EEEEwwwwww… Girls Writing Books!

COOTIES! We’ll get them! Sarah Palin has landed herself a book deal with Harper Collins. Wait a minute… she can read?

The AP was incredulous!

Palin has never written a book and her critics, noting her disjointed CBS interviews with Katie Couric, have questioned whether she could. Two years ago, Palin told PBS’ Charlie Rose that her favorite writers were C.S. Lewis (“very, very deep”) and a Runner’s World columnist, Dr. George Sheehan. Asked Tuesday about her reading, Palin mentioned that she “really enjoyed” Katharine Graham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Personal History” and cited works by Obama, McCain and Bill Clinton, whose “My Life” she read “just recently.”

“Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up. And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state,” Palin said.

“I’ve read a variety of books, and that helps shape my opinions and my views.”

HMMMMM! So she CAN read! Who knew that stupid Bimbo C*nts from Alaska, the armpit of the universe, could do that?

But what makes her think she has any right to write a book anyway? So her family is constantly under attack, she is being regaled with petty lawsuits, and her oldest daughter’s recent teenage break-up with her boyfriend is being treated as newsworthy while unimportant things like Torture Memos and Taliban Conflicts in Pakistan fly under the radar. Big deal! What important things does she have to say anyway?

Palin’s memoir, currently untitled, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year’s campaign to her political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp. (She and the baby’s father, Levi Johnston, have since ended their relationship.)

“In fairness to my family, this is going be a good opportunity for them, too, because there have been so many misperceptions out there about who we are and what we believe in, and I’m excited to get to put my journalism degree to work and tell my story as it relates to my family,” said Palin, 45, who in 1987 graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism.

Naturally, since Sarah Palin is currently probably the only Republican with a smidgen of a chance to win in 2012, assuming our current POTUS intends to run again (but I hate hypothetical and attempted predictions for future elections), this Memoir will generate a lot of interest. I, for one, am interested. I may go so far as to pre-order this book on Amazon, since it is bound to be a good read. (Much better, I’ll add, than Dear Leader’s Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope. A sophomore in High School could have written those books without putting much thought into it. Sad, but true.)

Sarah Palin is an intriguing Politician for the same reasons that the Clintons are intriguing politicians. She is self-made. She doesn’t come from old money, she isn’t a member of the privileged Class, and she doesn’t seem to represent the same corporate interests that most of our current public office holders and MSM outlets do. She is one of those rare “Public Servants” who get into Politics for the right reasons (with a dash of Ego mixed in, but that’s needed, of course.)

That must be where all of those petty lawsuits are coming from. Remember Whitewater? TrooperGate? TravelGate? FileGate? FastBlinkingGate?

Sarah Palin, if she wants to continue her career in Politics, and especially if she plans on ever running for President, hasn’t seen the last of needless investigations and well-funded efforts to destroy her. She is like a Republican version of Bill Clinton. She became the Governor of her alleged backwater state on her own merits, and does a good job. She is immensely popular. Many in her party dislike her and view her as White Trash. (Remember all of those anonymous Press leaks from Bush and Romney’s people?) They don’t want her to become a leader in their party because she threatens the Status Quo. Members of the other party loathe her even more, because she could end up beating them. Oh, and she has a p*ssy. That too. In other words, Sarah Palin should not be where she is.

That is why her memoirs should be interesting.

Now, obviously, I think I speak for a lot of the people here when I say that I don’t agree with a lot of Palin’s policy positions. I feel for Bristol. Can you imagine being a girl her age and having your break up with your boyfriend turn into some media feeding frenzy? I can, seeing as how I am her age. I mean, if my last break up turned into material for gossip columns… awk-ward. Anyway, I respect Bristol for using her unfortunate position to publicly promote a cause she believes in. But I’ll stick to rubbers and birth control, thanks.

But regardless, the Governor of Alaska isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. After all, she hired Bob Barnett as her legal representative. And can I just say that I love that guy?

Although Palin denied any presidential ambition during Tuesday’s interview, she did pick the most presidential of literary representatives, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, to handle negotiations. Barnett’sclients include Obama and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

So how many of you plan on reading the book, which is set to come out next spring?

This is an Open Thread.

Obama’s Oedipus complex

Liberal Rapture’s “Yes, Andrew, Obama does want you to go away” inspired me to create this analysis, some of which has been steeping for a while.

Obama’s thralls are a manifestation of a group Oedipal event, in the archaic sense, not the Freudian.  They sought a saviour.  {I describe them as thralls because they were enthralled by Obama.}  Like Oedipus, they were warned by prophecy of the bad actions they would take, but they were not guided adequately by their foreknowledge. The founders warned people about the consequences of having kings, aristocrats, and saviours do their thinking and acting for them.

Like Oedipus, Obama’s thralls based their actions on a form of wilful blindness to the circumstance. They saw Obama as anti-Bush, anti-politics-as-usual, and anti-whatever is keeping them down, regardless of evidence to the contrary. To various extents, Obama’s thralls were more or less wilful than Oedipus in their metaphorical self-blinding. The intelligentsia sit at the end of the continuum that is most wilful.

