Archive for June 2011
Coming Soon? Sarah’s first novel?
June 8, 2011
As Julie Bosman reported in The New York Times last week, it’s not enough for celebrities such as the Kardashian sisters and Snooki and someone named Lauren Conrad–sorry, I’m behind the curve–who is described on Wikipedia as a “celebutante”, to crowd real authors off the nonfiction bestseller list. Now they’re doing it to novelists.
William Morrow, (now a division of Rupert Murdoch’s Harper Collins, aka Sarah’s outfit), the once-respected publisher that will inflict upon us Bristol Palin’s “memoir” this summer, has announced that they’ll soon publish a “novel” by Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian.
It will follow in the rich literary tradition established by Snooki of Jersey Shore, whose first “novel,” A Shore Thing became a New York Times bestseller, although Snooki confessed to having read only three books in her life, none of them the one she ostensibly authored.
I don’t know Snooki–though I put in some hard time at the Jersey shore in the 1980’s, while researching Blind Faith–but I knew the father of the KKK girls, Bob Kardashian, from my even harder nine months at the OJ Simpson trial in 1995. Bob was one of OJ’s lesser lawyers, also his gofer and his bagman, as in literally carrying OJ’s bags. But he’s a story for another time.
The point here is how can Sarah sit back and let others cash in on an avenue of celebrity she herself hasn’t yet explored?
She can’t.
The obvious solution is for her to “write” a “novel.”
With apologies to Dreiser, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, and the late William Styron and Norman Mailer, from whose friendship and guidance I benefited greatly, and such friends and acquaintances as Stephen Amidon, Craig Nova, E.L. Doctorow and Jim Shepard, among others–I’d advise Sarah to get off my nonfiction turf (where she’s worn out her welcome, as the failure of her second book showed) and take her fantasies and fabrications where they belong—-to the fiction list.
Her potential range is enormous.
She could “write” a geographically-centered novel such as James Michener’s Alaska:
Or historical fiction such as Paul Revere’s Ride, by David Hackett Fischer, although, like Sarah in Boston last week, he claimed his account was true. And at least he wrote it himself.
Given her familiarity with both states and her seemingly endless supply of ghostwriters, she could even start a series, like F.D. Caldwell, whose Alaska, Love Found Under the Stars will soon be followed by Arizona, An Adventure of Love.
Aiming higher, Sarah could try to emulate Margaret Truman, only daughter of President Harry Truman, who had authored for herself a series of 24 murder mystery books set in Washington, bearing such titles as Murder in the White House, Murder in the Supreme Court, Murder at the FBI.
Some suggested titles for Sarah’s series:
Murder at WalMart,
Murder at the Wasilla Library,
Murder (of a Neighbor) on Lake Lucille.
But I’m sure you have your own suggestions for subjects and titles for Sarah’s first (admitted) work of fiction.
Please feel free to share.
A suggestion to get you started:
A Tale of Two Babies
Posted in Joe McGinniss, Palin children, Sarah Palin, The Rogue, Todd Palin, Trig Palin, Uncategorized, Wasilla | 
Tags: craig nova, ernest hemingway, f.scott fitzgerald, fiction, harry truman, jack kerouac, james michener, jim shepard, kardashian, lake lucille, margaret truman, murder mystery, norman mailer, snooki, stephen amidon, theordore dreiser, william styron | 
75 Comments »
Still think she’s not running? Sarah to Sudan in July//UPDATE: Sarah’s 2008 Lie about Sudan
June 7, 2011
Sarah told the Sunday Times of London, “I am going to Sudan in July and hope to stop in England on the way. I am just hoping Mrs Thatcher is well enough to see me as I so admire her.”
Aides to the ailing Margaret Thatcher won’t let Sarah anywhere near the former British prime minister. That’s no surprise.
But how about the trip to Sudan, where summer temperatures in the capital, Khartoum, average more than 105 degrees? (Maybe the move to Arizona was to acclimatize her.)
On anyone’s list of the most unfortunate countries on earth, Sudan would have to be near the top. Put it this way: Sarah’s not going there for the shopping.
