I've written 2 blogs here these past 2 days, and received comments questioning my knowledge--or lack thereof--of Sarah Palin.  Okay, for better or worse, here's the truth.  Never met her, though would love to.  Never been to Alaska, though would like to go--especially to Wasilla.  Haven't read "Going Rogue" yet, though no one else has either.  (Maybe Todd has??)  Not only that, I was a Democrat since 1960, only becoming a Palin fan on August 29, 2008.  Okay, so where do I get my "knowledge" of Ms Palin?  Except for those who really know her (friends, neighbors, members of her staff when she held offices in Alaska, family), I'm pretty sure most fans of Palin got their "knowledge" the same way I did.  (Actually, it's likely most fans of Palin go on gut instinct and emotion and seeing "similarities" between themselves and Sarah, not on first-hand knowledge of her.)  Starting 8/29/08, I've spent many hours watching videos of her press conferences, interviews, and speeches.  I've seen dozens of them, and watched some of them many times.  I've read 4 biographies of her--by Joe Hilley, G. Robert James, Lorenzo Benet, and Kaylene Johnson.  In my library, I've read many editions of Anchorage Daily News.  I go every day to Conservatives4Palin, Texas for Sarah Palin, The Book of Sarah, and Sarah's FB page, where I've read all 72 of her Notes.  I've read all the magazine articles I could find on her, including negative ones.  So my knowledge is not total, nor, by scholarly standards, even that extensive.  But, compared to most of her blogging critics, and those who display their retched humanity in their comments, and even those who refuse to give her respect due a former Mayor, Governor, and Vice-Presidential candidate, despite calling themselves "professional" journalists, I'd say my own knowledge of Sarah Palin is more than adequate to the task at hand, which is to state my OPINION about Sarah Palin.  That I've never met her, or know every single detail of every single moment in her life, should not disqualify me from speaking out.  I look forward to reading "Going Rogue".

Is Sarah Palin intelligent?  If so, then why do people--even some Republicans--question it?  Because she took 5 years to graduate from a small college (Univ of Idaho), after having attended 4-5 other schools?  Because of her grades?  (I have no idea what they were!)  Because of her IQ?  (Also don't know.)  Because she was a beauty queen?  Because she's "a jock"?  Because she resigned from being Governor? Maybe all of the above, and more.  So what's the result of this opinion, that she lacks intelligence?  I see it all the time in people's comments about her.  "She can't read or write."  "She didn't write her book (or Facebook Notes, or op-ed pieces)."  "Her writing now doesn't come close to the "incoherent, rambling, trailer trash" manner of her previous speech during the VP campaign, or when she announced her resignation."  "She's dumb, a dunce, an airhead."  OH?????  I have an older sister who took over 10 years to graduate from Arizona State.  She went on to become a leading executive at McDonnell-Douglas, rated highly nationwide.  She birthed and raised my 3 nieces during her "college years", while working in less demanding jobs.  Sarah is a college graduate in communications and journalism.  She worked as a newspaper intern and as a TV sportscaster.  She apparently has kept an extensive journal. (Though I don't know when it began.)  While Mayor of Wasilla for 6 years, and while Governor of Alaska, she drafted lots of bills to send to the Council or Legislature for voting.  Did someone help write these bills?  Of course!  No high-level Executive writes their own legislation.  BUT they DO express their ideas and facts and sources to the writers, who then put THEIR (the Governor/Mayor, etc)  words into the bill.  Another BUT!  BUT there is NO PROOF that Sarah Palin  did not write every word of her op-ed pieces and her FB Notes.  But, you say, then why do these WRITTEN pieces sound so DIFFERENT than the REAL Sarah Palin, the one parodied so well by Tina Fey?  Let's take the most (in-)famous Fey line, "I can see Russia from my house!".  Sarah did NOT say that!  Sarah said "You can see Russia from land here in Alaska."  TRUE!
