4 Highlights of Sarah Palin's 'America by Heart' Leaked Excerpts

No doubt, most of today's Hollywood hotshots think movies like ["Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"] are sappy and uncool, foolish sentimentalism about a country they seem to prefer to run down rather than build up. During the Iraq War, Hollywood produced a whole slew of movies that portrayed the United States (read: the Bush administration) as motivated by vengeance and oil, with the troops as mindless pawns. But almost all of them bombed at the box office, because most Americans don't share this view of our country or our troops.

Chalk some of them up as victims of the cult of self-esteem. No one they have encountered in their lives -- from their parents to their teachers to their president -- wanted them to feel bad by hearing the truth. So they grew up convinced that they could become big pop stars like Michael Jackson. On "American Idol," of course, these self-esteem-enhanced but talent-deprived performers eventually learn the truth. After they've embarrassed themselves for the benefit of the producers, they are told in no uncertain terms that they, in fact, can't, regardless of what they have been told by others. But in the wider world, these kinds of instances of hard-truth-telling are increasingly rare. Instead of eventually confronting the limits of their inflated egos when it comes to paying the rent and putting food on the table, Americans are increasingly told not to worry about it. Someone else will provide for them.

Whether it's a cross in a desert or a prayer in a time of national crisis, evidence abounds that America is a deeply faithful country. That doesn't mean we're all the same religion or even all regular churchgoers. I think a lot of us feel the same as the cowboy: We see God in the beauty of mountains and lakes and the other glories of His creation, not necessarily always through stained-glass windows. I know Alaskans can relate. We see God in Mt. McKinley, our majestic glacial carvings and the breathtaking vistas right outside our front doors. And we look to our Creator, not just for our freedom, but to be better men and women. It's a pity that some have a problem with that. But as for me, I'm going to continue to seek God's blessings. I need Him to "right me ... when I turn aside." And to guide me on that "long, dim, trail" that stretches "upward toward the Great Divide."

Which is the more courageous course for a young, single mother: to sit down and shut up and avoid the critics, or to speak out in a painfully honest way about how tough single parenting is? I'm biased of course, but given a choice of role models between Bristol and Murphy Brown, I choose Bristol.