For endless hours after Sarah Palin’s announcement yesterday that she would be resigning the Governorship of Alaska, the media and the public online speculated. They added no facts, little insight and much emotion. With nothing to fill but empty space, they pondered an election so far away it is equivalent in politics to the distance between galaxies in astronomy. In short, they wasted time.

I adore Sarah Palin. A few weeks ago I traveled to see her in Auburn, NY. She was the one on the ticket I truly voted for in November. I hope in the future to support her in her endeavors somehow, somewhere, someday.

Despite my affection, I am tired of hearing about and watching people both vilify and glorify the trivial issues that surround her life. I am tired of her daughters views on sex, her battles with late night hosts and the speculations over her every move and how it will relate to an election we cannot possibly begin preparing for until we fight the midterms.

It is not just Palin however. I am tired of Obama’s dog, Michael Jackson and the endless stream of American schadenfreude and obsession with celebrity. In an age of turmoil we are toiling in triviality. If this does not end, we may as well pack for the Armageddon.

Palin told us yesterday that she is stepping aside because of the distractions. In reality these distractions are shared by us all. While we the public do not face the assault of media scrutiny toward our family as she does, our loved ones face a different but not dissimilar assault. An assault on our very way of life and our economic and civil prosperity.

We are all distracted by the noise. As our ears tune to it, we face a startling punch to our gut from policies and politicians that are selling our futures to the lowest bidder and squeezing our labor and resources to their last drop. We are all being assaulted by leaders devoid of substance, media devoid of objectivity and pundits devoid of perspicacity. Sadly Palin herself has become a distraction and in a time when we must embrace stoic seriousness, we cannot afford more distractions.

I have advice for Palin that is the same for all Americans. Become serious and become informed.

The Governor has an amazing opportunity ahead of her. She can travel the nation and become an advocate for a return to our values. She can be a vehicle for proposing strategy and policy that can revive our nation’s free market. She can call for the creation of an actual free and even market in the world and call for a firm stance against the tyrannical rule of nation’s like China that are killing our workers while enslaving their own.

Her celebrity can gain her personal access to the greatest minds while giving her direct access to a massive audience to whom she can espouse her informed beliefs. This opportunity, however, should not be squandered on the trivial distractions. It should not be spent fighting late night comedians or being dazzled by the nature of celebrity.

We too have an opportunity. We can build Palin and others up as leaders, not acts in a three ring circus. We ourselves can become knowledgeable about the most serious of subjects and probe Palin and the other leaders of our Party. We can defend them with ideas, history and principal. We can avoid the rumerous tabloid trash espoused by the left and the media machine in favor of knowledgeable debate and informed opinion.

I enjoy the trivial just as much as anyone. I like to be entertained and I like to laugh. All of life does not have to be spent in deep rumination. There are, however, times when seriousness must rise more often than trivial wandering. When we must pay extra attention to the fight of life because we are in danger of losing. This is one of those times.

Cap and trade, health care, endless spending, executive branch power grabs, Supreme Court appointments, a Global War on terror, lopsided trade policy and dozens of other issues we face will define who we are and what direction we walk for the next century or more. This is not the time to be distracted. This is the time to be alert and resolved.

I wish Palin well but I also hope to see the dizzying distractions that surround her dissapear at any cost. This can only begin to happen if she and all of us spend our time building our defense and tossing aside the trivial fights to focus on the ones that will win the War. It will only end if we are better and more prepared than the pundits who pick the bones of rot and a news media run from Hollywood and not hometown America.

Yesterday Palin was a victim of circumstance and bias. Today she is a victim of catering too much and too often to their whims. Tomorrow she must command the issues in order to hone our collective focus on their importance. The same can be said of every other Republican and conservative leader and all of us who follow.

We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted any longer. It is time to fight and to win.