Sarah Palin tells graduates: 'Get off your butt to make a buck

Speaking over the weekend to the senior class of Republic High School in Washington, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin brought with her a message of inspiration... and a small monetary gift for each of the tiny town's 26 graduates.

The Spokesman-Review reported:

Grads found the gift taped under their chairs onstage: a dollar bill. The currency taught a life lesson, Palin said.

“You gotta get off your butt to make a buck,” Palin said, to cheers from the crowd of 700 or so who had nabbed tickets to the event.

The surprise came later, as Palin revealed the motivation for her acceptance of the invitation from senior class President Tyler Weyer and the rest of the 26-member graduating class. The group posed in the school’s front yard holding a “We Want You, Governor Palin!” banner that went viral on Facebook and eventually led to her agreeing to deliver the commencement address.

Palin told a story about her father, Charles Heath, who in 1964 set out for Alaska from Sandpoint, Palin’s hometown where she had been born just a few months prior. Facing engine trouble, Palin said, he stopped in a small town, where the local mechanic fixed his station wagon for a pittance. That town, she said, was Republic, to gasps and murmurs from residents and graduates alike.

“You got us on our path,” Palin said, to more applause.

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