I knew the Tina Fey impersonations were a little over the top, but I did wonder if Sarah Palin actually attributed her international relations experience to the view of Russia from the Alaskan shore. (I figured the quip about dining at IHOP being her international relations experience to be a joke.)
The truth is, Sarah Palin is a remarkable woman, politician, and a leader like none recently seen. She has the ability to see the issues, develop the solutions, and implement them. That is, assuming you’ll believe her side of the story.
Going Rogue begins with Palin giving a synopsis of her childhood, teenage years, courtship, and eventual marriage to Todd Palin. She describes the family she and Todd built, and how she worked her way into Alaska politics, eventually holding the top office in the state. Family and her faith in God are of utmost importance to her, and she references frequently throughout the book how they’ve shaped who she is and what she stands for. The pictures she paints of Alaska make the isolated tundra of our 49th state both majestic and breathtaking. I’d definitely like to visit…in the summertime.
Considerable treatment is given in the second half of the book to her time spent in 2008 with the McCain campaign as she crusaded alongside the Arizona senator for the second most prestigious office in the United States.
Abraham Lincoln gave a rousing speech many decades ago in which he quoted the words of Jesus from Matthew 12:25 where he stated that a house divided cannot stand. The infighting that plagued the McCain campaign is testament to this, as Palin goes on to describe. One has to wonder if her ideas hadn’t been snubbed, perhaps her independent thoughts would have bolstered the floundering campaign. Who knows…maybe she’d even be our vice president today? (Or President if the aging McCain keeled over from the stress of the White House.)
Palin has a background in sports journalism, and so she makes a decent writer. Going Rogue is filled with underlying metaphors and ironies. Upon reading the title Going Rogue I was led to believe it was her usual “I’m-a-maverick-and-I’ll-buck-the-norm” persona that led to naming of her book. In fact, it’s a unique irony, as she reveals later. She also takes crafty shots at President Obama, from posing the question of who needs a teleprompter for public speaking, to discrediting community organizers in the Last Frontier.
There are parts that made me laugh out loud and parts that made me furious as I read the injustices done to this woman and especially to her family who never asked to be ridiculed in the national spotlight.
I came away from Going Rogue with a newfound respect for Sarah Palin and a far clearer understanding of who she is, what she stands for, and what she’s been through. By hearing the story in her own words, you come to realize everything from the up-do of her hair, to the way she made public her daughter Bristol’s teenage pregnancy was often clouded by the lens of a non-objective press. And wait till she reveals her reasons for resigning the gubernatorial post in July 2009. Her side is definitely different than the “she’s-a-quitter” story the media portrayed.
Sarah Palin has come through a firestorm of criticism and mistreatment. She epitomizes the dirtiness and corruption that is so rank in American politics. But she comes through it all with a positive, forgiving, and opportunistic attitude. After seeing what Sarah Palin has been through, and what she capable of, she has proven to have the heart of a strong leader.
Do I hope there’s something bigger and better for her in a future political career? You betchya.
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