What a refreshing reformer! For a woman who is feared by liberals and loved by conservatives she is absolutely the person that is needed in politics today. I recommend this book to any who cares about putting “Country First.”
Review: Going Rogue is subtitled “An American Life,” is about Sarah Palin and her life up to the 2008 presidential election. She is definitely a remarkable person.
How many women have won a local beauty contest, finished second runner-up in the state pageant, then gone on to be Mayor, Governor, and vice presidential candidate of one of the two major parties, all while giving birth to and raising five children? How many have earned the nickname “barracuda” for toughness in athletic competition and “Miss Congeniality” in the aforementioned state beauty pageant? Lord, it must be hard to pretend you’re just a typical American career mom when your book about yourself sits atop the bestseller list a week after it hit the bookstores.
No doubt about it: Sarah is special. So is her special-needs child, Trig, born with Down’s Syndrome only a few months before his mother was tapped to run for Vice President. That was child number five for Todd and Sarah Palin, with their eldest, Track, already in the military and headed for Iraq. Where does she find the time? She should write a book about time-management skills.
Recently, Palin resigned from being Governor of Alaska and contrary to the speculations of some in the Washington pundits, she did not take leave of her senses in July of this year.
She has become bigger than Alaska She is positioning herself for a 2012 Republican presidential nomination? Whether she wants it or not, the people will ask her to run. The book tour is excellent start to shaking hands and learning about people outside of her state. Although her book does not mention 2012, she has the support to be the first woman ever nominated for and elected to the office of President of the United States.
Palin has the advantage of having been on the losing team in ’08. Sarah Palin, for the first time since she entered the national spotlight, is in a position to speak for herself.
She is for free enterprise, she says. And local government. Against bailouts for failing businesses. She is for small business and small government. She knows energy issues, especially in Alaska with its trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and its rich oil reserves. She knows also that the supply is non-replaceable and she knows a thing or two about energy conservation, wind and solar power and she understands the value of keeping a scenic land beautiful and preserving abundant outdoor opportunities, protecting fisheries and standing up to big oil companies. On all of that, she can appeal common sense conservatives and to moderates and even liberals among Republican, Democrat and independent voters.
On military and foreign policy matters, she seems to think we need to “stay the course” in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our diplomacy, she says, must make it clear that we support freedom for all and, of course, we must be constant in our support of Israel. This stance I disagree with and believe we should only send in a small, highly trained group of specialists to find and remove the threats.
The policy to rebuild nations sounds nice but is one that is costing us trillions of dollars and human American lives. President Clinton realized that in the 90’s with Somalia. A total disaster and probably the most embarrassing moment of weakness in the history of America where dead American soldiers were dragged back and forth in the streets like a rag doll and crowds cheering in enjoyment.
The lesson that should have been learned is should not get involve with nation rebuilding. One, we cannot rebuild nations unless that nation is willing to educate themselves like Japan did in the 50’s. Second, we cannot do something for free especially if a country has the means of repaying us i.e. Iraq.
On Going Rogue, she was ground down by all the scripted answers, the talking points, all the orders from campaign “headquarters” to say nothing and only to the right people. Headquarters was risk aversive and continually opposed to her going off the script. Talk in platitudes, give non-answers, play it safe, and don’t forget to remind people you’re a “maverick,” just like John McCain. “
Palin started to go ’rogue” when she wanted to stay in Michigan instead being ordered to pull out by the McCain people. She also started focusing more on Obama’s racist, radical ties with Rev Wright and Bill Ayers. John McCain did not choose to go down that route.
Palin still needs to do more in challenging the status quo of her Republican Party and get back down to the Ronald Reagan principles that brought us out of the last double digit unemployment. If there is only one person who can bring the Republican party back to those principles then that person would be Sarah Palin.