Sarah Palin must have thought she was back on the campaign trail with Sen. John McCain's "handlers" when she reached the Fort Bragg Post Exchange Monday.
News accounts report that the former vice-presidential candidate's "to do" list was shorter than her "do not do" list. She could not make a speech, write personal notes, pose for photographs or sign anything other than autographing her book.
Jeez, I guess that prohibited her from writing a neat little note inside the book with a typical Palinism -- a "you betcha," for instance.
Don't misunderstand. I'm no fan of Sarah Palin, but she certainly was a lively, fresh personality for the Republican convention in 2008. She was given a bum rap by the very campaign pols who recruited her as Sen. McCain's running mate.
I disagree with most of her political views, and although I admire people of faith, I don't regard the National Rifle Association as a Protestant denomination. That said, I must come to her defense. For one thing, everybody writes a book these days. If you run for public office and are soundly clobbered, write a book. If your husband has an affair, write a book. If you go to prison, write a book (Bernard Madoff is probably already working on his memoir). Actors, sports figures, bubble-headed celebrities all "write" books. People I've never heard of write memoirs.
The military is not supposed to criticize the president, and it's bad form to appear on a military base and badmouth a sitting president. If that's the case, why even let the Post Exchange stock her book, much less allow her to promote her book at Fort Bragg? Isn't there something in the Constitution about free speech?
At first, the Army tried to keep the media from covering her book-signing event at Fort Bragg. The brass backed down after major dailies and other media complained to the Pentagon and threatened to go to court.
In a way, it was funny. Rarely are the media barred from an event to which the public is invited. I've always thought the media were the public. Certainly we are supposed to represent the public interest. Maybe in a perverse way, we deserve the slap, because we do tend to be a little arrogant sometimes.
On the other hand, this was downright ridiculous. The only way such restriction makes sense is a threat to national security, in which case obviously she should not have been allowed on base at all. From what I've heard, her book concentrates on the author, not on criticism of the Obama administration.
As it turned out, her appearance was an orderly affair. Everyone was polite and respectful, and the Army didn't hover too obviously during her brief visit. The military must have lightened up a bit, because they allowed her to autograph the cast on one admirer's foot. Pictures were taken at the event, but not a series of pictures of the author with individual admirers. That prohibition was probably a wise one, because it would have taken forever if she had consented to that type of photograph.
Whether you like her or not, Sarah Palin is a public figure who attracts attention with every appearance and every word. GOP bigwigs may not like the way she talks or what she says, but they quickly learned that she can't be easily controlled. She's friendly and unpretentious. I may not agree with her views, but I appreciate her informal, folksy language and sassy style.
An American original, the former governor of Alaska won the Miss Congeniality title at the Miss Alaska Pageant in her college days. Judging from the excitement surrounding its publication, her book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," already had a following long before it appeared on store shelves.
It was silly to try to rein in this creative personality. But then, a sense of humor has never been a military requirement.
Contact Florence Gilkeson at (910) 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.
The military is not supposed to criticize the president, and it's bad form to appear on a military base and badmouth a sitting president. If that's the case, why even let the Post Exchange stock her book, much less allow her to promote her book at Fort Bragg? Isn't there something in the Constitution about free speech?
At first, the Army tried to keep the media from covering her book-signing event at Fort Bragg. The brass backed down after major dailies and other media complained to the Pentagon and threatened to go to court.
In a way, it was funny. Rarely are the media barred from an event to which the public is invited. I've always thought the media were the public. Certainly we are supposed to represent the public interest. Maybe in a perverse way, we deserve the slap, because we do tend to be a little arrogant sometimes.
On the other hand, this was downright ridiculous. The only way such restriction makes sense is a threat to national security, in which case obviously she should not have been allowed on base at all. From what I've heard, her book concentrates on the author, not on criticism of the Obama administration.
As it turned out, her appearance was an orderly affair. Everyone was polite and respectful, and the Army didn't hover too obviously during her brief visit. The military must have lightened up a bit, because they allowed her to autograph the cast on one admirer's foot. Pictures were taken at the event, but not a series of pictures of the author with individual admirers. That prohibition was probably a wise one, because it would have taken forever if she had consented to that type of photograph.
Whether you like her or not, Sarah Palin is a public figure who attracts attention with every appearance and every word. GOP bigwigs may not like the way she talks or what she says, but they quickly learned that she can't be easily controlled. She's friendly and unpretentious. I may not agree with her views, but I appreciate her informal, folksy language and sassy style.
An American original, the former governor of Alaska won the Miss Congeniality title at the Miss Alaska Pageant in her college days. Judging from the excitement surrounding its publication, her book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," already had a following long before it appeared on store shelves.
It was silly to try to rein in this creative personality. But then, a sense of humor has never been a military requirement.
Contact Florence Gilkeson at (910) 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment