Customer Reviews

America by Heart : Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag

5 star:		(126)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(70)

 

 

As a moderate, I have been following Palin to see if she might be a viable candidate (from my standpoint) in the elections in 2012. I have read a few books by her and her autobiography, so I have a bit to compare to. I find it a sad commentary that the books written about her paint her in a better light than she paints for herself in the books she has written about herself.

I found this book to contain little new. It was Obama bad...Reagan great with no real analysis of what either had done. If Obama did it, or proposed it, it must be wrong with little to support her comments. The same occurred, in reverse, for Reagan. She seemed to ignore his more obvious flaws and tried to paint everything he did as great.

Throughout the book there are misstatements of fact when it suits her purpose. Some is current, while some was historical. I can't believe she didn't know that what she was writing was wrong, and if she didn't, then maybe she needs to do a little research into a subject before spouting off.

I know there are people that think she is stupid, which I believe is a dangerous mistake. On the contrary, I believe she is quite intelligent but she doesn't use her intelligence when making statements. One possibility is that she intentionally does not want to let on that she is intellectually on a par with those she labels as "elite" in order to deliberately deceive her base. Either that, or she is just intellectually lazy.

This is a book for the base (and to make some money) and should be seen as such. She doesn't reveal much new and the rhetoric is about the same as always. If you love Palin, you will love the book. If you are not a fan, you won't like this book.

I have to admit that I have only made it through 230 out of the 269 pages in Sarah Palin's book, America by Heart. I also have not read her previous book; it seemed to have disappeared by the time I'd heard about it. Basically, I was unable to read past page 230, because Palin inserts an Emily Dickenson poem here, including what I felt to be a very loose and inaccurate interpretation of the poem, using it to support some political statement. To be fair, Palin's book is basically nothing more than a mosaic of material quoted from other writers and thinkers, including such oddities like references to the animated movie The Incredibles, block quotes more than a page long, some of which include quotations of their own, and enough Reagan quotes that I feel I should just read something by the man himself to find out what Palin thinks, though in that case I would miss out on the fact that she has read at least one article from the Onion that I also have, without understanding its sarcasm properly.

Anything that could pass as an original thought from Palin has a tendency to be contradictory, such as her assertions that America is an exceptional country paired with her distaste for those who wish to hold our country to a higher standard because of that very exceptional nature. She claims that the country must be taken back, without acknowledging that those who took the country by electing our current president were also American citizens. Palin does not mean this book to garner support for herself from those not already her followers, as the book is full of disparaging statements about liberals. Also, despite her chapters having topics, there is no overarching organization to this book to indicate why those chapters are presented in the order they are. Her writing style reminds me of how my sister explained her research paper writing process when she was a sophomore. "Papers are easy," she said, "I just get all my quotes together, then fill in the spaces with transitions and BS."

Basically, Sarah Palin seems to be the Stephenie Meyer of politics--very popular, but ultimately not a contender for the highest quality (with apologies to Meyer, who has only published one book I haven't read, and can improve). Also, I have odd suspicions about her faith (Palin, not Meyer, who is clearly a Mormon). For one thing, she never quotes the bible, instead throwing in the overused pagan truism "god helps those who help themselves" from Aesop's fable about Hercules and the carter. Also, in addition to never mentioning attending church, the only theology she mentions that she believes is something about the "sweet by and by" in her words, which implies that this world is irredeemable or impossible to improve, and that our reward will come only after death. Palin also includes a little anecdote of her life wherein she makes it clear that her faith in this was unable to console her for the trouble she was going through at that time, underscoring the fact that she either doesn't really believe it, or that her understanding of her own faith is flawed.

Extolling the virtues of flags, freedom, and faith, Sarah Palin (I will use her name as a substitute for the real author) has managed to write one of the most insipid and fatuous books I have ever read. Palin's simple-minded and entirely erroneous cognitive framework goes something like this. There is a battle in the country between regular, god-fearing folk and evil, bureaucratic loving liberal elitists. The liberals want to insert government into ever nook and cranny of your life; the Republicans want you to enjoy freedom. The liberals drink red wine and laugh at your stupidity; the Republicans eat meat and drink beer and sympathize with your ideals. The liberals want to extend handouts to favored friends, leaving you with the bill; the Republicans want to kick out special interest groups and let you control your own income. This Manichean picture of the world could be continued, but I'll spare the details.

Palin believes that she wants to take America back to the pristine love of freedom of the Founders. Unfortunately, she has absolutely no idea what the Founders actually said or did. Contrary to popular mythology, the Founders were disgusted by democracy and quite consciously fashioned a system of elitism. James Madison, one of the more "populist" of the Founders, noted that the government needed to "protect the minority of the opulent from the majority." He realized, that is, that as America's land wealth became more and more concentrated, the people would become more and more fractious. Madison noted that if there were a democracy in England, sweeping agrarian reforms would be implemented; he did not want that fate to befall America. Thomas Jefferson, probably the most "radical" of the Founders, did not attend the constitutional convention and it is unclear that anyone would desire to go back to his vision of a natural aristocracy living in agrarian bliss.

Palin's nonsense about free markets is equally silly and misguided. The Founders were at least intelligent enough to understand that free markets (free trade) would confine the nascent U.S. to exporting fish and furs. Acutely intelligent and penetrating, Hamilton recognized the problem and suggested that the U.S. needed to cradle and grow its infant industries and protect them against more developed industries in Europe. Although his plans were not adopted in toto, they did form the basic outline for American development. Again, this is radically opposed to the currently fashionable nonsense about free markets and free trade. (Of course, every country that has sustained decent development eschewed free market and free trade proscriptions in favor of pragmatic protectionism and state centered development.)

