Gotta Smile!

I just heard a discussion on the daytime show, "The View," where the ladies were talking about a comment made by Sarah Palin about her having desert, seemingly to spite the advocacy of First Lady Michelle Obama who stresses more diligence when it comes to the diets of children and youth.  Having struggled with my weight all of my life, I understand Mrs. Obama's position and support it whole-heartedly.

I felt very strongly about making a comment about Sarah Palin.  For starters, for Mrs. Palin and countless others, there is absolutely nothing President Barack Obama can do right.  While we may not like it, and I would dare say most of us don't agree with any of it, we may essentially be at the mercy of the critics and naysayers from now until eternity--they are not going to stop.  For those who think change is taking too long, change is not always quick, fast, or in a hurry.  Sometimes, and it is more the rule than the exception, that change is a slow process.  How long ago was it when the voting rights act was enacted?  Do we still have problems?  How long has it been since laws changed to make people do what they should have been doing all along--like affirmative action, which became a negative byword in recent years.  Have people's attitudes changed?  Oh, they're just not saying as much openly.  And that's the biggest change that needs to happen--minds and attitudes. So you wonder, will attitudes EVER change and how long will THAT take?  Sarah Palin is a classic example.

Where Mrs. Palin is concerned, it really does not matter who the President is.  Since she has come into the public eye, to use a line from the popular TV show, "House," starring Hugh Laurie, Dr. House's friend Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) says--"They could build monuments to your arrogance."  I say touche when it comes to Sarah Palin.  She reeks arrogance.  And arrogance is not the same as confidence.  Confidence carries itself in a way that does not need to try to make or prove a point, does not need to grandstand, does not need to criticize, demean, and bemoan others because the self-confident manner/demeanor will be conveyed in word and deed.  But arrogance--often called vanity--seems to have the need to be noticed, needs to make a point, needs to win the argument, needs to show how smart, needs others to know who they are and that they are "in the room."

If by some chance, someone may read this who may have the ear of Sarah Palin, please tell her that her  attacks on President Obama are really not that impressive, but more of a turn-off.  She would do better to keep things on the "up and up", keep her speech and her presentation positive.  And if she has a problem with change, she may have a problem with a culture that likes change. Wouldn't she seek to change some things as a political leader?  She even wants a presidential CHANGE, does she or doesn't she?  She can't avoid the word or the event in a culture that is always looking for something new and dynamic and even thrilling.  Not only that, but also share with her that it is usually the case that "pride (vanity) goes before a fall." ("Pride goes before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction." Proverbs 16:18, The Bible) 

It matters not what your reasons are for the attacks you make, Mrs. Palin, it does not even matter whom you attack.  It is very true that the pridefulness, the vanity, the arrogance, is what is released and conveyed and that arrogant negativity always produces negative consequences. As I recall, someone was expelled from heaven because of pride.

So what's the smiling point?  Perhaps we are yet to see.  "He who laughs last . . ."

Just keep smiling!
R. Fitch