Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Biggest Leaks From Palin's Book

by Shushannah Walshe - The Daily Beast. Walshe is the co-author of Sarah From Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar.

A racially charged swipe at Michelle Obama plus attacks on Levi Johnston, Eric Holder, and Idol contestants—Shushannah Walshe previews the juiciest points of Sarah Palin’s America by Heart.

It's still days until Sarah Palin's new book, America by Heart: Reflections on Faith, Family and Flag hits store shelves this Tuesday, but leaked pages are popping up all over the media and only adding to the coming frenzy that is sure to accompany the political superstar's book tour, which launches in Phoenix.

Palin's last book, Going Rogue, was a massive bestseller with sales of 1 million copies in the first two weeks alone. This book is set to be an instant hit as well, with Palin describing it on her Facebook page as "a collection of essays and reflections about our exceptional country. It discusses the ideals we must pass on to the next generation to ensure that we remain, in the words of Reagan, 'the shining city on a hill,' and in the words of Lincoln, 'the last best hope of Earth.'"

In Going Rogue, Palin famously lashed out at her McCain advisers, raising eyebrows by mentioning Steve Schmidt's "rotund physique" and calling a former campaign adviser and legislative director in Alaska, "a BlackBerry games addict who couldn't seem to keep the lunch off his tie." Although the publisher HarperCollins describes America by Heart as ranging "widely over American history, culture, and current affairs, and reflects on the key values—both national and spiritual—that have been such a profound part of Governor Palin's life and continue to inform her vision of America's future," she does still seem to relish in attacks on Levi Johnston and even goes after American Idol contestants, Michelle Obama, and Eric Holder.

In portions leaked on Gawker, The Washington Post's Reliable Source, and the anti-Palin website Palingates, we got the first taste of Palin's new book.

“What Bristol and I both went through hasn’t changed my pro-life view, but it has changed my perspective.”

The harshest hit in what's available publicly is saved for the Obamas and could foreshadow a talking point if she runs in 2012.

"The second reason the charge of racism is leveled at patriotic Americans so often is that the people making the charge actually believe it. They think America—at least America as it currently exists—is a fundamentally unjust and unequal country. Barack Obama seems to believe this, too. Certainly his wife expressed this view when she said during the 2008 campaign that she had never felt proud of her country until her husband started winning elections. In retrospect, I guess this shouldn't surprise us, since both of them spent almost two decades in the pews of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's church listening to his rants against America and white people."

It's important to note that in the 2008 campaign, John McCain forbade anyone on his campaign from mentioning Wright because he feared he would be called a racist. Palin fought against this mandate from above, feeling strongly that it was a legitimate line of attack and repeatedly went to aides pushing to be able to go after Obama on the Wright issue. If she runs in 2012, this is undoubtedly one issue she will push hard.

In the next line, Palin goes after Eric Holder:
"It also makes sense, then, that the man President Obama made his attorney general, Eric Holder, would call us a 'nation of cowards' for failing to come to grips with what he described as the persistence of racism."

Here are some other interesting portions:
As Palin has done previously she goes after Levi Johnston, father of grandson Tripp:
"Because the new father wasn't there until the end of Bristol's labor, I helped deliver Tripp."

And of Levi's Hollywood pursuits, Palin is sympathetic to the former fiancé of Bristol:
"Of course, we all had to bite our tongues—more than once—as Tripp's father went on a media tour through Hollywood and New York, spreading untruths and exaggerated rhetoric. It was disgusting to watch as his 15 minutes of fame were exploited by supposed adults taking advantage of a lost kid. But we knew him well enough to see how confused he was during that time, and our hearts broke for him and the price he would pay."

More at The Daily Beast.

No comments: