Hunting and fishing are part of America’s “heritage” and the country’s “exceptionalism,” Governor Palin said last night at the Safari Club International Convention, David Jacobs of the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

“Don’t retreat, Relaod!” she said, emphasizing the "importance of responsible conservation." Gov. Palin also spoke about the danger to our Second Amendment rights posed by the Obama administration. She urged the crowd to count on Congress, where the Republicans re-took control of the House of Representatives last November. In discussing our Second Amendment rights, Gov. Palin also spoke about the Tenth saying that policy should be set at the local level. Jacobs wrote:

“The best (management) is local” not “bureaucrats thousand of miles away” in Washington making the decisions, she said, drawing on her experience as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, before becoming that state's governor.

Pro-American, Conservation

Jacobs recounted attendee impressions, which were very positive:

Speech attendee Carol Kjorstad of Pinedale, Wyo., said she was impressed with Palin’s focus on conservation.

“Everyone knows that hunting won’t survive without animals being protected,” Kjorstad said. “I wasn’t pro-Sarah Palin, but I really enjoyed what she had to say. There was so much common sense to it.”

Dave Tofte of Williston, N.D. and speech attendee, said he thought the speech was "great."

“She stands for what I like,” he said. “She’s very pro-American.”

Electrifying Excitement

Jacobs reported on the excitement that had built since "days before" Gov. Palin's visit:

Heidi Smith, Republican national committeewoman for Nevada, considers the lucky ones to be those who got their hands on the tickets.

“I know a lot of people wanted her to do something for the (local) Republican Party, but right now she is a hunter and a shooter, and that is what Safari got her for,” Smith said. “They’re paying the big bucks for her.”

Smith’s phone had been busy the past few days with local residents asking how they could see Palin.

“We have always had a lot of people excited to see her,” she said. “Whether people feel that she is presidential material or not, they still want to hear what she has to say. Reno is pretty happy to get her back again.”

Excerpts retrieved from: Reno Gazette Journal.

H/T Ian Lazaran, Conservatives4Palin for story lead

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin captivated the audience at the Weatherby Foundation's Hunting and Conservation Award Dinner held last Tuesday, Dr. Richard Kelley said today in his Weekly Briefing. Dr. Kelley sits on the Weatherby Foundation's board of directors. The Weatherby Foundation Dinner kicked off a series of hunting and conservation events in Reno, NV. Gov. Palin is scheduled to speak at the Safari Club International Convention at 2030 (8:30 PM) PST. Dr. Kelley wrote:

Since her presentation occurred at almost exactly the same hour that President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, I had expected Gov. Palin to give a table-thumping speech slamming massive federal deficits, the size of government, “ObamaCare” and loss of individual freedom.

Not one of those political topics received anything more than the briefest of mentions. Her focus was on sharing tales of her own life experiences – growing up in small towns in Alaska and learning about nature, personal responsibility and family ties through outdoors experiences with her parents and siblings – something she has carried on with her own children.

She also got some chuckles and understanding nods from her audience when she talked about some of the funny and unexpected things that happened while filming the television series Sarah Palin’s Alaska for The Learning Channel.

Listening, I could personally relate to Gov. Palin’s proposition that outdoors activities are a great means of developing family relationships and instilling values in the next generation because I did something very similar with my own children. As they were growing up, we spent many, many days in the fields of all of Hawai‘i’s major islands and later, after I began to spend more time in Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains.

Dr. Kelley concluded:

The only disappointing thing about my trip to Reno was the fact that, due to the recent shootings in Tucson, security was extremely tight. Gov. Palin’s scheduled exclusive meeting with the Weatherby Foundation board, which I might have had the opportunity to join, was canceled at the last minute.

I had been curious to meet Sarah Palin in person. The way the media describes her, one might think she has the horns of a devil, a pointed tail, long, sharp claws, and a pitchfork.

Is that really true? I guess that I’ll never know!

Dr. Kelley...having had the good fortune to twice meet Gov. Palin, I can say you indeed missed out on something precious. You will not find a more authentic person with a beautiful soul. Gov. Palin is a Transformational Leader who leads in order to serve, not in order to rule. When you look into her eyes, you will look through the window to her servant's heart, which you will see very clearly.

