No Bull Mom

Going Rogue -- Conclusion

What I found to be the most informative aspect of Going Rogue -- though there's much to be learned from this book -- is the behind-the-scenes look at media life. The details get tiresome, but I read every word b/c I didn't want to miss anything. Next to politics, the media is my favorite subject. And naturally they go hand in hand.

Bottom line is this: If you want to be truly informed, not just about Sarah Palin but about how the world of politics works, you need to read this book. It tells in great detail things you would have no way of knowing about. That's what I liked best about it. For example, you'll get the true account about the "Palin stories" the media wanted you to hear:

The Katie Couric Interview
Palin's resignation as Alaska governor
The SNL Spoof
The vice-presidential campaign missteps
The clothing debacle (in which Palin was a supposed princess)
Etc.

Many people have strong feelings about Sarah Palin, but I would argue that their feelings are jaded based upon the media's version of Sarah Palin. You will not have an accurate portrait of Palin unless you read Going Rogue.

My favorite part of the book came at the end. Palin published a piece from a regular ole' Joe from Alaska -- a Fire/Rescue chief and author named Dewey Whetsell. (They sure do have strange names up there in Alaska.) It was so damn awesome I just had to post it:



The last 45 of my 66 years I've spent in a commerical fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It's not about persona, style, rhetoric -- it's about doing things.

1. Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, b/c as soon as Palin took the governor's office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republicans' Corrupt Bastard Club (CBC) and sent it packing. Many of its members are now residing in state housing and wearing orange jumpsuits. Name another governor in this country who has ever done anything similar.

But while you'e thinking, I'll continue.

2. With the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaska politicians to protect the giant oil companies here. So Palin constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called ACES. Exxonmobil protested, and Sarah told it, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." The other huge international oil companies fell meekly into line.

Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country who has done anything similar.

3. The other thing she did when she walked into the governor's office is get the list of state requests for federal funding projects known as "pork." She went through the list, took 85% of them out, and placed them in the "when hell freezes over" stack. She let locals know that if we want something built, we'll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor's cook, giving back the state vehicle, and dismissing her security force.

I'm still waiting to hear the name of those other governors.

4. Even with her much-ridiculed "gosh and golly" mannerisms, Sarah managed to put together a totally new natural gas pipeline that will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America.

If that doesn't impress you, you're trying too hard to be unimpressed.

5. For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. It made excuses for why it couldn't start drilling; in truth it was holding it as an investment. No governor for 30 years could get it started. This summer, Sarah told Exxon she was revoking its lease and kicking it out. It protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the courthouse. Alaska won again.

I'm still waiting to hear from liberals the names of the other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won't be holding my breath.

By the way, Sarah was content to return to Alaska after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn't let her. Now, these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and bite your face off.

Shoulda known better.