Tony Lee: Sarah Palin's Potentially Inclusive Message In India

Human Events writer Tony Lee, posted a very insightful article about the speech Governor Palin delivered in India over the weekend. Lee shares his keen analisys of the message the governor was sending to both Indians and Americans. He writes:

Palin told her audience that she “grew up in a very small town, perhaps like some of you (though half-a-world-away)” that was “far from the avenues of political power.” Palin talked about “Pioneer Peak,” one of the mountains close to her home that is a symbol of the pioneering spirit of the frontier and Alaska, referred to as “the last frontier.”

She then linked the frontier spirit, which loathes centralized bureaucracies, to India’s rise. Palin said that she knew Indians understood this “because in the early 1990′s, due to clear, commonsense, pro free-market reforms, India’s economy took off! You abolished import licenses; cut import duties; removed investment caps & broke the union’s grip on industry.”

Palin said that when government’s grip was lessened, Indians “unleashed the creativity & hard work of the Indian people; you turned away from a system where ‘central government’ sets targets for all sectors of the economy, to a system that lets the market set its own targets.”

It is this theme that I think Palin could employ in a future campaign. She can remind Americans who think only central planners in the government have all the answers to look at America’s immigrants and remind themselves of what makes America exceptional. She can then call on Americans to restore the entrepreneurial spirit that is in the air on the frontier and in the blood of newly arrived immigrants to restore America to greatness.

[...]

As she told the Indian audience, though some people may want to think that America is in decline, “I completely reject this … I completely reject this! it represents wrong-headed thinking by our some friends and wishful thinking by our enemies. America’s demise has been predicted before. It didn’t happen then. It won’t happen now.”

Palin then said that, “when people realize even the briefest glimpse of this freedom & opportunity – even a hint that they can succeed through honest hard work – they run towards it! They embrace the promise of ‘better days ahead!’ They will sacrifice today for a better tomorrow for their children & grandchildren. With individual responsibility, drive & determination, they will work together to carve a life for themselves out of the wilderness! They’ll voluntarily contribute to help their neighbours even those half-a-world-away!”

And this, according to Palin, is the “optimistic and pioneering spirit of America’s frontier. That’s the spirit of India’s progress too.”

It's a great piece, and you can read the whole thing here.

Governor Palin's India Today Conclave Speech Media Roundup

By most accounts, Governor Palin's speech to the 2011 India Today Conclave was a resounding success. Her message was clear, and dealt with many of the important issues facing our nation, and indeed the world at this time. Although Politico couldn't muster up the will to report fairly on the event, other members of the media employed a more professional standard. Here's a roundup of the event:

Time:

In her speech titled "My Vision of America," the former Governor of Alaska, who was on her first trip to India, did simply articulate her vision of America but touched on a range of topics from the rise of China, energy independence, Indian-American ties, and, in a rather timely fashion, the use of force in the Arab world.

Palin dismissed the notion of declining American influence. "I completely reject that," she said. "It represents wrongheaded thinking by our friends and wishful thinking by some enemies." Speaking to a crowd of political and business leaders, hosted by India Today magazine, Palin stressed that while America is not in decline, India is rising to meet it. Deepening economic, military and diplomatic ties between the two countries are vital, she said. "The relationship is the key to the future, the security, the prosperity of our world," she said. "I see it strengthening. Whoever's President, it better strengthen. We're going to need each other especially as these other regions rise, if we want a peaceful world, India and the United States have to be linked."

Palin's personal appeal was apparent to those who attended the event. "She said the right things," said Kiran Aurora a retiree from New Delhi. "I don't know if she's Presidential material, but she's charismatic. There is a charm about her." "She came across as a very honorable person, who's still maturing as a politician," said Sandip Ganguli, a hotel executive in India. "What she appeared to lack in global knowledge and experience was made up by her belief in America and that the American people have what it takes to come back."