Please read this article by the Hoover Institution’s Research Fellow Peter Schweizer. Schweizer, who has written extensively on the subject of the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, offers a Washington Post writer an important refresher on the real history of Sputnik, since many critics are engaged in misreporting:

Palin’s other point is that Sputnik was the sort of government bureaucratic program that got the Soviet Union in trouble; it’s an example of what eventually did them in. Citing Wikipedia (what journalistic ingenuity!), Stromberg argues that actually the Soviet Union didn’t have a debt problem until some “thirty years after” Sputnik. Perhaps instead of relying on Wikipedia, Stromberg might have consulted Robert Gates’ book From the Shadows which chronicles, in part, his career as a Soviet analyst at the CIA. (Just in case they are unaware at the Post, this is the same Robert Gates who is now the Secretary of Defense.) On page 173, he accurately points out that the CIA knew early on of the “Soviet economic crisis. From the late 1950s, CIA had clearly described the chronic weaknesses as well as the formidable military power of the Soviet Union.”

Read the whole thing here. Now, in a recent interview I mentioned analogies that could relate to solutions to our economic challenges, including the difference between a communist government’s “Sputnik” and the private sector’s “Spudnut.” The analogies I mentioned obviously aren’t comparable in size, but highlight a clear difference in economic focus: big government command and control economies vs. America’s small businesses. If you’re near Richland, WA, you should stop by The Spudnut Shop, where you’ll find an all-American success story of a family owned small business that for over 60 years has been serving up a product that people want to buy. Businesses like this coffee shop don’t receive big government bailouts. They produce something with their own ingenuity and hard work. And here we see the former communist Soviet Union’s advancement (before its government debt-ridden demise) vs. America’s small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. We’d be well off if we had a greater appreciation for the free market ingenuity of ordinary American entrepreneurs, both great and small – whether they make high-tech gadgets or potato donuts. And this goes for all our small business owners – whether they run a family farm, a commercial salmon fishing business, an auto shop, a print shop, a consulting firm, a restaurant, you name it. Our government should show them more respect by not punishing their success and limiting their ability to hire more people by over-taxing and over-reaching into their businesses. Don’t stifle their growth with burdensome regulations like Obamacare and cap-and-tax. Government should be on their side, not in their way. I believe and trust in the strength of America’s private sector. But I sometimes fear that the current administration in Washington distrusts or discounts the individuals who have built this country; hence their belief that only a distant bureaucratic elite in D.C. can make decisions for our small businesses that will provide American opportunity. This administration’s thinking is wrong. We don’t need a command and control economy that “invests” our money in their half-baked ideas. We need freedom, reward for hard work, and a re-invigorated sense of personal responsibility and work ethic, especially among our young people. We need to be as motivated and optimistic as our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, many of whom started out with nothing but a dream as they built a life for themselves by the sweat of their brow. They didn’t ask for bailouts. They didn’t expect anything from anyone. They wanted the freedom and opportunity to work hard and prosper by their own merits. If at first they failed, they took their lumps, dusted themselves off, got back up, and tried again until they succeeded. They didn’t retreat. They built this country and they passed on to us more prosperity and opportunity than has ever been bestowed on any generation in human history. We must not squander that inheritance. Let’s get back to their common sense values. - Sarah Palin

Governor Palin today discussed the Tenth Amendment, fiscal reform and outlined the budget policies that would underpin a Palin Presidency. Gov. Palin declined to state if she would run for President in 2012, but reiterated her promise that Bob and Mark would be first to know.

"Free Money is Never Free"

She said Obama was disconnected from reality regarding our national debt which stands at $14 trillion and counting. "It is already a mountain of debt." Gov. Palin emphasized that China is not our friend and expressed her hope that tough negotiation was occurring behind the scenes. We need to stop merely printing money, she said. She cautioned against accepting federal money. "Free money is never free," Gov. Palin said. Those monies come with "fat strings attached." She recounted how as Governor, she vetoed nearly $29 million energy-related stimulus money and how the GOP-led legislature overrode her veto. The penalty for accepting that money was federal interference with local issues.

Presidential Economic Agenda - Palinomics

• Cut corporate tax rate to encourage companies to conduct business here in the United States
• Cease bail-outs of failed industries, banks, etc.
• Repeal ObamaCare and replace with common-sense health-care reforms. Specifics were not discussed today, but have been in the past:
  • Tort reform
  • Ability to purchase insurance across state lines
• Moratorium on earmarks, however, that only addresses $16 billion out of the $14 trillion deficit.
• Cut or cease non-Constitutionally mandated programs.
• Ratchet down or eliminate: National Public Radio (NPR), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and Amtrak subsidies.
• Open lands needed for energy independence.
• No new entitlement programs and reform existing ones. Existing participants grandfathered in to promised benefits. Benefits to change for new participants.

