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America by Heart – Chapter 3, America the Exceptional

Alright, we’re on to Chapter 3… almost half way through this tripe salad. This chapter talks about how we’re the best and we’re number one, but we’re not cocky or arrogant. We have juuuust the right blend of humility and realistic analysis of our specialness to be… well… the best.

And once we realize how best we are, there’s a little celebration of free market capitalism at the end and we join Sarah in her little fantasy of calling back Milton Friedman from the grave so he can kick Michael Moore’s ass and show him what capitalism is really all about.

So kick back, get your candy dish full of Maalox, and join me on a little trip into the land of special…

Page 61

“There is a depressing predictability to conversation about America these days.”

(There is also a depressing predictability about this book)

If you try to say something nice about America, “you will be accused of being a closed-minded nativist, one of those dangerous hicks clinging to her guns, her God and her country.”

(That’s not why people think you’re a dangerous hick.)

There’s also an annoying tendency in the book to refer to America as a ‘she.’  “She’s never merely wrong in their eyes, she’s just plain bad.”

(It’s not consistent. Sometimes it’s an it and sometimes it’s a she. Maybe by anthropomorphizing America makes the liberals sound even meaner…)

Page 62

If you just listened to MSNBC to learn about Arizona’s immigration law, you’d think America had become … wait for it… Nazi Germany!  (Nazis were mentioned in an argument which is not about Nazis – automatic lose!)

As soon as the immigration law was passed, Obama traveled to China where they force women to have abortions, so he could apologize for how bad America is.

The left has a knee-jerk tendency to “run down America and accuse her fans of being mindless hillbillies.” (They’re not ALL mindless hillbillies, but one in particular comes to mind…)

Page 63

American Exceptionalism may sound cocky and arrogant to some people, but it isn’t. America is not perfect, but the left just focuses on the flaws instead of the good things. So even though we aren’t perfect we should not focus on the bad things, but we should focus on the good things. We are a model for the world, but we are not a bully, and we are not responsible for the world.

Page 64

A quote from “one of my favorite magazines, The National Review”

(HEY! We have a partial… or maybe complete… answer to Katie Couric’s question! Now was that SO hard?)

Ronald Reagan used to talk about a “shining city on a hill” and that came from John Winthrop, a preacher from 1630, and that came from Matthew 5:14 when Jesus told his followers “a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

God–>Jesus–>Matthew–>John Winthrop–>Ronald Reagan–>Sarah Palin!  See how that works?

Page 65

(Oh, dear God) We’re back to Alexis de Tocqueville again. “He literally wrote the book on American exceptionalism.”  Suddenly a frenchman from the 1800s who spent 8 months in America is the conservative’s best friend.  “If you pay attention when you’re watching CSPAN or reading American history you’re sure to come across Tocqueville,” she tells us. (That must be how she knows about him with all her CSPAN watchin and history readin.)

Page 66

A whole page of Tocqueville. (bang…bang…bang… Yes, that’s my head)

Page 67

Humility is a virtue, and it’s not good to be boastful. But we are the best, and unique, and we don’t owe the world an apology.  The left doesn’t want to admit that America has done anything good in the world. It’s a mystery to her why the left hates America, buuuut they do.

She found a letter from Ronald Reagan to Leonid Brezhnev that talks unabashedly about how great America is, and that America would not apologize to anyone.

Page 68

Reagan’s letter continued, talking about WWII – “we used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravaged economies of all the world including those nations who had been our enemies.”  (That would have been under a Democratic presidency, I believe. Just saying.)

Page 69

Today, leaders may love their country but they think it’s ordinary, not exceptional.  Obama doesn’t believe in excpetionalism at all. “To me, that is appalling.”

His statement reminds her of a scene from the movie The Incredibles

[Now I’m going to detour you to this article by Media Matters in which we see a very striking similarity between this passage on page 69, and something from Jonah Goldberg, and why the two are the same. Quite amusing! CLICK]

Page 70

Just to prove she’s not a shrewish divisive partisan hack, she tells us about how she has recently re-read John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech.  Kennedy believed in American exceptionalism. Long passage from JFK inaugural speech.

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”

Page 71

It’s hard to imagine a Democrat today saying these things, she says. (Yeah, today JFK would be a conservative Republican, by God…)

Today, the left thinks America is worse than other nations, is hypocritical, falls short of its (not her) responsibilities, and is forever in need of correction. (So according to Sarah Palin we’re not perfect, but to point out that we need correction means you don’t love your country. It’s all clear now…)

“I think ordinary Americans are tired of Obama’s Global Apology Tour, (inspired by eight years of Bush) and of hearing about what a weak country America is from left-wing professors and journalists. (Down with college! Down with journalism!)

We need leaders who are not embarrassed by America. (No matter what we do! We’re #1! We’re #1!)

Page 72

Why are we so special as Americans? Because we raise families, build communities, create prosperity, and defend our freedom. (I guess nobody else does that…)

And here we go into the 10th Amendment.  She prints it out for all to see:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Nobody can do this issue justice better than The Mudflats’ own Legal Eagle.  Here’s what LE had to say in a previous post:

While the language is somewhat obtuse, what is important to note is that the word “expressly” does NOT appear in the 10th Amendment. The insertion of the word “expressly” prior to “delegated,” which was advocated by some after the amendment’s ratification, would have denied the federal government any implied powers (those not expressly delegated to it). Because that word is not in the amendment,  the federal government has implied powers, as evidenced by a long line of Supreme Court cases.

