'Tis the Season to be the Chief Mama Grizzly.' Palin Gets Down and Nasty With Just About Everyone.
Sarah Palin's new book, 'America By Heart,' which, according to her publisher, includes 'selections from classic and
contemporary readings that have moved' her, also contains gratuitous swipes at Levi Johnston, the contestants on
'American Idol' and Michelle Obama.
by Bill Berkowitz,
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/11981">BuzzFlash, November 23, 2010
This is truly the season of Sarah Palin. On Sunday, The New York Times Magazine ran a very friendly full-length profile
of Palin -- accompanied by a handsome cover photo -- and her team of advisors, aides and assistants. Her daughter
Bristol danced in Monday night's "Dancing With The Stars" finale (ED. note: Bristol finished third). The second episode
of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" has aired - see http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/sarah_palins_alaska/?story=/ent/tv/2010/11/22/sarah_palin_s_alaska_recap_episode_2_open2010 for a Salon recap.
A new Quinnipiac University poll has Palin as the top contender for the Republican Party's presidential nomination:
she's on top with 19 percent of Republican support, Romney has 18 percent, Huckabee, 17 percent and Gingrich, grabs 15
percent. The poll also found President Obama leading her in a head-to-head matchup, 48 percent to 40 percent. And
yesterday, Palin kicked off a 16-stop book tour promoting her new book, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, in Phoenix, Arizona.
ABC's Rick Klein set the stage for another very busy Palin week: "Her unique blend of celebrity, media, pop culture, and
-- yes -- political engagement is again delivering near-ubiquity that's all the more remarkable for the fact that she
does not actually hold any public office -- and that she's coming off of an election cycle with an endorsement record
that's spotty at best."
Palin's book tour, according to ABC News' Michael Falcone will take "her through several states that could be key to her
presidential ambitions if she decides to jump into the 2012 race." And, with a million copies being printed, it's only a
matter of time before the book lands on The new York Times best-seller list.
Falcone reported that Palin's "promotional trip focuses heavily on Midwestern and Southern states, mostly leaving out
the coasts.... [as] [n]o stops are scheduled for New York, Washington, DC or California. She'll be appearing at a mix of
large book store chains, including Borders, Barnes and Noble, as well as big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Costco."
The publisher of Palin's book, Harper Collins, said it would include "selections from classic and contemporary readings
that have moved" the former Alaska governor, as well as "portraits of some of the extraordinary men and women she
admires and who embody her deep love of country, her strong rootedness in faith, and her profound love and appreciation
of family."
For those of you that will probably resist the temptation to line up outside a Walmart, Barnes & Noble, or Costco outlet to buy the book, and won't be ordering it for your IPad or Kindle, here are some leaked
excerpts -- that appeared on the Internet -- that should satisfy your curiosity:
Falcone reports that "According to the leaked pages, Palin mentions her daughter Bristol's ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston,
in less than flattering terms: '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,' she
writes.
"Palin also rails against the danger of 'American Idol,' referring to contestants of the Fox program as victims of 'the
cult of self-esteem.' She does not, however, reach the same conclusion about Bristol, who is a finalist on the ABC's
'Dancing With The Stars.'
Her mother calls Bristol a better role model than the 1990's television character, Murphy Brown. 'Which is the more
courageous course for a young, single mother: to sit down and shut up and avoid the critics,' Palin writes, 'or to speak
out in a painfully honest way about how tough single parenting is? I'm biased of course, but given a choice of role
models between Bristol and Murphy Brown, I choose Bristol.'
"Palin also fits in a jab at First Lady Michelle Obama for comments she made on the campaign trail in 2008, saying that
for the first time in her 'adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.' '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,'Palin writes. '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.'"
"Palin is following in the footsteps of other potential presidential candidates who have recently released new books,"
Michael Falcone pointed out. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been touting his new historical novel "Valley
Forge," in a number of the same states as Palin, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty "is waiting until the new year to go on
the road to sell his forthcoming biographical and political volume, 'Courage to Stand: An American Story.'"
According to Nate Silver's "Five Thirty Eight" website, Palin's "search traffic, since the start of 2010, is roughly 16
times that of Mitt Romney, 14 times that of Newt Gingrich, 38 times that of Mike Huckabee, and 87 times that of [Tim]
Pawlenty. (It is about six times greater than these other four candidates combined.)
"... Palin, in fact, draws almost as much search traffic worldwide as the man she would face if she wins the Republican
nomination: Barack Obama And her name is searched for about 30 percent more often than the President's among Google
users in the United States."
To add insult to injury, Silver pointed out that "some members of .. Palin's family also draw as much attention has the
other Presidential contenders." Her husband Todd "gets about as much search traffic as .. Pawlenty," while Bristol "gets
several times more than any of them (as does her former boyfriend, Levi Johnston)."
Sarah Palin dominates the landscape no matter where she is or what she is doing. She has developed a unique ability to
harness her celebrity/political status. When you combine the growth of Palin's brand with the gaggle of lackluster male
figures at the center of the GOP these days, you may indeed come to the conclusion that there may be no limits for the
chief Mama Grizzly.
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BUZZFLASH NOTE: Since 2000, BuzzFlash has been warning of the danger from a well-armed seditious right. Yesterday, in
the editor's blog, we took note again of the grave threat that those who would commit treason pose to the government of
the United States in a commentary, "Sedition is Coming to a Town Near You: The Potential Domestic White 'Christian' Terrorists in Our Midst are