“When great perils threaten the state, one often sees the people fortunately choose the most appropriate citizens to save it. It has been remarked that when a danger presses, man rarely remains at his habitual level; he elevates himself well above or falls below … but it is more common to see, among nations as among men, extraordinary virtue born of the very imminence of danger.” –Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy in America (V. 1, Part 2.5)
For obvious reasons, I repeat: “…one often sees the people fortunately choose the most appropriate citizens to save it…
When Toqueville wrote these words, the Frenchman was 25, reflecting on his recently completed assignment in America circa 1831. His job was to take a survey of the American penal system, and the result was then and remains the most astute and sweeping observation about American life, culture and politics ever quill-and-inked. I’m a lover of stereotypical French culture, yet even the most Freedom-Fried among us owe a debt to France for three things: The Statue of Liberty, French cuisine, and Alexis de Toqueville.
I do not believe that the young Sarah Heath dreamed of being a powerful national political figure as a child, nor I do not believe that, even a decade ago, she could have imagined the beautiful storm she has created and now stage-directs. Her rise has been unthinkable, impossible, and fantastic, and barring an IQ that approaches that of Goethe, there is no defense to be launched off the Battleship Premise that she was the designer of history as we see it.
Nope, I would guess she was like many of the girls I grew up with in Oklahoma in my equally rural, unsophisticated surroundings: she wanted to graduate high school, go to college, find a mate, have children, and build a life. Like most Americans, she wanted to take what her parents gave her and build on said offerings, continuing the strange American notion of doing better than one’s parents, and leaving better for one’s children. Prior to the election of Pres. Obama, this was referred to as “The American Dream.”
I’m struck by Toqueville’s phrasing: “…when danger presses, man rarely remains at his habitual level; he elevates himself well above or falls below…”
What began as a shot at the city council of Wasilla in the go-go Clinton 90s has metastasized into one of America’s most compelling political odysseys. While on the right we can quibble, bicker, extrapolate, debate and pontificate what it means to be a Conservative, yet for a growing number there is a very simple litmus test: what do you think of Sarah Palin?
While other Conservatives wobble over the simplest of questions, Sarah Palin – unlike any contemporary political figure – has elevated herself not because, but in spite of Conservative elite opinion. With virtually no backing and only grassroots support from forums like this, she has taken up the late William Buckley’s call, strode across history’s track and yelled “Stop!” When she threw her support behind Doug Hoffman in NY-23, she turned a parochial political contest into a national debate, and she did so by letting the country know that the Big Dog was off the porch.
Meanwhile, days after the contest is done, Rom and Huck are still focus-grouping it.
One can argue the merits of Sarah Palin just as one can ask why the pissed-off bull is in the China cabinet – the time for debating Gov. Palin’s existence as an influential national figure has come and gone, and now the larger question is simple: where do you stand?
We Palinistas have exiled many, the Noonans, Parkers and Buckleys of the world, and we are wary of even our staunchest kinsmen – with a wary eye we watch Charles Krauthammer, who has slowly evolved into the wisest Ent among Conservatives even as he lashes out repeatedly at Gov. Palin, and as we watch the train-wreck, we want Kristol to grab Krauthammer by the collar and shake him, shouting “Dammit man! Do you not realize how close we are?!?”
We repeat the phrase “they just don’t get it” while wishing they would. If “we” sounds elitist in its own, strange way, so be it: We’ve kicked a helluva lot of fair-weather friends to the curb, and all have impotently bore witness to their influence’s decline. While David Frum is onanistically debating naming rights to his digital Smurf Village, Noonan and Parker are holding self-healing couch-sessions via broadsheet upon realizing The One ain’t even a Deuce.
I don’t particularly care whether the young Sarah Heath wanted to be the President any more than I care whether a woman my age a decade ago, mayor of a small town I’d never heard of in a state I’ve never visited, was hatching a plan to lead the country. What I do care about, quite passionately, is that suddenly, we have a man leading the country who is obviously, patently unqualified to do so, and there is exactly one person with the voice, bearing and media-savvy willing to point this fact out.
Some people are born leaders, and others happen to find themselves in a position to lead. This country needs confidence. Not the shallow kind buttressed by foam pillars and weak exaltations, but a sturdy voice and a steady hand to remind Americans we have nothing to apologize for, that our nation is the greatest driving force for good in human history. Gov. Palin has been tapped by the fates for this calling, and millions of us are optimistic, thankful she answered the call.
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