For much more on “tentherism” you can read the rest of the post HERE.

Page 73

Alaska wanted statehood because it had no representation in congress. (How does she feel about D.C. statehood, I wonder?)

She is peeved at the Jones Act which requires goods shipped between US ports to be carried in US vessels and this means it’s more expensive for Alaska. (I guess America isn’t exceptional enough to warrant using our own ships? Maybe we can get some help from the Chinese.)

Blurb about Democratic Senator Ernest Gruening from Alaska and it becoming a state. (Wonder how secessionist Todd feels about that? His party of choice for 7 years felt that Alaska should be its own country.)

Page 74

The Alaskans who fought for statehood are like the Founding Fathers. (I know one of the Alaska Founding Fathers who is still around… and isn’t a big fan of the author.)

Page 75

There used to be no income tax.  It was a giant power grab, just like trying to give everyone health care.

Page 76

The stimulus package was just a big bribe. (Of which you took most as governor, and the legislature overrode your veto on the rest so they could do a big power grab and get weather stripping for remote Alaska villages) The way she tells it is she “stuck to her 10th amendment guns” and just said to to the fat federal strings (that didn’t exist).

Page 77

She hates the stimulus money. Really.  She guesses those little signs that pop up all over showing us all the road projects and infrastructure rehabilitation paid for by the stimulus is supposed to “make us grateful” because Washington decided to give us something.

She found a picture on the internet where some guy in Georgia stuck a copy of the 10th amendment on one of those signs, and she thought that was just high-larious.

Page 78

People freak out about state’s rights because they say that some states would still have slavery.  In that case the federal government was right to “force change.” But it shouldn’t do it for health care or anything else because we’re all grownups and we can take care of ourselves.

Page 79

The state house of Indiana in the 1940s wanted the feds to go away, but they didn’t.  Ronald Reagan pointed that out in a speech in 1982.  He made a funny joke about what some would call dangerous radicalism.

Page 80

Today’s rallying cry is the same. We don’t want Washington D.C. adopting us. We can do just fine alone. (Yes, I know. Alaska gets more federal money per capita than any other state. I would argue that there is a good reason for that… but my ex-governor seems to want to send it all back.)

Page 81

Free markets. That’s what we need, not the free healthcare and a month of paid vacation, and free college and cradle to grave benefits like Europe. They’re always broke and have no money.  Americans are strivers. We want to get ahead. We don’t want class warfare like they have in Europe.

Page 82

Hard work and entrepreneurial spirit will produce miracles. Just like in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. She defies you to watch it without first crying and then shouting for joy.  He and his child were secretly homeless while he went to work as a low-paying stock broker in a training program. He slept in train stations in bathrooms, but he worked hard and became a success.

Page 83

Todd says, “God helps those who help themselves.”

She has a dog-eared copy of a quote on her bulletin board that says “Nobody owes you a living…”

Page 84

Anybody can succeed.  If we fail we can get up and dust ourselves off… etc. etc. etc.

The government is taking over free markets.

Page 85

There are too many lobbyists. The more industries government owns/controls and/or regulates the more lobbyists there are.

She’s angry at Wall St. fat cats too, but the answer isn’t to lose sight of how the free market will save us.

Page 86

Now she quotes some elite academic from a university of all things.  But this one agrees with her, so it must be OK. Phew!

The government should promote free and open markets (Yes, we heard you.)

Page 87

Viewers of Michael Moore’s movies are “poor and misguided.” Capitalists are not greedy and self-interested.  She remembers back in high school when Milton Friedman was all the rage. (OMG, I like totally remember that too! Like I even had a picture of Milton Friedman in my locker, but I kissed it too much and the cherry lip gloss like totally messed it up. It was sooooo embarrassing. So I had to just be happy with my Milton Friedman t-shirt and my Milton Friedman backpack.)

Page 88

She wishes Milton Friedman were alive today to give Michael Moore the what for. In the free market, everyone cooperates for the greater good. (Ohmygod, are you serious? Milton Friedman could like toooootally kick Michael Moore’s ASS! Seriously.)

Page 89

You would think that with all the “failed blood-soaked” attempts to create something better than capitalism that people would learn.  But, oh no, we don’t. Capitalism needs defending today more than ever before!

For those of you who’d like to read further on American Exceptionalism and why Sarah Palin is not the only one talking about it these days, check out this article from The Washington Post. I guess in conservative presidential candidate circles, “it’s all the rage.”

Comments

comments

Comments
136 Responses to “America by Heart – Chapter 3, America the Exceptional”
  1. karen marie says:

    It’s interesting how these rabid fans of the “Founding Fathers” who realized that a central government was important for holding the union together want nothing more than to destroy that central government.

    Why does Sarah Palin have no respect for the wisdom of the “Founding Fathers”?

  2. Irishgirl says:

    Wow…it is seriously snowing here in Dublin. School has been cancelled.

  3. Jen in SF says:

    “…run down America and accuse her fans of being mindless hillbillies.” Sounds like Mrs Palin is beginning to think of herself as America. Eek.

  4. Lacy Lady says:

    The links to the moscowtopnews were really great. Hope quittypants reads them. She will need to replace her old batteries for sure.

