The Sarah Palin phenomenon
The American right's darling sold a record-breaking 300,000 copies of her autobiography on day one. What does this say about the US?
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There may have been doubts over whether Sarah Palin could read, but boy, can she write. Her memoir, Going Rogue, sold 300,000 copies on its first day, making it one of the most successful non-fiction sellers in history. So taken has her publisher HarperCollins been with the enthusiastic reception for Palin's first venture into literature that they have upped the print run from 1.5 million to 2.5 million copies. And that, lest you need further sobering statistics on the new heroine of the world of books, is four times the population of Alaska.
Palin's extraordinary debut-day sales place her only marginally behind the reception afforded Bill Clinton's My Life, but then that did have the advantage of being written by a former two-term president who had some sexual, as well as political, skeletons in his photocopying closet. But, with the ever-smiling former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate now embarked on a nationwide promotional tour, heaven alone knows how many books she will finally shift.
Something of the flavour of this excursion – conducted from a large bus painted to resemble the cover of her book, and from which country music plays – came in Michigan a couple of days ago. The author was greeted outside a bookstore with thousands chanting "Palin! Palin! Palin!", before going inside to sign copies. Lana Smith, a dispatcher at a local bus company who took the day off work and had been waiting in line since 5.30am, said: "She's a person of faith, she has a family, she has gone through a lot of the trials and tribulations we have. I'd vote for her in a heartbeat."
The book, widely judged to have no great confessions about Palin's complex and mysterious family, is obviously not selling on the strength of its scuttlebutt. What does seem to be driving sales is America's continuing fascination with the self-styled breath-of-fresh-Alaskan-air, hockey mum. The only touch of controversy among the homey niceties, are the settling of some trivial scores with both Katie Couric, who famously asked Ms Palin on television what newspapers she read, and with sundry minions on the McCain campaign team.
The responses from Ms Couric have been restrained, and yesterday Senator McCain was equally gallant. He said that he enjoyed reading the book, and downplayed any tension between their campaign aides as "no big deal". He added: "She and I are dear friends. I talked to her on the phone yesterday. We got along fine."
Indeed, the only note of unpleasantness struck by anyone in the wider orbit of Ms Palin came in the courtroom in Palmer, north-east of Anchorage, Alaska. There, Sherry Johnston, the mother of the man Ms Palin's daughter, Bristol, had planned to marry, was sentenced to three years on one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin.
By the time Palin's finished, we may all need some pretty strong painkillers.
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Comments
There may have been doubts over whether Sarah Palin could read.
Jeez, what a wit. Have you read it ?
Just admit it, despite articles like this (which isn't too slanted) to the truly vicious attacks upon her and her family in leftwing blogs, the left is very aware of her appeal and scared to death. What other VP candidate from the losing side is still in the news a year later ?
An Obama related website has just put out an appeal for $500,000 to run ads to trash her some more.
What ever her future plans may be she's got a basic decency that's sorely lacking in 75% of today's congressional Democrats including the Chicago machine hangers-on now in the White House.
Her interviews have been full of right wing propaganda misinformation and total ignorance.
This is the same woman who goes to a church where there's a witch Dr.! Yeah I guess she's real qualified to be an American president.
She's not still in the news a year later, she just made new news by releasing her book. Everyone else thought she went back to her street corner.
Don't you ever get tired of being blind?
Sadly, the great Republic is in a complete mess. To the Republicans: Look at yourselves in the mirror and ask yourselves if she is there to serve the greater good, will she better America. To the Democrats: "Middle America" is populated by idiots, stop making excuses for yourselves. Get a backbone and stand up for yourselves.
And for Sarah Palin, go away, just go away, We don't need another hick bringing the tone of discourse to the lowest common denominator, we aspire for something more, we deserve something more!
Sixpackers' convention drooling over Palin while the odd wife holds up a heart sign for little Trig (quick guess: Did she call him after a branch of mathematics or the favorite part of her rifle?).
The GOP is looking for a leader at a time when its voter base is up in arms against the "Muslim communist" in the White House. Obama's socialism-for-the-filthy-rich Wall Street bailouts have been conflated in the wingnut mind with his yet-to-happen health care spending, making him a bigger object of hatred than Clinton ever was with his military base closings and occasional office-hour blowjobs.
He may not live to see it but with a sleazy bumbling kultz like Obama in charge, Palin could be on an unstoppable roll. After all, how much worse could she be?
But there are several hundred thousand wingnuts in the USA, and they love her. She has a small audience, but a very faithful one. It is to be hoped, for America as well as for us, her satellite states, that that audience does not grow.
Insofar as leftwing bloggers are concerned, if intelligence, as I tend to believe, is leftist, then il767 is right. But only if intelligence is leftist.
The prospect of this intellectual gnat is the White House is absolutely terrifying. Probably only the Chinese would be pleased; they would have her for breakfast.
It's still to early to judge Obama, but surely the 'greatest' country on the planet can come up with someone more qualified than Palin to be the darling of the right. Oh, but of course, the Republicans inflicted the disaster of two Bush terms on the planet, so maybe there is no hope!
A particular type of segment of society like Palin because....she's as American as the proverbial apple pie. . . . . without the apple pie?
It just means that all 300,000 Palinites went out and bought the book the day it came out...I estimate weak sales from here on out...bargain book rack in no time....
In the US, education is not available to a large percentage of the population thanks to its tragically flawed system. Yes, you can go to school, but it is easy to graduate without having learned anything. And a good many people do just that. Some of them even become teachers to complete the cycle.
So, when faced with a "phenomenon" like Palin, many Americans lack the strong intellect to help them see through the facade to the emptiness beyond.
Normal people often compensate for an underdeveloped intellectual intelligence with emotional intelligence. Sufficiently developed emotional intelligence is as good or better a guide as intellectual intelligence for making wise life choices and for seeing through hypocrisy. (In Britain, for example, emotional intelligence would have helped people see through the vacuity of the intellectually capable Tony Blair.)
The Palin phenomenon proves that large portions of the US population lack both types of intelligence.
How did it come to that? I have no easy answer but certainly the answer is worth seeking out.
1. Makes Obamao to bow before all of these thugs, murderers, cut-throats, rapist, terrorists and scums of earth. Before too long he'll shinning their shoes too!
2. Makes these thugs and Marxists who have occupied the nut house in Washington PC to give away 2.5 trillion dollars of our hard earned money and our children to these bankers, failed companies, people who don't want to work and sit all day on their as...'s watching Dopra!.
3. Makes liberals to vote for cap and trade and a one world order phony global warming crap. The only warming is the friction of brand new $100 bills in that stiff, the snake oil salesman Al gore, smiling all the way to bank.
4. Makes Obamao to give in to every dictator on this planet, and not prosecuting the murderers who vanquished the life out of 3,000 Americans
I have many more, but leave it at this. Sara's followers are neither stupid, ignorant, uneducated nor republicans. They are just hard working Americans who work hard, pay their taxes, obey all laws and rules, love their country, and yet see their lives are being destroyed and their country is being dismantled before their eyes. Go and read what she is has written ....there is nothing in there that sound dangerous ...it is just common sense.
Hey by-the-way, it was these Americans which you call stupid, that saved the so called sophisticated Europeans, with their sacrifice and lives,,,,,,,,twice!!
Thank you for that. On the other hand, I wish you speedy recovery. If I were religious, I would be praying for you. As it is, I don't know what to do other than to invite you to read some good books to help you understand and deal with the sources of negative emotions. Some Buddhist texts might help, or if you're a Christian maybe read again the Gospels - you'll be surprised.
1. Makes Obamao to bow before all of these thugs, murderers, cut-throats, rapist, terrorists and scums of earth. Before too long he'll shinning their shoes too!
2. Makes these thugs and Marxists who have occupied the nut house in Washington PC to give away 2.5 trillion dollars of our hard earned money and our children to these bankers, failed companies, people who don't want to work and sit all day on their as...'s watching Dopra!.
Look around the world and tell me one place that Obamao and his thugs have succeeded. He is wimp and a coward and our enemies know it, and they are ignoring him big time. He can't even get his cohorts and ideological friend, the Chinese to take him serious!
Sara has more courage in her left high heel shoe that Obamao and his gaggle of Chicago thugs have in their whole crack snorting brains, combined. I believe that is why liberals, Marxists and socialist here in US and elsewhere in the world are so afraid. She is an all American woman. May God bless Sarah and America. To hell with all God haters, America hating wimps, Marxists, socialists and liberals.
This is self-evident from the results of the last election.
Oh yeh it's Joan De Arc. Obvious why you would vote for her.
1. Makes Obamao to bow before all of these thugs, murderers, cut-throats, rapist, terrorists and scums of earth. Before too long he'll shinning their shoes too!
2. Makes these thugs and Marxists who have occupied the nut house in Washington PC to give away 2.5 trillion dollars of our hard earned money and our children's to these bankers, failed companies, people who don't want to work and sit all day on their as...'s watching Dopra!.
Look around the world and tell me one place that Obamao and his thugs have succeeded. He is wimp and a coward and our enemies know it, and they are ignoring him big time. He can't even get his cohorts and ideological friend, the Chinese to take him serious!
These current gaggle of crack heads in the Washington PC have no clue how to run this country. Millions are loosing their jobs, while the chief " lost in the cloud" is shooting hoops with his co criminals, and our enemies are taking advantage ofhis weakness.
I want to read more of the 'pro palin' replies, keep them coming, pure insanity :)
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