The New York Times:

Ms. Palin’s speech at a conference organized by the media group India Today touched on many subjects, including her sympathy with the people of Japan and their “humble cooperative spirit,” the dangers of a green-energy policy and her children texting her news of a moose in the yard of her Alaska home. Ms. Palin made numerous references to America’s entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit, and India’s unlocking of the same to become a vibrant global giant.

Together, she said, the two countries will lead the world in the 21st century. “There is no natural limit for United States and India relations,” she said. India is the second-fastest growing major economy in the world after China, but is still hobbled by extreme poverty, inefficient infrastructure and political corruption.

After her speech, Ms. Palin answered specific questions about foreign and economic policy. Asked how she might have the handled the financial crisis that led the United States government to fund billions in bank bailouts, Ms. Palin said she “didn’t think it was such a tough situation that had to lead to all those bailouts.” Instead, she said, the government could have allowed “the free market to decide who the winners and losers should be.”

Quizzed on outsourcing, a hot-button issue in India, Ms. Palin evoked free trade several times, affirmatively, to a smattering of applause from the audience.

India Today:

Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and 2012 presidential hopeful, could not have been more politically correct on her first visit to India. Speaking on 'My Vision of America' at the Tenth India Today Conclave 2011, Palin said it was marked by healthy competition and partnership with India.

Talking about the widespread interest in Palin's appearance at the Conclave, Purie [India Today Group's chairman and editor-in-chief] said: "Frankly, in the past 10 years of the Conclave, I have not seen such media interest in one of our speakers. There has been a flood of articles, blogs and tweets about her India visit." To a round of applause, he added: "This is only her third visit overseas.

We are honoured that she chose to come to India." Palin was the first Republican politician to address the Conclave.

Democrat Al Gore did it twice; Bill and Hillary Clinton have done it once each in the past. "As the first Republican speaker at the Conclave, I am sure you're up to correcting that imbalance," Purie said, as he gave the floor to her.

CNN:

The potential presidential candidate addressed the importance of energy and the influence of India's relationship with the United States in prepared remarks titled "My Vision of America." But when she sat down for the question-and-answer session with the editor-in-chief of India Today, Aroon Purie, her attention turned to topics of a presidential nature.

And of financial assistance given to banks she said that she'd rather "free markets decide who the winners and who the losers would be" instead of politicians.

"I don't think it was such a tough situation that it had to lead to the bailouts that our U.S. government engaged in," she stated. "What it led to is more debt."

Calling the Tea Party "a grassroots movement from the ground up" that is a "beautiful movement" that will grow and be more influential, Palin asserted that the Tea Party movement will "hold our politicians accountable."

Palin remarked that her approach is different than that of her GOP peers. "Too often Republicans have the fighting instinct of sheep and you know they're just going to sit back and take it…I don't have that within me…I will put my foot down and I will state the truth so that people have correct information and they can make decisions for themselves," she declared.

Palin also described herself as "independent" saying that "some Republican players within the Republican hierarchy don't really like that." And she revealed that "Todd Palin is not even registered with the Republican Party [in Alaska] because he's such an independent."

The Washington Post:

On her first trip to India, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin said she is still thinking about running for president, voiced concerns about China’s military rise, criticized green investment and vowed to see the Taj Mahal during her next trip.

Palin’s two-day trip to India came about five months after President Obama’s state visit. While Obama and his wife, Michelle, danced and charmed their way into Indian hearts, Palin impressed her audience with strong views on energy security, terrorism, free trade, bailouts and the India-U.S. partnership.

“Sarah Palin held her own very well,” said Sachin Pilot, India’s deputy minister for communications and information technology. “She came out as an independent thinker. She answered all complicated questions reasonably well,”“Anybody who is looking to perform a major role in American politics today does need to engage with India.”

Palin got the most applause when she spoke of her relationship with the mainstream American media.

“You can’t necessarily trust the mainstream media to accurately report. You can’t rely anymore on mainstream media to set the record straight, not in the U.S.,” she said to loud cheers.