  5. NOLA says:

    Here is an alternate link to the pravda article. It was tremendous! Shame it is preaching to the choir.

    http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2154

  6. mtviewchild says:

    I can’t either, but will try to find it.

  7. AKMagpie says:

    Oh mud puppies, fear not! Moscow Top News has Sarah Palin pegged and pulls no punches in article referenced in Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish blog. It is really worth the click!

    http://www.moscowtopnews.com/

  8. Califpat says:

    Marnie: It may just be my computer, but I could not open your link.

  9. MinNJ says:

    I can’t even read the review. Sorry, AKM. But the comments are great reading, and so I choose them. Thanks, all. She’s just too nauseating for me, and I’m done: I mean really don’t care.

  10. leenie17 says:

    “it’s not good to be boastful………….But we are the best”

    Nope, noooo contradiction there!

  11. Bretta says:

    Page 73…She is peeved at the Jones Act which requires goods shipped between US ports to be carried in US vessels and this means it’s more expensive for Alaska.

    That’s interesting, because it specifically benefits Alaska Companies, Tote, SeaLand and I forget the third one.

    I always thought it was restrictive of trade, myself.

    I once had a huge shipment from Australia to British Columbia. It had to be unloaded, transported into Washington, then reloaded into a Tote container and then shipped via barge to Alaska. It could not come in it’s ship container via land through BC & YT to come to Anchorage.

    Yes, I agree, it is more expensive. But hey, it keeps SeaLand and TOTE and (number 3) employed!! No outsiders!!

  12. Marnie says:

    http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/30-11-2010/115998-spankin_sarah-0/

    Slightly OT but the above may be the most spectacular slap down of Sarah eveah.

    First paragraph alone is worth the trip over

    • I liked the article and the picture of Quitty Queen is absolutely spot on. The picture shows the ubiquitous Ms Palin giving her stock answer to the question,”where is the 40 billion dollar nat-gas pipeline she helped negotiate and get built?” Or maybe where are the 22 billion dollars that just disappeared in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or maybe does her right hand know whose throat her left hand is cutting? So many questions,so few answers. Maybe it was how many homes does she and John Mcshame own? Maybe she wants to walk like an Egyptian.

  13. NEO says:

    I was shopping at Sams yesterday and counted only 10 copies of the book.
    Don’t think they anticipate a great demand.

    • seattlefan says:

      I was at Costco this afternoon and they had a table set up and not one book was out of place or missing. 🙂 It seemed the display was the same as it had been since it was set up. They were charging 14.99. I watched a lady pick it up look at the pictures and promptly put it back. I was tempted to do some mischief with the display, but thought better of it as an employee was stocking a display nearby.

  14. ravenstrick says:

    Not on the NYT Bestseller list. Over at Amazon.com it’s #21 and 50% off. Is the rest of America FINALLY getting a clue?

  15. Irishgirl says:

    Nite

  16. Methinks Quittypants doth protest too much. I am not exactly fixated with the bad stuff in America. More a morbid curiousity of most things Palin. I would love to unscrew her head and see what makes her tick. I’ll readily admit I’m not a psychiatrist and I don’t play one on t.v. And I did not stay at a Holiday Inn,either. If I found something of interest in her head,I would probably dismantle it with a sledge hammer. I could then throw “it” in a blender with an aspirin and claim aspirins do untold damage to your brain. I see a Nobel in the future for genetic mutation research,short version.

    • bubbles says:

      i see that Nobel prize also too dear Mike. i can just imagine you and the rest of us pups rooting around in that there head. pulling some things out and smashing them and putting other things in like jelly beans and gin.

    • leenie17 says:

      “I would love to unscrew her head and see what makes her tick.”

      Be sure to suit up in full HazMat gear before going in there!

  17. Irishgirl says:

    I’d equate Sarah with flatulence.

  18. James M Maltese says:

    ADDENDUM: “Page 68 – Reagan’s letter continued, talking about WWII – “we used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravaged economies of all the world including those nations who had been our enemies.” (That would have been under a Democratic presidency, I believe. Just saying.)

    And Conservatives always opposed the Marshall Plan.

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      That from a country which, as part of the USSR, gave the world Khrushchev banging his shoe on a desk! They should know “oaf” when they see one! 🙂

  19. Lee323 says:

    Fact: This blog is exceptional.

    Palin? And her view of America? Not so much, although the following description of her IS exceptional:

    “If anything is a threat to the national security of the United States of America, it is this screaming, unrefined oaf with as much class as a searing release of flatulence followed by hysterical giggling at a state banquet. Is this what the people of the USA deserve?”

    http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/30-11-2010/115998-spankin_sarah-0/

  20. Irishgirl says:

    Just occasionally, one encounters a bar-room idiot whose party piece is belching loudly before falling backwards off his stool, bouncing off the floor on his backside with a background provided by guffaws of laughter, yet who winks knowingly as he is carried out with his feet scraping along the ground and says “Don’t worry son, most of it is an act”.

  21. DudleysPa says:

    So, if I have this right, if America was a car with a flat tire we should all just ignore that “flaw” and keep on driving? If someone pulls up next to us and points out the muffler dragging on the ground, rather than just telling us how exceptional the rest of the car is, that would make them an evil liberal? And don’t get me started on those awful, progressive mechanics who seem to only want to fix the broken stuff.

