Home from commercial fishing grounds in Bristol Bay, and here's Piper helping slay salmon to market! 

A good season for wild reds on the Nushagak, Piper hopes to make enough to cover, maybe, a cell phone bill. Do you agree, as I’ve said before, we need more girls holding up fish in pics instead of holding up iPhones in selfies?!

It’s always wonderful reconnecting with our roots in Bristol Bay. We are very blessed to have five generations of family learning, living, loving together here in Alaska. Todd's grandmother, a beautiful Yupik Eskimo elder who still speaks Yupik, masters the skillful artistry of the Native culture, crafting intricately woven grass baskets and works using wood, fur, skins, plants, porcupine needles and anything else traditionally gathered. Our matriarch cooks traditional subsistence fare that she's helped harvest for nearly all her 94 years up North.

The stories this humble pioneer has lived illustrate what a genuine conservationist is: respecting God-given resources for man's responsible use; honoring the Creator of it all and protecting the environment so our hunting, fishing, mining for minerals, drilling for energy, viewing our wildlife… all can be enjoyed and responsibly exploited for every generation to come. Native elders are so often the ones to learn "environmentalism" from; they've lived off the land and carved their lives out of the wilderness and on the waters. They honor the purpose of natural resources. Any day of the week I'd trust Lena's commitment to protecting opportunities to develop the earth's energy and food supplies over any New York City "Occupying" yuppie who radically screeches his misguided doctrine from within his concrete jungle. (It's because a Bristol Bay wild salmon stew and blueberry pie harvested ourselves nourishes the commonsense gene so much more than the foo-foo chi-chi $8.00 frothy latte he sips while skipping in and out of stale air conditioned boxes... in my opinion!)

Lena's a true American role model, we're so thankful to have our kind, wise, gorgeous "G.G." in our lives. May Lena's passionate love of God, family and country continue to influence Alaskans. She makes the world a better place.

I snapped the moose photo last night (followed by a fun video I shot; maybe I'll post it later). It was taken at 11pm, but still light in the Land of the Midnight Sun, of course. Trig got out of bed to watch out the living room for Todd to land his float plane in the front yard (i.e. the lake!) returning from Bristol Bay. And then three NEW FRIENDS sauntered by to meet Trig! The ungulates proceeded to chomp down dinner in my garden. Moose = my convenient excuse as to why my garden is no Pepperidge Farm!

- Sarah Palin

What an honor it was to speak today at the “Restoring Honor” Rally in D.C. The following is the text of my remarks. You can click here or here to watch a video of it.

- Sarah Palin

Photo by Shealah Craighead

“Restoring Honor” Rally

August 28, 2010  

Washington, D.C. 

Thank you so much. Are you not so proud to be an American?

What an honor. What an honor.

We stand today at the symbolic crossroads of our nation’s history. All around us are monuments to those who have sustained us in word or deed. There in the distance stands the monument to the father of our country.  And behind me, the towering presence of the Great Emancipator who secured our union at the moment of its most perilous time and freed those whose captivity was our greatest shame. And over these grounds where we are so honored to stand today, we feel the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who on this very day, two score and seven years ago, gave voice to a dream that would challenge us to honor the sacred charters of our liberty – that all men are created equal.

Now, in honoring these giants, who were linked by a solid rock foundation of faith in the one true God of justice, we must not forget the ordinary men and women on whose shoulders they stood. The ordinary called for extraordinary bravery. I am speaking, of course, of America’s finest – our men and women in uniform, a force for good in this country, and that is nothing to apologize for.

Abraham Lincoln once spoke of “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land.” For over 200 years, those mystic chords have bound us in gratitude to those who are willingly to sacrifice, to restrain evil, to protect God-given liberty, to sacrifice all in defense of our country.

They fought for its freedom at Bunker Hill, they fought for its survival at Gettysburg, and for the ideals on which it stands – liberty and justice for all – on a thousand battlefields far from home.

It is so humbling to get to be here with you today, patriots – you who are motivated and engaged and concerned, knowing to never retreat. I must assume that you too know that we must not fundamentally transform America as some would want. We must restore America and restore her honor!

Now, I’ve been asked to speak today, not as a politician. No, as something more – something much more. I’ve been asked to speak as the mother of a soldier, and I am proud of that distinction. You know, say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet, and you can’t take that away from me. I’m proud of that distinction, but it is not one that I had imagined because no woman gives birth thinking that she will hand over her child to her country, but that’s what mothers have done from ancient days.