This book presents a tired archetypal battle--the liberal as an effete, wine drinking elitist who desires to destroy "traditional" America through a powerful, omnipresent and omniscient state apparatus, and the conservative as a robust, beer drinking commoner who desires to fulfill the promise of "traditional" America through free markets and faith--and runs with it. Doubtless it will appeal to some who have succumbed to its premises.

For the rest, if you pretend that the book is a parody of conservatism in the 21st century, it does provide some entertainment.

This is a book to carry in your heart -- or at least your pants. Sarah Palin proves herself a philosopher on the level of Ann Coulter and Saint Augustine in this magnificent collection of "reflections on family, faith and flag," as she modestly puts it. And what reflections they are! I had never known that she threw the I Ching to name her children ("Lapdance" was to have been the next) and that the famous "mock interview" with Sarkosy was in fact the beginning of a passionate affair of the heart with the French President. I'm proud of her for rejecting the endorsement of NAMBLA, even after Dick Cheney insisted that they were the spokesmen for "the REAL American family" and her proud insistence that Reagan's divorce "never mattered to Jesus" is brave. The "lamestream media" is likely to make fun of Sarah for this book, pointing out that she has the brains of an agitated parrot. If so, she is MY parrot and a lot of true American patriots will buy this book for her unabashed belief that people who live in glass trailers shouldn't throw beer bottles.

There are so many things I want to say about America by Heart.
First of all, I'm glad I chose to read the book. I had participated in my fair share of Palin-bashing, but I wanted to give the poor gal a chance. I assumed that she would shrink back into the woods of Alaska once the election was over, but instead her platform began to gain momentum. She dropped the old guy and began speaking out about the state of America, about how our country has lost its way. She seemed to know how to take it back, and millions of people seemed to believe her. Who was I to say she was wrong without full knowledge of her opinions? So I picked up her book, mind open and ready to hate Sarah Palin a little less.
And she started off well. The book opens with "Do you love your freedom?" and goes on to talk about the amazing document that is the Constitution. She talks about her love for our basic rights that are not given by the government, only protected by it. I can get behind that. I do, in fact, love my freedom. And I have the utmost respect for the Constitution. I read on, waiting for her real argument.
But it never really came. Through some sort of reasoning, Palin came to the conclusion that the integrity of the Constitution could only be protected through free markets, low taxes, and... faith? I tried my best to follow her arguments, to search for some sort of proof among her assertions, but I came up empty each time. I'm consider myself a moderate in many respects, yet her constant berating of liberal principles without any evidence left me bitter and forced me further to the left. One particular charge -- that liberal America leads to a lack of motivation among children, found in Chapter Six -- actually made me angry. It is true that American children have ridiculously inflated senses of self, but that has been going on for more than three years. Republicans have also been in power during the growth of America's ego. Obamacare did not suddenly make kids lazy. Her assertions that the government should back out of certain areas are reasonable (with the exception, I believe, of the financial industry, as evidenced by the '08 financial crisis). That being said, how can a weak government then force a change in work ethic? Our leaders -- be they liberal or conservative -- have no control over our laziness. Privatized health care has done nothing to solve this issue. Neither have tax cuts, nor business deregulation. The cause of inflated egos is America's devotion to instant gratification and a lack of emphasis on education. Dumb kids aren't aware of anything going on in the world, so all they can do is focus on themselves. Palin says nothing about the importance of education, only of faith and family values. Why? Because she has no knowledge of how to run a government. All she knows is what she believes are the "right" moral values to have. Unfortunately, a country cannot run on morals alone. Freedom comes with the choice to be good or evil, and a government's job is to allow the good to thrive.
What becomes clear after reading America by Heart is Palin's own lack of education. She may understand how to run a small town in Alaska, but she knows little about real fiscal responsibility and does not mention foreign affairs except when referring to World War II. People love her because she can yell "Do you love your freedom?", and because she can point out what is wrong with America. But she does not, as I previously thought, have a solution. And the thing is, I could laugh at her easily before I realized how much of a following she has. The book left me with a sense of sadness that these countless Americans are not demanding answers from the woman they so admire. So please, read this book and keep in mind how little proof Palin can impart.

Sarah's latest book just oozes mediocrity.

First of all, it's fairly obvious to most readers that she probably hasn't actually read any of the people that she quotes, making for somewhat of an awkward reading experience.

Second, the cutesy act wasn't charming for very long, and it just falls flat on its face in the book.

Third, the tone of the book is so different from the second, it's hard to imagine that it was written by the same author (it wasn't)

Please don't support this woman.

Gee whiz and gosh darn it boy o boy am I ever glad I didn't pay for this trash.
Even Palin should be embarrassed.
"Facts", as presented in this book, are fallacy...and fallacy, presented as facts.
She may be "folksy", at least on the surface, but folks...she just aint real smart.
Don't buy this book.
If you MUST read it (but WHY???) pick it up at the library.

"When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross"... commonly attributed to Sinclair Lewis and entirely appropriate for Ms. Palin. Cheap and facile "patriotism," replete with flag-waving, combined with fundamentalist religion....is this America's near-future?

This woman is a true patriot, she may be rough around the edges but says it like it is. Sarah is truly a woman of honour and loves her country, family and freedom. Great reading.

I was hoping to achieve some level of understanding of why this woman appeals to american voters. Sadly this book convinces me more that she does not possess the level of intelligence and depth of thinking that is needed for today's complex problems. Very shallow and ignorant.