Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Cuddle Factor

Much has been written about Sarah Palin's looks, both in a derisive sense and an envious one. Conservative women are, after all, the girls next door. They are the ones that raise children, attend PTA meetings and focus their lives on their family. They are, in a word, familiar.

Leftist women seem to have a harder edge, born out of their struggle to gain recognition for something other than their feminine or motherly qualities. They rail against men for the perceived domination of women in the workplace and elsewhere. They champion alternative lifestyles in the hope that such efforts will validate their own existence. They've long forgotten the joy of being a woman within the context of Judeo-Christian society. To most Americans they are only acquaintances.

When I first saw the cover of Sarah Palin's new book, I was struck by its warmth.

Her long hair flows down over her shoulders and frames her face in a way that highlights her smile as one of enduring kindness. It is a smile reserved for family and friends, one that's familiar and welcoming, both genuine and natural. It is a mother's smile that welcomes a child's approach to be held and nurtured. It is a smile that says she can be trusted to shelter and protect. It is an honest look into her heart, a caring and understanding one.

We live in troubling times. We long for leaders that steadfastly support our ideals, not those who seek to divide us by political calculation. For most of us, we remember those times in childhood when we received the warm embrace and the reassurance of closeness. Sadly, not all of us can claim the same experience, which is why Sarah Palin is so easily misunderstood by the left. She embodies the memories of the majority of Americans who grew up in a loving and caring family. She has that cuddle factor like no other politician in memory. And, make no mistake about it, she is the "mama grizzly" that evokes the protective instinct in all of us. It is a commitment to protect our foundational roots in liberty, something worth fighting and dying for.

2 comments:

  1. This is beautifully written. You are obviously a talented writer with a God-given gift. At first, I thought you might be joking, a deadpan sarcasm, if you will. But as I read your beautiful prose, it dawned on me that you might actually believe what you are writing about the person known as, Sarah Palin. In fact, the sincere passion in your words is incontrovertable.

    "They are the ones that raise children, attend PTA meetings and focus their lives on their family. "

    "It is a smile reserved for family and friends, one that's familiar and welcoming, both genuine and natural."

    But, please, look into the depth of your soul (I know by your writing that you have been there). You are describing what you want a Sarah Palin to be.

    " ... her smile as one of enduring kindness."

    Again, you are describing what you want a Sarah Palin to be.

    It is a fantasy that would be absolutely breathtaking, if it were true.

    But it is not.

    We live in fascinating times. Two fascinating public figures, with anatomically fascinating smiles, generating fascinatingly opposite responses.

    I am so grateful to be a witness.

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  2. We all view the world through the prism of our experiences. It helps us interpret that which is both spoken and seen. We don't always get it right, but it still informs our decisions.

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