In cities and towns across our country, you’ll find monuments to brave Americans wearing the uniforms of wars from long ago, and look down at their inscriptions, you’ll see that they were so often dedicated by mothers. In distant lands across the globe, you’ll find silent fields of white markers with the names of Americans who never came home, but who showed their dedication to their country by where they died.

We honor those who served something greater than self and made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as those who served and did come home forever changed by the battlefield. Though this rally is about “restoring honor,” for these men and women honor was never lost! If you look for the virtues that have sustained our country, you will find them in those who wear the uniform, who take the oath, who pay the price for our freedom.

And I’d like to tell you three stories of such Americans – three patriots – who stand with us today.

The first is a man named Marcus Luttrell. His story is one of raw courage in the face of overwhelming odds. It’s also a story of America’s enduring quest for justice. Remember, we went to Afghanistan seeking justice for those who were killed without mercy by evil men on September 11th. And one fateful day in Afghanistan on a mountain ridge, Marcus and three of his fellow Navy SEALs confronted the issue of justice and mercy in a decision that would forever change their lives.

They were on a mission to hunt down a high-level Taliban leader, but they were faced with a terrible dilemma when some men herding goats stumbled upon their position, and they couldn’t tell if these men were friend or foe. So the question was what to do with them? Should they kill them or should they let them go and perhaps risk compromising their mission? They took a vote. They chose mercy over self-preservation. They set their prisoners free. The vote said it was the humane thing to do. It was the American thing to do. But it sealed their fate because within hours, over a hundred Taliban forces arrived on the scene. They battled the four Navy SEALs throughout the surrounding hills. A rescue helicopter came, but it was shot down. By the time the sun set on June 28, 2005, it was one of the bloodiest days for American forces in Afghanistan.

Nineteen brave, honorable men were lost that day. Marcus was the sole survivor. Alone, stranded, badly wounded, he limped and crawled for miles along that mountain side. What happened next is a testament to the words: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” Marcus and his team showed mercy in letting their prisoners free. And later he was shown mercy by Afghan villagers who honored an ancient custom of providing hospitality to any stranger who would ask for it. They took him in. They cared for him, refused to hand him over to the Taliban. They got him back safely to our forces.

Marcus’ story teaches us that even on the worst battlefield against the most brutal enemy, we adhere to our principles. This American love of justice and mercy is what makes us a force for good in this world. Marcus is a testament to that.

Please join me in honoring retired U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell.

From the time he first heard men marching to a cadence call, Eddie Wright had one dream in life, and that was to be a United States Marine. And as a Marine serving in Iraq, his company was ambushed in Fallujah. He was knocked out when a rocket propelled grenade hit his Humvee. When he came to, he saw that both his hands were gone and his leg was badly wounded.

He couldn’t fire his weapon, he could barely move, and he was bleeding to death. But he had the strength of mind to lead the men under his command, and that is exactly what he did. He kept them calm, he showed them how to stop the bleeding in his leg, he told them where to return fire, he had them call for support, and he got them out of there alive.

His composure under fire that day earned him the Bronze Star with Valor device. But if you ask him, “What did you get it for?”, he’ll tell you, “Just for doing my job.”

After a long recovery, Eddie continued to serve as a martial arts instructor. He resigned from his beloved Marine Corps a few years ago, but he still lives by the motto: “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

And if you want to see the American spirit of never retreating, no matter the odds – of steady confidence and optimism, no matter the setbacks – look at Eddie’s story.  No matter how tough times are, Americans always pull through. As Eddie put it himself: “We don’t really foster the attitude of I can’t. When you have an obstacle in front of you, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and focus on what you can.”

So, please join me in honoring retired Marine Sergeant James “Eddie” Wright.

Tom Kirk was an Air Force squadron commander and a combat pilot who had flown over 150 missions in Korea and Vietnam. One day on a routine mission over Hanoi, his plane was shot down. He spent the next five and a half years in that living hell known as the Hanoi Hilton.

Like his fellow prisoners, Tom endured the beatings, the torture, the hunger, the years of isolation. He described it, saying, “There was nothing to do, nothing to read, nothing to write. You had to just sit there in absolute boredom, loneliness, frustration, and fear. You had to live one day at a time, because you had no idea how long you were going to be there.”

