Sarah Palin's Piece of the American Pie

In Sarah Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s Piece of the American Pie, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rosemary Bachelor asks whether Palin is an American patriot or a political pawn in the foreplay to the 2012 presidential election.A partial response to Palin''s Going Rogue: An American Life, Bachelor#xE2;#xAC;"s smartly written, pitch-perfect political expos#xC3;#xA9; is unapologetically biased and leaves no stone unearthed in trying to crack the riddle of one of the most enigmatic cause c#xC3;#xA9;l#xC3;#xA8;bres the country has ever known.Bachelor writes: #xE2;#xAC;SMany sideline observers of Sarah#xE2;#xAC;"s upward and onward trajectory express concern about all the things she doesn#xE2;#xAC;"t know. It may, however, be time to also be disturbed about what Sarah thinks she does know.#xE2;#xAC; In eight fully annotated, thought-provoking chapters such as #xE2;#xAC;SSarah Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s Politics: A New World Recipe?,#xE2;#xAC; #xE2;#xAC;SAt Issue: The Ingredients,#xE2;#xAC; and #xE2;#xAC;SSarah Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s Patriotism: Which Way to Slice It?,#xE2;#xAC; Bachelor pulls no punches in uncovering what Palin stands for and what she, or those who control her, hope to accomplish.The author also expresses concern for the American image abroad, saying: #xE2;#xAC;SSome onlookers, many of them in Canada and the European nations, sense in the United States an unstable marriage of politics and religion that projects a very fundamentalist world view. Its wedding cake is decorated with incendiary ideas for domination of the Mideast, ideas which intrigue Jews and terrify Muslims.#xE2;#xAC;Beyond Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s ability to rally fellow countrymen with fiery rhetoric, Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s plainspoken battle cries are often hollow of meaning and intent. Bachelor contends that Palin didn#xE2;#xAC;"t get where she is by having #xE2;#xAC;Sfacts in her toolbox,#xE2;#xAC; which means the former governor of Alaska is either laughing all the way to the bank, or is being taken advantage of by the Republican Party, the Tea Party #xE2;#xAC;#x1C; or both.Bachelor takes a fairly liberal approach in her inquiries into Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s sense of patriotism and religious freedom, as well as Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s stance on priority issues, but this author ultimately lets readers resolve Palin#xE2;#xAC;"s political motivation and credibility on their own.Bachelor reminds us that knowing how to run a family, how to govern a state which has surplus funds, and how to run a world superpower are entirely different. Kids don#xE2;#xAC;"t fight with jet planes, bombs and high tech guns; and, Alaska has about the same population as Indianapolis, Indiana.Among other probing fodder, Bachelor questions why Palin hasn#xE2;#xAC;"t distanced herself from her more radical followers, such as the white supremacists and militia groups, and how Palin can have dual allegiance to two parties.This book is subtitled "A wake-up Call for Mainstream America" because Bachelor believes that there are Americans all over the nation who are not conservatives, do have family values and religious faith, and are top grade patriots. The energy which goes into finger-pointing around such issues as abortion and gay marriage, she says, needs to be channeled into a unified vision of a cleaner, safer and economically prosperous America whose citizens enjoy a more wholesome and less stressful way of life.In pointing to the difference between patriotism and nationalism, Bachelor has this to say: #xE2;#xAC;SWe have poked our noses into a lot of pigeon holes and found that patriotism is not a simple slogan, but instead a complex crocheting together of various ideals. Instead of flag-waving, it is more an attempt to stitch together a national fabric, an American tapestry that depicts us as moral, humane and responsible citizens.#xE2;#xAC;With a behind-the-scenes crackdown that follows the Tea Party''s financial supporters, Bachelor highlights the contradictions between the Palin the public thinks it knows, and the Palin they should get to know.We all deserve a piece of the American pie. Here#xE2;#xAC;"s to making sure all Americans have a slice.