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Virtue
No republic, not even our exceptional one, can survive without virtuous citizens.
One of the most famous women in the world, Sarah Palin relinquished state power in the simplest of settings. It was obviously not comfortable, nor easy. However we define Palin, as frontier feminist, movement conservative or middle class populist this will always stand as her finest hour.
It might not have been her finest performance, but it crystallized in a moment the very essence of virtue. It was Sir Thomas More resigning as Lord Chancellor and George Washington returning to Mount Vernon. It showed how rare virtue has become in our politics.
Of all the attributes we fix to her, charisma, fearlessness, wit, and most recently to our delight, formidable polemicist, we should remember that she entered national life in Dayton, Ohio as the enemy of politics as usual and a champion of the politics of virtue.
The question her political biography begs is why don't more politicians resign? Why didn't Ted Kennedy creep into a hole after Chappaquiddick? Why doesn't Robert Byrd resign, clearly too feeble to hold office effectively? Isn't fifty-four years in office enough for John Dingle? Hasn't Mark Sanders learned how to say adios? And how about Bill Clinton, and John Ensign and Charlie Rangel, and on and on.
America has always done well, when its leaders recognize and call out evil when it threatens. Ronald Reagan's evocation of the Evil Empire and George W. Bush's citation of the axis of evil stiffened our spines for the coming challenges.
Ultimately, virtue is the result of recognizing evil and ensuring that it does not prevail over good. It's a simple formulation, but who in politics is audacious enough to speak in such stark terms? Sarah Palin has, Sarah Palin still does - which explains why, even without office, she has become the most important political figure in America.
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