After two years of solitary confinement, pacing back and forth in his cell — three and a half steps across, three and a half steps deep – Tom was finally moved to a larger holding cell with 45 other Americans prisoners, among them was a man named John McCain. In circumstances that defy description, this band of brothers kept each other alive, and one by one, they came home.

Tom was released on March 14, 1973. You might think that a man who had suffered so much for his country would be bitter and broken by it. But Tom’s heart was only filled with love – love for America – that special love of country that we call patriotism.

Tom wrote, “Patriotism has become, for many, a ‘corny’ thing. For me, it is more important now than at any time in my life. How wonderful it is to be an American come home!”

Friends, please join me in honoring retired Air Force Colonel Tom Kirk.

My fellow Americans, each one of these men here today faced terrible sufferings, overwhelming set-backs, and impossible odds.

And they endured! And their stories are America’s story.

We will always come through. We will never give up, and we shall endure because we live by that moral strength that we call grace. Because though we’ve often skirted a precipice, a providential hand has always guided us to a better future.

And I know that many of us today, we are worried about what we face. Sometimes our challenges, they just seem insurmountable.

But, here, together, at the crossroads of our history, may this day be the change point!

Look around you. You’re not alone. You are Americans!

You have the same steel spine and the moral courage of Washington and Lincoln and Martin Luther King. It is in you. It will sustain you as it sustained them.

So with pride in the red, white, and blue; with gratitude to our men and women in uniform; let’s stand together! Let’s stand with honor! Let’s restore America!

God bless you! And God bless America!

Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks during the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall on Saturday, August, 28, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck headlined the event that drew an estimated crowd of 300,000 - 500,000 at the same location that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, 47 years ago. Photo by Shealah Craighead

Looking forward to heading out on the first leg of our "Good Tidings and Great Joy" book tour! I wanted to share with you some of the pre-Thanksgiving schedule and details. (More to come!) We look forward to seeing you on the road, having the opportunity to spread the positive message of this book and really share in the true spirit of the Christmas season. I promise we can make these fun events for all! While our schedule is pretty packed, we plan to stop by local charities that embrace the spirit of Christmas year 'round to thank them and highlight their good work. And you never know when we'll "Go Rogue" and pop up somewhere else. Merry Christmas! Can't wait to see you! 

- Sarah Palin

Here is the schedule of the first leg of the book tour. Please feel free to share the graphic and the e-cards at the bottom:

*TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12th:

Bethlehem, PA (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

4445 Southmont Way

Easton, PA 18045

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13th:

Columbus, OH (12:00 – 2:00 PM)

Barnes& Noble Booksellers

PolarisFashion Center

1560Polaris Parkway 

Columbus, OH 43240

Grand Rapids, MI (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Barnes & Noble Booksellers – Woodland Mall

3195 28^th Street SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49512

*THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14th:

Wausau, WI (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Walmart Supercenter

4300 Rib Mountain Drive

Wausau, WI 54401

*FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15th:

Fort Campbell, KY (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Fort Campbell Exchange

2840 Bastogne Ave

Fort Campbell, KY 42223

Fort Benning, GA (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Fort Benning Exchange

BLDG 9220 Marne Rd

Fort Benning, GA 31905

*SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th:

Naples, FL (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

5377 Tamiami Trail

Naples, FL 34108

*MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18th:

The Villages, FL (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

1055 Old Camp Road

The Villages, FL 32162

Pensacola, FL (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Books-A-Million

6235 North Davis Highway

Pensacola, FL 32504

*TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19th:

Plano, TX (10:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

Costco

1701 Dallas Pkwy

Plano, TX 75093-4520

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20th:

Tyler, TX (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Sam’s Club

2025 S. SW Loop 323

Tyler, TX 75701

Edmond, OK (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Mardel Christian & Education Supply

330 S. Boulevard St.

Edmond, OK 73013

*THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21st:

Fayetteville, AR (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM)

Sam’s Club #8209

3081N. Hwy. 112

Fayetteville, AR 72704

Kansas City, KS (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Barnes & Noble Booksellers – Oak Park Mall

11149 W. 95th Street

Overland Park, KS 66214

*FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd:

Omaha, NE (10:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

Costco

12300 West Dodge Rd.

Omaha, NE 68154-2382

Minneapolis, MN (6:00 – 8:00 PM)

Mall of America

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

60 E. Broadway

Bloomington, MN 54425

The beauty of catching some of our Alaskan species with fins is the amount of meat harvested with each fish. Rod and reeling red salmon, or, my favorite, a big (or even not so big) halibut ensures you've got a few dinners taken care of even when feeding a bunch of people.

