Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin's decision to come rushing to Dr. Laura Schlessinger's defense last week after Schlessinger announced that she would be leaving her radio show because of criticism she received for repeatedly saying the "N-word" on a recent broadcast did not sit well with a lot of people, including us.

And it looks like it didn't sit well with a variety of Black conservative leaders either, though they seemingly tried to downplay their displeasure by issuing their statement blasting Palin for using "this incident as a stepping stone for her political ambitions" late on Friday night:

Dr. Schlessingers' use of the "N" word on her program was in poor judgment and an unfortunate choice for which she has apologized. While we do not condone her behavior, we accept her apology and understand she did not intend to offend. We are disappointed, however, that Sarah Palin used this incident as a stepping stone for her political ambitions, raising her political goals above principle, said leaders in the black prolife movement.

"Many of these politicians are involving themselves in matters that have nothing to do with them," said Day Gardner, President of the National Black Pro-Life Union. "Just as the President should not have involved himself in the Mosque issue in New York, or the Police incident in Massachusetts, Sara Palin should not have involved herself in this matter or -- the Georgia governors race where she supported a candidate that supplied funding to Planned Parenthood. Doing so caused us all to question her assertion that she is pro-life. Palin should forget about political leverage and deal with the righteous principles of human dignity." Gardner said.

"When I heard the caller on the Dr. Laura show, I wondered if she was a plant, someone designated to provoke a reaction from Dr. Laura," said Catherine Davis, a founding member in the black prolife movement. "It is unfortunate Dr. Laura took the bait. But Sarah Palin's insertion into the matter just seems opportunistic and political." she said.

"Every time Sarah Palin chooses politics over principle, something is lost," said Dr. Alveda King, Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life. "Palin can't win by jumping into the game where the nefarious race card is being played."

"It's time to strike a nail in the coffin of racism in America," King continued. "Governor Palin could better use her time in trying to unite the human race. This battle can't be won with politics. This is a matter of the human condition -- and the human heart," concluded Dr. King.

Interestingly, Alveda King issued a separate statement announcing that she would be joining Glenn Beck's upcoming "Restoring Honor" rally, where Sarah Palin will also be speaking, as did Gardner ...  so maybe they will get a chance to voice their displeasure with Palin in person.

But honestly, I can't think of a better example of the absurdity of Beck trying to claim Martin Luther King's mantle by hosting his rally on the anniversary of MLK's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech than this decision to include the one member of MLK's extended family who least represents his legacy.

Newsweek's Lisa Miller has an interesting article on how Sarah Palin is reshaping the Religious Right in her image:

The religious right has always had female leaders, of course—Phyllis Schlafly and Beverly LaHaye, to name two—but since the Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade in 1973, its most visible political brokers have been men. Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson used their media megaphones to preach a “family values” agenda—and then supported candidates who upheld their pro-marriage, antigay, and pro-life views. Their great triumph, the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, was followed by decades of acrimonious public debate about abortion, and political operatives soon discovered that no issue motivated voters more. “Pro-life folks on the ground are the most loyal; they’re worth their weight in gold,” says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. In 2004 Karl Rove called in 4 million evangelical Christian votes to help George W. Bush narrowly win a second term. And while women have long been active, even zealous, foot soldiers in family-values causes, they have not until now been passionate about their representatives on the national stage. Christian women may have given money to Schlafly, but they didn’t want to be like her.

But the culture was changing, and by 2006 the religious right was in disarray. Falwell would die the following year, and Dobson and Robertson were widely regarded as dinosaurs. Even evangelical Christians, for whom abortion remained a priority, said they didn’t like being yelled at ... With her new faith-based message, Palin gathers up the Christian women that traditional feminism has left behind.

I don't know that I completely buy all of Miller's arguments, but her article does contains lots of interesting information, especially about the Evangelical women and mothers who are flocking to Palin and who see her as a modern-day Esther: 

When asked why she loves Sarah Palin, a conservative Christian woman will point you to Proverbs 31. There, you’ll find a wife and mother who adores her husband, works the fields, rises before dawn, “makes her arms strong,” feeds the poor, helps the needy, has a head for business, and wears beautiful clothes. No exhausted careerist is she: the Proverbs 31 woman laughs easily; her children are happy. Christian women have long puzzled in their Bible study groups over how she does it, and in Palin they finally have an example—not just for themselves, but for their daughters.