There are 2 islands in the sea that divides Russia from the United States (Alaska)--Big and Little Diamedes.  Big D is Russian, Little D is US (Alaskan).  On a clear day, you CAN see Russia from Alaska!!  Sarah told the truth!!  Her resignation speech July 3 was "rambling, incoherent".  HUH??  Yes, it covered more than one topic.  Yes, it used sports references.  Yes, I admit she spoke too fast, and the sound of ducks on Lake Lucille perhaps took away from the serious intent of her words.  But look at those words on paper.  They make a LOT of sense.  Better yet was her farewell speech on July 26, again highly criticized.  Read THOSE words.  Read her China speech transcript, at least the excerpt provided on her FB page.  Search out the COMPLETE UNEDITED transcript of her interview with Charles Gibson during the campaign.  You know, the one where she was questioned about Bush's Doctrine.  The editing was biased to make her APPEAR DUMB!!!  Can she speak without a teleprompter?  YES!!  Listen to her post-election interview (in her office) with Greta Van Susteren, when she explains the FACTS behind the wardrobe controversy, and whether she knew Africa was a continent, or which nations were part of NAFTA.  Watch the lengthy press conference in Alaska where she talks of legislation, her cabinet, and other subjects, all extemporaneously.  Watch her interviews with Sean Hannity, Matt Lauer, and especially Wolf Blitzer, all in June 2009, when she speaks lucidly of energy independence, the economy, and the Letterman controversy, each time without notes or a teleprompter in sight!!  The one complaint about Sarah Palin that irks and infuriates me the most is the one (actually, they're quite numerous!!) that says she lacks intelligence, or the basic ability to write her own book, FB Notes, or op-eds.  BULL!!!!!  I've been a writer for nearly 44 years.  Published?  A little.  Known?  NO!  Wealthy because of it?  You gotta be kidding!!!!  BUT, as a writer, I know there is very often a long divide between the manner one writes words on paper (or computer) and the manner one speaks in person during a typical conversation.  Truman Capote criticized Jack Kerouac's prose, specifically his "On the Road", saying "That's not writing, that's typing!"  Listen to, and watch, Sarah's speech in Evansville IN last April at the Vandenburgh Right to Life affair.  She speaks from notes, yes, but she speaks from the HEART!  I'm a 65 year old man who is solidly Pro-Choice (more on this issue in a future blog), but I CRY EVERY TIME I hear Sarah speak about the love she has for son Trig, and about the decision she made to not abort him.  It takes POWERFUL WORDS to make a grown man cry, however much he wears his heart on his sleeve.  (And I DO!!)  Sarah has intelligence.  The day that her critics listen to her words, and really read her words, and don't pre-judge her based on parodies or edited transcripts of interviews, is the day America will learn something from this woman, who IS INTELLIGENT!!! 

Is Sarah Palin intelligent?  If so, then why do people--even some Republicans--question it?  Because she took 5 years to graduate from a small college (Univ of Idaho), after having attended 4-5 other schools?  Because of her grades?  (I have no idea what they were!)  Because of her IQ?  (Also don't know.)  Because she was a beauty queen?  Because she's "a jock"?  Because she resigned from being Governor? Maybe all of the above, and more.  So what's the result of this opinion, that she lacks intelligence?  I see it all the time in people's comments about her.  "She can't read or write."  "She didn't write her book (or Facebook Notes, or op-ed pieces)."  "Her writing now doesn't come close to the "incoherent, rambling, trailer trash" manner of her previous speech during the VP campaign, or when she announced her resignation."  "She's dumb, a dunce, an airhead."  OH?????  I have an older sister who took over 10 years to graduate from Arizona State.  She went on to become a leading executive at McDonnell-Douglas, rated highly nationwide.  She birthed and raised my 3 nieces during her "college years", while working in less demanding jobs.  Sarah is a college graduate in communications and journalism.  She worked as a newspaper intern and as a TV sportscaster.  She apparently has kept an extensive journal. (Though I don't know when it began.)  While Mayor of Wasilla for 6 years, and while Governor of Alaska, she drafted lots of bills to send to the Council or Legislature for voting.  Did someone help write these bills?  Of course!  No high-level Executive writes their own legislation.  BUT they DO express their ideas and facts and sources to the writers, who then put THEIR (the Governor/Mayor, etc)  words into the bill.  Another BUT!  BUT there is NO PROOF that Sarah Palin  did not write every word of her op-ed pieces and her FB Notes.  But, you say, then why do these WRITTEN pieces sound so DIFFERENT than the REAL Sarah Palin, the one parodied so well by Tina Fey?  Let's take the most (in-)famous Fey line, "I can see Russia from my house!".  Sarah did NOT say that!  Sarah said "You can see Russia from land here in Alaska."  TRUE!