“Women who choose to enter public life unfairly often become target of the media. She has been a victim too,” said Ranjana Kumari, who trains women for political leadership in India. “The way Sarah Palin spelled out her position on crucial issues today, I feel she will throw her hat in the ring.”

The Huffington Post:

Palin told a well-heeled audience of Indian business leaders, professionals and socialites that U.S.-Indian relations were "key to the future of our world."

"We're going to need each other, especially as these other regions rise," she said, in an apparent reference to China, during a Q&A that followed a keynote speech titled "My Vision of America."

Obama visited India in November during a wider Asian tour, affirming the country's growing importance on the global scene.

Palin said the Republican Party's apparatus was at times frustrating to deal with, but said presidents Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln were role models and reasons for why she joined the party.

UK Guardian:

In her speech, she described how India was following America's "rags to riches story" thanks to a pioneering spirit, free markets and the universal dream of individual liberty.

In a speech carefully worked to appeal to a local audience as well as public opinion at home, Palin told her audience that the US and India shared many things, including religious tolerance, democratic traditions, a common struggle for freedom from the British empire, a commitment to "see terrorism defeated" and a concern over the rise of China.

However, Palin's repeated attacks on the "central planning" of economies, the "top-down way of making decisions" and her insistence on the importance of empowering individuals and entrepreneurs will strike a chord in an India still suffering from an inefficient and often corrupt bureaucracy.

"She was very good. She's very American but a lot of what she says makes sense here too," said one major industrialist at the conference.

Wall Street Journal:

She came—she didn’t wink—but she conquered.

On Saturday evening, Sarah Palin, 2008 Republic vice-presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska, got an extremely warm welcome when she delivered the closing keynote address at a conference in New Delhi.

The Daily Beast:

India welcomed Sarah Palin with open arms this weekend, giving her top billing at an annual international conference previously attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Colin Powell, and other political heavyweights. Palin touched on many topics during her speech on Saturday—including her disapproval of green energy—but mainly focused on alliances between India and the United States, saying the two countries will lead the world together in the 21st century.

Both the WSJ & LA Times Misquote Governor Palin from the India Today Conclave

Accuracy doesn't seem to be the media's strong suite these days. It makes you wonder if these "journalists" are incompetent, lazy, or worse; pushing an agenda. We can only speculate the reasons, but the fact is undeniable.

Take for instance, the reporting by both the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times from Governor Palin's speech and Q&A session at the India Today Conclave today. Both of them state that the governor said the following while giving an answer to a question:

“Free people that make up a free country don’t wage war on another country.”

That is a direct misquote. What Governor Palin actually said:

“Free people that make up a free country don’t wage war on another free country.”

Watch the clip of Governor Palin, from the event to see for yourself (at the 22:50 mark).

These reporters omitted a small, yet very important word from her sentence. The word "free." By doing so, they change the entire context of the point she was making. The governor's true remark was 100% accurate and history proves that to be the case. Are these press agents purposely trying to make Governor Palin look uninformed by misreporting her statement? Or are they just pathetic performers at their jobs?

Either way, let's just be happy that these "journalists" didn't decide to become brain surgeons.

Suzi Parker's Bizarre India Today Conclave Overview

Writing in the newly Huffington Post acquired Politics Daily, Suzi Parker offered up some rather strange analysis about Governor Palin's upcoming trip to India. She began:

The jokes are already flying as Sarah Palin prepares to embark on a trip to India later this month, and more are surely to come. Will she rock a sari? Perhaps guest star in a Bollywood movie? Or bathe in the Ganges for a photo op?

What?

The link Parker provides to back up her claim that "the joke are already flying" is for one, non-funny "joke" Jimmy Falon told about the trip. That isn't any "joke" cited by Parker in the first paragraph however. No, those are all her.

Parker writes, "will she rock a sari?" I don't know, did Obama "rock" a dhoti kurta on his last trip to India? Who cares?