Governor Palin on the Bob and Mark Show – January 27 2011 retrieved from PalinTV

Governor Palin today posted on Facebook:

The President’s state of the union address boiled down to this message: “The era of big government is here as long as I am, so help me pay for it.” He dubbed it a “Winning The Future” speech, but the title’s acronym seemed more accurate than much of the content.

Americans are growing impatient with a White House that still just doesn’t get it. The President proves he doesn’t understand that the biggest challenge facing our economy is today’s runaway debt when he states we want to make sure “we don’t get buried under a mountain a debt.” That’s the problem! We are buried under Mt. McKinley-sized debt. It’s at the heart of what is crippling our economy and taking our jobs. This is the concern that should be on every leader’s mind. Our country’s future is at stake, and we’re rapidly reaching a crisis point. Our government is spending too much, borrowing too much, and growing too much. Debt is stifling our private sector growth, and millions of Americans are desperately looking for work.

So, what was the President’s response? At a time when we need quick, decisive, and meaningful action to stop our looming debt crisis, President Obama gave us what politicians have for years: promises that more federal government “investment” (read: more government spending) is the solution.

He couched his proposals to grow government and increase spending in the language of “national greatness.” This seems to be the Obama administration’s version of American exceptionalism – an “exceptionally big government,” in which a centralized government declares that we shall be great and innovative and competitive, not by individual initiative, but by government decree. Where once he used words like “hope” and “change,” the President may now talk about “innovation” and “competition”; but the audacity of his recycled rhetoric no longer inspires hope.

Real leadership is more than just words; it’s deeds. The President’s deeds don’t lend confidence that we can trust his words spoken last night.

In the past, he promised us he’d make job creation his number one priority, while also cutting the deficit, eliminating waste, easing foreclosures in the housing markets, and making “tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.” What did we get? A record $1.5 trillion deficit, an 84% increase in federal spending, a trillion dollar stimulus that stimulated nothing but more Tea Party activism, 9+% unemployment (or 17% percent if you include those who have stopped looking for work or settled for part time jobs), 2.9 million home foreclosures last year, and a moratorium on offshore drilling that has led to more unemployment and $100 dollar a barrel oil.

The President glossed over the most important issue he needed to address last night: spending. He touched on deficit reduction, but his proposals amount to merely a quarter of the cuts in discretionary spending proposed by his own Deficit Reduction Commission, not to mention the $2.5 trillion in cuts over ten years suggested by the Republican Study Committee. And while we appreciate hearing the same President who gave us the trillion dollar Stimulus Package boondoggle finally concede that we need to cut earmarks, keep in mind that earmarks are a $16 billion drop in the $1.5 trillion ocean that is the federal deficit. Budget cuts won’t be popular, but they are vitally necessary or we will soon be a bankrupt country. It’s the responsibility of a leader to make sure the American people fully understand this.

As it is, the American people should fully understand that when the President talks about increased “investments” he’s talking about increased government spending. Cut away the rhetoric and you’ll also see that the White House’s real message on economic reform wasn’t one of substantial spending cuts, but of tax increases. When the President talks about simplifying the tax code, he’s made it clear that he’s not looking to cut your taxes; he’s looking for additional tax revenue from you. The tax “simplification” suggested by the President’s Deficit Reduction Commission would end up raising taxes by $1 trillion over the next decade. So, instead of bringing spending down in line with revenue, the President wants to raise our taxes to pay for his massive spending increases. It’s tax and spend in reverse: spend first, tax later.

And the Obama administration has a lot of half-baked ideas on where to spend our hard-earned money in pursuit of “national greatness.” These “investments,” as the President calls them, include everything from solar shingles to high speed trains. As we struggle to service our unsustainable debt, the only thing these “investments” will get us is a bullet train to bankruptcy.

With credit ratings agency Moody’s warning us that the federal government must reverse the rapid growth of national debt or face losing our triple-A rating, keep in mind that a nation doesn’t look so “great” when its credit rating is in tatters.

Of course, it’s nice to give a speech calling for “investment” and “competition” in order to reach greatness. It’s quite another thing to advocate and implement policies that truly encourage such things. Growing the federal government is not the answer.

