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.

New York Times Keeps Their Intentions Clear - Update

The "intentions" of the New York Times is to distort current affairs in order to drive a narrative that fits their agenda. Be that by, promoting left-wing ideology, selling papers (internet hits), or just enjoying their own obsessive crusade against Governor Palin. So, why would the reaction to the governor's speech in Santa Barbara for the Reagan 100 event, be any different? It wasn't.

Right after the speech, they posted an article written by Jeff Zeleny called, "Palin Keeps Position Clear and Intentions Vague." He writes:

For Ms. Palin, a speech on Friday evening to a conservative group that gathered to pay tribute to President Reagan offered an opportunity to connect herself to the most iconic figure of the Republican Party. Yet she did not use the appearance — one of the highest-profile Republican platforms in months — to move beyond familiar criticism or attempt to prescribe a new or specific remedy for what she sees as missteps in the Obama administration.

Mr. Zeleny either didn't listen to the speech, or he has a problem identifying anything outside of a new government program as a "specific remedy." Governor Palin offered many remedies to ills that face our nation. She mentioned domestic energy production, for one. She mentioned cutting corporate tax rates. She also talked about cutting government "back down to size," and cutting overall spending. She discussed reforming entitlement programs, reducing over-burdensome regulations, and ending the cronyism that is corrupting our system. Perhaps Mr. Zeleny should listen to the speech again, or learn that not every solution comes by way of more bureaucracy.

Later in the article, he writes:

Presidential contenders, regardless of their celebrity, are put through a gauntlet of rituals that require a delicate air of patience as they deal with their admirers. Prospective candidates, particularly if they are courting supporters, routinely sit through dinners and mingle with guests. But in her case, Ms. Palin entered the room only for her speech and left immediately after.

The appearance here was marked by tight security and rigid rules, with guests admonished to stay in their seats when she arrived. (“We’d all like to jump up and give her a high-five, but please stay at your tables,” Kate Obenshain, vice president of the foundation, announced from the dais. “There will be no book signings or autographs.”)

He is misleading his readers entirely. First of all, Kate Obenshain says in this clip that Governor Palin agreed to do a photo line. Rebecca Mansour also weighed in via Twitter:

Apparently the NYT missed it that Gov. Palin posed with every dinner attendee after her speech

And

Palin spent over an hour posing with all the dinner attendees. NYT should have known that. Kate Obenshain announced it after Palin's speech.

These events were recorded, people were there, evidence exists, so the New York Times is obligated to correct their story. As of now, (4:44 a.m. PST) it is false.

This article is riddled with spin and bias. There was the unnecessary mid-motion photo they posted at the bottom of the page, and the interview with the one guy in the crowd who isn't (yet) donating to SarahPAC. The media isn't interested in reporting facts anymore, they are more concerned with painting narratives. They seem to be even more vindictive if they don't get a scoop. Mr. Zeleny made it known throughout his article that Governor Palin didn't announce any big news about her future.

The bottom-line however, is that the article contains blatantly false information. The New York Times has been called out about it, and now they have an obligation to correct the record. We'll be waiting right here.

Update: I’m not sure why I didn’t put make the connection early this morning, but the photo that irritated me that the Times placed at the end of the article has a caption that reads, “Ms. Palin greeted guests after her speech.” They sort of destroy the premise that she “left immediately after” the speech with that alone, do they not?

It’s now 11:55 a.m. PST and the story has still not been corrected.