    • Dagian says:

      Nicely stated.

    • BuffaloGal says:

      I’d love for someone to point it out that logically and simply to $P. There was a scene in a Star Trek episode where Kirk presented something similarly to an ancient computer that had run amok. Once faced with with the fact that its own logic had no merit , it freaked out and all circuits fried.

      Yep – I’d pay good ticket money to see that, I sure would.

  22. Maria says:

    What’s ironic and interesting to me is that I’ve always thought that Barack Obama’s becoming President was a prime, positive example of exceptionalism. You know…’only in America’ and in a good way too. I don’t think he’d be possible anywhere else in the world right now and that makes him a truly great example of the American dream. But what do I know, right?

  23. g says:

    I find myself getting depressed by the fact that so many Americans – media pundits especially – endorce the idiocy of this woman.

    Her entire critique of President Obama on the “American exceptionalism” issue boils down to the fact that she’s analyzing a snippet of his words on the issue, misreading it at that, to conclude that President Obama’s a bad man because he doesn’t brag hard enough about how Our Team is better than Anyone Else’s Team.”

    How can anyone take it seriously? the problem is, so many do.

    • lilybart says:

      The President repaired our relationships around the world by dropping the “with us or agin’ us” unjhelpful rhetoric. He is making new allies in Indonesia (largest muslim country in the world, and a democracy) and India to counter China’s power in the region.

      She complained about him igoring our Euro allies? Really? Not true but since when do wingers care about “old europe?”

      • lysistrata says:

        Well, there was the whole missile defense shield withdrawal that left our NATO allies a little sour.

  24. Baker's Dozen says:

    On Nov. 19 I believe it was, I predicted that Ms. Palin was on her way down and out. Now we have less than newsworthy book signings, an even stupider book than last time, the panning of Republican icons, and now Joe the Talk Show Host is taking her down.

    I believe she may have reached her apex and is now on the way down. Told you those rockets had run out of fuel! Yippee! 🙂

    As much as, in many ways, I’d like to see her run against Obama, I’m also quite aware that our political system is much better off having good, viable candidates from both parties running. Though, frankly, having her run would probably be the best chance for a Green candidate, ever!

  25. OtterQueen says:

    I’m still confused about Liberal Elitist Hollywood. Isn’t that where “Dancing With the Stars” was made? And don’t they create movies like “The Incredibles?” If they’re so bad, why does she keep watching their movies?

  26. G Katz says:

    Thanks, AKM!! You are doing great! Don’t forget to take plenty of sanity breaks.

  27. Baker's Dozen says:

    When you’re done with this book, you should return it for a full refund. Then, take that money and buy Obama’s book which doesn’t enrich the President, but helps the families of our fallen troops!

    Isn’t it interesting that she pans him about not thinking America is exceptional while his book does nothing but highlight exceptional Americans and expect his, and all, kids to follow them!

    • bubbles says:

      Baker’sDozen i bought the book “Of Thee I Sing the other evening at Strand’s on Broadway. on my way home i hopped on the bus and simply couldn’t wait until i reached home. i took the book out and started to read then i noticed that others were looking at me and wanted to see it. long story short there will be children of many ages and both genders who will find this thoroughly engaging book under the tree this year. my daughter will find hers certainly and though she is now a grown woman she is still my baby and the book says all the things i wanted to say as she was growing up but i had not yet found my voice or the authority (gravitas) of these my elder years.

      • Village Reader says:

        I like that story on the bus. Thanks for sharing.

      • Baker's Dozen says:

        Let’s pool our money and get one for Ms. Palin! or Piper!!!!!!! 🙂 She’ll appreciate that all profits go to families of killed troops! I mean seriously. How can we get someone to present this to her in public , mentioning the donation to troops’ families, and pointing out the American exceptionalism that he extolls his daughters–and her kids, too, you betcha–to strive for? Wouldn’t that be fun, educational, and eye opening!

    • jojobo1 says:

      And wasn’t it really something when one of her bots seemed to glory about the Presidents book.Guess they forgot the money went to charity unlike any of palins money will do.The comment was in the article about a book signing link above.I would think being christian they would want the book to do well to help charities.

  28. lilybart says:

    No wonder her book is getting no mentions anywhere, there is nothing there!!

    rewriting of history, wrong assumptions, inappropriate examples….there is nowhere to start if you wanted to review this empty piece of crap.

  29. susanthe says:

    I haz the sads because Sarah Palin isn’t coming to my state on her book tour. Apparently New Hampshire is not part of “exceptional America.”

    • Gramiam says:

      New Hampshire is even better than “exceptional”! It has Dr. Howard Dean!! Yays!

    • leenie17 says:

      Even worse…it has a whole bunch of people who are known for not taking cr@p from anyone, especially politicians.

      In other words…SP’s worst nightmare!

      • 24owls says:

        The very best thing about NH is if you were a political buff this is the place to shake their hands, get in their faces and ask them questions – face to face. It is one of those amazing things around here, any political hack can get as close as they want to these candidates and the news media. I wish all states had the same opportunity. Palin would not do well here –

  30. biglake says:

    Here’s what John Maynard Keynes says of capitalism.

    “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of reasons
    will somehow work for the benefit of us all.”