Take education for example. It’s easy to declare the need for better education, but will throwing even more money at the issue really help? As the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner notes, “the federal government has increased education spending by 188 percent in real terms since 1970 without seeing any substantial improvement in test scores.” If you want “innovation” and “competition,” then support school choice initiatives and less federal control over our state and local districts.

When it comes to energy issues, we heard more vague promises last night as the President’s rhetoric suggested an all-of-the-above solution to meeting our country’s energy needs. But again, his actions point in a different direction. He offers a vision of a future powered by what he refers to as “clean energy,” but how we will get there from here remains a mystery. In the meantime, he continues to stymie the responsible development of our own abundant conventional energy resources – the stuff we actually use right now to fuel our economy. His continued hostility towards domestic drilling means hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs will not be created and millions of Americans will end up paying more at the pump. It also means we’ll continue to transfer hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars to foreign regimes that don’t have America’s interests at heart.

On the crucial issue of entitlement reform, the President offered nothing. This is shocking, because as he himself explained back in April 2009, “if we want to get serious about fiscal discipline…we will have to get serious about entitlement reform.” Even though the Medicare Trust Fund will run out of funds a mere six years from now, and the Social Security Trust Fund is filled mainly with IOUs, the President opted to kick the can down the road yet again. And once again, he was disingenuous when he suggested that meaningful reform would automatically expose people’s Social Security savings to a possible stock market crash. As Rep. Paul Ryan showed in his proposed Roadmap, and others have explained, it’s possible to come up with meaningful reform proposals that tackle projected shortfalls and offer workers more options to invest our own savings while still guaranteeing invested funds so they won’t fall victim to sudden swings in the stock market.

And what about that crucial issue confronting so many Americans who are struggling today – the lack of jobs? The President came to office promising that his massive, multi-trillion dollar spending programs would keep unemployment below 8%; but the lack of meaningful, pro-free market reforms in yesterday’s speech means his legacy will almost certainly be four years of above 8% unemployment, regardless of how much he increases federal spending (or perhaps I should say because of how much he’s increased it).

Perhaps the most nonsensical bit of double-speak we heard last night was when the President said that hitting job-creators with a tax increase isn’t “punishing their success. It’s about promoting America’s success.” But government taking more money from the small business entrepreneurs who create up to 70% of all jobs in this country is not “promoting America’s success.” It’s a disincentive that will result in less job creation. It is, in fact, punishing the success of the very people who created the innovation that the President has supposedly been praising.

Despite the flowery rhetoric, the President doesn’t seem to understand that individuals make America great, not the federal government. American greatness lies in the courage and hard work of individual innovators and entrepreneurs. America is an exceptional nation in part because we have historically been a country that rewards and affirms individual initiative and offers people the freedom to invest and create as they see fit – not as a government bureaucrat does. Yes, government can play an appropriate role in our free market by ensuring a level playing field to encourage honest competition without picking winners and losers. But by and large, government should get out of the way. Unfortunately, under President Obama’s leadership, government growth is in our way, and his “big government greatness” will not help matters.

Consider what his “big government greatness” really amounts to. It’s basically a corporatist agenda – it’s the collaboration between big government and the big businesses that have powerful friends in D.C. and can afford to hire big lobbyists. This collaboration works in a manner that distorts and corrupts true free market capitalism. This isn’t just old-fashioned big government liberalism; this is crony capitalism on steroids. In the interests of big business, we’re “investing” in technologies and industries that venture capitalists tell us are non-starters, but which will provide lucrative returns for some corporate interests who have major investments in these areas. In the interests of big government, we’re not reducing the size of our bloated government or cutting spending, we’re told the President will freeze it – at unsustainable, historic levels! In practice, this means that public sector employees (big government’s staunchest defenders) may not lose jobs, but millions of Americans in the private sector face lay offs because the ever-expanding government has squeezed out and crippled our economy under the weight of unsustainable debt.

Ronald Reagan said, “You can’t be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.” President Obama’s proposals last night stick the little guy with the bill, while big government and its big corporate partners prosper. The plain truth is our country simply cannot afford Barack Obama’s dream of an “exceptionally big government” that may help the big guys, but sticks it to the rest of us.

- Sarah Palin

Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=494999858434.

