Sarah Palin, The Mean and Vindictive

The Washington Post has an interesting review of Frank Bailey's book, "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin." The Post's article begins:

... In Palin he [Bailey] found a leader who elegantly fused faith and politics. She exuded charm, energy and idealism, and, most important, she inspired trust. Bailey was politically smitten: “In my mind, God had chosen her, and this was His will.”

But God had his own plan for Frank Bailey. The political novice spent nearly four years at Palin’s side only to wind up disillusioned by his “Ronald Reagan in high heels.” In “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin,” his political kiss-and-tell based on more than 50,000 Yahoo! account e-mails that he wrote or received as a campaign and administration staffer, Bailey paints a portrait of an erratic, vindictive, unethical politician. Palin emerges as a woman far more interested in power, fame and fortune than in the day-to-day grind of governing. “I am convinced,” Bailey writes, “that her priorities and personality are not only ill suited to head a political party or occupy national office, but would lead to a disaster of, well, biblical proportions.”

Bailey's book promises to be a good read and goes on sale tomorrow. More than anything else, it may paint the best portrait of Sarah Palin, the mean and vindictive. Jeanne Devon and Ken Morris, who co-authored the book with Bailey, have recently written about the book, here, and here.

I hope the book quotes Sarah Palin saying, "I hate this damn job!" The reviewer, Steven Levingston, The Post's non-fiction editor, got the impression that Palin wasn't interested in the "day-to-day grind of governing." But a governor -- or president -- has to be able to handle the executive as well as the ceremonial duties of office. We should never forget that once Wasilla hired a city manager, Palin's mayoralty became a ceremonial post, with the city manager responsible for the day-to-day grind of governing.

The Leak of Frank Bailey's Book

We hope that Frank Bailey's book, tentatively titled "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years," will be published. The book is very much an Alaskan story, albeit with national implications should Palin choose to run for national office, so it's important that it be published. There is some doubt, now, however, that it will ever be published.

Ken Morris has posted "Say it Ain’t So, Joe! Co-Author of Leaked Palin Book Speaks Out" at Mudflats. The post includes a letter sent to Joe McGinniss, author of Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, which is scheduled to be published on September 20, 2011. The letter accuses McGinniss of two things: 1) Infringing the authors' copyright and 2) Impairing the manuscript's marketability by disseminating it.

We posted an excerpt of the original of Alaska Dispatch's current story about the leak, as well as links to articles where recipients of the manuscript had commented on or quoted from the manuscript. Our only quote from the manuscript, which was attributed to Sarah Palin in the manuscript, was taken from Alaska Dispatch's initial story about the leak. We have reconsidered our use of the quote after reviewing Alaska Dispatch's response to a legal firm representing the manuscript's co-authors. Our quote of the remark attributed to Sarah Palin and our excerpt from Alaska Dispatch's original article have been removed.

Update: There is quite an amusing post -- a laugh-out-loud post -- at the blog of 'a German attorney who will identify himself only as “Patrick.”' He claims to have received a cease and desist letter and treats it very cavalierly, for an attorney. They claim to have removed some things that they claim were obtained from other news outlets, but they have retained quotes from the manuscript's e-mails; e-mails they apparently thought might support their opinions about Trig Palin's birth, but may not. I write "they," because although the response appears to be signed by "Kathleen," the response is preceeded by "Therefore, we inevitably have to give a reply." I seem to recall, from Shakespeare, "'tis but the breath of an unfeed lawyer," and something else -- not from Shakespeare -- something about a fool and a client ... oh, yes, "A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client."

Update: Wonkette has a humorous treatment of the leak, too, at "Leaked Book SHOCKER: Sarah Palin Is Terrible."

Update: A voice from the back seat asks, "Are we there yet?" If you'd like to read about another angle to the manuscript leak story, palingates has posted "Frank Bailey and Sarah Palin's e-mails." If you'd like something different, about a breakthrough in another Palin story, see Malia Litman's "The Anchorage Police Admit Misstatements!" If you're fed-up with all things Palin, you may be able to find something else to read by scrolling down the sidebar, on the left.