Sarah Palin in Haiti : The Heart Connection

When the former Governor of Alaska visited Haiti, the media couldn't wait to start with the snide remarks. Never mind the Haitian people or what they thought about Sarah Palin, mind you. No, no, rather than concern themselves with actual human need, their print articles and talking head broadcasts tended to put Mrs. Palin down as being uncaring, spending "less than 48 hours" in the earthquake-ravaged nation...that sort of thing.

They should have asked Franklin Graham what her visit to a cholera ward was like.

Who's that?

Franklin isthe son of evangelist Billy Graham. He's also the CEO of Samaritan's Purse, a Christian charity deeply involved in providing aid to the victims of the January earthquake that has (to date) left more than one million people homeless...and more than 2,000 people dead.

In a Newsmax article that hit my inbox yesterday, Franklin Graham had this to say about Sarah:

Franklin Graham: Palin's Compassion Touched Haitians' Hearts

The former GOP vice-presidential candidate “has tremendous compassion for people, she loves people, and she cares deeply about people,” Graham said.

“She was an encouragement not only to the staff and to the relief workers (but) even to the Haitian people who didn’t know her,” Graham said.

“She came in with her smile. She would sit on the cots. Now, you have to understand a cholera clinic, these cots have been soaked in urine, and fecal matter, and vomit. Cholera is a horrible thing, and she just sat right there in the middle of it, holding peoples’ hands, talking to people, holding babies, it was an amazing thing. She’s quite a lady and not afraid to get her hands dirty.”

YouTube clips of her visit to the cholera clinic abound--including one that slams her trip as a political photo op and nothing else.

In point of fact, it was everything else. If any of the cheap shot artists have what it takes to walk into a nasty smelling tent where the disease of the day can kill you in matter of hours, I'd be surprised.

Oh, there's one other thing: In the following video, it's clearly stated that Haiti did not come up with this cholera epidemic on its own. No, they had help--from the U.N. A blue-helmeted United Nations soldier from Nepal brought the disease with him.

 Politics only came up once when, unsurprisingly, Sarah was asked by Fox News if she'd made up her mind regarding the possibility of a run for the Presidency.  She replied, simply and to the point, that this was neither the time nor the place for politics.

I couldn't agree more.

On the other side of that coin, though, does Mrs. Palin's trip to Haiti strengthen her qualifications for governing from the Oval Office?  You bet it does.  In case no one has noticed, what she did there was a shining example of foreign policy at its best.  Having a leader of the Free World whose love for people and her toughness are so incredible that she doesn't hesitate to mingle with sufferers most folks would avoid at all costs?  Awesome.

No doubt about it, President Sarah Palin would even hop right on down to visit us Border Lepers here in Arizona, take a looksee for herself.  And then, you know...actually get something about the Border War that's already taken the lives of solid American citizens like rancher Robert Krentz and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. 

As for those Snidely Whiplash bloggers of the sharp tongues and small minds?  Hey, it's like they say:

The dogs bark, but the caravans move on.

Sarah Palin 2012