Customer Reviews

Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin (Get a Jump on 2012!)

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While I agree with her premise that Sarah Palin shouldn't be elected to anything at any time, I couldn't read the whole book because it was so badly written. This "author" needs an editor. She wrote it in haste and blames that for any "split infinitives or too much alliteration." Yes, it does have split infinitives. Even though she was finishing the project in a hurry, a quick run through a spell checker would have found those for her. "Too much alliteration"? That's not a problem that people usually notice or comment about. But, way, way to many dashes along with many other grammatical errors make this impossible to enjoy.

I thought I had "Sarah Palin overload," until I heard about this book Thanks But No Thanks. Now I don't feel guilty for not reading every article and watching every program. Sue Katz seems to have done it for me. I'm grateful for her hard work and plain talk.

I've been hoping for many weeks that the McCain camp would have provided more background information on Gov. Palin by now to help voters better understand who she is and what she's done. What's happened to date is sad and unfair to voters: she's given few interviews and gives a lot of canned comments when campaigning and speaking in public. This has really bothered me because I consider myself a moderate so I try very hard to learn what both sides are like in any presidential campaign and I don't always vote in lock-step with my party. Thankfully Sue Katz has written an informative guide to help people like me learn more about the candidate and help me make a better decision next month when I vote. It's a good read, and just in time for the vice presidential debate tomorrow. Definitely worth the price and more.

I have to say that Katz describes accurately what you can expect behind the "maverick" facade with Palin's likely ascent to the presidency. Like Palin, I was raised evangelical in Idaho. As Katz describes, I too fooled people with my impressive appearance and converted "Jews for Jesus". Like Palin, I, as an "instrument of God's will", worked toward nuclear Armageddon in Israel. (This all sounds unbelievable, unless you are an evangelical fundamentalist. This is prophesied for end times (when the world will end in fire, the first time it was Flood) required to prepare the imminent return of Christ, as described in Revelations.)

Be forwarned, in the Palin candidacy, extreme religious zealots are closer than they have ever been to ultimate power. For thirty years the Billy Graham-Pentacostal-Jesus evangelicals have striven to seize power on behalf of war to the finish between Christ and Anti-Christ. All the references in this campaign to Obama using such labels are not accidental, they are code for stages of a religious war for power in this country. I know--I used to be one of them.

Palin truly believes as I did that she is doing God's will. Belief in God in your gut must be the only guide. Reason is the enemy, a tool of the Devil.

I recommend this book. Katz has made a huge effort without time to polish, because of this dark horse candidate sprung on the national scene by McCain.

Katz covers not only this much misunderstood religious civil war now just short of victory. She also highlights the economic and social gulf between the image of a supposed "woman who can do everything" and the reality of a woman who will sacrifice her own presence in the life of her young and suffering children on the alter of a messianic religious cause to which she feels herself anointed by God. Palin's economic and social policies continue policies of penalizing working women by denying equal pay for equal work, by refusing them protection in case of rape, denying them education appropriate to sexual activity. In summary, Hillary, Palin isn't, you betcha, and she ain't no maverick, neither. She is part of the onward evangelical army, marching as to Armageddon, and we're all going with her.

Under President Palin,affiliated with evangelicals now within sight of their long-sought victory, you will see renewed recklessness in our 'end-times' foreign policy regarding Israel, Iran, Iraq, as well as gross interference in your rights as families to privacy, crushing the separation of church and state.

One heartbeat away from ultimate power--or even less, given Palin's youth, and McCain's age, melanoma, and his otherwise unintelligible refusal to release his full medical records for thorough review by public doctors. He clearly is hiding truth from appropriate analysis before an election.)

The machinery for this control of the levers of power has all been laid under the Bush administration, from claiming dictatorial levels of executive privilege, to salting extreme partisan judges throughout the judiciary, to destroying the non-partisan civil service, to appointing the Roberts Supreme Court, to destroying documentation and transparency of governmental actions, to wiretapping without warrants, arresting legal demonstrators, classifying dissent as treason.The recent McCain Palin town hall meetings have been nearly hysterical with threats against their opponent--they taste the blood of victory.

I'm sorry I can't agree with the other reviewers. By the title, I didn't expect a love poem to Sarah Palin; but I also didn't expect a vitriolic spewing against her. I expected a fair rendition of facts "so vigorously researched." Apparently Ms. Katz doesn't like Sarah Palin because Sarah Palin is a conservative, Christian, anti-feminist, the exact opposite of Sue Katz. While Ms. Katz' own words seem to indicate that she does not believe in Jesus ("Oh, I forgot, I'm one of the heathens who, for too many reasons to list, is simply not going to be among those with god-given visas to Alaska"), she doesn't hesitate to invoke Jesus' name when it suits her ("Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pontius Pilate was a Governor.) She talks about "the truth," but then praises Hilary Clinton. Does anyone remember "the truth" of the Clinton presidency?

Let me say that I am a white female. Most of my friends consider me a liberal. I think of myself as a moderate but not a feminist. I believe in gay rights, civil rights, pro-choice and Jesus. While Ms. Katz would require that I produce them, I do have good friends of both sexes who happen to be gay.

I volunteered to read this book and write a review. By doing so, I got a free MSWord copy e-mailed to me. I preferred to buy it from Amazon so I could read it on my Kindle. I now feel cheated.

