2010: The Year of the Citizen Journalist and the Mama Grizzly!!!

Wow, what a year 2010 has been! I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much our country has changed within the past year. Like many of you, I look to 2011 with the hopes that conservatism will continue to prevail. Over the course of 2010, we saw the power of the conservative movement, and I know 2011 will be a year in which we will see conservatism continue down the path toward victory just like we did with this year's mid-term elections. In 2009, we saw the beginning stages of the tea-party movement's power. In 2010, this powerful movement has grown and become one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, movements of our time. With the tea party, we finally have a movement that has the power to transform our country back to the days of fiscal conservatism and fiscal restraint. I couldn't be prouder of the everyday men and women who have decided enough is enough and who are now taking a stand, and I say "Thank you to you all; keep up all the hard work. We ARE being heard!!!" Continue to stand up, and continue to speak out. Don't let the left define you as simply an "angry mob." We are not a mob, but; instead, we are a conservative army! After all, this was the year of the enthusiastic citizen journalist and the mighty mama grizzly.

My life has changed a lot within the last year. Last year at this time, I definitely did not see myself where I am today. When I started this blog a little over a year ago, little did I know how successful it would become. I want to thank you, my readers, for giving me the opportunity to stand up and speak out in the name of conservatism. I couldn't be more excited for the doors the good Lord has opened for me. Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself looking at politics as a career. Last year, if anyone would have told me that, I definitely would have said "That's crazy!" Now, I thrive on politics. Many of you will think I'm some nerdy girl when I tell you how much politics excites me, and I don't blame you because, to be honest, I probably would have thought the same thing a little over a year ago too. This blog has opened so many doors for me and allowed me to meet so many amazing and inspirational people. I have gotten to meet and interview great people like Bristol Palin, Joe Miller and my good friend Mr. Eddie Burke. Last year, I had the honor of meeting Sarah Palin, and this year, I got a personal call from her, which was a big highlight of the year. It was so awesome for her to take the time to call me and thank little ol' me for everything I am doing to help the conservative cause. Sarah, thank you for all you are doing, and thank you for being a role model to me and countless other young women.

This year, I also had the pleasure of working in my first campaign, a state-wide campaign at that, as Eddie Burke's press secretary in his run for Alaska lieutenant governor. Although Eddie did not win the election, I learned so much from him and the many patriotic individuals I met along the campaign trail. It was a blast to travel to Alaska, and spend time with so many great individuals. (You all know who you are.) Thanks, Eddie, for believing in me and allowing me to help you! I also was lucky enough to be interviewed by foxnews.com as a pop culture/media contributor. As someone who studied journalism, it is so amazing to be able to put to use my degree, and I thank the reporters at Fox for giving me this opportunity.

I also had a honor of being chosen as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, and although I did not win the big prize, just to be picked was a huge honor in itself. I will never forget what it felt like to be up on that stage and spin the famous wheel. Out of the millions of people who fill out applications and/or try out, fewer than 500 people are chosen to play each season. I remember one of the contestant coordinators saying one has a greater chance of being struck by lightening than actually being selected to appear on the show. What a thrill!!!

I have had the pleasure of getting to know so many people. As I have mentioned before, I will forever be grateful to Sarah Palin for bringing us all together. Sarah is an amazing woman who I believe is the future of America. She has the intellect, charisma, poise and sheer grit and determination to get the job done. It has been my pleasure to spread her commonsense message and to report the truth, which is something the msm are not doing. I am not alone, for there are several members of Sarah's Army out there. We will continue to support her and her entire family.

And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank you all again for taking the time to read my blog; it means so much to me!!! You all are great Americans, and I will forever be grateful to you all for your kind words of support and encouragement!!! Again, thank you all. If there is one thing you take away from this post, I hope you reach for the stars; do not let anyone or anything hold you back from achieving what you want to achieve. I want to wish you and your family a very prosperous New Year. God bless you and yours, and continue to keep up the good fight fellow patriots.


(Follow me on Twitter @RachelleFriberg.)

Kathy Griffin: From D-List to F-List!!!

According to deranged-lister, I mean d-lister, Kathy Griffin, Bristol Palin is overweight. Huh??? Yeah, you read that right. While addressing troops during VH1's Divas' Salute, Griffin said Bristol was "the only contestant in the history of the show to actually gain weight." The insults did not end there. Griffin went on to tell the crowd: "She gained like 30 pounds a week.... I swear to God, it was fantastic. She's like the white Precious." This is sick! Not only are Griffin's comments way off base and totally disgusting, it illustrates the blatant hypocrisy that exists in society today. Kathy Griffin is not the only individual in Hollywood throwing personal insults around. Stuff like this is happening everyday as individuals are judged on their personal appearance instead of talent, intellect and contributions to society. We saw this throughout the 2008 presidential campaign. Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton were both unfairly judged on either their looks or what they wore while out on the campaign trail. Never before, in the history of politics, did we see candidates judged on such a personal level.

