Friday, March 5, 2010, 10:02 PM PDT

     The other day I went looking for a mobile car wash service that could come to my house and shampoo all of the carpets in our car. Of course it had to operate in Ventura County (California), as any out of state service would charge us an arm and a leg to drive all the way over here to do the work. This was a very practical consideration in my view.

     I followed the first link at the top of the Google search results to a company called "The Car Wash Guys". This was exactly what I was looking for, and more. Check out that truck. These guys mean business. Not only did I find a company that could do exactly what I wanted, but I found one of those All-American Success stories with a very interesting story behind it which provides more than one kernel of wisdom that we can apply to the Sarah Palin drama.

     The company founder, Lance Winslow, began his business career at age 14 as an aviation enthusiast, looking to become a pilot, who started out washing and waxing private airplanes at the Camarillo Airport in exchange for free airplane rides.

     Now, this airport, by the way, used to be an Air Force Base, and part of our national defense system, basing fighter interceptor aircraft with the mission of confronting Soviet Nuclear Bombers during the Cold War . That was many years ago of course. The base began operations in 1951, and was deactivated in 1970, wherein it became an airport serving the needs of private aviation.

     I would note for the record that Lance Winslow did achieve his dream. He did solo, in the more than one aircraft type I understand, and he did acquire that precious pilot's licence after which his heart pined for so long. But most importantly from these small beginnings we saw Lance Winslow branch out into several multi-million dollar enterprises, all of which were successful. He became so wealthy that he was able to retire at the age of 40. I am pointing all of this out, because I am going to quote a couple of his statements as examples of True American Wisdom, and I wanted the reader to understand that these statements were made by a person who was indeed standing at the very pinnacle of the American Dream.

     Check out his biography here. And read all of the articles that were published about him in the local newspapers here. He is also a prolific writer, having excellent communication skills. For example, take this little nugget of Pro-American sentiment.

"We must propel innovation in the US and take our nation to the next level. We must restore America's number one slot as the greatest and most innovative nation on the planet. We will focus our intent and will on start-up concepts using an entrepreneurial, free-market, and competitive approach to advancing technology, science, inventions, design, and the best ideas we can find. We will assist our passionate inventors, entrepreneurs, and intellectual thinkers to push their concepts to the forefront. We will take this model and duplicate establishing our plan in every region of our nation, sparking the innovative thirst of future generations. We will lead the world and leave all other nations in the dust, period." (source)

     I would just say that this statement stands before us like unto a shining candle especially when viewed against the current shadowy backdrop of Obama's world view, where America's place in the family of nations is to be only one among equals. Like Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, America, North Korea, Costa Rica, one among equals.

     Winslow's story ought to be at the top of everyone's list of All-American success stories. And I would say, as I am finally getting to my point, that Sarah Palin would have done well to read about Winslow before she QUIT her job as the Governor of Alaska. Because the story of Lance Winslow exposes the depth of error that she made in that very fundamental and basic regard.

     Winslow was quoted, still as a teenager I believe, by a local newspaper as follows:

"Winners never quit and quitters never win. We did it. We're No. 1. We give a damn and we hustle. It's just got to be that way." (source)

     Here we have the essence of the American Can-Do spirit. Don't Quit! That's one of the central principles of success in any field. Anything that takes effort to achieve, at the very center of it you will see this nugget of truth: If you quit, you will never achieve it! So Don't Quit! It is at the heart of all success and victory. If there ever was such a thing as a Great Central Sun of Common Sense from which all of the subordinate rays would radiate therefrom — as there are many departments of common sense, and many nuggets of truth within each — it would be this. Don't Quit! Indeed, it is at the heart of everything that is worthwhile.

     When Sarah Palin QUIT her job as the Governor of Alaska, not even serving one full term, and turns around and tries to paint this horrible example as virtue, what she has done is to take this golden principle and she has crushed it into the ground under the heel of her boot like a spent cigarette butt.

     Lance wrote on his main bio page, this interesting paragraph: "Recently Lance's genealogy and ancestry was traced all the way back to the Mayflower Voyage. Both Edward Winslow, later a Governor and Governor Bradford of the Mayflower are ancestors to Mr. Winslow. This may explain his passion to fight for what he believes is right and never give up."

     Doesn't that ring as an all-time American truism, "NEVER GIVE UP"? If destiny gives you a battle to fight, fight that battle, don't retreat, don't surrender, and don't give up.

     Sarah Palin was given her battle, and she refused to fight it. She quit. She ran away.

     And in this way, Sarah Palin's example pollutes this all important central principle of the American Success story. Which is not a surprising outcome given that she was elevated onto the stage of national prominence by John McCain.

     Yes, this is the 800LB Gorilla that has taken up residence on her living room sofa, and for all time, it will be sitting right there, and it will not be ignored. The battle that God gave her to fight, from that she shrunk, from that she quit.

     She had her time in the sun. She had her opportunity to say, "I Served as the Governor of Alaska." This was her primary qualification, after all, for being tapped by McCain to run alongside him as his candidate for Vice President.

     But now, every time someone asks her about her qualifications for public office, when she says, I was the governor of the great State of Alaska, people will say, no you weren't. You quit. And then she will go into this finely rehearsed song and dance which tries to make the action of quitting look like a virtue. And she can do that pretty well, and that is why she is so dangerous. That is why she is now like a dangerous worm, its body hot with the lust of political ambition, carving its relentless burrows through the sinew of common sense, destroying the integrity of American moral muscle from the inside of the body politic. For of truth, the student is like unto the master. Her association with John McCain has taught her how to elevate the internal voice of political ambition above the still small voice within, that of conscience that requires adherence to principle as the highest priority.

     Because she is a quitter, because she has become a burrowing instrument for the debasement of the very principle which comprises the heart of success and victory in every field of endeavor, if she ever runs for political office again, I will oppose her ambitions with all of my heart, my mind, and my soul.

     I would only rethink my position if Sarah Palin would cease and desist from her support for John McCain's reelection to the U.S. Senate, and publically confess to the truth, that she did indeed make a mistake that polluted the best traditions of the American Can-Do Spirit, that her association with John McCain had corrupted her soul and her conscience, and on the basis of that realization she was returning to the State of Alaska, and asking the people of that State for forgiveness, wherein she would run for another term for governor, a term she would complete if elected. The sooner she does these things, the more genuine the sentiment will appear, and the more likely it would be that the people of Alaska would give her a second chance. If she did that, I would give her a second look. And this is especially true, because people who can admit a mistake, retrace their steps, and actually complete a program of penance, which this would amount to, will usually come out of that process with a stronger character, and not a weaker character.

     May you pass every test.