SlantRight 2.0: Rally Around the Sarah Palins of America

John R. Houk

© March 27, 2013

A few days ago Tea Party journalist Scottie Hughes was critical of Sarah Palin after her CPAC speech as being a rousing speaker but lacking in Conservative work to get the ball moving on a Conservative agenda to offset America’s Leftists.

An Open Letter to Sarah Palin

You are beginning to worry me. I am afraid you are losing touch with the people of whom your fame is based. I, after all, was one of your biggest supporters once. I am thrilled that you get invitations to go to NBA games, that you display your Chick-fil-A shirt, and that you go and support your daughter and her celebrity friends on Dancing with the Stars.

But at CPAC last week you made a rush for the exits. After you gave an inspiring speech where you said to a thrilled audience, “At a time when our country is desperate for leadership, we get instead a permanent campaign”. Instead of coming out and shaking the hands of those who you inspire, you quickly left the building without even a second glance.

You called out the liberal media as being unashamed, so at least you took notice of them. Not so for those of us on the right who had hoped that the woman from Wasilla, Alaska might understand our plight and give us a chance to engage one of the top names in the movement.

We were, to put it bluntly, disappointed. And while I wish this was a solo occurrence, unfortunately this seems to be your pattern.

I know we in the Tea Party movement don’t throw the best parties or live the most glamorous lives, but we are the ones who faithfully donated to the McCain campaign once you joined the ticket. We are the ones who defended you publicly when the liberal media made fun of you and when your own campaign advisors turned on you. We are the ones who add you and your family to our prayers every night at bedtime.

Yet it seems those in Hollywood who have made their money making you the butt of their jokes get more of your attention than the movement you helped inspire.

As a working mother in political journalism, I always looked to your journey as a source of inspiration. It was a testament to the fact that a woman can use her professional talents and not let her family suffer. The other side wants to make female conservatives feel like we are put in binders and … READ THE REST

Has Hughes been looking at the same Sarah Palin I have been look at? Palin has gone to Tea Party rallies and campaign stumped for Conservative pro-Tea Party plenty! My only disappoint with Sarah Palin was her decision to not run for the Office of President. I have no doubt that decision was based on the negative attacks by Establishment Republicans. The most notable of those Establishment Republicans was (and is) Karl Rove.

Let’s face it. Although the electorate power base of the Republican Party are Conservatives and of those on the Right it is the grassroots oriented Tea Partiers. BUT those who pull the finance strings in the Republican Party is the GOP’s version of Pharisees that favor a more Liberal Social Conservatism and leans toward Crony Capitalism rather than little guy entrepreneurship.

Sarah Palin was run out of the Governorship of Alaska because State Dems and Crony Capitalist Republicans constantly were inventing ethics violations to the absurd to prevent Palin from performing her Executive duties as Governor. I believe it is a good guess that she saw the Alaskan subservience to Establishment Republicans would be amplified against on a national basis with the Leftist Palin-hating Mainstream Media propagandizing against her message by obfuscating the honor of her personal life.

Instead of a fractured Tea Party splitting the Tea Party with hurt feelings for not getting the personal attention a prominent Tea Partier feels she deserves, it is no reason to make unsubstantiated complaints as if it was Left Wing propaganda.

RATHER prominent Tea Party leadership needs to unite and find a candidate like Sarah Palin that has a national message of American Exceptionalism, Constitutional Patriotism and Judeo-Christian Morality and stand up against Dems and Establishment Republicans as well as against the activism of the MSM Left.

So what if such a stand is not politically correct! In today’s world who defines political correctness? It is Leftists and RINOs. It is time to change the definers of political correctness.

Today it is politically incorrect to think outside of the Two-Party to replace one of the two prominent political parties. As the Republicans replaced the Whigs in the 1850s to eventually elect Abraham Lincoln in 1860, it is time for the Tea Party Movement to coalesce and find a political name representative of Conservative Tea Partiers.

In the 1850s the Abolitionist Movement was considered a fringe grassroots movement. The Dems, MSM and Establishment Republicans consider the Tea Party to be a fringe grassroots movement that will play itself out. Establishment Republicans envision the Conservative Tea Party base will catapult the GOP back into driver’s seat of both Houses in Congress. In that envisionment Establishment Republicans intend to minimize Tea Party to stop the Leftist fringe of the Dems and bring a middle road political agenda that benefits the Center-Left socially and the Crony Capitalist corporate big business elites on the Center-Right.

Just because Center-Left and Center-Right sounds like a moderate path it does not mean a beneficent path for American culture.

The Leftist end of the scale is godless in values and humanistic in a moral foundation for the rule of law. The far Right end of the scale exploits religion for personal ideological gain and is oppressive to be beneficent to the corporate elite; i.e. Crony Capitalism on the backs of citizens squashing the entrepreneurial spirit of the average American to carve out a self-sustaining niche in life.

The only path that will to make America good is the godly path in which a moral foundation is the platform for the rule of law in which the little guy gets a few shake in the midst of Crony Capitalist elites concerned with the profit margin for the Board of Directors or for the Shareholders.

Government by and for the people is not a top to bottom manifesto for yeomen Americans rather the people represent the rule of law that protects the rights of the unentitled (and I am not talking about government entitled but rather the wealthy entitled as the opposite of the unentitled).

Real justice for all is godly morality not some Leftist ideological definition of justice that robs the yeoman American of the entrepreneurial opportunity to self-sustaining wealth via hard work and good decision making. Leftist justice will keep yeoman Americans enslaved to a life leashed to whatever government agenda is defined as good for Americans even if it robs of Liberty, a godly life and the pursuit of happiness. I call the Leftist ‘good’ evil.

The few Sarah Palins left in America need to be rallied around and not used in political divisiveness.

Check out the rebuttal of Scottie Hughes’ open letter to Sarah Palin written by Tony Lee.

JRH 3/27/13

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Tea Party News Network Director Falsely Smears Palin

By Tony Lee

25 Mar 2013

Breitbart Big Government

In a bizarre rant--or "open letter"--at Townhall, Scottie Hughes, the news director for the Tea Party News Network, falsely accuses former Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin of rushing out of this year's CPAC and having a pattern of ignoring grassroots conservatives.

While Hughes's motivation for writing such a column may only be known to her, her accusations are demonstrably false.

Doug McMarlin, who has been with Palin since 2008 and was with her at this year's CPAC, was also perplexed by Hughes's characterization of the event. Palin met with volunteers, supporters and CPAC leadership at this year's event. Palin keynoted last year's CPAC and was the conference's last speaker, which allowed for her to mix with the audience following her speech.

This year, her slot fell on a Saturday afternoon, which meant there were scheduled speakers immediately after her remarks. It would not have been logistically possible for Palin to even greet the crowd or do talk radio hits from CPAC without causing a huge disturbance due to the crowds that would have swarmed her and disrupted the conference.

"Never underestimate the level the uninformed with a keyboard will go to make a point based on a lack of information," McMarlin told Breitbart News. "Lamestream, mainstream, and no stream media, it's unfortunate when those who lack facts lash out without regard. Governor Palin, as always, was with volunteers, supporters and fellow conservatives throughout her days at CPAC."

Hughes also implied that Palin only speaks to the grassroots through the teleprompter, but this accusation again does not even pass the smell test.

Jason Recher, a Palin staffer who has been with Palin at nearly every event since 2008, told Breitbart News Palin never asks for a teleprompter. In fact, reporters have often said Palin improvises during her speeches, which forces reporters to pay attention to every word in order to quote her accurately.

"I've been at almost every speech she's given since '08 and can't think of a time where she ever asked to use a Teleprompter," Recher told Breitbart News. The teleprompters at CPAC were part of the stage set up used for all the speakers; it was not something Palin personally requested.

Hughes, with no evidence whatsoever, alleges Palin made a "rush to the exits" at this year's CPAC, implying Palin did not have time for the grassroots.

Again, not true.

As the photos below indicate, Palin spent time after the speech meeting with volunteers.

In addition, Rebecca Mansour, a Palin staffer, told Breitbart News that Palin had to catch a flight immediately after her speech. "She is a very busy working mom with many family and work obligations, including raising a son with Down syndrome who has scheduled therapies," Mansour said.