Can anyone see any reason for Sarah to make this trip other than to give herself another “foreign policy” credential for the 2012 campaign?
Questions:
–Is Franklin Graham paying for it?
–Will Greta Van Susteren tag along?
–Think she’ll bring any of the kids? How about her “good biblical wife” Todd?
–Will Sarah pop over to Kenya to get a refill on her protection from devils from Rev. Thomas Muthee?
–How much of her fortune will she donate to humanitarian aid for the impoverished people of Sudan?
No matter what’s in the (heavily redacted) emails that the state of Alaska will release on Friday, video and photos of Sarah touring refugee camps in Darfur –location of genocide so appalling that former Secretary of State Colin Powerll called it “the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century”–will make it old news by next month.
It’s one thing to hop on the back of a Harley in Washington, and wink and wave.
But for Sarah to inflict herself and her ambitions on the hundreds of thousands of suffering refugees in Darfur would be the most loathsome thing she’s ever done.
UPDATE:
During her 2008 vice presidential debate with Joe Biden, Sarah claimed that as Alaska governor she tried to fight atrocities in Sudan by having the state pension divest itself of investments there. Not so, as ABC News demonstrated. In fact, Alaska state representative, Les Gara, a co-sponsor of the divestment measure, said that Sarah’s administration “killed our bill.”
Despite Palin’s claim in the debate, her administration’s position on the bill was summarized by her deputy revenue commissioner, Brian Andrews. At a legislative hearing in February, 2008, he said, “Mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens’ financial security is not a good combination.”
In other words, forget the atrocities as long as we’re making money.
Nonetheless, in the debate, Palin said, in regard to the genocide in the Darfur section of Sudan:
“What I’ve done in my position to help, as the governor of a state that’s pretty rich in natural resources, we have a $40 billion investment fund, a savings fund called the Alaska Permanent Fund. When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren’t doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur.”
Which is exactly what she did not do when it mattered.
As the legislative session was ending, and there was no chance that the bill could even be brought up for vote, she had another aide say that she’d changed her mind and now supported the it. However, as the Washington Post reported, that was only after it was clear that time had run out.
In other words, she was against it before she was for it, and paid lip service to it only after she knew it was dead.
Of course, in the same debate, Sarah also said, “We’re building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline.”
How’s that AGIA thing working for ya now, Sarah?
Posted in 2012, Fox, Greta Van Susteren, Joe McGinniss, Palin children, Sarah Palin, The Rogue, Todd Palin, Trig Palin | Tags: abc news, AGIA, alaska permanent fund, civil war, darfur, divestment, england, genocide, margaret thatcher, palin lies, poverty, prime minister, refugees, sudan | 72 Comments »
Schaeffer in HuffPo: Todd perfect example of “good biblical wife”
June 6, 2011
Divorce rumors are swirling again in the supermarket tabloids, but let’s not forget how much Sarah needs the husband she’s turned into an obedient lapdog.
As Frank Schaeffer points out here, Todd has become just another prop–available to build Sarah’s fences, carry her bags (she can’t do it with BlackBerries in both hands) and to turn up for photo ops.
More seriously, Schaeffer reminds us of something I stress in THE ROGUE: to the evangelical right, Sarah is not merely a politician who espouses their views on social issues, she is “the new Queen Esther,” who will “take back” America. They remain convinced that “God had chosen her to confound the wise!” as Schaeffer writes.
The extreme Dominionist religious right is the ninety percent of the Palin iceberg we don’t see, as she dazzles secular media in black leather.
Let’s hope our ship of state is not the next Titanic.
Posted in 2012, evangelical, Joe McGinniss, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue, Todd Palin | Tags: divorce, frank schaeffer, huffington post, iceberg, lapdogs, queen esther, supermarket tabloid, titanic | 42 Comments »
CBS political correspondent: “Sarah Palin is either running for President or she should be” UPDATE//Chris Wallace chimes in
June 5, 2011
I see from the comments here and at my Facebook page that some people think I’m only pretending to take Sarah semi-seriously in order to hype advance sales of THE ROGUE.
Listen, folks, I’m not makin’ stuff up.