Governor Palin tonight said that the State of the Union was "a tough speech to sit through and try to stomach because the President is so off base with how it is he thinks government is going to create jobs." The private sector creates jobs, she said. "His theme last night in the State of the Union was the 'WTF,' you know - winning the future - and I thought 'OK: that acronym - spot on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech.'"

We should stop incurring debt and deficit spending and cut the budget - real cuts, Gov. Palin said. Programs that are not Constitutionally mandated such as NPR, and the National Endowment for the Arts should be eliminated, she said. Gov. Palin also said that neither ObamaCare, nor any cap-and-tax scheme should be funded as they are job killers. Locking up our lands and depending on foreign energy sources are also job killers that need to stop, she said. New entrants into entitlement programs should receive reduced benefits and the government should be honest about it.

Gov. Palin discusses State of the Union Address with Greta Van Susteren, Part I retrieved from Fox News

Gov. Palin discusses State of the Union Address with Greta Van Susteren, Part II retrieved from Fox News

The Anchorage Police Department yesterday said that Todd Palin has absolutely no connection to massage parlor prostitute Shailey Tripp. Furthermore, the National Enquirer, which concocted the BS story that Todd Palin had visited her for massages concluding with some form of "happy ending" never even contacted the Anchorage Police Department to attempt to verify their "information." Two websites, TMZ and Uncoverage were the only ones in the mainstream media to cover the truth, which is: Todd Palin was never even in the same building with her.

Uncoverage said that mainstream media coverage of this was typical: print lies about the Palins, then bury the truth on a busy news day. Nevertheless, we consider the vindication of Todd Palin's innocence in this case to be the ultimate happy ending.

H/T Josh Painter, Texas4Palin for story lead.

"Texas and Alaska are alike because they are 'good beacons of freedom' and share similar values and work ethic, said Kristen Vander-Plas, president of the Lubbock Christian University College Republicans," Alyssa Dizon of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported overnight.

Gov. Palin addressed the crowd of 1400 at the Lubbock Christian School's fund-raiser, many of whom were alumni, avid supporters, and in some cases curiosity seekers.

"I believe in Sarah Palin and what she represents for America," said Linda Hunt of San Angelo, who won free tickets for the event. "Her enthusiasm, her love for America, her honesty and her core values of representing the people and not just special interests."

Governor Palin today wrote 'America's lifeguard' in USA Today, honoring the legacy of President Ronald Reagan.

I had the privilege of coming of age during the era of Ronald Reagan. I like to think of him as America's lifeguard. As a teenager, Ronald Reagan saved 77 lives as a lifeguard on the Rock River, which ran through his hometown of Dixon, Ill. The day he was inaugurated in 1981, a local radio announcer famously declared, "The Rock River flows for you tonight, Mr. President."

The image of the lifeguard seems to represent what Reagan was to America and to the freedom-loving people of the world. He lifted our country up at a time when we were in the depths of economic, cultural and spiritual malaise. We were told that we must accept that the era of American greatness was over; but with his optimism and common sense, President Reagan held up a mirror to the American soul to remind us of our exceptionalism.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Reagan saw that 'we are all patriots'

HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: A man who shaped our times

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: An 'unshakable faith' in America

MITT ROMNEY: A legacy of optimism, strength

SAM DONALDSON: My respect for Reagan only grew

LEON ARON: His moral leadership won the Cold War

LOU CANNON: He 'tempered conviction with compromise'

EDWIN MEESE: His vision revived the spirit of America

Reagan showed us that despite a deep recession, there could still be morning in America. He could speak to the economic troubles facing ordinary Americans because he understood what it was like to live through a Great Depression where families scraped to get by. And yet, he saw us recover from our Great Depression, and under his leadership we experienced the greatest peacetime economic boom in our history. He could speak to our fears that our years as a superpower were over, because he understood what it was like to see America at war and really fear that we might lose. And yet, he saw us win two world wars, and under his leadership we won the Cold War without firing a single shot. Reagan's belief in American greatness was rooted in historic fact, not blind optimism. He was a sunny optimist because he knew that our best days are yet to come.

Today, when we hear the worry in the voices of Americans wondering where the jobs will be for our children and grandchildren and wondering if the world will be safe and prosperous in the years to come, we should remember Reagan's faith in our inherent heroism and greatness. When we see people around the globe looking to the White House for leadership, we should remember Reagan's steel spine. He understood America's purpose in this world and what we need to do to secure liberty. As Margaret Thatcher said of him, "He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism." He sought those things and he succeeded.

