Memories of the Fourth of July - 2 Years Later

It's been two years since Sarah Palin resigned as Alaska's governor. It's incredible how so much has happened since then. What she has accomplished these the past two years while withstanding the most intense smear campaign ever against an American citizen is simply amazing.

Sarah Palin with son Trig, and daughter Piper holding grandson Tripp Johnston watch fireworks on 4th of July evening at a beach near Todd's parents house in Dillingham, Alaska on Sarah Palin's Alaska.

Let's look at the last two years in order to explain why Sarah Palin is extremely qualified to be president. Her work ethic is astounding. In the past two years, she has written numerous Facebook Notes which delve deeply into policy (her critics called her a lightweight two years ago and still do today). She has written two books (her critics didn't even think she read newspapers). She produced and starred in Sarah Palin's Alaska, a television series that educated America on Alaska while allowing them to get a glimpse of her and her family interacting with her state's natural beauty (her critics thought she was turning her back on Alaska). She has appeared numerous times on the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business channel. She has given speeches, many of which were done on a charitable basis or for the purpose of fundraising for some very great causes besides her own political cause.

Oh, let's not forget that in between tweets, speeches, Fox News appearances, book writing and Facebook posting, she managed to put together this thing called SarahPac and was instrumental in helping a lot of conservatives and Tea Party candidates get elected in the 2010 elections.

There is probably a lot more that I've overlooked or forgotten. But, the point is this: who is humanly capable of doing all that in two years and if someone is capable of handling that kind of a workload and accomplishing so much of what she's done in two years, wouldn't that person make a great president?

Her accomplishments clearly outshine those of Barack Obama who has made vacationing, golf and basketball his only real accomplishments outside of signing off on the killing of Osama bin Laden. Yes, I give him credit for that. It took less than an hour to complete a mission that was prepared for by the Bush Administration. What has he done with the other 1 year, 364 days and 23 hours? He has given us the disaster that is Obamacare and he has implemented policies that are destroying the American economy.

The Palin army has come a long way since two years ago. Her resignation didn't destroy her. It made her stronger. Her army didn't shrink; it grew. She is considered a top tier candidate for the presidency should she decide to throw her hat in the ring (writers note: please do, please, please). The smear campaign didn't ruin her image; it backfired into 24,000 pages of emails which demonstrated how effective a governor she was and it motivated the creation of "The Undefeated." There's egg on all faces there, lefties.

So let's party like it's January 21, 2013 this Independence Day. I hope and pray that everyone's 4th of July is not just to celebrate the past but to look to a future when we renew and restore the United States of America.

And let's also remember what it was like two years ago when I wrote about it last year :

Last year was the roughest Fourth of Julys I can ever remember.  I had my Palin shirt, my Gadsden flag and a cooler full of cold beer and good food all ready. Even though it was the beginning of the Obama years, I wasn't going to let his America - a lackluster apologetic weak excuse of a nation - interfere with my celebration of my America - the shining city on a hill. It was going to be my way of declaring Sarah Palin as my real leader and the successor in my heart to Ronald Reagan. I was at Virginia Beach when a friend of mine called me on the beach to tell me that Sarah Palin had resigned.

When I went up to the deck, Stuart Varney replayed Sarah Palin's speech on Fox News. I watched stunned as the pundits talked about a possible FBI investigation and how the frivolous ethics violations had cost her and the state of Alaska a fortune. I was alone in the wilderness. Obama was leading my country off a cliff and my leader just stepped down from her position of power. I felt like I wanted to throw up.

There was a 5 minute period during the entire time I was at my friend's condo when his son was not on the laptop, so I read everything I could about her resignation the next morning which was July 4, 2009.

Sarah Palin called her minions in off the ledge with a tweet (link no longer available - emphasis is mine): "Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again...." On her Facebook page, she wrote (emphasis is again mine):

I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!

She put her resignation speech on her Facebook page underneath the headline which included these words: "it is good, stay tuned." I read the speech and this line jumped out at me (emphasis not mine - Sarah capitalized the word TRUST):

I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you TRUST me with this decision - but it's no more "politics as usual".

I'm a political science guy who was taught from the textbook in college. It would have been easy to draw a conclusion that she was done. A friend told me it was her "Checkers" speech. It would have been just as easy to get off the emotional rollercoaster of being a Sarah Palin fan at that point. But she said the right words when she was talking to her fans. She was talking to us. She was talking to me. She was asking me to hang in, join her, TRUST her. And like I did before when the media lies were going un-debunked before the Palinista presence we have on the web today, I decided to listen to her.

I wrote:

Take a deep breath. There are 3 1/2 years left until the 2012 presidential election. A lot can happen. Sarah Palin holds the answer. Whether it works or not is totally up to her now. With more freedom to control her brand, her future will no longer be in the hands of an unchecked hostile media that spreads lies about her.

We will be participants in a future political science lesson that has yet to reveal its answer to us.

I deferred the future to Sarah, knowing that the only way to explain the resignation could not be done until after the fact. Now that it is after the fact, I can explain it. I also know that I was right to trust her.

I put on my Sarah Palin shirt last Fourth of July and flew that Gadsden flag that day. When someone commented on my shirt "looks like your girl's in trouble," I hid my concern and simply told him, "nah, she's just getting ready to run in 2012."

Now that the emotion and the uncertainty of last year's Fourth of July is over. Let's do this again right this time. I'm wearing the shirt again this year and this time I'm really going to enjoy it.

It's a year since Sarah resigned. Since then she has made over $12 million dollars and her PAC has donated tens of thousands to political campaigns across the country. She is a best selling author, Fox News contributor, professional speaker and a documentarian. Did I mention she's in the top tier of contenders for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012? Resignation, smesignation.

In 2010, I will shoot off my fireworks off at make believe Taliban and al Qaeda strongholds in Afghanistan. And despite my disgust at the Obama administration, I believe in the American people. I believe we will get the bum out of office. Five years from now, it will be morning in America. And kid's who weren't alive when Reagan was president will be able to graduate college and go wide-eyed into a world with unlimited potential. The economy will be cranking, the job market will be great and we will be militarily strong. The terrorists will be on the brink of collapse.

It will be morning in America again. Sarah Palin will give her "Statue of Liberty" speech and we will beam with pride and joy over our great nation and the great woman who will be leading it.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! And God bless Sarah Palin and the United States of America.