Finally, in what may be her most misguided and out-of-touch statement that reveals her ignorance, Hughes refers to Palin's "pattern of this behavior."

What "pattern" is Hughes referencing?

The hours that Palin spent with nearly everyone who wanted to speak to her after she keynoted CPAC in 2012, as can be seen in C-SPAN's coverage of the event?

The hours Palin spent in the lobby at CPAC in 2012 talking to bloggers and attendees, including Townhall's own Katie Pavlich? Hughes penned her column at Townhall, so it is worth noting that Palin spoke to that outlet at CPAC in 2012.

Is Hughes referencing the time Palin spent with those who came to Iowa--in inclement weather--to listen to Palin denounce crony capitalism and the permanent political class in 2011? At the end of C-SPAN's coverage of the event, it is clear Palin is energized by grassroots conservatives, and they love her because she genuinely is one of them.

Was Hughes referring to Palin visiting grassroots Tea Partiers at the Machine Shed restaurant in Iowa in 2011, comfortably mingling with nearly everyone in attendance?

Was she referencing Palin's appearance at the Iowa State Fair in 2011, where she talked to nearly every Iowan who approached her for nearly six hours? Where she won the respect of liberals and even mainstream media reporters who did not think highly of her for genuinely liking "common" people most politicians do not feel comfortable around?

If Hughes is really a part of the grassroots and not a part of an astroturf movement, she could have gone to any of these events--like thousands of grassroots Tea Partiers--and spoken to Palin. Instead, she sounds like mainstream media members who lash out at Palin solely because Palin does not speak to them whenever they wish.

At these events, mainstream media reporters and liberals who did not even like Palin conceded how gracious and how accessible she is and how she thrives around the normal people Hughes purportedly claims to represent. Having written about Palin for nearly four years and having spoken to people who have been at nearly every event Palin has attended during this period, I have consistently heard people comment about how accessible--and down to earth--Palin is after all of her speeches and events, which is especially noteworthy given Palin's white-hot star power.

It is unclear if Hughes wants Palin to spend time with her or her organization, but grassroots Tea Partiers who truly care more about fighting for the country instead of using the Tea Party to advance whatever agenda suits their interests never ask Palin for anything except to hold politicians and the permanent political class on the left and right to account, which Palin has relentlessly done.

And while Hughes implies Palin does not pay attention to new media, it is worth noting that after Palin turned down Fox News' offer to renew her contract earlier this year, the first interview Palin gave was to Breitbart News--a new media outlet.

While Hughes, to date, has not seemed like someone who would proverbially come to Washington claiming to change it and instead see the D.C. cesspool as a jacuzzi, her column reads like it was written by someone desperate to become a part of the permanent political class. Her comments are cribbed from remarks the elite Washington, D.C. Republicans and liberals she purportedly is against so often make to denigrate Palin because they, in their minds, think Palin somehow spurned them. They criticize Palin to get pageviews and ratings and to make a name for themselves so they can try to get 1/1000 of her star power and influence.

They desperately crave to get 1/1000 of the bookings Palin most often has to turn down on a daily basis.

They wish their children could have the opportunities to influence pop culture--and would take that chance and go toward the glistening Hollywood spotlight faster than a moth to a flame--all the while acting as if they despise the Hollywood elite while secretly craving their affirmation and wanting all of the glitz and glamour associated with them.

They want to use the Tea Party movement to become stars or cash out instead of fighting to elect candidates like Ted Cruz to the Senate. At CPAC, Cruz said he would not be in the Senate without Palin. Nobody mentioned Hughes, and she most likely will not have politicians knocking on her door to ask for her endorsement.

Hughes needs to be careful, for more columns like this will make people think Hughes may be projecting or falsely seeing in Palin what she may see in herself. Columns that smear a politician like Palin who has held both parties to account in the true spirit of the Tea Party movement will begin to "worry" conservatives and Tea Partiers. They may begin to wonder what Hughes's intentions are for being in the Tea Party movement and whether Scottie Hughes puts herself before her country and the principles for which she purportedly fights.

All photos below, from CPAC 2013, courtesy of Shealah Craighead/SarahPAC

Gov. Palin with CPAC attendees and volunteers: