Early Thoughts on America by Heart

For me this is the essence of freedom: to be a child of God whose God-given rights and responsibilities are respected by her government under the Constitution.
-Governor Palin
America by Heart

After work today, I went to my local Barnes and Noble bookstore to pick up Governor Palin's new book. I picked it up from a display near the front of the store, but what I find fitting is that her memoir, Going Rogue, was found in between biographies about Thomas Paine and General Patton. I had read a few positive reviews earlier in the day by people who had actually read the whole book. I had also read a piece by race baiter, Richard Cohen, and another piece by Canadian RINO, David Frum.Both had obviously not read the book yet.

Prior to what will likely be my final time watching Dancing with the Stars, I read the introduction and first chapter of the book. I decided to brew some tea, which I felt was the appropriate beverage to accompany such a book.

What I found in the first few dozen pages was that Governor Palin essentially did what Alexis de Tocqueville did when he came to America as a 26 year old. de Tocqueville came from France early in the 19th century to see what really made America exceptional and what made it function so much better than other countries. He then wrote a book, Democracy in America, entailing his discoveries through his travels and studies of the Founding documents. Governor Palin did the same thing by studying Americans and those "charters of liberty" as an American herself--something we should all probably do individually.

She speaks of the beauty of the tea party movement and how you can see America through that movement. She spoke of the wisdom and time tested truths found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,and she speaks of the need for judges to use the Constitution as their guide for decision making, not empathy, as President Obama once suggested.

Reports by the MSM would have you believe that Governor Palin, in writing this book, only drew from watching the movie Juno. What you see in the introduction and first chapter is that she draws from Presidents Reagan, Coolidge, Lincoln, and even Obama (both negatively and positively). She references Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (one of my favorite movies too). She speaks of American exceptionalism and gives us a historical, philosophical, and ideological lesson on what our country truly was founded on and what makes it great. As she has said many times, America doesn't need to be transformed, but restored. That begins with us. She writes about members of her family who weren't ever particularly political who got involved in the Tea Party movement.

She ends the first chapter with an excellent discussion of the ills of slavery and racism and how our nation overcame those evils. The irony lies in the pieces that Cohen and Frum wrote prior to reading Governor Palin's book.How can someone criticize another about the prejudice of race when they themselves are prejudiced about that other person? They criticize her of supposed racism or a lack of historical knowledge when Palin spends a solid third of her first chapter talking about the political battle during the Constitutional convention over slavery and the political process that addressed the racism that is unfortunately part of history. She quotes Martin Luther King Jr. and President Obama, wishing that President Obama would govern with the perspective he spoke of in 2008.

These first pages spell out what makes me respect and admire Governor Palin so much. She loves America, and she lays out what makes America so great. She recognizes that our Founding documents are blueprints, not doormats. She is optimistic--not in the American government, but in the American people.

I look forward to reading the rest of the book in the coming days.