Griffin calling Bristol Palin overweight is like calling an apple an orange. When did anyone give Griffin the right to throw out insults like they were water balloons? With individuals like Kathy Griffin, it is no wonder so many young women struggle with body-image issues; furthermore,it is no wonder so many young people suffer from eating disorders. As a young woman myself, I know firsthand how hard it is to live up to the perfect "Hollywood image." I work with high school students everyday, and I see firsthand the struggles they endure. When Kathy Griffin made this ridiculous statement, she not only was unfairly attacking Bristol Palin, but women of every age, race and creed. The issue of body image is not a new concept of discussion. When the racy, controversial Miss USA pageant photos were released prior to last May's pageant, I was interviewed for a story on foxnews.com, in which I said,

Many of the photos push the line between what is appropriate and what is not. As a young woman, I know firsthand how much women are judged by their appearance. I am a big supporter of pageants, and I feel pageants do help to influence women into feeling good about themselves by promoting their intelligence and artistic skills... but we live in a culture in which sex sells, and I have to wonder if the Miss USA organization is falling victim to this.

Far too often, women have fallen victim to society's expectations instead of doing what makes them happy. This is why it was so refreshing to see a young woman like Bristol Palin participate on Dancing with the Stars. We saw a beautiful young woman who did something for herself. Bristol did not give a darn about what society thought. She decided to take a stand and just dance, and dance she did. Bristol went out there, worked her butt off and danced her way into the finals. It was so refreshing to see a real-life woman on the show. It was great to actually see a woman who could care less about what Hollywood expects. I commend Bristol for shattering the the notion that one has to be a size "0" to get your groove on. Shame on Griffin for calling this average-size, beautiful woman overweight. I know a lot of Bristol's success on DWTS stemmed from the fact that modern-day women relate to her. Women, like me, relate to Bristol because she is one of us. She goes out and gets things done, just like her mama bear.

Kathy Griffin better watch out who she targets because I know I would not want to mess with the Palin mama grizzlies. Perhaps Griffin would be better suited to making jokes about her pal Ricky has-been Hollywood, but something tells me she would still end up the butt of all of the jokes, given the fact that Ricky's two minutes of fame pretty much ran out a while ago, and Kathy's fame value really never was worth much anyway.

(Follow me on Twitter @RachelleFriberg.)

Man Up, Joe Scarborough!!!

It seems as if the sharks over at MSNBC have finally managed to sink their liberal teeth into Joe Scarborough. In an opinion piece for Politico, Scarborough takes on Sarah Palin and calls for the GOP establishment to publicly confront the former Alaskan governor. Throughout the entire piece, it is hard to decipher if Scarborough is an establishment, RINO Republican or a liberal hack. Scarborough goes to great lengths in an attempt to discredit Palin, calling her a reality star and questioning how she has time to study up on policy when she has her show, book tour and family to raise. I, for one, find Scarborough's arguments not only demeaning, but sexist as well. Would Scarborough make the same accusations about a man? After all, our very own president was viewed as a rock star during the presidential campaign; furthermore, he spent more time campaigning for president than he did actually playing senator. Would it be fair to ask how he managed to spend time with his family and raise his daughters during this time period? While this is a minute segment of his opinion piece, it sheds light on just how how of touch the Washington establishment types are with modern-day Americans like you and me. Scarborough also touches on so-called sources that he has supposedly talked to about Palin's lack of experience and goes on to write:

What man or mouse with a fully functioning human brain and a résumé as thin as Palin’s would flirt with a presidential run? It makes the political biography of Barack Obama look more like Winston Churchill’s, despite the fact that the 44th president breezed into the Oval Office as little more than a glorified state senator.

Oh really Joe...hmmm. Oh how quickly people forget. Remember the whole 2008 presidential campaign? Remember that Sarah Palin was the only candidate in the running that had executive experience? Not only did she have executive experience, but she was the most popular governor in the country who, when tapped for VP, had an approval rating in the 80 percentile. As the governor of the largest state, she tackled the corruption in Alaska head on and helped to put her state on the map. Unlike many of Mr. Scarborough's establishment friends, whose parents left them large trust funds, Sarah started from the ground up, serving in the PTA, on the city council and as a mayor before becoming governor. Click here to read all of Governor Palin's accomplishments. Word to the wise, Mr. Scarborough: Perhaps it would help if you actually do a little research before throwing insults around, acting like you know it all when you clearly do not. There is such a thing as the internet and fact checking. Did they not teach you that over at MSNBC? Well, seeing that you do work for such a highly regarded network (not), this may very well be the case. Although Mr. Scarborough works for MSNBC, he was a member of the House not too many years back. Did you know that he resigned because he wanted to spend more time with his family? Funny how he is able to criticize someone for resigning when he did the very same thing. It sounds a lot like the pot calling the kettle black if you ask me.

(Follow me on Twitter @RachelleFriberg.)