Review: Going Rogue by Sarah Palin

Yes, for those of you who have been waiting, I've finally done it. I have finally finished Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. One of my Day Zero List goals was to read a book written by someone I disagree with. And instead of starting with someone I sort of do agree with or someone whose story interests me, I started with one of my least favorite people in the public eye--possibly the person I respected the least in the political landscape of the country who isn't part of the media.

So what you're probably wondering is: did it change how I think about her?

My reluctant answer is: yeah. My truthful answer is: very much so. Yes.

Knowing what I know now, would I go back and vote for McCain/Palin (as someone who was famous for saying that I would have voted for John McCain if he wouldn't have picked her as his VP candidate)?

No. I would still vote for Obama/Biden.

But I'll tell you what. Sarah Palin is not my enemy. The one thing she said that resonated with me the most is that the political machine is the enemy of the average American. Whether you are a Republican (which I'm not) or a Democrat (which I'm not), or somewhere between the two (which I am), I think it would serve us all to think seriously about how defunct and bloated the political system is. I'm still a fan of local government. Which, oddly enough, I have in common with Sarah Palin. But the more I get to know about the way politics work in this country, the more frustrated I am with the way this country works.

I was watching the Celebrity Apprentice last night, and realized that every single time Rod Blagojevich opened his mouth, I just wanted to strangle him. So when Sarah Palin talked about being "politically coached" before her press interviews, or before the debates, I felt sorry for her. There is no straight-talking in politics, Sarah, just like there is no crying in baseball. It sucks, I agree. I can't stand it when politicians don't answer the questions they're asked, and instead answer questions they weren't asked that are completely common sense and take no sides. I have to say that I respect Sarah Palin for not being afraid to offend people.

I am sick and tired of all of us trying so hard not to offend people. We can't tolerate difference in this country. And you know what? Psychologically, that is a sign of immaturity. Not of enlightenment. When you force everyone to agree instead of allowing everyone to be different (and *shocked gasp* dis.a.gree), that can be a sign of neuroses, in an individual. Why in the world do we tolerate it in the public sphere? I don't get it. So, while I disagree with Sarah Palin, I no longer expect her to agree with me. I don't think that there's something ultra-enlightened about the way I think. It's just my opinion. Her opinions are hers. And I will loudly (and forever) defend her right to be stupid. :-) Just kidding. I meant that I will defend her right to be different. While it would be a lot easier for me if everyone just agreed with me, I recognize that requiring everyone to agree with me is narcissistic, and closed-minded. I can tolerate difference. I can tolerate Sarah Palin.

Can you tolerate that? Can you tolerate that I don't agree with you? Or that you don't agree with me? Think about that for a second. 

Back to the review.

What I appreciated about this book was that it forced me to look at Sarah Palin as a normal human being. Yeah, she represents things I don't agree with, and she was at the head of an ultra-conservative, fundamentalist juggernaut that frightens me, frankly. But the bottom line is, she's a human being. She's a mom, and has a family. She lives in a house, just like me, and goes to work. She has a political and ethical philosophy that has been shaped by her experience, and I can expect nothing different from her than for her to be different from me.

And if I'm honest, I sorta feel sorry for her. She got caught up in something that was bigger than she was. She, like George Bush before her, was a "normal gal" among a bunch of highly educated, highly conscientious personalities. And her appeal to the normal people in this country was genuine. She honestly seems like a normal person to me. She's had to watch her family get attacked, which I think is absolutely classless, and eventually got out of politics because it's more important to her that she has a stable, whole family than it is that she gets elected to a national public office. Why? Because the political machine is broken anyway. And one person can't fix it. I agree with her. And I respect the decision she made.

I still disagree with most of her politics. I still won't vote for her. But reading this book has accomplished, for me, what I wanted it to accomplish. It's reinforced for me that it's okay to disagree with someone and not villify (or hate) them. (Now, if I could just find a book by John Calipari...) It's also reinforced for me that the media would love it if we, as a country, would continue to let the rift between Republican and Democrat divide the country. Because fear sells, probably more than even sex. But I'm not going to fall prey to the fear-mongering anymore. Honestly, even if Sarah Palin runs in 2012 and gets elected (which I don't think will ever happen), my life isn't going to change that much. And if George Bush taught me anything about politics, it's that I can survive pretty much any level of political idiocy. And if Barack Obama taught me anything about politics, it's that if you don't like what's going on, get off your butt and do something about it.

So I have to say thank you to Sarah Palin for writing this book. If it was an attempt to win over the moderates to her cause, it failed. But if it was to show us who the woman was that everyone seems to love or hate, then she succeeded. I see the child, the athlete, the worker, the mother, and--yes--the politician. And I realize that my frustration with the ultra-right (and, to be fair, the ultra-left) doesn't actually come from people like Sarah Palin. It comes from me. And that's something that I can change.

So my new Day Zero List goal is to stop thinking and talking about politics. It doesn't produce any kind of good fruit in my life. So from now on, I'd like to remember, like Pocahontas said, that every politician I don't like "has a life, has a spirit, has a name... and if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew." I'm going to learn to paint with all the colors, I think, and stop seeing everything in red and blue. And I wish the rest of the country could learn to do the same.

But even if they don't... I will.