Furthermore, Obama has stated that people project upon him an image of someone “good” that they want him to be. Obama, his campaign, and the behaviour manipulation scholars identified by Time magazine, designed their presentation of Obama to take full advantage of his amorphous “goodness.”

{Obviously, Obama and his team are not fans of free thought.  If they were they would not be using practises that are intended to override, subvert, or sidestep rationality. Expect someone to say that they were only doing what’s best for the people, which is the standard starting point for totalitarian aspirations. Our world is filled with such anti-humanist practises, whether by business people or ignoble politicians.}

Like Oedipus, the thralls are now at various places before, upon and past the threshold of recognizing that “their eyes lied.” In short, Obama is not providing the “anti-Bush, anti-politics as usual, and anti-whatever is keeping them down” leadership they expected to see.  In fact, to their horror, he is doing the things that he has typically done as an elected official and as a candidate.  {FISA stands as the archetypal example.}

What remains is how they will choose to “blind” themselves to alter the organ that misled their actions.

In my humble opinion, a good place to start is to re-cognize the dangers inherent in wanting others to do our thinking and acting for us in the political sphere.  What do you think?

Please Digg!! and Share!!

Afrocity Stitch n’ Bitch:Mending the Difficult Threads Of An American Quilt

"Bible quilt", by Harriet Powers 1886. Powers (1837-1910) was an African American slave, folk artist and quilt maker from rural Georgia.

Cross posted at: Autographed Letter Signed (Afrocity)

Afrocity is angry. The politics of memory is much like a loaded gun. Legacy, accolades, tributes, multi-million dollar book deals, memorials are all things bestowed upon those who bear the title COMMANDER IN CHIEF.

I understand that. However, I will not owe my success as a woman- a black woman- a human being- to a man (a member of the patriarchy) who has yet to accomplish anything besides being America’s “first black president”.

American Quilter: Harriet Powers (1837-1910)

This week, I was the unfortunate witness to a very sad and inappropriate situation. I saw an African American woman of note and talented in her own right, have to answer a question about how Barack Obama has changed her work. The question carried the “would your work still hold the same relevance had you started now that Obama is president rather than in the 1990’s. ” tone.

WTF???? I was outraged that once again another great exchange of dialogue has been hijacked by Barack Obama.

Admittedly, the conversation was about race and cultural pursuits such as dance, music, and art. But up until the mention of Obama’s name, it had nothing to do with political figures or even politics in general. The mere mention of our president’s name took the dialogue on a 10 minute detour.

1. I watched Alex Haley’s Roots and Roots II: The Next Generations
2. I sat in school ever so, the model black child as I was taught about the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. not only to blacks but to all Americans.
3. I have read canonical texts in African American literature . (The Color Purple, Beloved, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Native Son, A Raisin in the Sun)
4. I had a set of black history flash cards.

See I have paid my black dues but sorry Barry, I am just not that into you. You are no Martin Luther King Jr. in my book and you will never be until you accomplish something that is equal or exceeding him in merit and elbow grease.

Patenting Parts of People

The ACLU just started a lawsuit saying that patents of human genes are invalid. Specifically, it’s about two breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and 2, but the implications extend to the principle of the thing. And it’s about bloody time.

To understand the merits of the case, consider two parallel situations.

a) Someone removed a strip of skin from your forearm (surgically, with anesthesia, of course), carefully dissected out the different layers, labelled them, and filed the whole thing away in a scientific exhibit. Do they get a patent? No. You can’t patent something you didn’t invent.

b) Someone removed a microscopically small piece of skin from your forearm, carefully noted all the different components down to the molecules, labelled them, and filed the whole thing away. Do they get a patent? Yes. Apparently, so long as it’s invisible, you can patent things you didn’t invent.

At this point it seems quaint to insist that patenting life, so long as it’s in very small pieces, is wrong. We’ve grown inured to the travesty. It is, after all, a very lucrative travesty.

The Final Straw? Don’t bet on it

From The NYT:

President Obama said Wednesday that he would fight to prevent the release of photographs documenting abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan by United States military personnel, reversing his position on the issue after commanders warned that the images could set off a deadly backlash against American troops.

The sippy-kup kidz must be really upset to discover they’ve been played for suckers (again.) They’re probably over there talking about impeachment and expressing regret for what they did to Hillary. Let’s listen in:

{{crickets}}

Actually, the reason it’s so quiet over there is they all wore themselves out spinning rationalizations for their messiah’s latest betrayal. Joseph Cannon has gathered a sample of the Kool-aid fueled excuses they have come up with. This one is my favorite:

I think he wants justice but it would destroy any chance of our nation returning to any dignity and integrity in the eyes of the world.

Yep, nothing restores integrity and dignity like a cover-up. Glenn Greenwald demolishes the argument that releasing the photos would inflame anti-American sentiment, and Vastleft captures the essence of Obot illogic with a piece of satire titled “Barack Obama put my cat in a blender”

At least I hope it’s satire, these days it’s hard to tell anymore.

Your Breakfast Read, Served By The Confluence

Sigh! Obama punts. Again.

