Going Rogue: An American Life

Product Details

One year ago, Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage like a comet. Yet even now, few Americans know who this remarkable woman really is.

On September 3, 2008 Alaska Governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention that electrified the nation and instantly made her one of the most recognizable women in the world.

As chief executive of America's largest state, she had built a record as a reformer who cast aside politics-as-usual and pushed through changes other politicians only talked about: Energy independence. Ethics reform. And the biggest private sector infrastructure project in U.S. history. And while revitalizing public school funding and ensuring the state met its responsibilities to seniors and Alaska Native populations, Palin also beat the political "good ol' boys club" at their own game and brought Big Oil to heel.

Like her GOP running mate, John McCain, Palin wasn't a packaged and over-produced candidate. She was a Main Street American woman: a working mom, wife of a blue collar union man, and mother of five children, the eldest of whom was serving his country in a yearlong deployment in Iraq and the youngest, an infant with special needs. Palin's hometown story touched a populist nerve, rallying hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans to the GOP ticket.

But as the campaign unfolded, Palin became a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. Supporters called her "refreshing" and "honest," a kitchen-table public servant they felt would fight for their interests. Opponents derided her as a wide-eyed Pollyanna unprepared for national leadership. But none of them knew the real Sarah Palin.

In this eagerly anticipated memoir, Palin paints an intimate portrait of growing up in the wilds of Alaska; meeting her lifelong love; her decision to enter politics; the importance of faith and family; and the unique joys and trials of life as a high-profile working mother. She also opens up for the first time about the 2008 presidential race, providing a rare, mom's-eye view of high-stakes national politicsfrom patriots dedicated to "Country First" to slick politicos bent on winning at any cost.

Going Rogue traces one ordinary citizen's extraordinary journey and imparts Palin's vision of a way forward for America and her unfailing hope in the greatest nation on earth.

Product Reviews

(2 stars) - Not sure what to think....
Having just completed Gov. Palin's memoir, I find myself deeply unsatisfied with the book. If the purpose of this book was to prepare the soil for a Presidential bid, then I think the book will fail in its mission. I am less likely to vote for Palin after reading this book than before.

And this is bad news for Palin, because I cannot imagine I am alone, and I am a deeply committed "moral values" voter. I am therefore one the voters that would seem to be in Palin's "base." If I am turned off by the book, I think that betrays a problem for Palin's political aspirations.

Palin is a very interesting figure when we look at the issue of polarization. It should be clear we live in a very divided America. Thus, our Presidents and presidential candidates have become increasingly polarizing figures. Polling data show that Barack Obama is a more polarizing figure than W. Bush was, and Bush was more polarizing than Clinton. With each passing generation and election cycle Americans seem more disunited, and more divorced from each other than at any time since the 19th century. We may be returning to the sort of political dynamic that characterized our nation prior to or just after the Civil War, with our nation so divided over deep moral questions that compromise and unity seems increasingly impossible.

It is therefore perhaps inevitable that any public figure will be polarizing. As an American who is pro-life, I find Barack Obama, and his policies, absolutely repugnant. I cannot remember finding a President of the United States repugnant in this way before (I was more of a liberal when Clinton was in office, so that may be why). I am sure those who are passionately pro-choice feel the same way about Palin. We are not one America anymore. Our ideological pluralism (I don't think it has anything to do with race) has gone to such an extreme that we are falling apart at the seems.

Yet it is more than just the fact that we are divided. The divide is exacerbated, and perhaps partially caused by, the lack of quality in American political discourse. Thoughtful and intense debates that clearly show a mastery of the tools of logic, reason, and philosophical argumentation are totally absent now in American political dialectic. The mainstream media offers us a steady diet of mediocre and simplistic reporting that is often as biased as it is poorly articulated. And the "debate shows" are people speaking as quickly as possible while trying to shout their opponents down instead of engaging their ideas. This may be partially due to the death of the traditional liberal education in this country, but it also says something about our collective intelligence which is not very flattering.

Yet, our level of disunity also has another cause.

