2nd Section of Chapter 3

In this section, we learn about how Palin cleaned up Alaskan politics singlehandedly, her burning hatred for her original legislative director, proof that Palin has traveled outside of the US, committment to parental notification laws & finally, her love of America.

Palin manages to start with the digs at the McCain this chapter, saying, "During the vice presidential campagin, she [Kris Perry] would become the lone state staffer the McCain campaign allowed to accompany me on the trail." (140) Oh poor Sarah! Perhaps the McCain campaign wanted to mitigate any damage the nutbags that Sarah employs would cause.

Palin talks about marriage in this chapter, saying "I support the traditional definition of marriage. One man and one woman make a marriage. And I don't support efforts that can lead to changing that definition." (143) Of course, she doesn't! Carabou Barbie is all about freedom & independence unless Teh Gays are threatening her heteronormative institutions.

We also get Palin bashing her first legislative director, John Bitney (who she, of course, does not bother naming.) "He turned out to be a BlackBerry games addict who couldn't seem to keep his lunch off his tie." (144) How is the fact that Bitney loves to play Brickbreaker & has poor hygeine have ANYTHING to do with the work he did as legislative director. Palin further writes, "During my 2007 budget powwow, the legislative director should have been at the table with us so that there would be no surprises in the state house come veto time. Occasionally, he would wander in and out, plop down in the chair at the end of the table, nibble cookies, and absently thumb his BlackBerry." (150) Again, how is this relevant AT ALL?? "The fact that his shirt was buttoned one button off and his shirttail was poking through his open fly didn't exactly inspire confidence." (151) Again & again, I find Sarah Palin to be a nasty, vindictive person. If he did a bad job, then fine, write about it. But why make nasty comments about this man's personal hygeine & BlackBerry addiction?

She blames Bitney for the lack of conversation between Palin & the legislators regarding the budget cuts Palin wanted. She claims that she told him to write a letter to the legislators with her funding criteria & he did not do so. Palin writes the whole saga off as a mistake in her hiring an "insider." Only mavericks for Palin from now on.

What is interesting is Bitney's take on what happened:

Palin writes that she told Bitney to send a letter to legislators about what sort of spending she would approve but that he didn’t do it. She said he indicated lawmakers were fine with budget vetoes that were coming but it became clear otherwise when they howled about being blindsided. “It soon became obvious just how little the legislative director had done to inform the legislature this was coming,” she writes.

Bitney said it was another staffer in the governor’s office, not him, who was requested to send the letter. The letter asked legislators for suggestions on which of their projects to cut, Bitney said, and not surprisingly they did not rush to answer Palin.

Bitney said he did meet with the four co-chairs of the state House and Senate finance committees to tell them about the coming vetoes, and reported back to Palin that three of them felt that was her prerogative and only one became angry.

But Palin staffers had only identified about $100 million worth of cuts by that point, about half of the final total. Bitney said the following day was when his “troubles” with Palin began. He said he was pulled from the governor’s budget work, and fired soon after. In the meantime, he said, Palin staffers kept cutting beyond what he had told legislators but he didn’t have authority to talk to them about it.

Palin uses Bitney in the book to illustrate a point about government. Bitney had years of experience as a legislative staffer and lobbyist before joining her team. “So much for my idea that I needed to hire an ‘insider.’ Lesson learned,” she writes.

Bitney said he tried to be fair to Palin when national media kept “crawling up my backside” over the past year to interview him about her. But the book is too much, he said.

“I’ve had it. Enough. Just enough; leave me alone,” he said.

Palin's attorney writes back, because of course, him telling his side of the story means he is stiffling free speech.

‘Going Rogue‘ is Sarah Palin’s book to set the record straight. It is her right to speak about the events that occurred in her administration and neither Mr. Bitney nor anyone else has the right to stifle that speech,” Van Flein said. “The statements in ‘Going Rogue’ speak for themselves, and it is Sarah Palin’s turn to get the truth out there after a year of misrepresentations, half-truths and dissembling by her critics.”

