Might As Well Dance

Last night, Mr. Andi and I attended a fundraiser for the Exceptional Foundation of Baldwin County.  Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker (a major coup for a startup non-profit organization located in Mayberry).  Mr. Andi wouldn’t normally have tried to go (formal dinners aren’t our thing, and even if they were, we don’t have the extra cash for it), but thankfully, the Foundation comp’d us two tickets and my friend Dawn’s mom offered us some free babysitting.  Following are a few of my observations:

Her Speech:

• Mrs. Palin talked about her fears following Trig’s in utero diagnosis of Down syndrome, and how they were immediately alleviated after his birth.  My favorite quote:  “God gave us eyes to see Trig’s perfection.”
• Mrs. Palin talked about the gentle nature and caring spirit of people with Down syndrome (and others with intellectual disabilities).  She referred to them as “tuning forks for God’s orchestra”.
• Mrs. Palin touched on several subjects that I have covered in this blog and in my recent speeches – among them, the appalling statistics on prenatal abortion of individuals with Down syndrome.
• Mrs. Palin didn’t talk politics in her prepared remarks, choosing instead to focus on the main purpose for being there: exceptional people. (Note: Some of the attendees clearly had come to see Palin the Politician, rather than to support the Foundation, and as a result, the Q&A after her speech did cover political topics).

My Impressions:

• Mrs. Palin appeared feisty and energetic (which I expected) but also extremely relaxed.
• Mrs. Palin spent a lot more time talking about God and faith than I had anticipated.
• Mrs. Palin believes in what she’s doing.  There’s a fire and a passion behind her words that’s undeniable.

The Rest of the Story:

The invitation explicitly said “no cell phones and no cameras” and while I (sorta) tried to respect that request, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to snap a quick photo and tweet a few times.  I was intentionally benign in my tweeting, because I try not to wear my political leanings on my sleeve:

But within moments, Palin haters had found my tweets and responded:

And I apparently wasn’t the only person in attendance tweeting (and being assaulted by haters):

Many of the comments in Mr. All Caps’ Twitter stream were vulgar and much, much worse than what I’ve shown here.  All were seeping with vitriol (ironic that the person behind the avatar selected an icon of Jesus to represent him or her – is that supposed to be a joke?)  I talked here on Monday about the dangers of seeing someone as The Enemy, but this example hit much closer to home than the celebrations following the death of Bin Ladin.  I wondered how a mother could be as bold and fearless as she appears to be in the face of such vile hatred directed, not just at her, but at her innocent young son.  I considered my own fear and trepidation in sharing my beliefs and thoughts with the world through this blog.

As a segue into another topic, Mrs. Palin spoke of Bristol’s decision to appear on DWTS.  According to her, Bristol said, “The haters are going to hate; the criticizers are going to criticize, so I might as well dance.”  What a great attitude to have!

I didn’t learn anything new, become a political activist, or even get an autograph last night, but I did walk away emboldened – encouraged to take a stand for what I believe in.

Might as well dance.

Photo of Governor Palin courtesy of the Baldwin Register