November 19, 2009 8:57 AM
Going Rogue study - Chapter One (updated)
I started Going Rogue
Right off the bat, I want to tell you that while I am a Palin supporter, I am not a Palin-for-President person. Yet.
And that yet should give you an idea of the impression this book is making on me.
I also want to share a couple of things to help you deal with the vicious attacks on this capable and noble woman. First of all, NO public figures, celebrities, or sports heroes write their own books. They are too busy working at their professions. Writing is a profession that requires gifts, craft, and focused experience. So people whose names can sell a million copies hire ghost writers who interview them and then put their stories together in a meaningful way - doing their best to keep the style and voice of the "author." Hillary Clinton had Barbara Feinman for It Takes a Village. Barack Obama had William Ayers for Dreams of My Father.
The difference between Sarah and the above-mentioned smarter-than-the-rest-of-the-world people? Sarah Palin's relationship with the pro who put her words on paper - Lynn Vincent - was always openly acknowledged.
Which reminds me of another criticism floated about: that there is no index. Excuse me, but Obama's "masterpiece" has no index either. More double standards - like AP hiring 11 reporters to "fact-check" Going Rogue - a something they've never done for a Democrat politician.
So all I can say is Thank God we are finally hearing from Palin herself who she is: her background, her experience, how here character was developed, and her political vision for a country she clearly loves.
The book begins with a map: The View from the Top of the World
which brought to my mind the mocking Tina Fey routine "I can see Russia from my backyard" which the media has consistently - as recently as the Barbara Walters interview - attributed to Palin.
That map is a strong place to start though, as it clearly lets us know we are bound for some unfamiliar and exotic territory. Palin's background information on Alaska and the colorful and adventurous people it has attracted is fascinating - and prepares us for the fact that part of who Palin is is where she comes from. While the media elites have belittled Alaska and its way of life, Palin view broadens our perspective and gives us an appreciation for the unique contribution Alaskans can make. She is clearly as proud of her state as she is of her country.
Her parents - who the media have portrayed as dumb hicks - include a father who chose teaching school over more lucrative ways of earning a living and who pulled up stakes to move the family of five to Alaska when Sarah was a baby. Her family encouraged an appreciation of nature, sports, scholastic achievement. Books over TV. And lots of healthy work:
In my family, gender was never allowed to be an issue. My parents gave us all equal opportunity and expectations. We were all expected to work, build, chop, hunt, fish and fight equally. (p. 29)
As far as feminism:
I didn't subscribe to all the radical mantras of the early feminist era, but reasoned arguments for equal opportunity definitely resonated with me. It was a matter not of ideology but simple fairness. Standing on the shoulders of women who had won hard-fought battles for things like equal pay and equal access, I grew up knowing I could be anything I wanted to be. (p. 29)
In high school, she worked part-time cleaning an office building by herself on Sunday nights for $30, babysitting, and picking strawberries. She chose shop class "to avoid home ec." And of course, she played basketball.
She also realized early on that her interest in politics was more than her peers.
She ran, she journaled, she loved to write. Assessing her skills, she realized she would never be a pro basketball player, so she decided to become a sports journalist.
She met Todd when he was 16 and she was 17 when he moved to play his senior year on her high school's basketball team. Part Yupik Eskimo, Todd came from a hardworking family and was a commercial fisherman who'd already earned enough to buy himself a '72 Mustang and a '73 Ford F-150 longbed to haul a pair of snowmachines. Sarah admired his work ethic and independent spirit, and says "My family fell in love with Todd right along with me."
Compared to her hometown friends, Sarah says,
He seemed so much more enlightened than the rest of us and had such a sense of justice. He hated gossip and pretension. He hated prejudice.. .He was truly a conservationist. .I admired Todd's great reverence for his elders . . . I envied his Native culture, which taught him to know well and honor those who raised him.. .
Todd absolutely loved children. He had a cousin with Down syndrome shom he cherished. (p. 37)
It's a great love story, though the next five years they were mostly apart. Todd went to college for a while in Seattle, but came back to Alaska, where he earned his pilot's license and went back to commercial fishing.
Sarah went to school for a year in Hawaii, then transferred to Idaho. Palin has taken criticism for taking five years to finish college - the result of having to work her own way through: "I remember when that was an honorable thing." She's also criticized for entering a beauty pageant, which she did for the scholarship money - and which she won.
She describes herself a a young voter as:
a believer in individual tights and responsibilities rather than heavy-handed government; in free-market principles that include reward for hard work; respect for equality; support for a strong military; and a belief that America is the best country on earth. (p. 45)
And she speaks with pride of how within minutes of Reagan taking the oath for office, Iran released th 52 hostages they'd help for 444 (444!) days under Jimmy Carter.
In years to come people would ask, What did he have that Carter didn't? To me the answer was obvious. He had a steel spine.I appreciated Reagan's passion and conviction, and the way he so plainly articulated his love for our country. Like millions of others, I related to him personally - he was one of us. I liked him and I liked the fact that he was never afraid to call it as he saw it. (p. 46)
Palin goes into detail about the specific policies she admires and reminds us that "Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot."