Jesus Christ. Do I have to explain the First Amendment YET AGAIN? Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, Joe the Plumber, any morons out there: you have the right to say whatever idiotic things you wish. ANYTHING. And I have the right to make fun of you for being such a moron. You got it?? If the GOVERNMENT tries to tell you you can't say what you want, THAT is a violation of the First Amendment. However, if mean anonymous bloggers make fun of the idiotic things that come out of your mouth, YOU ARE NOT BEING OPPRESSED.

Palin writes about how she wanted a smaller budget & that if she didn't get one, she would use her veto pen to get it. Because, she may drone on & on about representing the people, but let's face it. Sarah does what Sarah wants.

We get more love for Ronald Reagan, "I would cut to the chase like Ronald Reagan and just talk to the people in plain language." (158) Is this because that is the only language Sarah knows how to speak & anything more complicated would only confuse her?

Palin also talks about how she uses her children for political purposes, writing "Piper and her cousin McKinley stood beside me throughout the dedication [of the Alaskan pipeline], representing the future of Alaska." (160) And she's amazed when Letterman makes crude jokes about her children & everyone accuses her of using her children...perhaps she shouldn't put them so far out there.

Proving further that everything Palin does is a simulacrum, even the pipeline bill Palin signs is fake. When the bill doesn't come through, her legislative director says:

"Look we'll sign a ceremonial bill todau and the actual bill tomorrow. It's fine."

Fine wasn't good enough. I cared about the possibility that anything we did with regard to this much-anticipated bill could be perceived as fake or insincere. (160)

HMMM----what else has Sarah signed that isn't real?

When writing about how to calculate Alaska's share of revenue derived from resource development, Palin recognizes how confused her audience will become. "If that kind of explanation makes your eyes cross, it's because we didn't yet have a catchy name for our proposal." (163) Of course, it's not about the actual issues with Palin, it's about the image she projects. Palin further writes "political terms are meant to paint a picture. For example, liberals prefer the term 'social justice' over 'welfar' and why conservatives prefer 'marriage protection amendment' over 'gay marriage ban.'" (163) I don't think I have ever referred to welfare as "social justice," but go ahead & believe what you want Sarah as long as it supports your beliefs.

Palin goes on to prove to her critics that she has traveled abroad extensively--starting in 2007. We get a laundry list of where Palin went to visit the troops: Kuwait, Germany, Kosovo.

When writing about son's Track's hockey injury, Palin whines that the hospital would not do anything until getting her consent & therefore could not get a sip of water, lest he need surgery.

Apologetically, the nurse explained that they couldn't even let him walk down the hall to the drinking fountain becuase if he needed surgery his stomach should be empty, but they couldn't treat him without me. Of course I understood, but I still fumed inside. I even wondered out lout why this big, strapping, nearly grown man who was overcome with pain couldn't even get a drink of water without parental consent, yet a thirteen-year-old girl could undergo a painful, invasive, and scary abortion and no parent even had to be notified. The nurse seemed to agree with me, and on the spot I mentally renewed my commitment to change Alaska's parental consent laws so that our daughters would have the same support and protection we give to our children in other medical situations. (169)

Okay a few things: (1) How much do you want to bet that if Track were operated on & something happened to him, Palin would be railing against the fact that she wasn't consulted. (2) Abortion & teenage sexuality are highly sensitive issues. I know that Palin is naive enough to think that teenagers will not have sex, but that is simply not the case. Furthermore, some teneage girls could literally be killed by their parents if it was found out they had sex (or even talking to boys.) Abortion & reproductive decision making should be left up to the person making those decisions--the woman in question, not the parents. Parents do not own their children's sexuality & we should trust our teenagers to make the correct decisions.

On the next page, Palin contradicts herself yet again when Track enlists. Instead of him being a "big strapping man," he is "just a kid!!" (170) Geez. The inconsistencies in this narrative are staggering. Is he a man who can make his own medicial decisions or a young child? Make up your mind Sarah.

In the next section: Palin's pregnancy w/ Trigg.

More Lies & Deceptions from Palin

Sarah Palin's lies & deceptions have reached a fever pitch lately. Between Sarah Palin pissing off her base by leaving early & her "bus tour" actually being her on a Gulfstream, it's been a fun day in Palin news. I have something to add to it--I'm going to call it, Stickergate. (Because let's face it, Palin & her ilk would be equally melodramatic about something like this.)

My dear conservative mother (who asked to be called a libertarian on the blog, but I think that libertarians are even more batshit insane than conservatives) knew I was blogging the Palin book so she decided to order me an autographed copy of the Palin book. Now, let's look at what we get when one orders an autographed Palin book?

That's right, folks. You get a copy of the book & a fucking sticker with her signature on it (which is a real signature, btw.)

When I order an autographed copy of a book, I want it to actually be autographed. I do not want a fucking sticker that I can affix at my leisure at a later date. Seriously, Sarah? Can you be more lazy? Is it too hard for you to open the book, sign it, & then close the book? Did the mavericks at Harper have to provide you with special stickers to sign?

PS. That is NOT the book that my mother ordered. She is, more than likely, taking it back to Joseph Beth & getting her $$ back. I'm sorry, but Sarah Palin's signature on a sticker is not worth $30 or whatever the list price is.

PPS. If this blog eventually gets more than 4 readers a day, I will probably raffle off my lovely annotated copy of the book (which has, in my opinion, hilarious notations) along with the sticker. You can stick it wherever you like!

First 30 Pages of Chapter 3

I have finally read the first 30 pages of chapter 3 of Palin’s book & it is just as genuinely terrible as the previous sections. In this section, we read about Palin’s gubernatorial campaign, the beginning of her term & how Barack Obama stole the campaign slogan of “Change.”

Palin decides to run for office & even a Democrat, John Reeves, supports her, as “he was sick and tired of backdoor deals between politicians and special interests, especially the oil companies.” (108) Here is where Palin loses me somewhat—she goes on & on about how she is so pro-big business & corporation, but then talks about how she wishes to take down the special interest groups. She writes, “I talked about the potential Alaska had if we unshackled the private sector.” (109) Which is it Sarah: protect big business with policies that favor them or govern them?

On page 110, Palin writes, “I found my underdog status and the outside label quite liberating.” Well, duh. If she loses, it’s because she had no support. She doesn’t have to claim any responsibility in that case. If she wins, it’s because she’s such a maverick-y rogue & people want her brand of change.

Palin complains more about ethics saying, “the minute you start campaigning on ethics reform, critics start trolling to see what kind of dirt you’ve got under your fingernails.” (112) Well, no shit Sarah. I don’t want someone without any sense of ethic telling ME how to live my life ethically. I don’t understand this conservative belief that they can drone on & on about ethics and family values, but once they do something wrong (see: Carrie Prejean’s sex tapes), they are being unfairly attacked. No, you aren’t. If you set yourself up as a moral crusader, you best have a fucking clean house. There is no better schaudenfreude than taking down a hypocrite.

Palin’s “campaign theme of ‘change’ was palpable and sincere, and we walked the walk every day of the race.” (112) Wait, what? Did Barack Obama STEAL her campaign theme? She writes further:

Every part of our campaign shouted “Change!” a change in campaign financing: we ran on small donations from all over the state, mostly from first-time political donors, and we turned back some large checks from big donors if we perceived conflict of interest. A change from photo-op stops to honest conversations with actual voters. A change from emphaisizing politics to emphasizing people. A change from smooth talk to straight talk—even then.

We were amused a coupld of years later when Barack Obama—one of whose senior advisors (come to think of it) had roots in Alaska—adopted the same theme. Kris and I joked about it: “Hey! We were change when change wasn’t cool! (114)

I cannot believe Barack Obama had to stoop so low as to STEAL Sarah Palin’s campaign theme. Couldn’t he come up with anything by himself.

Also, for Palin to claim she was running a grassroots, small campaign is laughable. According to followthemoney.org, she & Parnell raised $872,042, the 3^rd highest amount for that race that year. In fact, if I combine what the campaign made, what she made & what Parnell raised, it’s a whopping $1,524,541. Since when is $1.5 million a small amount? She raised $29,105 from lobbyists, $69,755 from other public officials (thought she was an outsider) & $10,550 from oil & gas. I thought she didn’t take money from special interest groups who might want to influence her?

On the next page, Palin discusses how she is unfairly grilled about an important issue, as being a politician is about winking & saying “gosh darn it,” not answering the hard questions. The reporter asks her a series of hypotheticals about abortion & she says again & again that she would choose life—no matter what. Rape, teenagers, etc. Palin complains that she “calmly repeated my answers to all of his ‘what-ifs,’ then looked pointedly to my right and my left, to one opponent, then to the other. Then I returned to the moderator and said, ‘I’m confident you’ll be asking the other candidates these same questions, right?’ Of course, he didn’t.” (116) Well, Sarah, maybe the other candidates don’t have such horrific views on abortion & therefore, don’t need to be grilled like you do. I’m sorry that you find actually being asked questions and expected to answer so horrifying. Maybe the moderator had low self-esteem?

Palin also talks about how she used her family to run for governor. “I ran a few upbeat commercials that featured my family and Alaska’s natural beauty.” (119) Again, don’t think that you can use your young children in politics & it won’t be noticed. Maybe the reason so many cheap shots are taken at poor Bristol is that YOU PUT HER OUT THERE SO MUCH! You couldn’t take a lesson from the Clintons & leave your children out of your campaigning?

Palin writes about her mavericky take on the inauguration in Fairbanks at an arena where hockey is played. Palin says, “Alaskans, hold me accountable, and right back at you!” (123) Funny how actually being held accountable was way too much for Sarah & she becomes buried under a mountain of ethics complaints & eventually has to quit.

A really funny part comes when she writes that “our state Constitution stipulates that the citizens actually own our natural resources.” (126) Hmm…a definition from dictionary.com: a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. Special prize to anyone who can tell me what word that is defining.

We get some more Alaska masturbation as to how beautiful & amazing Alaska is.

Then the fun part comes: Sarah Palin’s philosophy on eating meat: “If any vegans came over for dinner, I could whip up a salad, then explain to them my philosophy on being a carnivore: If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?” (133) As Amanda Marcotte so succinctly put it, “I’m forced to conclude that Sarah Palin supports cannibalism. If god hadn’t wanted us to eat our fellow human beings, he wouldn’t have made us out of meat.”

Palin attacks Ashley Judd for making this ad protecting wolves:

Palin writes “one animal rights group recruited a perky, pretty celebrity to attack our scientifically controlled, state-managed wolf-control program. It was ironic that she opposed using guns to kill predators, but apparently not opposed to taking movie roles in which she’d use guns to kill predatory people.” (134) So many things to refute in one small sentence. Where to begin? (1) I thought science was dangerous & Jesus hated it. God created guns to kill animals & helicopters to shot them out of, duh. (2) Judd seems to be more upset in the video by the way that the wolves are shot—incredibly cruelly than at the fact that they are shot. And they also question Palin’s motivations for supporting such a program. Palin’s spokesperson says it’s about feeding hungry Alaskans. If that is true, “why are sport hunter groups the biggest advocates of aerial hunting as opposed to advocates for the poor or hungry?” Eyeonpalin further wrote: “Governor Palin is an active promoter of Alaska's aerial hunting program whereby wolves are shot from the air or chased by airplanes to the point of exhaustion before the pilot lands the plane and a gunner shoots the animals point blank.” I come from a family of hunters & the one thing that they stress the most is that you (1) learn to shot the animals in a spot that minimizes pain & (2) you use every piece of the animal you can. These wolves are being hunted for sport—not food. And (3) the bad guys Ashley Judd is killing in her movies ARE NOT REAL. The wolves that are being shot are. Does someone need to explain to Palin the word “fiction?”

