Gauging Sarah Palin in the Information Age

The power and future of Sarah Palin are there to be seen if you just watch for yourself…

We’ve written before that Rush Limbaugh’s real legacy will be found in this:

…his ability to harness all the technology of the era to combat and defeat the ‘spin-and-sound-bitification’ of America—the frivolous, shallow chatter that passes for journalism in this era—and replace it with a triumph of truth and substance.

…what Limbaugh has taken to a new level is the use of mass email, podcasting, auto-transcription and other technologies to record, preserve and make available to anyone who wants to know exactly what he said and how he said it and in what context he said it. It is an awesome display that puts the lie to Pravda more completely and powerfully than anyone at Pravda really understands.

We were reminded of this while watching and reading the onslaught of analysis and ‘sage’ observation about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s recent announcement that she would step aside as Governor with a year and a half left in her four year term. What is striking is how much of the analysis is so obviously done by people who did not listen to Governor Palin’s announcement. These people just get the basic facts from Pravda, and then launch with ‘what’s really going on’ and their assessment of her motivation and the wisdom of her action based on who they are rather than who she is.

We say to hell with what others say about what Palin said. If you want to know what to think about what Governor Palin said, listen to her yourself! Even El Rushbo, who rightly dismissed most of the Palin commentary as speculation, did not sound like one who had actually listened to what Palin said. And Karl Rove, once again proving that he is increasingly out of touch, weighed in with a bunch of conventional wisdom about how bad this move is as a matter of political strategy. The Wall Street Journal dutifully stepped in with its brand of ‘conservative elite’ scorn.

For our part, having watched and listened to Governor Palin’s announcement, we can understand why the entire elite Political Class—Democrat, RINO and Northeastern Republican—are scared to death of her and of what she represents. She connects with real people—with normal people who work hard, love their families, do not worship celebrities, do not see elected officials as an anointed ‘ruling class’; who spot lies and liars from a mile away; and for whom a half million dollars in legal fees is real money. She is grounded in everything good and right about America, and she makes elitism quiver with the sheer substance of her presence.

We won’t add to the speculation as to whether or when she will or will not run for President. But having listened to her actual announcement, the one thing we know we did not hear was a message of quit or of retreat. We sense a plan to take dead aim at the personal destruction machine that has been attacking her, and deliver a slap upside the head they won’t be able to deal with. In any event, we also don’t believe that anyone who actually listens to her announcement will have a more negative view of her—we think she will rise even higher in the estimation of actual listeners.

So in the spirit of the ‘60’s radicals, resolve to think and listen for yourself! Question the authority of anyone in the DC Beltway culture who tells you what someone else said or meant. Google it and watch it yourself. Make up your own mind.

Again, for our part, we believe a revolution is coming, and while it may have some left-right dimensions to it, the bigger driver may be the wholesale rejection of elitism. What the elitists don’t understand is that the opposition to them is not comprised of hayseed hicks and rednecks—the opposition covers the full spectrum of humanity, including many who are among the best educated, affluent, well-read and articulate members of society. Their unifying characteristic is not education level or net worth, but a sense of faith, gratitude and humility before God, and love for the idea of America. The founding fathers had this characteristic, and every one of them towers over the midgets of modern punditry. But the kindred spirit of the founding fathers is found in Sarah Palin.

We think America and the world have not seen the last of Sarah Palin. Her announcement may fairly be seen as an earthquake, but don’t forget that the tsunami follows the earthquake. We think her influence is just beginning.

Paul Gable

July 6, 2009