A photo of Sarah waving from the back of a Harley took up the entire top of the front page of The New York Times “News of the Week in Review” section today.
Also today, CBS political correspondent Jan Crawford posted a piece on the CBS News website under the headline: “Palin: Is ‘The Undefeated’ Running for President?”
Crawford’s piece is essentially a rave review of the forthcoming two-hour feature film, “The Undefeated,” produced with his own money by an independently wealthy Palin supporter.
The film, which Crawford has seen, left her with “the distinct impression [Sarah’s] presidential candidacy is not only possible, but inevitable.”
She writes, “Regardless of where you come down [about Palin], here’s one thing both sides should agree on: it certainly looks like Palin is running for President.”
Go ahead, call Crawford a Kool-Aid drinking right-wing shill. And remind yourselves again that Sarah is just too stupid, or too greedy, or about to be engulfed by too many scandals to mount a serious campaign for the Republican nomination next year.
But Crawford’s piece was published today by CBS, not C4P.
The bus tour? The movie? The move to Arizona? Can you not hold a finger to the wind and feel the breeze?
As I said to a commenter on my Facebook page, just wishing she’d go away–or pretending she already has–won’t make it so.
UPDATE:
Chris Wallace, who interviewed Sarah on Fox today, later said this:
I’ve interviewed her a bunch of times now over the past two years, and I have never seen her as good, as impressive, I mean she’s always been an entertaining interview, but I have never seen her as good, as specific as she was, whether it was the debt or the state of the economy, or the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. I don’t think any fair minded person could look at that debate and not say that she is potentially a serious candidate for President of the United States. Now that doesn’t mean she’s gonna run, but this is the first time that I looked at her and I thought, she could be real player in a 2012 election.
Howard Dean Warns: Sarah Palin Can Beat Obama
June 5, 2011
We can laugh–and we do–but others worry.
Howard Dean says, “I think she could win.”
Meanwhile, at Daily Beast, former Bush and Rumsfeld speechwriter Matt Latimer opines that Sarah has already won her war against mainstream/lamestream media, and that her victory could herald big things in next year’s GOP primaries.
Latimer writes:
Last week saw yet another example of the Alaskan’s unmatched skills in media manipulation. All Palin needs do is get on a tour bus and head east and Washington’s most elite scribes fall over themselves to find out where she’s headed, what she’ll say, what she’ll do. All of it was meaningless, of course…
Unfortunately, it’s not meaningless if MSM coverage leads the great unwashed (i.e. those of us who are merely citizens, and not members of the elite Beltway press corps) to believe it has meaning.
It’s a nasty, sordid back street affair that mainstream media is having with Sarah.
As I just wrote in the final chapter of THE ROGUE,
SARAH PALIN practices politics as lap dance, and we’re the suckers who pay the price. Members of our jaded national press corps excitedly stuff hundred dollar bills into her g-string, even as they wink at one another to show that they don’t take her seriously.”
We sneer at her and write her off now.
And we might still be sneering–but also fearing–as Sarah rides a Harley up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, in January, 2013, to be sworn in as President of the United States.
Yeah, right, we all say: and pigs can fly.
But Howard Dean has actually played the game, not just commented on it from the sidelines.
Laugh him off–and Sarah–at your peril.
Sorry, make that “our” peril. I live here, too. And I’m not laughing.
Posted in 2012, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, right wing, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: daily beast, donald rumsfled, flying, g-strings, george w. bush, harley davidson, laughter, matt latimer, pennsylvania avenue, pigs, press corps, prostitution | 101 Comments »
Piper back in Wasilla, smiling again, thanks to Britta//UPDATE-CORRECTION
June 4, 2011
A Wasilla correspondent lets me know that Piper was back home this afternoon, unwinding by enjoying a visit to a local coffee shop/ice cream parlor with Track’s new bride, Britta.
I’m told that Piper was smiling and that Britta and Piper “were just hanging out.”
From all I know of Britta, described to me as “a sweet girl from a solid family,” it would be just like her to take poor, road-weary Piper out for a treat.
Someone who’s known Piper all her life said she came in and “waved a little wave” and, when asked how she was doing, smiled and said, “Okay.”