This year, as we celebrate the centennial of Reagan's birth, let's remember the lifeguard from the Rock River who rescued us with his optimism and common sense. We need more lifeguards like him.

?

Sarah Palin was the governor of Alaska and the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008.

As published at: Palin: 'America's lifeguard'

H/T Ray, SarahNET.net for story lead.

RESOURCES

• Governor Palin operated small family business with husband Todd for years, commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska
• Gov. Palin understands meeting creditor deadlines, paying out wages, and giving your hard earned money to the government.

Gov. Palin's Positions:

• ObamaCare is a job-killer that Americans don't want and can't afford. It should be de-funded immediately.
• Free market principles should prevail over government mandates.
• Taxes should be cut for everyone.
• Cut tax burden and provide government efficiency for small businesses to encourage hiring.

You must continue to remind Democrats that the people they are dismissing as "rich" are the small business owners who create up to 70% of all jobs in this country! - Sarah Palin in letter to Republican freshmen 11/13/10

• A real, working federal budget

If you want lasting economic expansion and prosperity, get the federal government's budget under control. Instead of more pork-laden stimulus plans, let the free market correct itself. - Sarah Palin note 11/12/09

• Supported candidates who would bring

jobs in energy production to America

Articles written by Gov. Palin on topic:

An Open Letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress Thank you, Washington, for Requesting a Demonstrably Good Idea Omnibus Defeat Is a Victory for Reality

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Organize4Palin uses which guarantees the permanent removal of your email address from its mailing lists.

Gov. Palin "would wipe the floor with Obama," Rush Limbaugh twice said in his radio broadcast today. He said both the left and the intelligentsia on the right are terrified of Gov. Palin. "There are smart people in both parties who want nothing to do with Palin because of the threat she poses to their claim and hold on power." Gov. Palin is in the power brokers' cross hairs, and the Tuscon shooting was a golden opportunity for her leftist enemies to launch their attacks. Citing the Legal Insurrection blog, Limbaugh said this was a test run for Obama's re-election campaign. If the leftists were to succeed in politically destroying Gov. Palin, the remaining Republicans would fall like dominoes in a row, resulting in the party's catastrophic failure.

Limbaugh: Palin would Wipe the Floor with Obama retrieved from PalinTV.

"SarahPAC has been quietly gauging grassroots support in Iowa for a possible Presidential run," Whitney Pitcher, Conservatives4Palin reported last night in her coverage of a Real Clear Politics article. Governor Palin's activities in Iowa include two book signing stops, a Reagan Day dinner speech, and two candidate endorsements. One of her Iowa endorsed candidates - Gov. Branstad - won his election.

Pitcher cited the RCP article:

But a Palin adviser confirmed that although the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee’s footprint has not been as heavy as that of other possible candidates, her political action committee has indeed been taking discreet steps in Iowa that would help her build a credible campaign here if she decided to launch one.

...

Even as speculation has ramped up in media and campaign circles that Palin has become increasingly unlikely to mount a presidential campaign, her aides have been strategizing on how they would organize their infrastructure in Iowa and have continued to reach out gently to close confidantes in the state.

As was widely reported today, CNN's John King felt compelled to apologize for using the term "cross hairs." We hate political correctness at US for Palin. We use gun metaphors all the time. The whole site is based on a gun metaphor. So, while CNN has put cross hairs in their cross hairs, we are going to take the contrary approach and celebrate this reticle consisting of a horizontal and vertical line inside a circle. We would imagine that Algebra and Geometry are in the PC leftists' cross hairs next, since the cross hair is formed by the intersection of the x and y axes. We will assume for now, that these two mathematical disciplines are safe and not in any one's cross hairs.

What is playing out is very similar to "good naked and bad naked," which was the theme of a Seinfeld episode. You see, cross hairs are "bad" when Gov. Palin uses them to mark districts in which candidates are to be voted out.

A deranged gunman who disliked the news, did not watch TV and did not listen to talk radio went on a rampage, and leftists concocted a blood libel against Gov. Palin. They will not let it go.

But, when the Democrats were targeting their districts, their reticles and use of gun metaphors are good.

It's even good to say that their districts are behind enemy lines. Mass murders were committed in at least some of the DLC states over the years. The Virginia Tech massacre must be the DLC's fault! After all Virgina had a bulls eye on it! We've got to find a way to pin the Virginia Tech massacre on someone really big in the Democratic Party. It's Obama's fault! There! Why not? One good blood libel deserves another after all. Turnabout is fair play. What's the matter? You mean, it's not funny? It's bad politics? Absurd? Malicious? Libelous? All of the above? Darn straight it is all of the above.