  31. Alaska Pi says:

    Dear whatzername-
    as I said about your rather dim-witted chapter 2 why-they-serve gobbeldygook-
    All human institutions… need constant attention between the idea which built them and the what-we have-made of that idea. If we do not level full criticism at our institutions we have abdicated our most fully human power … the power to make an idea a reality.
    We constantly teeter on the edge of allowing our institutions to become things in and of themselves and holding them above ourselves and wrestling around making them serve us.
    I’m thinking you have trouble with this notion what with you becoming the national poster child for abdication of responsibility and all .
    AKM has clearly and succintly pointed to your own mixed messages on this criticism thingy… how’s about you listen up once in awhile before you go off on one of your toots ? ( I know, I know… but we all have to have our dreams… )
    Don’t have time this morning to even touch on the foolishness here about Friedman and all but really have to say something about the European-class-war crack…
    You should be careful there, hon, since your whole MO revolves around trying to harness the fears and frustrations of a class of Americans left stranded by another class of Americans , while ignoring that your tortured logic is what pretty much made that all possible.
    We much to be proud of in this country, we have much to be ashamed of, we have a lot of work to do.

  32. Cortez says:

    It appears that the book goes back and forth as to who is doing the writing, or at least the dictating. Some of this is obviously a ghost writer, other passages are none other than Sarah herself, without any filter other than for grammer and punctuation. The book is just sloppy writing. Her historical perspective is garbage. It’s superficial, out of context, and most often just plain wrong. Her claim that President Obama is on some sort of global apology tour is really lame. The fact that since WWII we have done nothing but alienate other countries with our superiority complex and strong armed methods has done nothing but create a distrust, and a constant state of conflict around the world. I don’t see the President as doing anything apologetic, but trying to rebuild open lines of communication that have been shut down for over 50 years. We have enough proof that “its our way or the highway” does not get world peace. Time to try something different. I think the President sees that too.

  33. LibertyLover says:

    AKM should have edited Sarah’s book. It would save people a ton of time. But it would be a very short book.

  34. DF says:

    Left-Right, Left-Right, Left-Right…
    Maybe if the zipper doesn’t work, she’ll tie herself up with all the finger pointing.
    Now, that’s one way that God can help her!

  35. kate says:

    It’s weird that she brings de Toqueville into this. He came and observed America, and did a good job of it in many ways (as non-natives often can), but in the end, he preferred France. Gov. Palin joins many other Republicans who think America is “exceptional” and shouldn’t follow Europe (Govs. Romney and Huckabee come to mind) except that there is always some piece of European thought or policy that they think we should embrace. Sen. McCain wanted us to have Ireland’s corporate tax (but without it’s health care). If our exceptionalism means that we take exception to European policies and culture, how do we account for China?

  36. GrainneKathleen says:

    bravo AKM for another courageous, BOLD, and hilarious installment of sarah’s version of “my so-called life.”

    one observation – when sarah anthropormorphizes America as “she” – either “she” is exceptional and the liberals won’t admit it, or the liberals are apologizing for her in all her might and exception, according to the bard-ette – perhaps she is referring back to herself, as if America’s strengths and enemies and ills are one and the same as her own. afterall, the title is “America By Heart.” she claims to know America as well as she knows herself. and like he creepy femme roommate in Single White Female, she is now stalking Lady Liberty and trying to get people to recognize them as one and the same. in Sarah’s mind, Sarah = America – it’s a no-brainer, people – REALLY!

    • GrainneKathleen says:

      no-brainer meaning that it takes someone with either no brain or one that doesn’t function to accept this tripe. if america really looked like sarah, i would have left “her” years ago.

    • ChicagoMom says:

      This is exactly what I thought. Sarah wants to make America a ‘she’ so that she can set up the equation Sarah = America, so that when people attack Sarah, they are really attacking America.

      • Cortez says:

        yup, exactly right. its also why she is wrapping herself in the Constitution. She now has the trifecta, God, Constitution and flag all wrapped around her. Can’t attack her without attacking the others.

        • GrainneKathleen says:

          exactly what i mean chicagomom and cortez! glad i am not the only one who observed this. sometimes i think i am becoming a paranoid conspiracy theorist when it comes to all things sarah palin, but the smoke and mirrors of the veiled griz-gran (that dream from earlier in the thread was so right on!!!) are many and quite bizarre. has there ever been such a loon in modern politics?

        • jojobo1 says:

          Yes ya can thats how the antichrist is supposed to comeand show him or her self

      • Colo. native living in NC says:

        I had the exact same impression. Her ego knows no boundaries.

      • Gimme-a-break, Sarah says:

        It is pretty traditional to refer to countries as “she,”and it refers to the “Motherland,” i.e. the land that gave you birth (and/or sometimes the land of one’s ancestors). The only exception I can think of is Germany; it’s referred to as the “Fatherland.”

        • beth says:

          Good observation, G-a-B,S — have to wonder how common its usage is, anymore, though.

          A bunch of our songs [still] refer to the country as “she” and/or “her”, and I know when I was growing up [cue nostalgic music, again] we most *always* referred to the US as “she” or “her”, but I’m thinking in the past 40-ish years, we’ve not so much done that.

          If I’m recollecting the timeline right, we started gender-neutraling how we referred to the country along about the time women started using “Ms.”, started really pushing for the ERA, and finally all demanded recognition that females were/are *not* merely fluff-headed appendages of males.