And now, despite all her mother has done to strip it from her, let’s give Piper her privacy back and hope that the rest of her summer will be better than the start.
And let’s be happy that in the person of Britta Hanson the Palin children finally have a female family member who cares about them.
UPDATE/CORRECTION:
I’ve heard from so many people–and have now seen video to back it up–that poor Piper, in fact, did not make it back to Wasilla today for a happy, end-of-tour ice cream with Aunt Britta. I have no doubt that my correspondent’s first-hand report is correct as to what happened, but perhaps I misunderstood when it occurred.
A difference between a blog and a book is that misunderstandings about who, what, when, where and why don’t get published in a book.
Wherever Piper is tonight, let’s hope—for her sake–that we neither see her nor read about her again until she’s at least eighteen years old and able to make choices about privacy for herself.
Let’s also hope that in Arizona somebody will post a sign designed to protect her that’s similar to the one I posted on my property line last summer after the first time Todd trespassed, which of course is described in THE ROGUE.
Posted in Joe McGinniss, Palin children, right wing, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, Todd Palin, Wasilla | Tags: britta hanson, piper palin, track palin | 102 Comments »
Sarah Palin Tries on American History for Size: It Doesn’t Fit
June 3, 2011
Mediaite reports on CNN’s Brooke Baldwin delivering an account of Sarah’s encapsulation today of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
In Sarah’s version, Revere was
“He who warned, uh, the…the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and um by makin’ sure that as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warnin’ shots and bells that uh we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free…and we were gonna be armed.”
Oh, my. Were Sarah’s version correct, the U.S. might still be a British colony today.
We certainly wouldn’t have won the Revolutionary War.
First of all, Sarah: Revere wasn’t warning “the British” of anything. He was warning the rebels about the British army’s nighttime advance.
Second, the whole point of Revere’s ride from Boston to Lexington (his destination was Concord, but he didn’t make it) was that it was secret. Because the Middlesex County countryside was rife with British supporters, Revere virtually whispered his warnings that the King’s forces were crossing the Charles River on the night of April 18-19, 1775 to launch an attack upon the American rebels.
Read much more about Revere here.
Ringing bells and sending warning shots while on a clandestine mission? To warn the British that they “weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms?”
Was this the version of American history that Sarah learned in Wasilla public schools, and as the daughter of her schoolteacher/father Chuck Heath? Where she also learned that the earth was only six thousand years old and that men and dinosaurs walked it together?
Paul Revere didn’t “warn, uh, the British” of anything. He warned our side that the British army was advancing, in order that the rebels of Lexington and Concord would not be taken by surprise.
Ah, Never mind. If a person truly believes that God has “annointed” and “mantled” her to become president of the U.S. in order to prepare our nation for the imminent return of Jesus Christ (which Sarah does, as I make clear in THE ROGUE,) then what difference does it make whether Paul Revere warned the British or the Americans?
After all, back then they were all Christians, and that’s what counted.
And because the end of the world as we know it will occur during Sarah’s lifetime here on earth, pretty soon there won’t be anyone around to remember.
What’s Paul Revere gonna do about that?
Poor Piper No Better Today//UPDATE: Piper Photo Album of “My Summer Vacation?”
June 2, 2011
UPDATE:
Someone could–thus no doubt will–soon post an album of all “Pouty Piper” photos from this latest example of Sarah’s willful mistreatment of the very children about whose privacy she expressed such concern last summer, when I moved in next door.
I hope this photo will be included:
Is that, “I pledge allegiance,” or “Mommy, I’m feeling sick again?”
(By the way, don’t miss that clown in the back with a Statu(t)e of Liberty crown on his head: a stereotypical, not to say archetypal Palin supporter.)
Having a granddaughter Piper’s age, I not only sympathize, but empathize.
I also can’t help but be reminded of Sarah’s faux-outrage about me a year ago, as she swung into mama grisly mode on the Glenn Beck show.
In regard to my having become her summer neighbor, Beck asked Sarah:
“Do you feel, as a woman, do you feel violated?”