Don't want a WalMart store in your neighborhood? Putting a cross hair on the developer and protesting at his house is really cool when you have a "D" after your name. Have an "R" after your name and want to cross hair your opponent on an ad? That might cause you some problems.

A Reticle-ular Celebration

Since CNN wants to banish the cross hair - and we could conclude - all reticles - just on spite, we think it's time to celebrate the cross hair. So, let's get this lock and load party going! Cross hairs come in many different flavors and what we present here in our "reticle-ular" celebration cannot possibly cover them all. We thought of doing one cross hair type a day for 31 days, so we could call ourselves the Baskin Robbins of Cross Hairs. Well, we're not going to do this for 31 days and Baskin Robbins might not take too kindly to trademark infringement. We also have really important issues to address: jobs, stanching the debt, producing energy using our own resources, and national security, because as a nation several enemies have us in their cross hairs.

Lit Up in Cross Hairs

The Simmons Tru-Plex based on the Leupold Duplex is a nice simple cross hair. It consists of two thick lines leading into finer lines directing the eye to where they intersect.

The cross hair on the scope mounted atop the Savage Arms 7mm Remington Magnum rifle Gov. Palin used to take a caribou in Sarah Palin's Alaska, episode four uses the opposite approach from the Tru-Plex. The lines in this cross hair do not meet. The open space where the lines would intersect is what directs her eye to the center. Just ask the caribou in Gov. Palin's freezer how well it worked.

The Mil Dot is what snipers and some hunters use. The round Mil Dot is the US Army standard. By knowing the target size and how many mils it occupies in the scope, the shooter will know far away the target is and be able to calculate by how many mils below the cross hair to hold the scope or adjust elevation.

When pilots shoot an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach, the localizer and glide slope form a cross hair.

The Leatherwood Automatic Ranging and Trajectory Scope uses Mil stadia and Mil Dots to enhance the cross hair. You set a cam for the round you're shooting, frame the target size within the bracket and the scope automatically calculates range and trajectory. Leatherwood ART's are effective to 1,200 meters.

Not a cross hair per se, but definitely a reticle, the EOTech 552 uses a 65-Minute of Angle (MOA) circle and a 1-MOA dot in the middle. Horizontal and vertical stub lines form the cross hair.

AimPoint sights - like the mounted to Gov. Palin's M4 in Kuwait - use a 2-MOA dot to define the target, dispensing with the cross hair entirely, but performing the same function.

The left hates Gov. Palin because she has [courage], "is pretty," and "won't quit, won't back down," Dr. Laura said in her Open Mic interview with Sean Hannity last night.

Why the Left Hates Gov. Palin retrieved from Fox News

The segment on Gov. Palin starts at the 5:00 mark. Alternatively, the PalinTV version has the Gov. Palin segment only. Clicking the link will pop the video window over this one.

PalinTV Video: Why the Left Hates Gov. Palin

Attacks Forge Gov. Palin's Steel...A President is Forming

While Gov. Palin's detractors on both the right and the left continue to spin the narrative that "her career is over," the relentless attacks on Gov. Palin have made her stronger, Rush Limbaugh said today on his radio show. Subsequently, Limbaugh posted the transcript of the show segment in which he described how the merciless attacks on Gov. Palin are making her stronger.

I don't care what you think about this woman. I don't care what you think about her parking lot possibilities, qualifications, or any of that. But I just have to tell you, I don't know of anybody in the political arena who has been more impugned, libeled, slandered, ripped, mis-characterized. It has been vicious, personally vicious and merciless, and she appears untainted by it. In fact, she has risen above it. And as you know, our party is filled with people who just cave at the first sign of this. And they try to make peace with the critics. "Oh, no, no, no! Don't think of me that way. I'm nice!" She has not done that at all. So whatever else you think of Sarah Palin, folks, you have to marvel at how she has dealt with this and risen above it, not become bitter by it -- and it just continues, and it increases in its intensity.

H/T Daniel Bruski, Sarah Palin News for story lead.

Hannity Interview Text Transcript Released

Fox News has released the "rush" text transcript of Gov. Palin's interview with Hannity last night.

The complete interview can be watched here.