          Possibly $Ps use of it in ‘her’ book is a [thinly veiled] rally cry for people to follow her back to the times *before* progressives messed things up by getting into all this ‘equality for women’ stuff and other nonsense that’s so detrimental to the US. Weren’t things just hunky-dory back in the 50s? beth.

  37. Treehugger says:

    “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right, and if wrong to be set right.” (Senator Carl Shurz, 1829-1906)
    Failure to recognize a “wrong” means we cannot correct it.

  38. puffin shrapnel palin says:

    God–>Jesus–>Matthew–>John Winthrop–>Ronald Reagan–>Sarah Palin! See how that works?

    AKM, you’re killin’ me!!! I’m totally plotzing!

    • bubbles says:

      me too Puffin. i plotzed and now i can’t get up. i need to do shopping and stuff but i am plotzed….Plotzed by Palin is the title of my next and only book.

    • prisonernumbersix says:

      Can we extrapolate this series?

      God_>Jesus_>Matthew_>John Winthrop_>Ronald Reagan_>Sarah Palin_>Pet Rock

    • leenie17 says:

      Is that anything like being verklempt?

      Boy, I don’t get to hear those words much since I left Long Island!

  39. Jean says:

    Isn’t it time for that freedom loving Sarah to really “shake things up” again and push dozens and dozens of cookies on school children in an attempt to underscore how these things are families decisions. That is, unless Sarah decides she’s going to intervene and push cookies for her own political purposes. This is a minor thing but perfectly underscores her weird logic and showmanship and low she will go. Oh no…..I guess she does go lower. Attack the first lady for wanting educate chldren about nutrition. What a communist plot!

  40. 264 Crayons says:

    “About 300 people were waiting in line Monday morning for the bookstore’s doors to open so they could buy the book and get a wristband for the signing, said Jennifer Simon, community relations manager for the Metairie store. Bookstore employees wouldn’t release a final count of wristbands given out.”

    OK I drove by just before 8am and there were NOT 300 people – maybe 150. The article goes on to state that B&N would not tell how many wristbands were given out.

    Here’s one of the reader comments: “I wonder why the so called liberal media isn’t talking about the protesters at the signing? I saw a sign that read ~ I see an idiot from here!! LOL”

    http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/11/hundreds_meet_sarah_palin_at_b/5520/comments-4.html

  41. Diane says:

    Hey sarah!!
    I’m and American and I am a liberal. YOU NEVER SAY ANYTHING NICE ABOUT LIBERALS!!!!

    Our POTUS was elected by a majority of the people. He is an American. He is POTUS of the Exceptional US. You never say anything nice about him.

    So, who is complaining more about this country? Sarah Palin

    • lilybart says:

      Thanks for that!!

      I am a Liberal and I love the American Ideal and when it is trampled on by Bush/Cheney torture regime, damn right I complain.

    • jojobo1 says:

      Diane never thought of it that way but you are right and she has done and still is doing more damage than any leaks have done.How she could even think she could be the head of the US when she would not be for all people only for her bots.

  42. Southernmuse says:

    RE: pg 83 her dogeared post it “Nobody owes you a living”
    That’s true and no one owes her one or a platform or a place in telling the rest of us what is American, what is patriotism, or how we’re supposed to think.
    If we want her to stop we need to go toe to toe with her, look her in the eye, and tell her to shut up and sit down. Let’s see how she reacts when we tell her we’re not retreating, we’re reloading.

    • And people who say “God helps those who help themselves” often say it comes from the Bible, which it does not. Where did that saying originate anyway? My husband used to say it a lot when we first got married – I got fairly sick of it then. Hearing it from Sarah isn’t any better.

      • dowl says:

        God helps those who help themselves: Benjamin Franklin quote. From an AP sourced Chicago Sun-Times newspaper article (7-11-05), Bill McKibben commented in his Harper’s magazine essay, ‘The Christian Paradox.’

    • jojobo1 says:

      Right you are and I have to say it is people just like her who give Americans a bad name everywhere and after these leaks it seems maybe we do owe people an apology despite what ms know nothing says.She seems to thik her bots owe her a living.

  43. BuffaloGal says:

    I started my higher dosage blood pressure meds last night. One of the side effects is that some people will experience bizarre dreams and intense nighmares.

    Just woke from a doozy! $P was performing a song and dance burlesque. Freaked me RIGHT out ! She was singing a jazzed up and supposedly sexy version of ” Happy Holidays ” and she was dressed like a harem girl. Black and gray veils everywhere. She was performing this dance from hell for some sort of Washington DC holiday event.

    I think maybe I have to stop reading AKM’s synopsis posts ! I was so happy to wake up. If I could download that nightmare and put it on a disk , it would take criminal interrogation techniques to a whole new level.

    I can’t get it out of my head. It just keeps looping, over and over. Brrrrrrrrrrr…..

    • Kath the Scrappy says:

      ((((BuffaloGalNo))))

      Horrific! Now I’m going to have nightmares and I’m not on any BP meds.

      Find some soothing happiness music to clear your head. Unfreaking scary stuff you had to contend with!

      Okay, here’s some happiness in motion dance to get your mind cleared:

      Carolyn Scott & Rookie
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbVbPvlDoM&feature=player_embedded

    • merrycricket says:

      That is a seriously bizzare dream. I have a friend who is taking BP meds who just last night told me about a crazy dream he had the night before. I will have to tell him it’s the meds. He will feel better knowing that. He was worried about his psyche. You may have endured a bad dream but relating this to us will help my friend. Sweet dreams.

      • BuffaloGal says:

        It only happens for a segment of people but there are stories online of people having seriously freaky dreams and nightmares on certain BP meds, especially the higher doses. One of the reasons I stepped it down awhile back was because the dreams were so scary it made my heart pound. Totally negated the whole reason for taking them in the first place!

    • ks sunflower says:

      No wonder you can’t shake that nightmare – there can only be a few things worse than to hear Sarah sing. Just hearing her talk is like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard.

      You take care of yourself, Buffalo Gal. No one should have to go see and hear a Sarah song and dance routine (oh, wait, isn’t that what she’s been doing for the past two years – no wonder you had a dream like that). May good thoughts be surround you and banish all memories of those veils.

      • ks sunflower says:

        er – delete “go” – meant “no one should have to go through that” and then “see and hear . . . .”

        See, the mere thought of hearing Sarah launch into song has rattled my brain.

    • jimzmum says:

      Yargh. That is awful! I hope those nightmares are finished. I am wondering which boobs Mrs. Palin was wearing? If she had those honkers on, that would have been even scarier!

    • BuffaloGal says:

      Now that I’ve been up awhile, I guess it’s sort of an interesting dream. The fact that she was performing for DC, she was dancing for what I assumed was her regular fee, veils being spun about everywhere to hide her true form , trying to be sexy , and she was dressed in black ( tho there wasn’t much there) and the veils were mostly black with a few gray ones.

      And oy! the singing ! I was surprised that her voice was somewhat in tune but the schreech factor was definitely there. I suppose it was some grotesque version of Siren song.

      Kath – haven’t watched the link yet. No speakers on this system. I will look for it later, though.

      • Gimme-a-break, Sarah says:

        That does sound like an interesting dream – definitely had meaning! I had a dream about her a couple nights ago too, which I thought was weird because I’ve never dreamed about her before. In my dream I was in her home, chatting with her youngest daughter. Sarah made a quick “cameo” in-and-out appearance, but it was mostly about the conversation with the daughter. She made several very astute observations about her mother, and at the very end she told me that her mom had suffered a head injury when she was little – and that it had affected her for life. I thought “that’s the reason she is the way she is!” and then woke up. I guess my logical mind is always trying to figure out why/how someone could be as much of a loose cannon as $P is.

        Take care of yourself…

    • fawnskin mudpuppy says:

      careful there, mz BG…
      those meds can be dangerous for someone with your talents.

    • lilybart says:

      If you take a small hit of an illegal weed before bed you will not have those dreams!

    • OtterQueen says:

      Note to self…. cancel doctor’s appointment to see if I need blood pressure medication.

    • leenie17 says:

      Yikes! That’ll sure raise that BP instead of what it’s supposed to do!

      Now, before you go to sleep tonight, listen to some soothing music (Mozart is always good), take some deep cleansing breaths, sniff something good to clear your head, and choose some positive images that will relax you (a picnic at a mountain lake always works for me!). Firmly instruct yourself to think ONLY about those nice images while you sleep, and banish Virtual SP to the far reaches of the universe.

      Sleep well, dear BuffaloGal, and may your dreams be filled with only warm, fuzzy thoughts of little purring kittehs!

  44. Kath the Scrappy says:

    Page 83

    Todd says, “God helps those who help themselves.”

    She has a dog-eared copy of a quote on her bulletin board that says “Nobody owes you a living…”
    – – –

    “Nobody” EXCEPT all them PalinBots who are required to give deadbeats like Her and her househusband Tawd a pretty danged high standard of ‘living’.

    • Some will think I’m being picky, but this reflects one of the things about Sarah Palin that irritates me the most: her misuse of language that reflects her lack of ‘reading’ / understanding of basic language. She throws around quotes/sayings willy-nilly to mean what she wants them to mean.

      Example:

      The expression ‘dog-eared’ is typically used to refer to something that is handled a lot — a dog-eared picture that you carry in your wallet for years — a reference book that you keep handy because you ‘refer’ to it a lot — a copy of the Constitution that you carry in your pocket, LIKE RON PAUL DOES – that becomes ‘dog eared’ .. (that is almost legendary, and probably where she got it from)

      All that to say that …. using the expression ‘dog eared’ to imply often used, or cherished in this case is just nonsense —

      My 3 yr old nephew once came to visit me with his mom; he made me a picture of one of our our outings to show me how much fun he had and I put it up on my bulleting board. I put it up on the bulletin board, he is now 27 yrs old, it’s still there and it’s not dog eared. Or course, I know what dog-eared means.

    • leenie17 says:

      But apparently we all owe her money so she can pay the personal legal bills that she racked up by breaking every ethics rule in the book.

      We should also send money to her PAC so she can travel all over the country in high style without spending a dime from her own swelling bank accounts.

      But that’s different.

  45. Irishgirl says:

    You can bet that she had never heard of Milton Friedman until quite recently – the ghostwriter is trying too hard.

    I did laugh heartily at the cherry lip gloss though. 🙂

    • ks sunflower says:

      I agree. The lip gloss bit lightened the load a lot! Without AKM’s wit and humor, we couldn’t bear hearing about this book.