Then she wrote, "Perhaps guest star in a Bollywood movie?" Don't quit your day job, Suzi. There is nothing funny about your faux jokes, not to mention the fact that they don't make any sense. Has the governor ever starred in a Hollywood movie? No, she hasn't... A better guess is that Suzi Parker wants her readers to think of Governor Palin as a "celebrity" and not a serious political figure. It stands to reason, considering the governor's views are diametrically opposed to roughly 99% of Huffington Post writers. These are people who don't want Americans to hear Governor Palin's message, so they do their best to drown it out with this noise.

Finally, Parker ends her pathetic routine with "or bathe in the Ganges for a photo op?" I understand that bathing in the Ganges is something certain Indians take part in (and certain Westerners join in, usually of the celebrity variety, and usually while on vacation) but why even say that? For a "photo op" no less... Sure, Governor Palin bathing for a photo op, riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Would Suzi Parker make these kinds of jokes about Tim Pawlenty? What about Mike Huckabee who is currently on more televisions across the country, more frequently due to his show, Fox segments, and commercials. Would she ask the same of him, since theoretically one could consider him a "celebrity?" The answer is probably no, but then again, I don't see Suzi Parker pumping out two articles a week about Mike Huckabee either.

After Parker was finally done delivering lame one-liners, she gets to the actual overview of the upcoming trip. Then adding:

Representatives for India Today did not return e-mails about Palin's trip. India Today is the country's most diversified media group, with interests in magazines, newspaper, television, radio, Internet, books and music.

It is unclear if she is getting paid to appear, but Palin usually charges upwards of $100,000 for such speaking engagements, according to various news accounts.

So, because other "news" accounts exist (all pushing the same meme) Parker felt it necessary to repeat them. Suzi Parker has no idea what the arrangements of this event are, nor does anyone else outside those who actually planned it. To bring up the topic, with no facts what-so-ever, is to do the same thing she did with that opening paragraph. She's merely leading her readers by repeating false narratives. It doesn't matter what the arrangements are. The fact is that public figures get paid to speak at events. The only difference between Governor Palin and anyone else is that the media doesn't talk about those others speaking "fees."

Parker continues:

Palin has traveled outside the United States only a few times since Sen. John McCain chose her as his running mate in 2008. At that point, she had only traveled to the Middle East to visit U.S. troops. Since then, she has given a speech in Hong Kong and visited Haiti alongside Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.

She omits the trip Governor Palin took to visit wounded troops in Germany in 2007, and the trip to Kosovo the governor took in 2009. But who cares about details when you've got memes to push?

Then she writes (emphasis mine):

An article by the magazine on the conclave website states: "Her visit to India has generated immense buzz in U.S. political circles over if she will run for president in 2012. Palin is reportedly shy of traveling abroad but her keynote address at the India Today Conclave 2011 is seen as an attempt to articulate foreign policy where she was found wanting in her 2008 bid for V-P, say some experts."

Note to Suzi Parker... Doing constructive things with one's time, versus traveling for the sake of travel, does not mean one is shy. Governor Palin's trips overseas have all been well planned, meaningful trips. No, she is not wasting her hours jet-setting with the international elite, and thank God for that.

Parker's column continues by noting some actual details of the conclave, but then she throws this in for good measure:

For a governor who served only 31 months in office, Palin is in fairly auspicious company.

There is a correction listed at the bottom of the article that says:

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated how long Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska. She was governor for 31 months, not 18 months.

It was actually 32 months (Dec 2006 - July 2009) but Suzi proved in her first version to be severely mathematically challenged, so I'll give her a break on that one month.

Perhaps she was taking the downplaying bit too far when she guesstimated that Governor Palin had only served for 18 months. But this fits into a pattern because she also neglects to mention that Governor Palin was on the 2008 Republican Presidential ticket. Such is the theme of Suzi Parker's piece.

I hate to tell anyone how to do their job but this article could have been interesting without all of the swipes and insulting "jokes." The event, India, and Governor Palin are all very interesting topics. However, if Suzi Parker were to get past her impulse to frame Governor Palin in a certain light, and deal with her on a respectable level, her readers might accidentally see who Governor Palin actually is, and they just might hear her message.