Palin's Other Side the Middle
Seldom has the normally boring genre of Biography seemed to ignite a firestorm on both sides of the Liberal and Conservative fence. On Nov. 17th the much anticipated Sarah Palin's autobiography (penned with help) was released. It's almost impossible to conceive that all of the Palin news has occured within the short space of one year. Palin was demonized continually by those who saw her as a female Dan Quayle. This book largely was written to do two things:
- help pay for her $2 million lawyer fees from having to defend 15 seperate gubernatorial violations, all of which, quietly, have vindicated her. She explains in the book that she doesn't feel too guilty about leaving her governor's position since she was forced, in her personal life, to have to defend herself from frivalous lawsuits. In any case, this book should raise more than enough to settle the score financially.
- The right to answer her critics. In her eyes, she was held back from politically answering several misspeaks, concession speechs at the end, responding to internal conflicts with McCain, and even being able to finally address the slanderous blogging (i.e. the daughter's baby REALLY being Palin's, which has to be the Democrats equivalent of believing in the Obama Birther theory.)
She talks about her heart was torn when she heard that her daughter was pregnant, but notified the Republican Party immediately, apparently to stave off any impending scandal, which happened anyway despite all the Republican's efforts to make it sound like a normal American social problem of teen pregnancy. Palin describes her own pregnancy, and how she even contemplated the pros and cons of succumbing to pro-choice if need be. In the end, her faith guided her decision to keep the baby, but the anguish she writes about is real, and something millions of other women have faced.
Is the book a 'Complainer document' as claimed by some? The Left will say yes, and will largely read only blogs to get the gist of the book. The Right will be split down the middle on this issue. There is little doubt that she has the right to set the record straight since during most of the campaign, there were internal gag orders on not rocking the boat.
So what is the No Spin synopsis of this book? It's an insiders look at how quickly and dangerously politicans can suddenly be brought to life in the national spotlight; it's about the infighting, and how to keep face even when losing; it's about family loss, it's an answer to a threat, a look at what extreme rural America lives like and how events can spiral out of control with painful personal results.
There are NOT a bunch of segments of political platforms, or points of views. Palin critics will probably say that the book is not literate enough, that there's not too many deep thoughts in it, and probably an overemphasis of emotional discussions. But that is Sarah Palin- and she represents, to many, the other Forgotten Half of the country that is NOT in a major city or has New York, Chicago or LA values. Maybe that's why she is hated so much from the networks which are ALL located in either Los Angeles or New York city. They can't relate to her, and call her phony. Well, she decribes a totally different point of view of the other side of the mirror.
The Republican ROOKIE OF THE YEAR has a long way to go to get her credibility back, but I see nothing outrageous in this book that will stop that from being repaired.
by Jeff FeezleRead full review
