Sarah Palin's Facebook Notes

Restoring Honor

Sarah Palin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:24:01 +0000

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.

19 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

#SOTUGottaBKiddingMe

Sarah Palin — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:02:04 +0000

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

New Year's Resolution to Keep the Faith!

Sarah Palin — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:25:08 +0000

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

The Only Hope

Sarah Palin — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:08:32 +0000

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

C'mon Now, GOP, Don't Go Wobbly on Us

Sarah Palin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:10:15 +0000

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

Don’t Lose Heart

Sarah Palin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:35:27 +0000

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

Obama's Shuck and Jive Ends With Benghazi Lies

Sarah Palin — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:39:21 +0000

As I mentioned on “On the Record” last night, there is breaking news that just two hours after the September 11th attacks on our consulate in Benghazi, the White House and State Department knew that an Islamic terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda claimed credit for the attack. We now know that the State Department sent an email to the White House, the Pentagon, the FBI and others in the intelligence community about this Islamist group claiming responsibility. And yet for days afterwards the White House and State Department led everyone to believe that the attack was the result of a spontaneous protest over an obscure YouTube video that had been uploaded months prior. Anywhere from 300 to 400 people from the administration and our intelligence community would have seen that email. Why the lies? Why the cover up? Why the dissembling about the cause of the murder of our ambassador on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil? We deserve answers to this. President Obama's shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies must end.

- Sarah Palin

New Billy Graham Ad Campaign

Sarah Palin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:26:47 +0000

I've had the honor of working in the past with Rev. Franklin Graham's "Samaritan's Purse," and a few years ago it was a special honor to meet his wonderful father. Yesterday Rev. Billy Graham launched a new ad campaign to encourage voters to elect good candidates who support Judeo-Christian values. Please take a moment to visit his website at www.billygraham.org to print out and download material you can use as posters or flyers in your church bulletins. Let's help him spread the word.

- Sarah Palin

With Reverends Billy and Franklin Graham

With Rev. Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse in Alaska.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my dad and my brother on their book tour!

Sarah Palin — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:28:23 +0000

Several books and articles have been written, and some movies made, under the guise of sharing with the public who the Palins are, and who I am in particular. Very often, the goal is simply to misrepresent us and present something so far-fetched as to not bear any resemblance to truth at all. Many in the media have been more than happy to make room for these stories and allow those behind them to have their say, though these “biographers” very often neither know me nor are willing to put names to their so-called sources.

This is why I so appreciate those members of the media who are giving my dad and brother—who have written a factual book—a platform to tell the real story. Unlike many of the other books people have turned to for information, Our Sarah: Made in Alaska is written by two people who actually know me, were there through much of the 2008 campaign, and have cut through the bunk right to the truth—the truth of who the Heaths and Palins really are and what an Alaska upbringing provides. I am thankful for those who actually are fair and balanced in their reporting, giving the two Chucks the same opportunity to tell their story.

Two particularly good interviews are one Chuck, Jr. did with the Great One, Mark Levin, and an interview Greta Van Susteren conducted with both Chucks. If you only saw what Greta was able to air on On the Record last night, be sure to watch the uncut version.

A heartfelt “thank you” to those who have taken part in the book tour. In a whirlwind of a schedule, Dad and Chuck, Jr. have traveled to various states, and many of you have been there to greet them, help with laundry (yes, that's right!), or just shake their hands. I know they appreciate it, and I just wanted to chime in and say that I appreciate it also. The tour is winding down, but there are a few more stops. Go here to see the remaining schedule, and stop in to say "hello" if you can. You never know: you might just end up in one of my brother's journal entries, which he's recording on their Facebook page.

Thank you!

Support Ted Cruz

Sarah Palin — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:39:15 +0000

Today early voting begins in the run-off election for U.S. Senate in Texas. Texans have a clear choice in this race, and I encourage them to support Ted Cruz, a strong conservative fighter who will protect and defend our Constitution and not just go along to get along with the reckless spending of the permanent political class in D.C. The high-paid consultants of Ted’s well-funded opponent are in full panic mode and have plunged millions of dollars into false personal attacks against Ted meant to dispirit us and break our conviction. We’ve all seen these tactics before, but together we can make sure they don’t succeed. I encourage Texans to get out and vote for Ted Cruz.

- Sarah Palin

P.S.: For those of you outside of Texas looking to support Ted you can do so by visiting his website here.