Sarah Palin's America By Heart

Sarah Palin's America By Heart
By Katie Pavlich
11/23/2010

Sarah Palin’s new book, America By Heart, comes out today, and any American who believes in faith, family, love of country and even history, will enjoy reading it. Just by taking a look at the cover, Palin is adorned in flags, clearly representing the pride she has for America.

Palin’s first New York Times Bestseller, Going Rogue, gave us an idea as to who Sarah Palin is, where she comes from, where she grew up, how she was raised, the feeling of moose eyeballs and of course, the 2008 Presidential campaign. Going Rogue allowed us to get to know Palin on a personal level without the political hoopla.

America By Heart emphasizes everything personal about her first book and touches on many of the same topics such as becoming a mother, guiding Bristol through her teenage pregnancy, Alaska, but it reflects much more heavily on conservative principles guided by her faith in addition to historical references dating back to Roman times, JFK putting a man on the moon, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan bringing down the Soviet Union and of course modern American politics.

She starts the introduction to the book with a brief history of the Tea Party movement. Why it started, who the Tea Party is; and to anyone involved with the Tea Party, it is no surprise the people she describes are everyday Americans dissatisfied with the current political atmosphere in Washington. She references the Constitution in description of them, and reminds readers that this founding document does not state “We the Government,” but “We the People.”

Palin writes about her gratitude towards the U.S. Military, and dedicates an entire chapter to American exceptionalism, quoting Ronald Reagan in his belief, and the belief of many Americans that our country is a “shining city on a hill,” that has offered the world more freedom and prosperity than any nation in the history of mankind.

On top of emphasizing the exceptionalism of America, Palin also points out the importance of states’ rights as outlined by the Constitution through the Tenth Amendment and how her own state of Alaska paved its own way to statehood after being controlled by Washington while Alaska was still a territory. She cites the Obama Administration’s assault on Arizona for trying to secure its border, and takes aim at the mainstream media, or “lame-stream media,” for portraying the state as equal to Nazi Germany. In fact, she takes direct hits at President Obama throughout the entire book, covering every topic from shoving ObamaCare down the America peoples’ throats, his direction for NASA, spreading the wealth around and generally his overall decision to ignore the vision of the American people.

That vision described in the book is not completely policy based either. She stressed the importance of the American attitude of hard work, even when life isn’t easy, how the payoff of self work is much greater and sustainable than handouts because after all, the American Dream has never been a handout. Palin even goes so far as to defend American Idol judge Simon Cowell for his honesty towards contestants, rather than handing each of them a participation trophy for not being able to sing. She talks about how the entitlement attitude of America’s youth doesn’t allow future generations to earn success.

Most of the second half of the book is dedicated to Palin’s faith with a heavy emphasis on her dedication to prayer and the strength she pulls from God to help her through everything in life. She talks about the time she prayed before taking the national stage for the first time in 2008 at the Republican National Convention and when she prayed before her debate against then Senator Joe Biden. She also gives us a history of prayer in America by referring to the Founding Fathers’ reliance on faith throughout the Revolution until the finished version of the Constitution was signed. She talks about Martin Luther King Jr. and his reliance on faith and prayer while he was in Birmingham Jail and President George W. Bush’s never wavering faith in the aftermath of 9/11.

Palin also talks about her reliance on prayer when she found out she was going to have a special needs child, and writes, “I knew God wouldn’t give me something I couldn’t handle,” and dedicated the book to her son Trig, writing “I’m glad you’re here."

Palin takes on the issue of abortion in the book, digging into the history of racist Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood while emphasizing the miracle of life and being a mother. She describes putting family first is most important because they are the most “loyal friends and blessing we have in life.” Acknowledging that this drives liberal feminists crazy while at the same time would garner the approval of original women’s rights advocates like Susan B. Anthony.

Overall, Sarah Palin is not apologizing for her beliefs or for America, admits she is a chocoholic and strongly references the Constitution throughout America By Heart. This book lays out her principles and where they come from, how they have not only guided her, but the nation since its founding.

If Sarah Palin isn’t running for President, America By Heart sure does give us a really good tease.