In her recent speech in Tupelo, Mississippi, Sarah Palin exhorted the crowd to remain in the game and make a difference. Continuing with the message she delivered along with the news that she wouldn’t be running for president that we all can – and must – work to restore America’s greatness, Gov. Palin used a Bible passage, Matthew 5, to illustrate her point.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Moira Crooks over at Conservatives 4 Palin expanded on the governor’s theme in one of the most profound pieces I’ve read in a long time, “Pass the Salt and Turn the Lights On”

It’s a long essay, but worth every minute it takes to read it, because it focuses on how much impact ordinary things – salt and light – and ordinary people – us – can have on the world. The story she shares about how the Czechs, who were forced to work in the German munitions factory, were able to thwart the Nazi effort in a seemingly insignificant way is fascinating and inspirational.

Go read it and come back and share your ideas about how we should be flavoring and lighting our little corner of the world in the coming months. Politically speaking, of course.

For those thousands of you dear faithful readers who have been devastated by my sudden and unannounced absence, I humbly apologize. A confluence of unrelated events conspired to cause my temporary exile from the blogosphere – a computer meltdown, a bucket-load of work and “extracurricular” activities, and a totally unexpected political disappointment.

The computer issue is not completely resolved, but I have come up with a suitable paperclip and scotch tape fix that should hold for a short while at least. Many thanks to resident genius and generous son!

The extra work and activities are part and parcel of what I like to do, so no complaints there. I wish I were about twenty-five years younger though!

The unexpected political disappointment – ah, yes… Most of you can guess. Sarah Palin’s decision not to run for president. What a bummer! I have to admit that initially I was almost as relieved as upset though. I’ve gotten over the relieved part and am still dealing with the upset and disappointed part – mostly by focusing on the down-ticket campaigns. You’ll learn more about that in the coming months. Yay you!

Anyway, as long as the computer hangs in, I’m back. I know you’re thrilled.

Guest Post by Loki

Recently Michelle Obama was pictured at Target getting closer to the little people… voters. Obviously a staged photo-op as an AP photographer was ‘tipped’ of the event through his direct ‘tip line feed’ from the White House. Pictured were the First Lady and an assistant. But this staged event was transparent, pretentious and greedy.

That it was staged is evident. No Secret Service agents were anywhere in the photos. Obviously they were either in disguise knowing that a photographer was joining them or were told to stay out of the photos. The First Lady goes nowhere without a caravan of agents, vehicles and assistants it is SOP.

Then the First Lady is shown in common street clothes and sunglasses without her recent gift of that $40k bracelet. Guess she was not sure that the ‘common people’ would not mug her in the store. I guess she had to wear the sunglasses inside because she didn’t want to be blinded by the photographers flash. Notice also that she is pushing an empty cart knowing that her limo is right outside the front door and she won’t have to carry her items to the parking lot. While she carries one arm load of items her single assistant is double arm loaded with purchases. Very pretentious trying to show she is just a plain old American while treating the help like a pack animal.

This was an extremely expensive adventure. Imagine how much it cost and how much planning had to go into her little excursion. She has assistants to make purchases. She could have sent one of them to make the purchases at a huge savings to the public. But then I don’t think that is something she is concerned with.

Finally there may be a hidden agenda. A couple of years ago George Soros turned his massive attack machine on the Target store to demonized the store driving the company stock down because they dared to contribute to conservatives. Then he invested heavily in the store’s stock. It now appears he is using his ‘bought and paid for’ actors to now bring the store brand back to the lime light and raise his stock value. Is Soros then a wise investor or just a stock manipulator? I doubt President Obama knows or cares.

I am officially old. This year I qualify for Social Security, although I can’t afford to quit working, so I won’t be signing up for it – and I haven’t reached Medicare age yet. But that’s not the determining factor. Nope.

It’s just that I have realized that babies have taken over the country. I had the feeling before – thirty some years ago when I realized that my entire life was orchestrated around the demands of my three kids. but now, with kids grown and running their own lives, I’m experiencing deja vu all over again.

To wit: On Fox News Sunday, the Power Player of the Week was the female football coach at one of the DC area high schools, Natalie Randolph. With her high-pitched, little girl voice and her delicate features, she appears to be all of about twelve. Her team of high school players tower over her. But in her second season, the team is touting an impressive 4 – 1 record. She obviously knows how to coach, and her priority on academics for these inner-city athletes is certainly a winner.

Then, less than fifteen minutes later on the regular Fox News channel, there was a story about the Supreme Court’s upcoming calendar presented by another infant, Peter Doocy. I know he can’t be more than eight or nine because his dad’s on Fox and Friends every day and Steve can hardly be more than thirty or thirty-two. Has anybody checked to see how many child-labor laws are being broken here? Rupert Murdoch can’t handle another scandal in his media empire.

To put the exclamation on my point, the anchor then interviewed the Attorney General for the state of Florida, Pam Bondi, a likely winner of the 2015 Miss Teen America pageant. Do the citizens of the Sunshine State know that they elected a teeny-bopper to argue against Obamacare in front of the Supreme Court?

Fercryinoutloud. When did these kids crawl out of their cribs and get so smart? How did I miss that? When did I get to be one of the geezers? “Honest, Officer, I didn’t see it coming. I was just standing here minding my own business and the next thing I knew – WHAM!”

Good thing that old age and treachery still beats youth and enthusiasm. At least some of the time.