She said:
“I feel more protective than ever in terms of my kids. Any mom would. Just wantin’ to bring your family even closer and wrap your arms around ‘em and not let the infringement on their rights and privacy be so overwhelming…”
Well, hell of a job this year, Sarah, protecting Piper’s “rights and privacy,” upon which, incidentally I never infringed in the least.
Scenes like the above make me all the more eager for Sept. 20 and publication of THE ROGUE, when I’ll finally blow the lid off this whole Sarah-as-AnyMom sham, not to mention a number of others.
Posted in 2012, Fox, glenn beck, Joe McGinniss, Palin children, Sarah Palin, The Rogue, Trig Palin | Tags: child abuse, grandchildren, right to privacy, sarah palin 2012 campaign, statue of liberty | 80 Comments »
Tornadoes Kill, Wreak Havoc in Massachusetts, State of Emergency Declared: Will Sarah Palin Care?//UPDATE: Oslo’s Okay!
June 2, 2011
Tornadoes ripped through central/western Massachusetts just south of where I live today.
I was out and about and came home to find my wife prudently taking cover in our basement.
Our twelve-year old Norwegian elkhund, Oslo, was out when the storms hit and we still can’t find him.
Yet we were spared. Look at what happened in Springfield and surrounding towns.
As The New York Times reports, at least four were killed and damage was horrendous.
The Sarahbus en route from New York to Boston made it through unscathed, as did the media scrum following in its wake.
The question now is whether Sarah will change her itinerary in order to “comfort” victims here, as she did in Alabama last month.
Two reasons why I doubt it:
1) Sarah could never win our state’s electoral votes.
2) Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Pursestrings’ film crews are not on hand to record her offering a helping hand, as they were a month ago in Alabama.
No doubt, she’ll continue on to New Hampshire tomorrow, for her seashore clambake with Republican leaders there.
That’s okay. We don’t need her or Graham’s religious-right wing “charity,” whose purse strings go both ways (mostly emptying directly into his pocket.)
Maybe Sarah’s dad, Chuck Heath, could use his tracking skills to help us find Oslo, who ran into the woods behind our house at the first sound of thunder, but that’s okay, too.
I have no doubt the old boy will make it back home on his own, once he knows the storms have passed.
But we get hit with tornadoes for the first time in decades, just when Sarah’s bus is passing through?
Please, Sarah: stay away from my back yard and I promise I’ll never move in next door to you again.
Also, take mercy on poor little Piper and don’t drag her along on the next leg of your “family vacation” from hell.
UPDATE:
OSLO turned up this morning, wondering where his breakfast was. Seems none the worse for wear. Had no comment on where he’d spent the night. Thanks from Nancy and me to all of you who so graciously expressed such concern.
Posted in 2012, Chuck Heath, evangelical, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Palin children, right wing, Sarah Palin, The Rogue | Tags: clambake, franklin graham, massachusetts, new hampshire, norwegian elkhund, oslo, religious right, republican leaders, samaritan's purse, springfield, tornadoes | 97 Comments »
THE ROGUE’s last chapter almost done–contest winner announced next week
June 1, 2011
My thanks to the many who contributed suggestions for my last chapter in response to my announcement of the contest on May 17.
The blue-ribbon panel of judges (whose identities I’ve kept private to protect them from the temptations of bribery) has finished its work and given me a short list of five finalists.
As I wrap up work on the last chapter this week, I’ll choose the winner of the $250 prize. Autographed copies of The Rogue will go to all five who made the short list.
Can anyone imagine how happy I am to be almost finished with this book?
I’ll be able to post the full jacket here soon–Random House/Crown has done a great job in every way, from copy-editing to legal review to jacket design. I’ll, of course, be keeping you all updated on the process as we move toward Sept. 20 publication. I can’t disclose anything about publicity appearances yet, except to say that I’ll be doing network TV from New York, Washington and Los Angeles, as well as–you betcha!–heading back to Alaska.
Transportation will be by airplane. Sorry, no bus tour. Nor will I bring my grandchildren along as human shields.
Posted in Joe McGinniss, Sarah Palin, The Rogue | Tags: alaska, bus tours, crown publishing, random house, rogue publicity tour, the rogue, the rogue book jacket | 36 Comments »