The title is apt. This was a free book from Amazon in Dec. 2011 so I decided to "buy" it. I do appreciate it being free, but after reading most of it I feel that I still paid too much.

The other reviews on this book are primarily from 2009, but they ring true. Those who like it are anti-Palin and those who don't are not. I did not read the reviews prior to getting it, but I can see why they were written.

From a bipartisan perspective, this book is not. For an accuracy perspective, this book is not. It was written by a partisan for partisans. If you dislike Palin, you may like the book even with it shortcomings. If you like Palin, you will totally dislike the book. If you are a person who follows politics and listens, watches, read various viewpoints, you will find nothing new. It is a compilation of everything negative and nothing positive.

They say truth is stranger than fiction, but that has nothing on fiction masquerading as truth. Not that this is all fiction, but the fact checking leave much to be desired. If I was a political writer for the WashPost, I would give it Three Pinocchios. If I were a professional book reviewer, I'd have to give this one Three Thumbs Down.

As an aside, Amazon's editorial review of this book appears to have been written by the author. Shame on you Amazon. A little editorial honesty, please.

In less than a month, Sue Katz turned out a searing look at Sarah Palin. Katz shows us the inconsistencies, the inaccuracies, the confusions that come out of Palin's mouth. We see the influences on this candidate (and we cringe--at least, I did). And some of us wonder if she actually has the strength of conviction to stand up to some of these influences. But wait! Just what ARE her convictions? Palin has not spelled that out for us, has she? Or perhaps I have been unable to find them, buried under the inaccuracies.

Sue Katz's book has been helpful to me. Not in the least because of the extensive bibliography she has included. Katz did her homework here, and I doubt many readers have found the time to do this for themselves. I sure haven't had time! I can use Katz's bibliography to lead me quickly to what I need to read. I didn't need this book to form an opinion about Palin, but it certainly helped organize my thoughts between reality and emotion.

I wish Katz had had time to add thoughts about the Biden-Palin debate (at this writing, that debate is this evening), and perhaps to have one more look by a proofreader. But we are getting close to election day and there was no more time.

The bottom line is that Sue Katz does not think Palin is capable of leading the country, and she tells us why -- AND backs up her decision with research. Thank you for this, Sue. And Sarah? Thanks, but no thanks!

Sue Katz has written exactly the book every voter needs to read in order to understand who Sarah Palin is and why we should care. This book is not only a comprehensive analysis of Palin's record and stands on various issues but also a blast to read. It is funny without taking cheap shots and smart without being snooty. It is the kind of book you quote when talking to friends about this candidate; is a must read.

If you are looking for an unbiased compilation of facts regarding Gov. Sarah Palin, this is not the book for you. This is an opinion piece written by a woman who resents younger women, suffers from ageism, and has a rabid hatred of Republicans.
The author begins by saying that Gov. Palin (and by association anyone who believes the way she does regarding sexism in today's society) has a "cavalier and entitled" attitude and is riding on the "tailwind of the boomer generation". I guess because women of Gov Palin's generation weren't around to prove they were as good as man by going braless in a t-shirt (as the author did) and were allowed to play on sports teams (which the author was not) that they are undeserving of what they have. This is an offensive attitude. I agree with the author that sexism is still alive and well in our society, however, I also believe you can achieve more through a spirit of cooperation than drawing battle lines between the sexes.
The author shows her agesim every time whe refers to Sen McCain. She believes that because of his age he is unable to have an important job because he's old and might die. Maybe the author doesn't realize that people live productive lives well into ther 90's even if they have fought a disease like cancer. The author is quickly approaching Sen Mc Cain's age. I can imagine what she would tell someone who had the ignorance and audacity to tell her she couldn't do an important job because she was too old.
The author believes she can read the minds of Republicans. She says that what they are really thinking is "...the ticket leaders distance themselves from black people, to draw a distinction between these 'other' people with whom the community organizer works on the one hand, and those, wink, wink, in the middle and upper classes..." This is as offensive as someone saying that all lesbians are deviants or all Muslims are terrorists. It is bigoted and shows the ignorance of the person who says it.
If the author truly believes that "Every effort has been made to make this book as accurate as possible" as she states, then why does she go on to say that "the publisher and author assess no responsibility for errors or omissions"? I think that speaks volumes about the validity of what is contained in this book.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but please don't present opinion as fact. It insults the intelligence of every person who reads it. If the author truly wanted to be fair and thorough she would have included the thoughts of people who have positive feelings towards the Governor. There are many. I was in AK when the announcement was made and every person I talked to said how proud they were of her and that they didn't want to lose her as Gov.
Is Gov Palin the perfect candidate? In my opinion, no. Has she made mistakes? yes. Does she have the skills to be VP? Absolutely. If you truly want to know about Gov Palin and her policies you should read The New York Times, The Washington Post, or Newsweek. There have been numerous articles that talk about both sides of the career of Gov. Palin.

I'm glad I didn't pay for this book. I saw where it was being offered free to Kindlers, so I downloaded it and started reading with interest as it was described as a "critical review of Sarah Palin".

According to the American Dictionary of the English Language, critical has more than one meaning. a)characterized by careful evaluation and b)tending to criticize. I was hoping this was a CAREFUL, thoughtful, (and balanced) evaulation of Palin; alas, it is just a scathing attack of her.

[...]

There is an old Quaker saying, "If we fight the beast by becoming a beast then bestiality has won."

Beastiality won in this one.