We had a blast hauling in halibut in Homer a few days ago, despite the cold rain and queasy waves for which Cook Inlet is notorious. Todd flew his Cessna 185 alongside the Inlet, then on to Pedro Bay, then the next day we drove the scenic Seward Highway to Anchor Point's salt water, also part of Cook Inlet. The kids and their friends have gone back and forth between work schedules to different fishing grounds this summer, and they're helping fill the freezer with organic protein for winter! It's the best. I especially love the halibut, and for weaklings like me, it takes a few of us working together to hike the heavy white meat over the railing to gaff and club it. Then tradition calls for a whole group to sit around a bonfire once ashore to watch one pro (that wouldn't be me) do all the filleting while we eat.

Even more fun than the catch is having the crowd in the kitchen try different ways to cook it. The goal on the water may be to catch the big one, like an 80 lb. king or a "barn door" halibut, but IMHO the best eating is a smaller halibut pulled fresh out of the water and dipped right into the beer batter.

It doesn't really take a village to catch a fish. But it's fun to have one to eat it up. Here's how the girls and their friends cooked this weekend's fish, and I invite you to try this perfect recipe for wild rhubarb pie as an accompaniment. We stayed in a cabin on the Inlet with an old abandoned garden out back, and even without any horticultural care the perennial bushels of rhubarb never seem to go away. So I hacked stalks of this tart leafy plant to feed our village... er, the crew... in Wasilla. I used my mother-in-law's simple, delicious pie crust recipe (see below) and tried a rhubarb filling recipe I found on the internet. It was heavenly. Piper put together a collage to show you some before and after shots of the outings, along with a few randoms (see below). 

Something different but still maybe par-for-the-course for us: Bristol took her paycheck from starring in a recent episode of "Celebrity Wife Swap" (She and Willow had a ball working with Joan and Melissa Rivers on the episode! Really!) and bought a pontoon. (You can spot it festooned with a big bright American flag in the background of one of Piper's collages.) So we finally felt like tourists out on our lake putzing around – no gill nets, cork lines, lead lines, chaos – just floatin' in slow motion. All we're missing is the heat! I'm glad our girls are learning mechanical skills and a general knowledge of "how stuff works" with their acquiring of various pieces of equipment and large used toys for their Alaskan lifestyle. I respect the hardcore, real world skills needed to keep things running. 

Enough sport fishing for now though, or as Todd says,"Enough playing with our food," because our commercial fishing season soon peaks. The guys have headed over to Bristol Bay to slay salmon at our sites while I stay back awhile to get Piper to basketball camps, do some work for FOX, finish my Christmas book, then travel Outside for various events.

Have a great pre-Independence Day week. Take time to appreciate the bounty we're blessed with on God's green earth. I encourage you to get outdoors, breathe it all in, and be thankful!

Enjoy these recipes. Eat dessert first:

Faye Palin's Simple, Perfect Pie Crust

(Note: This amount makes extra so you can also bake some "Kids' Crust" with drizzled butter and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top. Plus, if you're like me, when you indelicately roll out the dough and it falls apart you can use the extra to plug holes and cracks in the pie crust; it tastes just as delicious!)

Caution: if you're annoyed by these detailed instructions, I don't want to hear it. I often explain kitchenese in simple and exact terms because my kids followed in my footsteps and took Shop Class in school instead of Home Ec (Do they even teach Home Ec anymore?!). Thankfully, while growing up my mom cooked three squares a day in our small town without any big grocery stores or even a McDonalds, and she was a 4-H and Scout leader, so we all garnered good old-fashioned cooking and sewing skills in those groups and in Campfire Girls. It was through osmosis we learned to cook from mom! Nowadays, not so much. So forgive the elementary instructions – they're written for my Taco Bell-addicted kids and their peers.

