I found a comfortable chair and settled in with my favorite afghan and a cup of Camille tea, my dog Elbow snuggled up sleepily at my feet. I hesitated for a moment. Was it anticipation I was savoring? Or a hint of anguish for my once beloved country gnawing at my bowels like one of those Vite Namese pigs that Luke Perry is always trotting about? I took a sip of tea, took a deep breath and fingered the edged of the binding for a moment - as my fingers ruffled the many pages I was soon to enjoy, I thought about what had brought me - brought us - to this moment.
A Democratic Primary so imbolated with lies and media hype. Thousands of registered and nearly registered voters losing their voices in the mailstorm of big business and woman hating. A chance to bring someone with Ronald Reagan’s cold war sensibility to lead us, once again, to that shiny city on the hill. [note - check Reagan quote: “shiny city on the hill” or “shining city on that grassy knoll”? before publishing]
I wondered if the saga I was about to read would live up to the expectoration I’d built up in my own mind. I let the pages flip lazily back and forth, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t be tempted to jump to the last page and spoil it for myself. Hoping that a word wouldn’t jump out at me - lipstick! no thanks! hatchet job! - and distract me so that I’d end up missing the tension as it built from the beginning.
My cat, Pipe Wrench, meowed methodically from her perch on the piano bench, and I knew that it was time. Time to dive in and let the waves of Can-Doism wash over my ears like a siren’s blare to see the truth. And so, I began.
37 pages in and I was hooked! Sarah Palin writes with such grace and a plum, I can’t believe she was treated so harshly by the liberal media. If only they’d let her write her responses instead of forcing her to speak! Her clearity and purpose shine through every page like a merit badge of “Hey, I have something to say, darn it!” She stands tall and tells it like she is, without holding any punches for the slobs and geeks in the world of politics and media.
I was terrified when I read about the truly awful things she endured at the hands of the McCain campaign staff. The ritual bathing, the perfumes and nylons - she’s a WOMAN, not a mannequin! Her children, god bless them, were off limits but that didn’t stop the McCain staffers and MSM from dragging them into the limelight and punishing them for their Mother’s transmissions. Children!
Most of all, what impressed me with Sarah’s book was the way she made me feel like she was sitting down and just talking to me. It had a warmth you don’t find in a lot of books - Dan Brown, Stephen King, James Koontz, they all lack that humanity that only a story teller like Sarah and Lynn Vincent could bring to the story of her own life.
I’m going to set the book down for a few days and mule it over a while. A book like this, a story like this needs time to work its way into your soul and find a comfortable place to start warming your heart. I feel so enerjizzed after reading this book, though, I feel like I could run for Vice President, too! And probably do just as well as Sarah did!
And to all the nailsayers who think that Sarah doesn’t know anything about policy? Well, you haven’t read her book yet! You’ll see just how much she knows, and you’ll probably be even more scared when she runs again in 2012!