We also learn of how Willow inherited some of her mother’s rogue-ish behavior by sneaking her puppy into her mother’s office. This caused the Senate Rules Committee chairman to send Palin a letter with a citation, as that was against the rules. Poor Sarah. Everyone is always picking on her. Of course, Sarah has to go after this person, writing, “heaven forbid any lawmaker would catch Willow carrying her four-pound puppy into my office in violation of the new NO DOGS ALLOWED sign. (Surely just a small distraction for this senator—he was later busted by the FBI and convicted on federal corruption charges.”) (137) Of course, Palin does not bother naming the person, and of course, anyone who dares mess with Sarah Palin will not be forgotten or forgiven & will be written about for posterity.

Up next: the next 30 pages of this 100+ chapter.

What's Next

I started reading Chapter 3 of the Palin book, but then an intense wave of nausea hit me. I went to the bathroom, had a sip of water, read some more. More nausea. I had to put the book down. Picked up a magazine--no nausea. Going Rogue is literally making me sick to my stomach. I don't want to know what would happen had I kept reading. So I got to thinking about what will be next for the blog, after finishing this Palin book.

I am going to blog chapter by chapter Carrie Prejean's book. I have heard that Prejean's book is far more enraging than Palin, as Prejean focuses much more on social issues, but I feel that Prejean is an appropriate follow up to Palin. Also, I am having trouble ascertaining who Prejean's ghostwriter is. If anyone knows, please shoot me an email or comment.

I think that this blog will focus on the cult of conservative celebrity after I am finished with these 2 books. I imagine I will be pretty burnt out on reading Republican screeds, & that seems to be the most appropriate place for the blog to go. Here are my topics for consideration:

-Why are the conservatives so obsessed with women's looks? They seem to take a special pride in putting forth conventionally hot women as validation for their cause. Also, why is it that when a liberal woman is conventionally attractive, she is attacked so viciously?

-Why are people like Palin & Prejean (& Joe the Plumber) such loud mouthpieces for the Republican party? Why aren't more moderate voices being heard? I would love to hear from Meghan McCain, as she is someone who both intrigues & troubles me, but it seems that the conservative base doesn't want to promote her. They want to promote the insanity that is Palin & Prejean?

So basically, I will be reading Carrie Prejean's book, focusing on the cult of Republican celebrity and perhaps blogging more ridiculous books as they come across my desk.

I will continue with the Palin book later on tonight, provided the nausea it is inducing does not continue. (& if it does, then damn it, I'm doing the Palin drinking game & blogging the hilarious results of that activity.)

2nd Half of Chapter 2

The second half of Chapter 2 focuses on Palin’s run for lieutenant governor, her experience on the AOGCC & Troopergate.

Palin begins by mulling her options for her life after being mayor of Wasilla, whining that her options were limited, due to the fact that she “did not think [she] would do well in a place where you had to scratch disagreeable backs in order to secure a nameplate in the caucus.” (81) I’m a little befuddled as to why Palin is so committed to public service, as she seems to find campaigning & other politicians so distasteful, but she does decide to run for lieutenant governor. Palin blasts those who question her experience by saying, “government experience doesn’t necessarily count for much.” (84) Funny considering she said this about Barack Obama, “If you're talking about executive experience, I would put my experience up against his any day of the week.” (source) She, again, brings up how she’s such an outsider, saying, “I wasn’t part of any political machine, or the Juneau good ol’ boys club, so I was definitely seen as the outsider.” (85) Maybe nobody wanted to back her because she is such a whiner/perpetual victim. She eventually loses the lieutenant governor’s race, but is relieved because she knew she “would not be beholden to special interests going forward—if there was a political ‘forward.’” (88)

Palin ends up on the list for the next US Senator, as Gov. Murkowski was vacating his seat. After meeting with him, she realizes she won’t get the job, as he kept stressing to her how hard it would be on his kids. She says to Todd, “it’s not going to be a woman with a family.” (92) Palin is shocked & appalled that Murkowski gives the job to his daughter, a mother with 2 children. Of course, Julie Murkowski got the job via nepotism, not because she was objectively more qualified for the job than Palin. Per Murkowski’s Wikipedia page:

She became a member of the Alaska Bar Association in 1987. She was an attorney in Anchorage, Alaska from 1985 to 1998. She also served, from 1990 to 1991, on the mayor's task force on the homeless.

