Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced yesterday that she is resigning and will not seek a second term as governor. Many conservatives are characterizing this as an abdication of responsibility and a failure of will. Quin Hillyer wrote in the American Spectator that "Sarah Palin's resignation is an appalling dereliction of duty and a highly cynical move to set herself up for a presidential run for which she is manifestly unqualified."
I vehemently disagree. She did not quit. From what I saw of her speech before Fox inexplicably cut it off (after seven days of wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage), this is not a woman who is retiring or "cutting and running," as Hillyer put it. She is getting into the fight to save America. Palin committed herself to fighting "for our state and our country, and campaign(ing) for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops and energy independence." Obama's treasonous presidency has made this struggle necessary. Palin, like all patriotic Americans, is shocked by what is happening. Obama is destroying this country. She knows it. We all know it. We need a leader.
Palin is that leader. On Friday she assumed the mantle. She delivered a campaign speech. She spoke on the eve of Independence Day about the sacrifices great Americans have made, and what our Founding Fathers fought and died for. Without naming Obama, she went after his disastrous policies, saying that "living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow," and noting that as governor she had "vetoed debt-ridden stimulus dollars." She believes in and wants to fight for free enterprise, small government and national security.
And is she really "manifestly unqualified" to be president? I am unmoved by assertions that Palin needs more foreign policy experience or more experience of any kind. She has the key ingredient to great leadership: common sense. I am not concerned that she won't get up to speed on the nitty gritty details of national and international issues. Her thinking is sound. She has common sense, a moral compass and a very definite understanding of good and evil.
And best of all, she is not a product of the limp-wristed, spineless GOP of the Age of Obama. There is a struggle in the Republican Party for the heart and soul of our future: the RINOs (McCain, Romney, etc.) versus true individualists and conservatives like Palin. She is outside the box. She has grit. She has guts. That is why she so frightens the RINOs, leftopaths and freedom haters. The Democrats despise Palin because she best embodies everything they are not. She is principled, true, hard working, smart and honorable. She embodies all that is good and fine and decent – you couldn't have written a more charismatic, honorable character in a Victor Hugo novel.
Because of this, the left and the RINOs like Hillyer, out of their hatred of the good for being good, will do anything and say anything to destroy this woman. She has already been mercilessly attacked. Those on the right who have suffered the slings and arrows of the vile left smear machine know that the more they throw, the greater you are. The more vile, disgusting and outrageous the smear, the more envious and afraid you know the destroyers are.
And in Palin's case they have stopped at nothing. An army of political operatives filed 15 spurious ethics charges against her, draining the public resources. She and her staff spent huge amounts of time and incurred over half a million in legal fees fighting charges that were ultimately dismissed. And the same shills who laud Obama for dropping a cool $100,000 on dinner and a show with Meesh in New York City are aghast that Sarah spent $150,000 of donated bucks on her wardrobe for the presidential campaign. Now the Democrats and their propaganda machine, the dinosaur media, will continue to attempt to destroy and marginalize this wonder woman.
New media better pick up the slack – and make the point that this move will allow Palin to spend more time in the lower 48 states, where we urgently need her voice, without the left accusing her of neglecting her duties as governor.
Her country needs her desperately. She is answering our call. The 2012 campaign began today!
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Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and former associate publisher of the New York Observer. Her op-eds have appeared in the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, the American Thinker, Israel National News and other publications.