As more bits from Sarah Palin's memoir trickle out, The Huffington Post reports:
In the acknowledgments section of her book "Going Rogue", obtained by the Huffington Post on Friday, Sarah Palin thanks her friends in the media--by first name only:
To some media professionals whom I admire because you don't let anyone tell you to sit down and shut up, please keep making the idiots' heads spin. Thanks for not taking our Freedom of the Press for granted, you bold and patriotic, fair and balanced media folks. Keep calling it like you see it: Amanda, Andrew, Ann, Bill(s), Bob, Cal, Dennis, Dick, Eddie, Fred, Glenn, Greta, Hugh, Joey, John, Jonah, Larry, Laura, Lou, Mark, Mary, Michael, Michelle, R.A.M., Rich, Rush, S.E., Sean, Tammy, Walter.... And there are more. I join you in standing up for what is right. Remember that as your voice is heard and your spine is stiffened, the spines of others are stiffened, too.
Some of the first names seem easily attached to last names--Ann Coulter, Bill(s) O'Reilly & Kristol, Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, for instance--while others aren't quite as clear.
Fred must be Fred Barnes, Hugh must be Hugh Hewitt, Jonah is probably Jonah Goldberg, etc. Am I the only one outraged that Palin did not include Matthew Continetti on this list? The poor kid has been mocked mercilessly by fellow conservatives for giving up a career in journalism to become a full-time Palin courtier, and the former governor refuses to thank him. Where is her sense of loyalty? Where is her sense of decency? (I will retract these comments if he makes the Dedication page).
Meanwhile, the Associated Press, which also has a copy of the book, has begun to fact check it. Palin's falsehoods and exaggerations are not shocking in the least, but the excerpts are a hint that the book--which I had been perversely looking forward to--might be a tough slog. A taste [on why she ran for office]:
Was it ambition? I didn't think so. Ambition drives; purpose beckons.
Yikes.
Update: Christopher Hitchens, in a Newsweek pan of Continetti's book, makes a smart point about Palin and the Weekly Standard elites who have embraced her:
The Palin problem, then, might be that she cynically incites a crowd that she has no real intention of pleasing. If she were ever to get herself to the nation's capital, the teabaggers would be just as much on the outside as they are now, and would simply have been the instruments that helped get her elected. In my own not-all-that-humble opinion, duping the hicks is a degree or two worse than condescending to them. It's also much more dangerous, because it meanwhile involves giving a sort of respectability to ideas that were discredited when William Jennings Bryan was last on the stump. The Weekly Standard (itself not exactly a prairie-based publication) might want to think twice before flirting with popular delusions and resentments that are as impossible to satisfy as the demand for a silver standard or a ban on the teaching of Darwin, and are for that very reason hard to tamp down. Many of Palin's admirers seem to expect that, on receipt of the Republican Party nomination, she would immediately embark on a crusade against Wall Street and the banks. This notion is stupid to much the same degree that it is irresponsible.
Update II: From the Times' review:
In the course of this book, she quotes or alludes to Pascal, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Paine, Pearl S. Buck, Mark Twain and Melville...
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COMMENTS (9)
amazing: "please keep making the idiots' heads spin." She really is one truly classless asshole. She doesn't even want to make any pretense to lead all Americans. As much as I think Bush was terrible, at least he was a well meaning schmuck. I can only recall one instance when he got picked up on a mic calling one reporter a grade a asshole, but that was in confidence to the Dickster. Yes, I know Bush surrounded himself with sycophants and didn't handle criticism well, but at least he governed his tongue. I would be shocked if he used that kind of language in his memoirs, if for no other reason than Laura wouldn't allow it. I think America has found the one politician who makes Bush look good ... view full comment
amazing: "please keep making the idiots' heads spin." She really is one truly classless asshole. She doesn't even want to make any pretense to lead all Americans. As much as I think Bush was terrible, at least he was a well meaning schmuck. I can only recall one instance when he got picked up on a mic calling one reporter a grade a asshole, but that was in confidence to the Dickster. Yes, I know Bush surrounded himself with sycophants and didn't handle criticism well, but at least he governed his tongue. I would be shocked if he used that kind of language in his memoirs, if for no other reason than Laura wouldn't allow it. I think America has found the one politician who makes Bush look good.
I have conflicting emotions regarding Mrs. Palins book. As much as I yearn to read every cringeworthy word, the thought of contributing financially to Mrs. Palin is simply too much for psyche to handle.
I have conflicting emotions regarding Mrs. Palins book. As much as I yearn to read every cringeworthy word, the thought of contributing financially to Mrs. Palin is simply too much for psyche to handle.
jnordlander: Assuming you can bear the suspense, I have just the plan to meet your needs!
Simply wait for a copy to become available at your local den of socialist author-revenue-depriving anti-American book sharers (you may also know this as your local library). Extra bonus - you can give it back when you're done, even if its obvious that you've read it - no questions asked!
jnordlander: Assuming you can bear the suspense, I have just the plan to meet your needs!