2 1/2 C. flour

2 Tsp. salt

1 C. vegetable oil

6 Tbsp. cold water (You may need a tiny bit more or less cold water to sprinkle in to moisten the dough as you mix it)

Mix flour and salt. Add oil; mix with fork until it looks like meal. Sprinkle with the water; mix with fork or curved pastry blender until it looks like pie dough you may have seen on a TV commercial.

Glob the dough together. Press into three balls, one larger than the others. Roll the larger ball of dough (this is your bottom crust) between two long strips of waxed or parchment paper (so there's less mess!). Place paper-side-up in pie pan. Peel off the paper and then fill 'er up with the rhubarb mixture (Click here for recipe); trim edges. Roll the top crust the same way. Trim it ½” beyond pie plate rim. Fold under. Seal and flute. Google "fluting" if you don't get it. I like pinching the edges using left pointer finger between right finger and thumb. Cut decorative ventilating slits in middle of this top crust (when I bake this as a gift I carve the recipient's initials in it, but whatever yanks your crank). The key to a golden shiny top crust is to brush on a small amount of milk and sprinkle sugar atop before placing it in the oven.The glaze is gorgeous. 

Hint: Measure the flour by dip-level method (meaning level off the cup using a straight edged tool – like the back of a table knife) to guarantee an exact level cup.

Now, most of our family recipes are perfected by eyeballing and just getting a feel for ingredient amounts and baking techniques, but Faye has taught us that by always being exact in these crust measurements, the consistency is always good. When you roll the dough out between the paper sheets, you can roll it very thin. You just have to be patient when you peel back the paper as you place the crust atop the pie. (Maybe that's my "indelicacy" problem and explains why Faye's pies look prettier than anyone else's – one has to exercise patience!) I promise you this is superb! 

Final Note to Kids Baking: Do the dishes. Or the pie won't turn out right.

Recipe for quick halibut preps that family and friends loved the other night, one fried and one grilled... so easy I can't even mess 'em up:

Use a store-bought box of beer batter mix and one flat beer ("don't drink it if the mountains aren't blue"). You can't go wrong. (If you're out camping with limited supplies, you can adapt and use your pancake mix.) Cut halibut into inch-and-a-half sized chunks. Follow instructions on the box of mix and dip fish into the batter to coat the little chunks. Heat cooking oil in a frying pan (I like to cook it outside or else my kitchen smells like fish for three days and no candle masks that), or use a deep fat fryer. Dip these white nuggets into hot oil for a couple of minutes and turn over for just a couple more minutes. Remove the meat and place on paper towels. You'll know you cooked it long enough if the fish cuts easily with a fork and it's quite white inside and golden brown crispy outside. Mom makes homemade tarter sauce; I buy it. Either way, serve it up with tarter and/or our newly discovered delight – jalapeno flavored Greek Yogurt Dip – and enjoy this scrumptious fare from the sea!

Another way: place a halibut fillet on Pam-sprayed tinfoil; drizzle with melted butter, lightly sprinkle with lemon pepper, add sliced onions on top, then glob on a mix of mayonnaise and sour cream, then generously pour grated cheeses and crumbled potato chips as the meat's mountain pose. Cover with foil and place on pre-heated grill or over a campfire. Cook until the meat is white and flakey. Seriously, angels must eat this in the great by-and-by. It's that good. I wish I could cook it for you.

Thank you for following us on social media, thank you for your support; thank you for loving the simple things in life that add to this great country's exceptionalism. 

- Sarah Palin

Today marks the beginning of the week-long ceremonies commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. There will be a full re-enactment of the battle, discussions with panels of historians, and of course a re-reading of the Gettysburg Address.

But as Lincoln affirmed when he dedicated that hallowed ground, nothing we say or do can “add or detract” from the great sacrifice made there. Gettysburg was a defining moment in the history of our nation; and consequently, one of the most important battles in the history of mankind. 

I’ve had the honor of visiting Gettysburg twice, most recently during the One Nation Bus Tour in 2011.  I brought my family with me and we met other families—even meeting up with friends traveling from Wasilla—as we paid our respects to the monuments and patriot graves. It was important for me to bring the younger generation there in order to instill in them a sense of the duty we owe to the ordinary men who did extraordinary things to make us one nation.

On a sunny summer day there, despite the distance of a hundred and fifty years, you can somehow feel the “mystic chords of memory” binding us to that generation whose “hearts were touched with fire.”