In 1998, she was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and named as House Majority Leader for the 2003–2004 session. She never served as Majority Leader, due to her appointment to the Senate. Murkowski sat on the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education and chaired both the Labor and Commerce and the Military and Veterans Affairs Committees. In 1999 she introduced legislation establishing a Joint Armed Services Committee.

I find Murkowski’s experience to be far more impressive than Palin’s time on the city council & 2 terms as mayor as Wasilla. But, of course, nobody could be more experienced than poor Sarah, so it was nepotism that gave Murkowski the Senate seat.

Palin speaks of her time on the AOGCC committee, whining on & on about how everyone was corrupt & mean but her. Palin eventually resigns, as she cannot take the corruption anymore. She “knew that any shot [she] might have had to become a GOP insider was gone, which was fine, but I wanted Alaskans to be able to believe in the party ideals again. I knew the GOP planks made the strongest foundation upon which to build a strong state and country.” (99) It’s interesting, because some believe that Palin resigns purely for political reasons—to strengthen her electability and that might be behind why she resigned from her governor’s job.

Palin whines about how she’s discriminated against as a woman, saying “as a working mom I would have to make tough choices. She never said that one couldn’t ‘have it all,’ but it was becoming clear that maybe one couldn’t have everything at once.” (86) Wow. No shit. I’m 24 & I’ve figured that one out. It took Palin 4 children & 38 or so years to figure that out. Wow.

There is also some hilariousness where she calls out Democrats as being Marxists. “Some people seem to think a profit motive is inherently greedy and evil, and that what’s good for business is bad for people. (That’s what Karl Marx thought too.)” (84) The horror! With the Democrats in power, we will definitely be headed toward communism.

Palin again shows how special God thinks she is by writing, “I knew that God was working on something significant in our small-town life, and I felt myself seeking something ahead. Still, I prayed to be content with what I had, even if that meant that my political career would end in Wasilla City Hall.” (83) I find it odd that Palin honestly thinks that God gives two shits about her political life.

Palin speaks of Troopergate & of course, has to completely throw her former brother-in-law under the bus, calling him everything from a philanderer to a drunk to an abusive husband. Palin writes that “this sad family episode would later be twisted and used as a political weapon against me and John McCain.” (102) I have to question the validity of Palin’s claims against her ex-brother-in-law, Wooten as Judge Suddock said "'it appears for the world that Ms. McCann and her family have decided to take off for the guy's livelihood -- that the bitterness of whatever who did what to whom has overridden good judgment.' A representative for the Alaska State Trooper's union testified that the union viewed the dozen complaints filed by McCann and her family against Wooten as 'not job-related' and 'harassment.' Judge Suddock repeatedly warned McCann and her family to stop 'disparaging' Wooten's reputation or risk the judge granting Wooten custody of the children. At a court hearing in October 2005, Judge Suddock said 'disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse … relatives cannot disparage either. If occurs [sic] the parent needs to set boundaries for their relatives.' (source) It sounds as if Palin’s family was trying to make this guy’s life a complete & utter living hell.

The chapter ends with Palin contemplating her future, as she wonders what is next. HMM, wonder what will happen??

New Exciting Video of Sarah Palin

Apparently showing up to a suburban Joseph Beth shows a lot of "boldness" & "courage." I also didn't realize that providing a ghostwriter with an outline of one's life counts as "unfiltered words."

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.