sarah palin is not a racist: and other reasons I support her
Sarah Palin is not racist.
Though this statement actually has little, if anything, to do with this post, I wanted to put it out there. Of the many falsehoods and characterizations attributed to the former governor, the “racist” label is the one that irks me the most. In my opinion, that is not a term that should be tossed around indiscriminately – you’d better have some serious evidence to back it up, people!
Anyway, as I said, this post is not about that subject. Instead, I consider this an “unveiling” of sorts – of the reasoning behind my support for a woman I’ve never met, who lives in a place I have never been, doing things I have never done.
How has Sarah Palin drawn this Colorado girl out of the proverbial political woodworks and directly into the fray?
I’ve been thinking about this over the last few months because, since her detractors feel free to malign both Sarah Palin and her supporters, I need to have my ducks in a row – so to speak – if I’m going to go around telling people I think she’s is the bombibigity (pronounced bahm-big-it-tee). Thus, after giving it some thought, I managed to come up with the following reasons for my support of Sarah from Alaska:
Reason One: Sarah Palin has a life.
A normal one.
I believe in the value of life experience as a means of achieving wisdom. How many of our grandparents and great-grandparents missed the opportunity to attend college or even high school, but still managed to accomplish amazing things, raise wonderful families, and pass along strong values to their descendants?
Most of us have become who we are due to the challenges and successes we’ve had in the course of our daily lives. Lessons are learned in everything we do, sometimes begrudgingly, and we continue on, trying always to do a little better and be a little better the next time.
When I look at Sarah Palin, I see someone who does what so many successful people do. She takes on the work set before her – as a mother, a business owner, or elected official – and embraces the experience of it all.
Has she managed to achieve perfection in all she attempts? Certainly not. But she always and persistently seeks success in whatever endeavors she is called to pursue. And, quite simply, that is all that is asked of any of us.
Reason Two: Sarah Palin is a leader.
The kind who gets in the trenches with you.
Some people lead with a lot of fanfare and pontification. No offense to them, but I have never really responded to that type of leadership. I tend not to trust people who talk for days on end (it seems), trying to get me “fired up.”
These people may be smart. They may know what they’re talking about. And, perhaps, I should indeed be following them. All the same, I often choose to back away from these types and sidle up to the quieter person across the way – the one actually doing some work.
Maybe it has something to do with my individual learning style or personality, but my favorite leaders lead by example. Sarah Palin leads by example. But, you might say, “She’s no shrinking violet…that woman can hold court with the best of them!” And you would be correct in this statement.
But, when Sarah Palin “holds court,” she does it from the bow of a fishing boat wearing chest waders and rubber gloves. Not only do you learn what she thinks about the role of government in the lives of citizens, you get a lesson on how to score a tank full of salmon.
Reason Three: Sarah Palin makes me smile.
Kind of like when I watch my little brother, now a linebacker in college, make a great play on the football field.
I smile because I know how seriously he takes his responsibility to his team. I smile because I know how much he enjoys the game. I smile because I remember him “when”: when he couldn’t run as fast, wasn’t as big, didn’t have the proper technique…
He got better because he cultivated his natural talent with practice and time spent learning from people who had much to teach.
Sarah Palin hasn’t always been the outgoing political phenomenon she is today. According to her husband, she was quite shy in high school. How did she get here from there?
Well, she courageously entered a new field of play – that of politics – and found that she had the ability to positively contribute to her community. This gave her the motivation she needed to work at her new vocation, improving her skills and developing her technique. Even now, she continues to do more, and to learn more.
Many of us enjoy a good challenge, and heartily seek them out. But, in the face of adversity, it can be difficult to forge ahead. Sarah Palin, however, seems to thrive in this atmosphere. And in this way, she reminds us of the great rewards that can come from our toughest battles.
The best athletes are those who make the players around them better. They are uncomfortable in their comfort zone and are continuously seeking to break free from it. Sarah Palin does this in the political arena, and she has managed to encourage thousands of others to become involved as well – to get out of the bleachers and into the action.
I am among those thousands and I have the former governor to thank for that.
So, for these reasons, I will continue to support Governor Palin – the woman I’ve never met, living in a place I’ve never been, doing things I’ve never done – because she inspires me to do and act in my own life as boldly as she has in hers.
And she’s not a racist.
- tdc
**This post originally appeared on the Palin Twibe Blog on September 8, 2009**