On page 48, I realized that I was turning a corner with Sarah Palin. I felt like this was a person I could trust - like no other politician I can think of. When she wrote, "For many in Alaska, being 'green' isn''t about wearing Birkenstocks and driving a hybrid; it's about survival" I understood what makes her different: the intertwining of the personal and the political. This is different than Obama's constant egocentric narrative and his abstract political constructs of what's good for other people. This is learning from living a real life.
Sarah worked alongside Todd in commercial fishing, waitressed, and worked obscure seafood jobs, processing crab and scraping out fish eggs for other people's caviar. This was just 20 years ago!
She mentions Todd's DUI - you know, the one he got when he was 21 and which 20 years later our brilliant media made into a political issue - as something he says changed his life. How many political figures do you know whose close calls never changed them at all?
They married at the courthouse with a couple witnesses from an old folks' home across the street, and went through the Wendy's drive-thru for their wedding dinner. I guess we should be braced for a Saturday Night Live routine on this. Since they were married in August and had their first baby in April, we can connect the dots. But as a couple who married in January had a baby in August - now coming up on our 27th anniversary - my husband Tripp and I have first hand knowledge that God can do great things with those who make the right choices. .
Just a month before the Palins' first child arrived, however, something happened that had an enormous impact on Alaskans: the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground, dumping 53 million gallons of oil into the coastal waters of Alaska.
And a profound impact on Sarah:
When the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef, I was a young mother-to-be with a blue-collar husband headed up to the Slope. I hadn't yet envisioned running for office. But looking back, I can see that tragedy planted a seed in me: If I ever had a chance to serve my fellow citizens. I would do so, and I'd work for the ordinary, hardworking people - like everyone who was part of my ordinary, hardworking world. (p. 62)
And people wonder why the common people respond to her? Katie Couric reported today that people in line for her book signing couldn't articulate the issues (to Katie's satisfaction, I suppose). No one ever seemed to hold that against Obama fans.
And yet, there is a sincerity in Palin's narrative - and aren't we, after all, these days all about narrative (think Sotomayor) - that resonates with anyone who feels content with being less than extraordinary.
My take: I think as time goes on, more and more people are going to discover who Palin really is - and I think they're going to like it.
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Comments
I'm going to her book signing VERY soon and I'm beyond excited to get the opportunity just to say hi to a woman that I highly respect. I'm so very grateful that I get to take my girls to meet a real woman that happens to be a politician.
She resonated with me when she spoke at the RNC and I've just thoroughly enjoyed her since. I, too, just started reading her book (picked it up today for the book signing soon) and I already like what I'm reading.
Posted by: Dirtdartwife | November 19, 2009 7:58 PM
Just want to say that I was married in March and had a baby in November. He was premature. No dots to connect!
Posted by: sandra | November 19, 2009 8:23 PM
Book was delivered on Tuesday and I am taking every free minute I can to read it ;) Had orthodontist and allergist appointments for kids today so I was able to show the book off in waiting rooms. A friend just became a fan of Sarah Palin on Facebook. I commented that I was enjoying the book and long story short I ended up ordering (through your site of course!) a copy of the book for her. My total is now up to 4 copies that I've ordered!
Posted by: Margaret | November 19, 2009 10:09 PM
Can Someone Let Me Know What Are Sarah Palin's Pro-Life views exactly? Is She 1000% Pro-Life.I'm Not Dissing her or trying to start trouble. I really want to find out,no luck in my research yet. I heard she Support Birth Control(which is an abortifaciant as you know.} I also heard she is in Favor of Abortion in Certain Circumstances,Rape or Mother's Health. I really need to find Out The facts. Can You Please Help? Thanks,MW
Posted by: Mrs. Markie Works | November 20, 2009 1:25 AM
I fell in love with (metaphorically, of course) Gov. Palin long before the McCain debacle. I been reading about her in the Radical Catholic Mom weblog. I found her to be a fascinating combination of sugar, spice, snails and puppy dog tails :)
When McCain picked her I was ecstatic! What a fabulous choice. Smart, beautiful, totally pro-life and conservative (with heavy libertarian leanings).
Most of the woman candidates for high office strike me as "man wannabes". She is truly a woman, comfortable in her womanly skin and unapologetic about her femininity. She brings a uniquely womanly perspective to the job (rather than acting like a man). She is a wife who loves her husband, a mom who loves her kids, and a politician who loves her state and country.
I would be honored to work on her behalf in any capacity she might require should she run for office.
I heard a great story about this country lawyer who won every one of his cases, and his last opponent, a polished city lawyer asked how he could win so many cases with his down-home country speaking style. He said: "I'm speaking to the jury, not the judge".
That's Sarah. She's speaking to us, the jury. Not the "judges" like Katie Couric, Kathleen Parker or Maureen Dowd. :)
Posted by: Tony | November 20, 2009 2:04 PM
