Chapter 2--1st Section

Chapter 2 of Going Rogue is, dare I say, far more whinier than chapter 1. In this chapter, we learn of Palin’s entrance to public service & how she never does anything wrong & the elites are always out to get her. She opens with this:

WOW (Watch on Wasilla) was looking for young, ‘progressive’ candidates. ‘The city would do well to have you serve,’ he said. In those days, the word ‘progressive’ wasn’t necessarily associated with liberalism, although that’s what they meant by it. I took it in the more commons sense spirit of ‘progressing’ our young city by providing the tools for the private sector to grow and prosper. The group, which was backed by the local newspaper, the Frontiersman, also supported Carney and Mayor Stein. I fit they demographic they were looking for: as the newspaper editor put it, a ‘young, sharp Wasilla resident who lived inside the city limits. (64)

But...but…but I thought Palin was always on the outside of the elites and nobody wanted to help her and she did it all by herself, goshdarnit! Well, don’t worry, she manages to piss off the mayor and her other council members with her super conservative viewpoints & in the end does appear to be all by herself. Poor thing.

In some ways, they had a kind of paternalistic way of governing. For example, they wanted to regulate how many kids a mom could babysit in her home, whether signs on businesses should be allowed to flash, and whether the town barber pole should be permitted to spin---should one ever be installed. But Valley residents, like other Alaskans, are not ‘master-planned-community’ kind of people. We are extremely independent, no community organizers necessary. (65)

Of course not. That is, until, a woman wants to have an abortion, or a teacher wants to teach evolution, or two homosexuals want to get married. Palin is all for small government, as long as those pesky gays don’t have any rights and women are forced to have children. “I voted in ways that honored people’s ability to think for themselves.” (66) Until she realized that letting children read books she disapproved of was a scary, scary thing and decided to ban books.

As a council member, Palin also “made it [her] business to know every line on the budget, to review every word of proposed regulations and ordinances, and to really know [her] constituents’ concerns.” (68) I guess by the time she was mayor and the issue of expensive rape kits came up, she got lazy & quit reading her budget…

When running for mayor, Palin stresses that she was all for more individual freedom. Blah blah blah. She and her “girlfriends” painted “pink-and-green signs with [her] familiar statement ‘Positive-ly Palin.’” (70) Barf. And she seriously has the nerve to complain about sexism when she pushes her gender & sexuality out there at every turn? Really??

In a Time magazine article I found, which spoke with former council members and Wasila residents, it is revealed that Palin tried to inject her very socially conservative beliefs into the Wasilla city government during her run for Wasilla mayor.

Stein says she made sure the campaign hinged on issues like gun owners' rights and her opposition to abortion (Stein is pro-choice). "It got to the extent that — I don't remember who it was now — but some national antiabortion outfit sent little pink cards to voters in Wasilla endorsing her," he says.

But, but, but. I thought Palin was for individual liberties?

Palin whines about the recall effort in her first term as mayor. Blah blah blah. Always a victim, that one. It seems to be plaguing young conservative women these days.

When someone asks her about a false rumor, Palin ponders, “you’re going to believe unsubstantiated rumors and then repeat them to other people? It would be a few more years before I learned that some people make a living and even earn prestigious awards for doing exactly that?” (75) HMM, wonder who she’s referencing here??

Palin whines about the book-banning controversy, as her words were obviously taken out of context, as Palin never ever, ever makes mistakes. Obviously, the mean librarian who hated her refused to correct her comments to a reporter regarding the issue. According to the aforementioned article I found from time.com, here is what really happened.

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor. (Time magazine)

Now, this Stein is former mayor John Stein, who was so, so, so mean to poor Sarah, so he’s probably full of mean lies & victimizing poor Sarah yet again. I bet the liberal media got to him.

We get more fun with Palin birthing traditions. While having heavy contractions on the 4^th of July with Willow and kayaking, she “so wanted a patriotic baby that I paddled as hard as I could to speed up the contractions, but she held out until the next day.” (67) What is with this woman & bizarre births? Sadly there is no fun times with the naming of Willow but we do get to hear wher Piper Indi Grace’s name comes from. “Todd flies a Piper plane…’Indi’ for ‘Independence’….and ‘Grace’ for ‘God’s Grace.’” (76) Fun. And the day after giving birth, Palin went back to work as the mayor. I do have to admire her rock-hard work ethic.

We also learn how Palin “Palin ended up dismissing almost all the city department heads who had been loyal to Stein, including a few who had been instrumental in getting her into politics to begin with.” (Time magazine) HMM. I thought “life is too short to hold a grudge,” Sarah? (77)

And I know I tend to harp on & on about women’s and social issues on this blog, but there is one infuriating statement that comes at the end of this section. Palin claims that women “have to work twice as hard to prove we’re half as capable as men think we are.” (80) You know what, Sarah? Maybe we wouldn’t have to work so damn hard if people like you weren’t actively working to set us back? Give women comprehensive sex education, the right to a safe & legal abortion & quit preaching one of the most paternalistic religions on earth while heavily promoting the cult of competitive motherhood. You do absolutely nothing for the cause of women & as long as you continue to set us back with your insipid pink yard signs and rantings about how sexist and mean the liberal media is & how awesome & fulfilling motherhood is, I think that we have every reason to actively work against you. So I’m sorry that you feel so persecuted and that you have to work so, so very hard, but until you recognize that there is more than one way to be a real, complete woman, you won’t ever have my support.

With that, I'm done with this for the night. I just fired myself up & need to read something that won't piss me off so much.