There are 2 islands in the sea that divides Russia from the United States (Alaska)--Big and Little Diamedes.  Big D is Russian, Little D is US (Alaskan).  On a clear day, you CAN see Russia from Alaska!!  Sarah told the truth!!  Her resignation speech July 3 was "rambling, incoherent".  HUH??  Yes, it covered more than one topic.  Yes, it used sports references.  Yes, I admit she spoke too fast, and the sound of ducks on Lake Lucille perhaps took away from the serious intent of her words.  But look at those words on paper.  They make a LOT of sense.  Better yet was her farewell speech on July 26, again highly criticized.  Read THOSE words.  Read her China speech transcript, at least the excerpt provided on her FB page.  Search out the COMPLETE UNEDITED transcript of her interview with Charles Gibson during the campaign.  You know, the one where she was questioned about Bush's Doctrine.  The editing was biased to make her APPEAR DUMB!!!  Can she speak without a teleprompter?  YES!!  Listen to her post-election interview (in her office) with Greta Van Susteren, when she explains the FACTS behind the wardrobe controversy, and whether she knew Africa was a continent, or which nations were part of NAFTA.  Watch the lengthy press conference in Alaska where she talks of legislation, her cabinet, and other subjects, all extemporaneously.  Watch her interviews with Sean Hannity, Matt Lauer, and especially Wolf Blitzer, all in June 2009, when she speaks lucidly of energy independence, the economy, and the Letterman controversy, each time without notes or a teleprompter in sight!!  The one complaint about Sarah Palin that irks and infuriates me the most is the one (actually, they're quite numerous!!) that says she lacks intelligence, or the basic ability to write her own book, FB Notes, or op-eds.  BULL!!!!!  I've been a writer for nearly 44 years.  Published?  A little.  Known?  NO!  Wealthy because of it?  You gotta be kidding!!!!  BUT, as a writer, I know there is very often a long divide between the manner one writes words on paper (or computer) and the manner one speaks in person during a typical conversation.  Truman Capote criticized Jack Kerouac's prose, specifically his "On the Road", saying "That's not writing, that's typing!"  Listen to, and watch, Sarah's speech in Evansville IN last April at the Vandenburgh Right to Life affair.  She speaks from notes, yes, but she speaks from the HEART!  I'm a 65 year old man who is solidly Pro-Choice (more on this issue in a future blog), but I CRY EVERY TIME I hear Sarah speak about the love she has for son Trig, and about the decision she made to not abort him.  It takes POWERFUL WORDS to make a grown man cry, however much he wears his heart on his sleeve.  (And I DO!!)  Sarah has intelligence.  The day that her critics listen to her words, and really read her words, and don't pre-judge her based on parodies or edited transcripts of interviews, is the day America will learn something from this woman, who IS INTELLIGENT!!! 

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Before I begin, let me state I'm a novice with computers/internet/blogging.  But I LOVE Sarah Palin, and see her as the ONLY viable Republican choice for President for 2012.  Her FB page has over 928,000 fans.  Together, Romney, Pawlenty, Huckabee, Jindal et al can't come close!  She draws crowds of 20,000 in a town of 26,000 for a parade, while others draw "crowds" of 1000 or less.  She gets $7 million advance for a book,, guaranteed to be an instant #1.  Her FB Notes and newspaper op-eds draw scathing attacks and/or joyful praise.  She gave a fantastic speech, mostly on foreign policy, in China.  She's creating an issues-oriented group that will pave her path to the White House.  I can't believe--despite the polls--that any other "candidate" thinks they stand a chance in 2012 against her.  Polls?  forget them.  Once her book is out, and she campaigns for candidates nationwide next year, and then announces for the Presidency, watch the polls change overnight.  And every page of Sarah's FB "Wall" contains the name Michele Bachmann more than any other as Sarah's best choice for VP in 2012.  (Huckabee is probably 2nd--though my "count" is visual, not actual.)  And I too can't think of a better choice for VP.  We need women running this country.  We've had nothing but men in the top 2 slots, and look where we are.  I'm only recently learning about Ms Bachmann.  That's one reason why  I'm  here.