I felt it myself when I visited that day a few years ago. I felt it when I prayed at Little Round Top in gratitude to the unflinching courage of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and his men from Maine who held the line when the fate of the battle, and hence the nation, was at stake. I felt it when I looked out across the field where Pickett’s Charge took place and contemplated the doomed valor of those men of Old Virginia. I felt it when I stood at the High Water Mark, where Alonzo Cushing gave his life to repel the furthest advance of the Confederate cause and thus end the three-day battle.

Gettysburg is where we truly became one nation. It was the decisive battle of a war in which we righted the unfinished business of our founding by freeing those whose enslavement was our greatest shame.

We became one nation at Gettysburg not only because we preserved our union there, but also because in the decades following the war, veterans of the Blue and the Gray would come together on the anniversary of those fateful days to shake hands in brotherhood across the once bitter field of battle. 

Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg were indeed prophetic. The men who “gave the last full measure of devotion” there did not die in vain. Our nation endures and our “government of the people, by the people, for the people” has not perished from the earth.

- Sarah Palin

You can follow the commemorations at Breitbart.com, which will be providing streaming coverage of the battle re-enactments and memorial ceremonies.

If you missed President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, you didn’t miss much – especially if you watched any of his past four State of the Union addresses.

We heard the same recycled rhetoric, and we heard his Orwellian declaration that the cornucopia of new federal programs he proposed, as well as his intention to eradicate world poverty, wouldn’t “increase our deficit by a single dime.”

Of course, he glossed over the inconvenient facts. He boasted about job creation, but didn’t mention that real unemployment is higher today than when he took office. He touted all those still undiscovered “clean energy” jobs without mentioning the tens of thousands of real jobs the Keystone Pipeline will create if he would simply allow it to be built. He sang of new energy development, but didn’t mention that new offshore leases for oil and natural gas drilling have declined a decimating 61% under his administration.

He talked about “helping” to build “a thriving middle class,” but didn’t address how the middle class is actually faring under his economic stewardship. This is important – his deception must be addressed: under his leadership, middle class families have seen the average price per gallon of gas increase 96%, the average cost of family health care premiums rise 24%, the annual cost per household from federal regulations rise to over $15,000, and real median household income decline $4,520. If this is what happens when he “helps” the middle class, then please, Mr. President, we implore you to stop “helping” us.

He talked about a “balanced approach to deficit reduction” without mentioning that $5.9 trillion has already been added to the debt since he took office. We’re $16.5 trillion in debt and he keeps digging the hole deeper! He didn’t mention his record trillion dollar deficits or the fact that his last proposed budget would add $9.2 trillion to the debt through 2022. His Democrat-controlled Senate hasn’t passed a budget in four years. That’s obviously not “responsible” or “balanced.” He said, “We can’t cut our way to prosperity.” Well, we definitely can’t get there by borrowing and spending money we don’t have on his “investments” that don’t work. If indiscriminately borrowing and spending money led to prosperity, then bankruptcy would be a sign of economic strength. But it isn’t.

A State of the Union address should give us a true picture of the direction in which we are headed. But we didn’t get the truth last night. And it WAS Orwellian.

What is the true state of our union? Though this may sound harsh, I’ll speak the truth here. We are a country going bankrupt to fund a bloated, distant, and often corrupt federal government led by venal politicians more concerned with paying off their campaign cronies and consolidating their own power than in preserving the constitutional republic that so many have fought and died for (including our brave men and women in uniform who were barely mentioned last night).

We are a country with an economy being stifled under the weight of a bankrupt and voracious federal machine demanding more taxes and burdensome regulations. Job creators are the ones stuck with the bill when Obama calls for “new revenue.” Their businesses bear the brunt of the nearly 87 million paperwork hours imposed by federal regulations in 2012 – annually costing them $1.75 trillion. And I haven’t even mentioned Obamacare yet, which looms like the dark cloud it is over our private sector. Is it any wonder why our economy is stagnant or why job growth is so anemic? President Obama’s “solution” to these problems is to make the federal government more intrusive, bankrupt, and controlling.

If we continue down the path Barack Obama has us on, the long-term forecast of the state of our union is not a pretty picture. Yet he merrily rolls along it, deceiving too many Americans into thinking that these are intelligent, economic, and ethical proposals.