“God gives us gifts and talents and abilities, and [Palin] is kind of modeling that it’s OK to use those,” says Lynette Kittle, 52, a mother of four grown daughters, who recently traveled more than a thousand miles from her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., to hear Palin speak. “I know there’s a saying, ‘You can’t have it all,’ but in some ways you can.”

...

Like many evangelicals, [Vicki] Garza believes a great cosmic battle is underway for the soul of America and that Palin has been singled out by God for leadership: “The anointing on her is so strong,” she says. Assaults on Palin by the press only strengthen Garza’s conviction, for as any Christian knows, martyrs most deserve to gain God’s kingdom. “She’s just fearless,” Garza says. “Jesus said, ‘They persecuted me; they’ll persecute you.’ ”

To her Christian audiences, Palin talks about her own life in terms of mission and destiny. She was the keynote speaker at a Women of Joy conference in April, a convention of 16,000 Christian women who traveled from three dozen states to Louisville, Ky., and paid at least $79 per ticket for a weekend of praise, song, and prayer. Upon mounting the stage, Palin immediately thanked her “prayer warriors” for the “prayer shield” they built around her. She quoted from Proverbs 3—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart...and he will make straight your paths.” And then she connected herself with Esther. She was explaining the meaning of the Jewish queen’s heroism to her 9-year-old daughter Piper, she said. “[Esther] was out there on the stage, wondering if she’d have the opportunity to be chosen to really help change the world.”

It looks like everyone who decided not to shell out $550 to attend the National Tea Party Convention or $350 for Sarah Palin's speech at the event made a wise decision because organizers have now announced that several key portions of the convention, including Palin's speech, will be available via webcast:

Tea Party Nation has worked behind the scenes to arrange for the live broadcast of the opening of the of National Tea Party Convention, keynote speeches during the conference and a live broadcast of Sarah Palin's address.

Working with the internet media company, PJTV as well as FOX News, CNN and Reuters TV, the National Tea Party Convention will allow the millions of Tea Party activists who could not be in attendance to view many of the proceedings live along with special interviews of delegates and speakers alike.

...

Tea Party Nation will publish the broadcast information on the National Tea Party Convention website for viewing times and a schedule of those events. We hope you enjoy the proceedings of this historic conference.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the fact that organizers of the National Tea Party Convention were trying to keep the media from covering the event, especially the speeches that will be delivered by Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Well, apparently Palin has decided that her speech can be covered by the press, according to The Tennessean:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has decided to allow media coverage of her speech at next month's Tea Party Convention at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

Palin's speech was initially announced as being closed to the media, but the former vice presidential candidate requested the press be allowed in after all, the event's organizer announced Wednesday.

The nation's first Tea Party convention will take place Feb. 4-6 at Gaylord Opryland.

Although the convention is sold out, according to the Tea Party Nation Web site, banquet tickets are still available. Besides Palin, Republican Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn and Minnesota's Michele Bachmann will both be speaking at the convention.

UPDATE: According to a press release issued by the organizers, it looks like only right-wing news outlets will be allowed to cover the event:

First, we are pleased to announce that the convention has sold out and we now have a waiting list which we will continue to try to clear as opportunity presents.

In this light, we have had numerous requests for press passes and the resulting expected coverage. However, as we have set expectations that this is a working convention, we have tried not to make it a media event.

In fact, Tea Party Nation has received hundreds of requests for press credentials to cover this convention. Everyone from a small town newspaper in Iowa to Fox News has asked for press credentials. We have had requests from Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Croatia and Japan. We have been hard pressed to accommodate all of these requests and do not have the space or resources to support the entirety of the press corp. Indeed, we have asked the hotel if they would be willing to provide a press room during the convention.

However, given these practical limitations, we have approved the following press organizations:

Fox News

Breitbart.com

Townhall.com

The Wall Street Journal

World Net Daily