Around the time President Obama was delivering his speech “A New
Beginning with Muslims” in Cairo, Governor Sarah Palin was making
introductory remarks for main speaker Michael Reagan to an audience in
Anchorage. Though Obama’s oration was approximately 17 times longer
than Palin’s and focused on Middle East foreign policy, Palin’s
informal comments contained more understanding of the nature of Islamic
extremism and the forces that motivate it than Obama’s entire homily.
In one speech, Obama managed to apologize for:
• The Cold War, “in which Muslim-majority countries were too
often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations”—as
opposed to the aspirations they fruitfully pursued under a leader like
Saddam Hussein
• Western “colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to
many Muslims”—as opposed to the rights they have under a leader like
former colony Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad
• Not having enough “mutual respect”—as opposed to the fawning
respect Islamists shower on women, Jews, Christians, gays, and
Westerners
• Not letting women wear hajibs—as opposed to Islamists’ insistence that gays always be allowed to wear nooses
• Not saying “openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that
too often are said only behind closed doors”—as opposed to the constant
warmongering that glides so effortlessly off of Obama’s tongue
• Believing in “any world order that elevates one nation or group
of people over another”—rather than viewing those who uphold liberty
the same as those who stone women for being gang raped
• Having nuclear weapons and putting other countries at great
risk—like when the Soviets whupped our butts in the Cold War and turned
the rest of the world Communist
• Defining our relationships with terrorist-sponsoring regimes by
our “differences”—we say tomato, they say tomahto; we say Israel has a
right to exist, they say dropkick Israel into the sea
• Having the gall to use our military—Obama quotes Thomas
Jefferson: “The less we use our power the greater it will be”; note to
Obama: not using it at all does not mean we are therefore infinitely
powerful
In the meantime, Palin said, “Those of us so proud to be Americans acknowledge that no, we’re not a perfect nation, but never, never
do we have to apologize for being proud of our country. When [Reagan]
fought socialism and any sort of tyranny that he knew would ruin us, he
stood strong on his knowing that the framework for positive change was
freedom. America is the greatest nation on earth, because our
foundation is freedom.” Sometimes simpler is better—ya know?
Obama scolded us for:
• Viewing Islamic countries as hostile to American ideals—he
added that the dancing in the streets after 9/11 was actually their
version of Cinqo de Mayo; “Once de Septiembre,” I think we’d call it
here
• Citing verses in the Koran that incite violence against
nonbelievers—as opposed to the ones that talk about Bambi and blue jays
• Seeing Iraq as a “patron” rather than a “partner”—because Iraq
was on the brink of ousting Hussein and establishing parliamentary
elections just as we sent our foot soldiers into Baghdad and got in the way!
• Believing that some forms of government are superior to
others—though admittedly, I haven’t noticed too many ethnocracies or
kleptocracies flourishing lately
• Believing we should have a say in “which nations hold nuclear
weapons”—because Nicolas Sarkozy could turn out to be as crazy as
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; who knows?
Meanwhile Palin snapped, “Screw political correctness. Be loud and
strong. [Don't] shy away from the tough issues. Reagan’s ideas were
the right ideas, and all we have to do is look back at his national
security record to know that. Remember how refreshing it was with his
outrageous directness that Americans loved and praised and deserved?
His vision for the Cold War? We win, they lose. Why, today, do we
feel we have to pussyfoot around our troublesome foes, the terrorists
who still seek to kill Americans and destroy our allies? Terrorists
are still dead set against us and are set on destroying Israel. It is
war over there so it will not be war over here, and it had better still
be our mission that we win, they lose! Some in the press want to put
anybody who dares speak up back in their place. Those are the folks
that want to tell me, want to tell you, to siddown and shuddup. We will not do so.” Drill, baby, drill!
Over on camel terrain, Obama lectured us with a straight face that
America and Islam share principles of “tolerance and the dignity of all
human beings”; that “throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through
words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial
equality”; and that “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance”; all of
which is kinder than what Al-Jazeera regularly has to say about the
religion in their nightly broadcast.
Up in moose country, Palin mused, “What we’re being fed today, it
seems, is a steady diet of select, misrepresented news. Why is it,
considering how fast the world is spinning, and world-changing events
that go on all over the globe, that it’s the same, big three,
supposedly competing networks that have the same news content every
night, and virtually the same exact viewpoint being spewed night after
night after night?” Go Aces!
Given the choice between (1) off-the-cuff remarks in an Anchorage
auditorium by a hockey mom and former VP candidate who understands that
rejection of liberty precludes our enemies’ being on the same moral
plane as us; that courage in recognizing and labeling evil is needed to
fight it; and that tossing around flowery language won’t reform an
opposition who refuses to change; and (2) a scrupulously photographed,
eloquently written (by someone else) bag of what could generously be
called bromides, clichés, and chestnuts if they weren’t so blatantly
wrongheaded—I know which I’d choose.