It is bad enough that on yet another issue, Obama has dropped the ball and poked those who voted for him in the eye. Worst of all he is not only adopting the Bush-Cheney policies, he is also using their talking points.
Obama reverses course on alleged prison abuse photos

President Obama said Wednesday he told government lawyers to object to a court-ordered release of additional images showing alleged abuse of detainees because the release could affect the safety of U.S. troops and “inflame anti-American opinion.“

(Who wrote that pathetic excuse for the administration? Sean Hannity?)

Obama Shifts on Abuse Photos

Releasing Images of Detainee Mistreatment Would Endanger U.S. Troops, President Says

Bush 44? Maybe Dick Cheney should become VP again?
Obama Considers Detaining Terror Suspects Indefinitely

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil — indefinitely and without trial — as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Left Rises Up Against Obama

Iraq general swayed Obama on detainee photos

Lawyers scoff at W.H. photo claim

Photo flip: Growing up or selling out?

Sigh! The (Democratic) Senate punts. Again.

Strange how fast these Senator forget who sent them where they are.
Senate Rejects Limit on Credit-Card Interest Rates

Despite complaints that banks and credit card companies are gouging customers by charging outrageous interest rates, the Senate on Wednesday easily turned back an effort to cap interest rates at 15 percent

Whose Senate Is This? (NY Times editorial)

The gun lobby and its all-too-willing political accomplices have struck again. The Senate’s version of urgently needed legislation to protect credit card users has been saddled with a dangerous and utterly nongermane amendment allowing visitors to openly carry loaded firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges.

Waiting with bated breath

What type of legislation will we end up with? Is HR 676 already “off the table”?
Obama says House looks to back healthcare in July

President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they would like to steer a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system through the House of Representatives by the end of July.
[…]
“We don’t have any excuses. The stars are aligned,” said Obama, who has devoted much of this week to his drive to spur momentum behind the healthcare legislation.

Reminders on Health Reform

Lawmakers who were paying attention got two powerful reminders this week of the critical need for them to pass the strongest possible reforms to bring down health costs and cover the unconscionable number of Americans — more than 45 million — who remain uninsured.

Obama’s Health Care Charade (Black Agenda Report)

President Obama has gone to extraordinary lengths to suppress advocates of single-payer health care. He has choreographed a grand theater of faux-change, in which he “seeks to create a façade of unity along lines that do not threaten corporate power.” The goal is to “sidetrack, possibly for decades, the most broadly supported idea in American politics, today.” This “requires elaborate reconstructions of reality,” starting with “methodically erasing single-payer advocates from the picture, with the enthusiastic collaboration of the corporate media.” Thus, Obama and compliant Democrats on The Hill stage “summits” and “public roundtable discussions” on health care from which majority U.S. opinion is totally excluded.

GOP Quo Vadis?

Is another spontaneous “people insurrection” underway?
GOP govs plan Tea Party sequel

As Cheney Seizes Spotlight, Many Republicans Wince

GOP Must Choose Purity or Parity

Torturegate

CIA Outsourced Development of Interrogation Plan

The torture practices used in interrogations of al-Qaida prisoners were not developed by government officials in Washington, but by private security experts. In return for a daily consulting fee, they personally supervised the program at the CIA’s secret prisons from the very beginning.

Zelikow advocates independent investigation into torture policies

Congress inches toward ‘truth commission’ for torture probe

Democrats and Republicans are finding little common ground, leading some Senators to say an independent investigator is needed.

Partisan Passions Dominate Interrogation Hearings

Obama intelligence threat over ‘torture’ case

How do we fix the financial mess?

Obama Urges Rules on Investments Tied to Crisis

U.S. Moves to Regulate Derivatives Trade

Federal regulators outlined plans to regulate the giant market for derivatives, a move aimed at avoiding a repeat of the turmoil created last year by certain financial institutions whose risk-taking in exotic financial instruments went largely unchecked.

Huh?

World’s Most Shocking Apology: Oprah to James Frey

Argument for the ages

The Bible v the Koran

Where Does your city rank?

The World’s Best Places To Live 2009

Not Another Miss California Post

With all the important pageant news lately you may have missed this story from last week:

The D.C. Council overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, in a vote that followed a sharp exchange between an openly gay member and a civil rights champion and set off shouts of reproach from local ministers.

The council passed the measure by a vote of 12 to 1. During the debate, council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) accused Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who cast the dissenting vote, of having taken a “bigoted” position.

After the vote, enraged African American ministers stormed the hallway outside the council chambers and vowed that they will work to oust the members who supported the bill, which was sponsored by Phil Mendelson (D-At Large). They caused such an uproar that security officers and D.C. police were called in to clear the hallway.

[…]

Barry, who said he supports gay rights and civil unions, warned after the vote that the District could erupt if the council does not proceed slowly on same-sex marriage.

“All hell is going to break lose,” Barry said. “We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this.”

While not as titillating and revealing as an exposé showing the naked truth about a certain beauty pageant contestant, the story matters because it actually affects some people’s lives.  So why haven’t we heard more about it?

From the incomparable Bob Somerby: