit piece, but it is pretty much a hack job. While there is nothing in the article that we haven't heard before, one interesting piece of information was something to be expected:

"The political action committee Palin formed this year, SarahPAC, won't file its next public accounting until January. Palin aide Jason Recher reports 'a significant uptick' in fundraising since the book tour began Nov. 18."

Read the full article here, but consider the source and take it with at least a tablespoon of salt.

- JP

USA Today Interviews Sarah Palin

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From USA Today's On Politics blog:

Sarah Palin and President Obama don't agree on much, but last year's Republican vice presidential nominee just gave the president's defense of "just wars" a thumbs up in an interview with USA TODAY. In fact, she said that the president's address in Oslo, where he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today, reminded her of what she wrote on the same subject in her hugely successful memoir, Going Rogue.

"I liked what he said," Palin told us in a phone interview. "I talked too in my book about the fallen nature of man and why war is necessary at times." For Palin, that view strikes close to home: Her eldest son, 20-year-old Track, is an Army infantry member who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

"I'm on my knees more than ever praying for his safety along with all of his fellow troops," Palin said. "Of course, war is the last thing I believe any American wants to engage in, but it's necessary. We have to stop these terrorists."

But the former governor also said that Obama should "follow more closely in the footsteps" of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who kept the homeland safe and made the lessons of the 9/11 attacks clear to the nation every day.

USA Today will have more from the interview in Friday's edition of the paper. An audio excerpt from the interview and the full blog post are here.

- JP

Updated: Sarah Palin closes in on the White House

USA Today's On Politics blog explains its headline thusly: "Geographically, that is." The Congress Team goes on to say:

The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee will be a mere seven blocks from President Obama's residence when she appears tonight at the winter dinner of the Gridiron Club, a 124-year-old organization of Washington political scribes. The club's dinner annually pairs one Republican and one Democrat to deliver what are supposed to be funny speeches before a cozy audience of political writers and spouses or dates. It's a forum where Washington's judges of political horseflesh can yuck it up with favorite news sources or check out up-and-coming talent. A couple of years back, a fresh-faced young senator named Barack Obama was the Democratic speaker.

The Gridiron Club is allowing media types to chirp to their Twitter pages from the event, and USA Today's Susan Page is already tweeting here, CNN's John King here and TIME's Karen Tumulty here.

Updates: Some one-liners from Sarah Palin's speech (Culled from tweets by King, Page and Tumulty):

Palin said if GOP ticket had won last year, she would be veep and Biden would be "selling his book, Going Rogaine."

Palin tells gridiron she loves her hotel room in DC: "I could see the russian embassy"

Palin takes a shot at steve schmidt, "if I ever need a bald campaign mgr,it appears all I am left w is james carville."

Palin joke in speech re book travels : "the view is so much better from inside the bus than under it."

Palin said she was addressing "leading journalists and intellectuals, or as I put it, a death panel."

Palin said "sometimes you've got to trust your instincts and when you don't, you end up in places like this "

Palin jokes big announcement: "tomorrow I am going to Iowa ......noon to 3p at barnes & noble "

Palin tells gridiron that in dc "I went out for a jog. Or as newsweek calls it--a photo shoot."

Palin at gridiron jokes normally dem speaker next but: "McCain campaign staff asked if they could have that time for rebuttal."

Palin's parents show up unexpectedly at gridiron. She says, "don't treat them like the ... Salahis".

Palin jokes book title debate included "the audacity of the north slope."

More from the AP, Chicago Sun-Times, Wall Street Journal and Politico.

Our fave Saracuda quip of the night:

Palin joked that she was looking at a magazine cover of Obama and Chinese president Hu Jinato during an airplane flight. A nearby passenger stated, “Hu’s the Communist,” she related.

And, Palin said, “I thought he was asking a question.”

Patterico tries to explain the Hu joke to clueless media leftist Andrea Mirtchell, but realizes she's a lost cause.

- JP

USA Today Uses Copycat Attack Book to Talk About Palin's Memoir

-By Warner Todd Huston

Early on the morning of Governor Sarah Palin's book release day, USA Today's The Oval blog posted a piece asking who was more qualified to be president, Clinton or Palin. Naturally, instead of using an image of Sarah Palin's book cover to illustrate the story, USA Today used the attack book against Palin, one which mimics Palin's cover, in a cynical bid to confuse readers on which book is which.

We are left wondering about USA Today. Were they just stupid, not knowing that there was an attack book making itself look like Palin's book? Or did the folks at USA Today know full well that they were posting an image of the attack book's cover and not Palin's actual book?

Here is a screen capture of the original page.

After multiple complaints, USA Today did end up changing the image later in the morning to the proper book cover image with an "erratum."

ERRATUM: An earlier posting featured the photo of a different Sarah Palin book. The Oval regrets the error.

I'm sure they regret getting caught. Not really sure if they regret the error.

- WTH