Simply wait for a copy to become available at your local den of socialist author-revenue-depriving anti-American book sharers (you may also know this as your local library). Extra bonus - you can give it back when you're done, even if its obvious that you've read it - no questions asked!
"Some of the first names seem easily attached to last names...Bill(s) O'Reilly & Kristol..."
Actually, one Bill may be O'Reilly OR Kristol, but the other one is me.
True story: Palin was in Alberta on a quick fundraising stop--there's a vibrant ex-pat community there, mostly conservative and Mormon--she was driving alone, and her car happened to break down. No cell coverage. I had just dropped off a load of old draft horses at the rendering plant and was deadheading back to Medicine Hat when she flagged me down, just off the Trans Canada Highway.
Seems hubby was back in Alaska lubing his "flooboloibol" (Inuit for snowmobile). I offered to buy her a drink. She said, "What the hell," and next ... view full comment
"Some of the first names seem easily attached to last names...Bill(s) O'Reilly & Kristol..."
Actually, one Bill may be O'Reilly OR Kristol, but the other one is me.
True story: Palin was in Alberta on a quick fundraising stop--there's a vibrant ex-pat community there, mostly conservative and Mormon--she was driving alone, and her car happened to break down. No cell coverage. I had just dropped off a load of old draft horses at the rendering plant and was deadheading back to Medicine Hat when she flagged me down, just off the Trans Canada Highway.
Seems hubby was back in Alaska lubing his "flooboloibol" (Inuit for snowmobile). I offered to buy her a drink. She said, "What the hell," and next thing I knew we were at Chester's, that old dive across the South Saskatchewan River. A slow Tuesday night. Just Sonny the barkeep, Sarah, and me.
You know, she's not a bad gal after all. We talked politics for a spell and disagreed about 90% of everything, but she shoots a decent 9-ball and holds her liquor (Johnny Walker Black, straight up, with a twist, IIRC). She takes a little codeine for a bad knee but it doesn't seem like the dope's out of hand. She writes haiku. An uncle on hubby's side had a stroke, is becoming a burden to his kids. She's allergic to shellfish. The usual.
So we agreed to disagree, finished our cocktails, and I dropped her off at her hotel. Her broken-down SUV made a couple local papers in Alberta but never hit the U.S. airwaves.
I don't think she stands an Alberta snowball's chance in Death Valley of getting much farther on this politics thingee. You know that and I know that but it hasn't reached her yet. It will, and she'll veer off into something else. She's like the Eveready bunny that way, if the Eveready bunny needed Ritalin.
Anyway, she asked me how she could return the favor and I said, hey, you ever write a book, you can say thanks to Bill in the dedication, and we'll call it even. She asked me what I did for a living and I lied and said, I'm in the media, which maybe isn't so much of a lie given that it can mean just about anything these days.
Mr. Yard, I laughed and laughed. Thank you.
Mr. Yard, I laughed and laughed. Thank you.
Thanks, Wandrey. Note that I'm not certain about the spelling of "flooboloibol." For some reason it seems to have escaped the Eye of Google.
Thanks, Wandrey. Note that I'm not certain about the spelling of "flooboloibol." For some reason it seems to have escaped the Eye of Google.
that was the best part!
that was the best part!
I have it on good authority that "Tammy" refers to Matthew Incontinenti; something to do with Matthew, Levi, Track, Bric, Brac, Todd and Big Daddy in a sweat lodge - I did not pry further, as my interlocutor appeared somewhat shaken by the experience.
Bill: I am not sure I really believe your story. Simply put, Canadian Immigration Authorities have certain rules about not letting some people in. Like, that Reverend Phelps guy was denied entrance and George Galloway was told to suck gin in some other corner of our blessed planet. I have it on good authority (see above) that Ms. Palin's entrance onto Canadian soil - even in Alberta - was deemed contrary to public order, disruptive of the Fam ... view full comment
I have it on good authority that "Tammy" refers to Matthew Incontinenti; something to do with Matthew, Levi, Track, Bric, Brac, Todd and Big Daddy in a sweat lodge - I did not pry further, as my interlocutor appeared somewhat shaken by the experience.
Bill: I am not sure I really believe your story. Simply put, Canadian Immigration Authorities have certain rules about not letting some people in. Like, that Reverend Phelps guy was denied entrance and George Galloway was told to suck gin in some other corner of our blessed planet. I have it on good authority (see above) that Ms. Palin's entrance onto Canadian soil - even in Alberta - was deemed contrary to public order, disruptive of the Family Compact and and affront to principles of United Empire Loyalists. Not to mention good taste (See Canada Border Security Agency Act, s. 15(3)(e)(ii)).
Not that I suggest you are making this up; I quibble only about the location.
Just my luck icarus is up to speed on Canada Border Security Agency Act s. 15(3)(e)(ii).
Busted. [grumble]
Just my luck icarus is up to speed on Canada Border Security Agency Act s. 15(3)(e)(ii).
Busted. [grumble]