It strikes me as very dangerous that our President, and those who aspire to the office of the Presidency, don't understand the nature of the problem and what they are called to do. We desperately need a President in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, who will do everything in his power to keep this nation together. The role of the Presidency now ought to be for a President to reach out, one hand to the right and one hand to the left and hold on for dear life, doing everything possible to keep this nation together.

If Palin is seeking the Presidency, and is testing the waters with this book, is she up to this challenge?

At this point, this reader has to conclude "no." The book is very poorly written. For instance, the opening chapter gives us a story about Palin's support of the right to life, but a cogent and philosophical defense of her position is never given. All we get is the fact that her son's picture was at the Right to Life booth at a state fair. The arguments in favor of abortion and abortion rights ought to be addressed by those who favor defending life in the womb. Yes, the pro-choice position has been losing tremendous ground, especially with the advent of advanced ultra-sound techniques and genetic knowledge, coupled with increasing knowledge of the pro-choice movement's eugenicist and racist origins. But that doesn't mean that we should show disdain for those with whom we disagree by failing to address their arguments in a cogent manner. But, even worse than failing to address the arguments of her opponents, she nowhere shows a real mastery of the issue, nor does she argue competently for her position. She simply shows her position by discussing the fair. In discussing why she did not seek an abortion when she discovered her child had down syndrome, she simply says that she held onto the "seed of faith." Besides not knowing what this means, I have a real difficulty with this approach to writing. It would be immoral to kill a child simply because he or she has an extra chromosome, would it not? It would arguably be selfish and wrong to do so, yes? Why doesn't Palin articulate her position well? This is a problem I find evangelical protestants have. They seem to be the sort of people who think "because the Bible says so" is a good enough argument when bringing their ideas into the public sphere. I doubt Palin ever read Richard Neuhauss and other intellectually competent social conservatives. She doesn't seem to be well read.

This is deeply concerning to me because public figures ought to make public arguments. It isn't enough to speak about one's faith, and then profess controversial positions without adequate support. If one's position cannot be defended articulately in secular terms using logic and reason, then one will fail to convince and will not be effective in the public sphere. It was clear to me after reading this book that Palin is not an especially deep thinker, and she seems to lack the skills necessary to articulate controversial positions in a way that is compelling and convincing.

Palin's book is deeply flawed therefore when she discusses these controversial topics. She may think she is "just telling it like it is" but what she is really doing is showing disdain for those who will disagree with her by not anticipating their arguments, addressing them, and cogently defending her own position.

There is another part of the book I found troubling in a potential presidential candidate, and that is what I refer to as the "Nixon internal narrative." The Nixon narrative is an internal dialog that goes on in the mind of the President or the candidate that says that everyone who disagrees with the candidate, or seeks to defeat his or her agenda, is the "enemy," and must be defeated by any means necessary. I see signs that President Obama is succumbing to such an internal narrative, referring to those with whom he disagrees as "anti-government tea-baggers" etc. He even went so far as to start compiling an enemies list leading the very reserved Lamar Alexander, who has first hand experience, to warn the President against becoming like Nixon.

One sees similar trends in this book by Palin. Character after character is introduced, such as her legislative director when she was governor. These people are painted in a very unflattering light, and then attacked vociferously, all because they had the temerity to oppose Palin it would seem. There is a great deal of "score settling" in this book, and this strikes me as both immature and dangerous in someone who seeks high office. With all due respect, someone who seeks the office of the Presidency or wants to be deeply involved in national politics ought to be able to rise above these petty disputes, and once one has moved on, should not hold grudges or engage in the desire to settle scores. That is a very dangerous and troubling thing to see. Palin is not charitable to her enemies, and that is silly given the fact that she has been hugely successful in spite of them. This perhaps was the most telling, and most troublesome part of this book, in my opinion. Score settling is never an attractive trait.
These parts of the book made me feel embarrassed when I read them.

Overall, I give this book very low marks. It is poorly written, simplistic, doesn't articulate conservative ideas very well, and engages in uncharitable score settling. If Palin was planning to run, she will need to work hard to convince me to support her in any primary against the likes of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee. I don't think she has the necessary gravitas for the job.

(5 stars) - Palin Book
This book is awesome! Shows what kind of "real" woman Sarah Palin is. I am amazed and impressed with how Sarah Palin and Condi Rice are such self made, all around women. Both are admired. And, they did it without NOW!

