An Evening With Sarah Palin, May 22, 2010: A Review, Part 1

June 14, 2010

By Rev Nev

This was supposed to be up two weeks ago as promised in my post “Sarah Palin: Why I Have a Mixed Opinion.” It was also supposed to be one post. Instead, it’s a series of posts going up all week. So be sure to come back everyday. Hope you enjoy my take on the Sarah Palin event in Denver:

From Home to Magness Arena

Take our country back. That was the theme of the Evening With Sarah Palin in Denver on May 22, 2010. The idea that our country needs to be “taken back” implies it has already been taken away, or at least that someone has threatened to do so. No doubt that is how many conservatives feel at the moment. A good case can be made that present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is not American in the classic sense. He does not hold many of the basic tenets of the American creed. That is another post and others are beginning to write about it. So it is not surprising that the speakers of the night all rang the theme in their own way.

The atmosphere inside the arena was a whirlwind of political groups and causes.

This event was one I anticipated with great curiosity because I do not traditionally go to political events even though I enjoy politics. Our evening began when the baby-sitter arrived exactly on time. The sitter was a nice girl who graduated the next day from high school. Nice to see kids still make money the old-fashioned way.

We stopped for some burritos at a local shop near DU. The ticket was my Father’s Day gift to my father, but he still bought the lovely Mrs. Nev and I dinner. Thanks Dad!

Magness Arena was full of interesting sights as we arrived. None of us had ever been before so everything was new. Parking did not take as long as we expected. We noticed right away that much of our company that night would be on the older end of the age scale. Not terribly surprising considering they have the money and the time to go to such things, and perhaps the greatest interest in seeing a conservative agenda succeed after Obamacare passed. In the parking garage we met Jason R. Clark who is running for governor of Colorado as an independent. He handed us a flyer and we talked to him until we reached the protesters. He wasn’t going in, just trying to gin up support on the outside.

The protesters were a pathetically small bunch of college kids with ridiculous signs and bad hair. I thought it best to ignore them but couldn’t resist yelling “Drill, baby, drill!” in response to a sign that had the slogan crossed out on it. Hope those kids got their jollies.

The atmosphere inside the arena was a whirlwind of political groups and causes. The place was lined with booths selling Palin merchandise (unauthorized, I suspect) and other things. One vendor had a number of pins for sale. I sorted through them and found one that read “Tea Party 2009” on it. “Hey,” I said to the man tending the booth, “this one is out of date. Can I get it half off?” He gave it to me for free. I was going to give it away but it seems a munchkin ran off with it.

: Image via Wikipedia

When the video finished someone introduced the directors of the two radio stations who sponsored the event. They did some obligatory thanking of the various supporters of the event. They recognized for what would be the first of several occasions the military veterans and current service members in the crowd. They also introduced the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, the former Senator now President of Colorado Christian University, Bill Armstrong.

Senator Armstrong began with a short speech and did one thing that was worth comment: he prayed for the event. I do not know how the crowd felt about doing so but everyone was silent and seemed to participate. It just felt strange to pray at such a political event and yet it was not inappropriate. It is hard to decide if the strangeness comes from the intrusion of liberal doctrine into my psyche that religion and politics should be separate or from something else. Surely in a crowd of more than 6,000 not everyone was a believer. Similar feelings arose in me during a church service we attended in the Rocky Mountains on Memorial Day weekend but that is another post.

Check back tomorrow for the continuation of the An Evening With Sarah Palin, May 22, 2010: A Review!