Our President wasn’t candid with Americans about our forecast, but, interestingly, in a Q&A session last week, Paul Krugman, one of President Obama’s economic cheerleaders at the New York Times, was remarkably candid about where we’re headed.

When asked about our federal debt, he admitted that “eventually we do have a problem” especially because “the population is getting older” and “health care costs are rising.” So, what does he see as the solution to pay for all this? He admits that your taxes will rise. And worse:

“Surely in the end it will require some middle class taxes as well. We won’t be able to pay for the kind of government the society will want without some increase in taxes, not a huge one, but some increase in taxes on the middle class, maybe a value added tax. And we’re also going to have to make decisions about health care – not pay for health care that has no demonstrated medical benefits. So, the snarky version I use, which I shouldn’t even say because it gets me in trouble, is death panels and sales taxes is how we do this.” (But wait, I thought there’d be no such thing as “death panels,” liberal liars?)

Mr. Krugman tried to portray this brave new world in the gentlest possible light, but it’s going to take quite a lot of “sales taxes” to meet the payments on the ever-increasing multi-trillion dollar debt we’re burying our kids and grandkids under. And with health care costs rising under Obamacare, obviously a lot of care will be rationed and even flat out denied by panels of faceless bureaucrats making life and death decisions for you and your loved ones. This is the long-term forecast for the state of America under Obama’s failed policies: middle class taxes and death panels.

Does that sound good to you? It doesn’t to me. So, we better get motivated to do something about it. We’d better get out of our post-election funk and wake up to the radicals’ reality being created as America gets “fundamentally transformed.”

Here’s the good news: President Obama is in many ways a lame duck president. None of his ridiculous ideas will come to pass via the legislative process. Of course, he may try to force them down America’s throat by imposing them through other means. But they can be undone if the right people are in position to undo them. He is very bold right now – some would say cocky – because of his November win, but there is another election around the corner, and we can check his boldness at the ballot box by electing constitutional conservatives. We must continue to affirm the fact that growing our bankrupt federal government is NOT the solution. Most of what the federal government does could be handled better on the individual, local, and state levels.

Our country didn’t weather a Revolution, two World Wars, a Civil War, a Great Depression, and countless other political and economic storms, just to be sunk by the dangerous policies of this current administration. We’re stronger than this. As President Reagan said, “I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.”

So, do something. 2014 is just around the corner. Get motivated! Get organized. America, don’t retreat. In the words of yet another White House program, “Let’s move.”

- Sarah Palin

Best wishes to everyone for a happy New Year! In the coming days there will be a great deal of debate about the goings-on in the political arena and the shenanigans in Washington. Constitutional commonsense conservatives must stay engaged and hold our “leaders” accountable to the voice of average everyday hard working Americans or we will very soon become an enslaved, bankrupt former nation of greatness. So, please keep the faith heading into this new year. And for now, remember to be grateful for the blessings and opportunities God has given us as independent individuals, as caring members of families, as honorable businesses and communities, and as countrymen who understand this most exceptional nation’s foundations of strength. We’ve been given all this for yet another year; let’s not take it for granted. In this new year, as jobs change with doors closing and opening, kids growing, relationships evolving, and life throwing curveballs, may you resolve to stay engaged and optimistic. May you pick your battles wisely. And may you live life vibrantly! God bless you all and God bless our great country as we promise to live out 2 Chronicles 7:14. Here’s to liberty!

- Sarah Palin

Todd & Trig

Trig & Lucy

Trig & puppy Lucy again

Piper in her sister's truck

Piper

Unspeakable evil slammed America in the beautiful little town of Newtown, Connecticut, just days ago. No words can express the collective shock and sorrow shared by Americans who know the murder of innocent children is the most horrendous crime imaginable. The Connecticut state motto, “Qui transtulit sustinet,” promises that only God can sustain us. Though still insufficient and unfulfilling for the grieving families of these beautiful babies in the Lord's arms now, perhaps those words are all the inconsolable loved ones can hold on to at this time. May God show His sustaining love to them right now. Please Lord.

It may seem, especially after Friday, the world is spinning fast and furious and out of control. Many political, economic, and societal problems attempt to weigh down our spirit so heavily that some despondently give up after being deceptively led to believe there is no real hope for anything getting better. And despite 24-hour news cycles with constant information flooding our eyes and ears with much white noise, TV's talking heads really have nothing meaningful to offer.

So the world spins furiously, but there is a reason its literal and figurative centrifugal force tightly holds us here together for such a time as this. Until God loosens the tie that binds us to this temporal earth, we are in it together, and we are expected to do our part to make it better. So, now is the time to speak truth, however politically incorrect some may deem it, and focus on what really matters so our nation's spirit can be lifted as we unite in the cause for a better world built on real hope. First, all truly is hopeless if your faith and hope are put in any politician or media elite. That is because the average person is more truthful and responsible than the average politician or media elite.

Those who let themselves be terribly disappointed in political leaders as they ignore real problems, aided along with a complicit media bombarding us with irrelevant distractions in order to avoid facing the reality of a fallen culture, should know those distractions are to hide from a finger pointing to the main contributors to much of our problem. To stop distracting would result in acknowledging the political and media machine's starring roles in our failing society. So, as they too often tear down those who try to do good, while elevating and celebrating corrupt selfishness, they dumbly assume we don't know it is they who significantly contribute to our upside down world today. We've learned our lesson. Don't put your hope in Hollywood or Washington. Instead, build resolve and seek truth more aggressively than ever at such a time as this.

I only know one source of truth and real hope. I call out to this hope with only childlike faith because I am so overwhelmed by the miraculous answers to my prayers that the comforting, secure hope I cling to is too inexplicable for a simpleminded person like me. Plus, because I am not a perfect Christian – and have never met one – I dare not judge others’ “Christian quotient,” and inarticulately explaining my faith is too often interpreted wrongly, hence, my thankfulness in being allowed via the Good Book to have a childlike faith that's good enough for God. Further, I do not wish to force my beliefs down anyone's throat – and simple faith does not do that. Though I'll share my faith unapologetically, I beg fellow faith-filled fallible human beings to quit pretending anyone's effective in forcing others to see the light; please also quit pretending you are holier than thou. You are not. I am not. We're merely fortunate enough to have been knocked to our knees at some point in life and grabbed hold of the opportunity to accept undeserved grace and forgiveness that allows a rebirth and its accompanying peace that passeth all understanding. I cling to it not because I am bitter, but because there is nothing better. 

May this Christmas season give you a glimpse of the faith to which millions cling to, and are willing to live and die to self for. As you watch this video, even if you've never prayed before, you can ask God for revelation to what occurred 2000 years ago, what it means for today, and why we celebrate the babe born in that Bethlehem manger over 2000 years ago. And I offer this not because I have all the answers, but because many ask me from where does my hope come? How do I hang on? What do I cling to? Here is a glimpse of the foundation of my faith. May you be shown through this short clip and song that the unanswered questions, the horrible suffering, and the sacrifice of One birthed opportunity for new life and real HOPE for all of us today.

Friends, please watch this, and please don't lose hope. We mustn't lose hope! Look up! And put your time and effort in working so hard for your family and loved ones around you. Don't wait for a fallen world's politicians and pundits to do it for you. You can have within yourself the ability and opportunity to help make America strong again, and her people joyful again.

- Sarah Palin

Please read and pass along this article. We send good conservatives to D.C. to fulfill the promises they made to the electorate, and yet when they stay true to their word the permanent political class in their own party punishes them. This won't be forgotten come 2014. Right now the GOP establishment is more concerned about the opinion of the media and the Georgetown cocktail circuit than they are “we the people” who hired them. For all this new talk of how the GOP needs a “populist movement,” it would do them good to remember they already have one; it’s called the Tea Party movement, and it won for them the majority they now enjoy in the House.

- Sarah Palin

America, don’t lose heart. This election is not an “Obama mandate,” nor is it a rejection of conservatism. Unanswered ads like this one running in blue collar swing states defined Romney early on, and the Obama media also piled on with the narrative that Romney would harm the middle class. (As I personally have witnessed, once a bell is rung by a biased media, it’s impossible to un-ring it.) Ironically, it’s Obama’s socialist policies that will destroy America’s working class as he outsources opportunities.

Hang in there, America. Fight for what is right. Don’t look to government or any politician to solve your problems. Government can’t make you happy, healthy, wealthy or wise. Obama is a master at reading the right “soaring” words fed into his teleprompter, but actions speak louder than words. So, hold tight to 2 Corinthians 4:8 because we’re in for a wild ride.

We must survive. United. One nation under God.

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed." – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.

- Sarah Palin