(1 stars) - A waste...
Even though I'm a proud liberal Democrat, I can respect the political views of those who take an opposite point of view from me if their arguments are well thought-out and respectfully presented. Senators John McCain (who is a true conservative if you look at his voting record) and Orrin Hatch are two prime examples. But Sarah Palin -- for lack of a better term -- is an airhead, pure and simple. She shows no true grasp of domestic policies and world events, and to say she has an understanding of foreign policy is a joke. She uses this book as a way of settling scores amongst the McCain campaign staff, and she should realize that she was damn lucky to have been picked in the first place to be McCain's running mate. In fact, the realization that she could have possibly been our country's Vice-President right now is a truly scary thought.

I'm not exactly thrilled with Obama so far. I think he's a truly brilliant and well-educated man, but he has shown poor management skills in his handling of health care and foreign policy and I believe that's due to not having enough experience in the Senate before becoming President. Things, of course, could change before his term is over. I would feel much more comfortable if the Democratic ticket had been reversed with Biden as President and Obama as Vice-President, and, better still, if Hillary had been the presidential nominee, because I believe she is a VERY smart and capable lady. The difference in intelligence between her and Sarah Palin is overwhelming.

But, given the choice, I still am much more comfortable with Obama as President instead of McCain. As I said before, I believe McCain is very intelligent and can present his arguments in a thoughtful and reasonable way. But he has a tendency to be a hothead, which is understandable given his experiences in the Vietnam war. In fact, it strikes me as VERY surprising that he is so pro-military considering what he went through. But as far as Palin is concerned, 'Going Rogue' presents the most convincing argument yet that the country (given the choice presented to us) did the right thing a year ago in November. And if the Republicans in Congress want to regain any sort of respectability again, they better become willing to once again work across the aisle to get well-meaning legislation passed. The way they used to do it in the 1960's and 1970's. Even sometimes into the 1980's.

(5 stars) - HEY, SCARED LIBERALS...READ THE BOOK... YOU MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING!!!
Those truly exploring the world of Sarah Palin and using their brains to make decisions and NOT the Obama State controlled media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, AP, NY Times, LA Times , Wasington Post, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and ALL other media outlets EXCEPT FO
X News, Imprimis & the internet blogs: Heritage Foundation, Drudge Report & Limbaugh Letter) will KNOW the bogus garbage being published by all the scared liberals posting 1 Star reviews

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!

Look at all the HATE spewing forth from these other posts AND the book has been on the shelves for 2 DAYS!! Preposterous that all these brain dead, vile spewing LIBERALS read this book. So, they picked it up at Costco and skimmed the jacket and determined to carry on with the Obama Liberal agenda to BRAINWASH American citizens.

Do you want to continue to be SHEEPLE? If so, then continue to watch and read all the State controlled media sources listed above. The course we are on America is to an America that is not reperesented by our Founding Fathers or our Constituion. READ our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the writings of Jefferson & Adams and Ronald Reagan. Go to The Heritage Foundation on the web. You will be enlightended and amazed!!

What scares Liberals is an INFORMED and EDUCATED populace. They want you as Sheeple.... lemmings blindly running toward that cliff.

WAKE UP AMERICA!! Read Sarah's book! In fact, read Glenn Beck, Mark Levine, the Drudge Report & Sean Hannity & even Michael Savage. Use your intellect to GET INFORMED and then CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF.

Women... Sarah is Pro Choice... she CHOSE to keep her toddler son who she knew in-utero had down syndrome. That is what Pro Choice should be.... your CHOICE to choose ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. Women.... let's take the blinders off. This current government will KILL ALL of US with the health care plan being rammed down our throats. Is there any one strong enough to join Sarah Palin? Is there any among us to take on ALL the politicians in ALL states and be like Mel Gibson in "The Patriot?" If not, this country is
DOOMED to fail.... like ALL great societies (Babalyon, Greek, Roman, Spain, England).

So, LIBERALS... how's that hope & change working out for you??

Wake Up America!! Read Sarah's book and the others listed!!

(1 stars) - The Worst Kind of Fairy Tale
From the first preposterous statement to the last, the book is a total waste of time.

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