      Gosh, do you think Sarah even knows what “nativism” means?

      Rule number in the Ghostwriter’s Handbook should be: make sure your style reflects the style of the person claiming to write the book.

      I’m starting to think this ghostwriter is a progressive trying to make Sarah look bad. Maybe Todd needs to sit down and talk with him/her.

    • DF says:

      You know, Milton Friedman was who we studied in Economics 101. You have to give her credit. Maybe she actually got that far in her college education. And, anyone who gives her the pathway to believe what she wants to believe and love herself more and more — well, there you go!

      • A fan from CA says:

        I recall that in her last collection of pages of word salad she admitted to not passing her Economics class. So why is she talking about a subject that she flunked?

        • DF says:

          Oh, how interesting! I missed that.

          Just had another thought:
          Listening to NPR, I just heard that the Kincaid Corp filed for Chapter 11. If you’re familiar with the artist Kincaid, one would think that this could never happen. That provoked my imagination:
          If capitalism suddenly didn’t work for $P, don’t you think it would be someone else’s fault?
          🙂

          • bubbles says:

            really? chapter eleven. wow. i visited one of his galleries a few years back in Solvang California, i remember thinking that a small Thomas Kincade painting would be nice to own but as i looked all around i thought “gee. this seems a bit much of the same sorts of things” and taking a pamphlet i read that Mr. Kincade had involved himself in planning communities of planned homes and villages which would resemble those in his paintings. i am not surprised that his name has become overexposed and that the delightful painter of light’s work has now become merely kitsch.

          • Dagian says:

            “If capitalism suddenly didn’t work for $P, don’t you think it would be someone else’s fault?”

            Well, heck yes. Remember when she was falling all OVER herself to rush to “Dr.” Laura’s defense over her contract NOT being renewed when she (Laura) finally upset a LOT of listeners and ADVERTISERS?

            Capitalism is great, terrific, wonderful as long as it pays $P and her ilk. The minute it works in the other direction (fires them), then it’s a Very Bad Thing and must be due to…

            wait for it

            denying someone their Constitutional right to free speech.

            You knew it was coming.

            Why does it keep saying “ajax error”? Am I posting this multiple times? Sorry!

          • laingirl says:

            Kincaid Corp. lost several lawsuits early this year which cost it millions. People were hoodwinked into sinking their life savings into starting stores, after the market had already been saturated with the prints. Kinkaid is very big with the evangelicals, even though he is not considered to be a very nice man, unless you approve of drunks taking leaks on statues at Disneyland.

        • luckycharms says:

          Yeah, that was her big “skeleton in the closet” in Going Rogue that she confessed to. She flunked a class. It was economics, even though she didn’t specify what class it was in the book. Wonder why…

          She’s learning all this crap now because her “handlers” are just telling her what to think and what to say and she’s happy to go along if she thinks it’ll get her on a national ticket again. Ugh.

    • Gramiam says:

      I wonder if that lip gloss says Bonnie Bell Lipsmacker on the label? Sounds like AKM borrowed it from Shannyn.

    • MinNJ says:

      lol…good one.

  46. barbara says:

    i’m afraid our exceptionalism – as symbolized by the statue of liberty – has degraded to global bullying. here’s another lie from sowah: “Capitalists are not greedy and self-interested.” of course they are, otherwise we wouldn’t have a division of wealth in this country that has grown to obscenity. i don’t know how you do it akm. palin is a demagogue and among the greediest of the bunch. she really makes me sick.

    • lilybart says:

      Greedy and self-interested is what humans ARE and capitalism takes advantage of this human need for survival, which makes us get more for ourselves and our tribe.

      What we all try to do is to temper those animal instincts and I thought that was what religion was for.

      • Paula says:

        Was Miss Quittypants, freedom lover, war monger ever IN the service? Uh, no, didn’t think so.

      • barbara says:

        i don’t think the human need for survival presupposes greed. need is one thing – the greedy are not satisfied just because their needs have been met. they want way more, and worse, they don’t care who suffers as they pursue it.

  47. GoI3ig says:

    She forgot a few things at which we are exceptional. How about the fact that we kill each other with handguns at a rate hundreds, and in most cases thousands of times faster than any other industrialized nation.

    Why doesn’t she touch on the number of military bases we have on foreign soil, and how may foreign bases are on ours? We certainly are exceptional in that area.

    We spend more money on the war machine that the next 24 countries combined. We can afford the industrial military complex, but not decent medical care for our citizens.

    The real difference between the left and right isn’t the concept of spending money. It’s just on what should we spent it.

    • GoI3ig says:

      Oops….meant spend not spent. But you get the point.

    • Zyxomma says:

      According to Fareed Zakaria, we spend more on the military than the next 27 nations combined — and 26 of them are our allies!

    • maelewis says:

      Your post reminds me of something else at which we are exceptional, killing people. We still use the death penalty which European countries consider barbaric. A man was recently executed while he kept insisting that the evidence, collected before the days of DNA testing, be tested to show that it wasn’t his DNA at the crime scene. After they pulled the switch (or injected the drugs), the DNA tests came back showing that it wasn’t his blood after all, sorry.

    • jojobo1 says:

      I liked the Todd says God helps those who help themselves,if so how come she asked for help to pay the bills she owed,that wasn’t doing it her self,That was begging for help from those already,in some cases,taken advantage of by others like the palins