Margo Howard | 07/05/2009 7:15 am
Margo Howard, Ann Coulter Miraculously Agree: Palin Too Big for Alaska
Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the
family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as
Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature
provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Margo’s advice column, Dear Margo, appears twice a week — on Thursdays and Fridays — on wowOwow.com.
To slightly skew an e-mail that was going around a few weeks ago, let me just say that friends said the day I agreed with Ann Coulter pigs would fly. Well, swine flu … and I now find myself in agreement with Coulter. [Click here for Coulter’s post.] Sarah Palin is too big for Alaska. And you know why? She signed a book deal – reportedly for somewhere between $7,000,000 and $11,000,000. In April. I do not know how I missed this news, but I did. Maybe you did, too. In any case, no one is particularly tying this news to her resignation. I mean, wouldn’t you rather earn X millions of dollars than $175,000? The haste with which she made her announcement, however, does nothing to disabuse me of the idea that she and the Mr. might be in some legal trouble.
I think quitting for a big-bucks book deal shows a real lack of character, but a great deal of opportunism. The citizens of Alaska elected her to a term of office and she is skipping out because … well, she is too big for Alaska. People who are lame ducks seldom deal with their duckhood by resigning, so let’s scratch that one.
I do disagree with Coulter (my usual stance) on one point she makes in her post. She writes, "I thought her press conference explained it very clearly – though she couldn’t put it precisely this way without sounding vain, but it’s obvious." She "explained it clearly"? That, my dear, is a stretch. If she had explained it clearly the news outlets and the blogosphere would not be talking about how it could barely qualify as English.
Should you want to read a hilarious entry from Jim Washburn’s blog, here’s the beginning, and the link:
To slightly skew an e-mail that was going around a few weeks ago, let me just say that friends said the day I agreed with Ann Coulter pigs would fly. Well, swine flu … and I now find myself in agreement with Coulter. [Click here for Coulter’s post.] Sarah Palin is too big for Alaska. And you know why? She signed a book deal – reportedly for somewhere between $7,000,000 and $11,000,000. In April. I do not know how I missed this news, but I did. Maybe you did, too. In any case, no one is particularly tying this news to her resignation. I mean, wouldn’t you rather earn X millions of dollars than $175,000? The haste with which she made her announcement, however, does nothing to disabuse me of the idea that she and the Mr. might be in some legal trouble.
I think quitting for a big-bucks book deal shows a real lack of character, but a great deal of opportunism. The citizens of Alaska elected her to a term of office and she is skipping out because … well, she is too big for Alaska. People who are lame ducks seldom deal with their duckhood by resigning, so let’s scratch that one.
I do disagree with Coulter (my usual stance) on one point she makes in her post. She writes, "I thought her press conference explained it very clearly – though she couldn’t put it precisely this way without sounding vain, but it’s obvious." She "explained it clearly"? That, my dear, is a stretch. If she had explained it clearly the news outlets and the blogosphere would not be talking about how it could barely qualify as English.
Should you want to read a hilarious entry from Jim Washburn’s blog, here’s the beginning, and the link:
‘Let’s go quit!’ That was CNN’s Candy Crowley Friday night, imagining the decision process that led to Sarah Palin’s resignation, so spontaneous and unplanned did it seem. Nutty, too. It sounded like Richard Nixon if, heading into his Checkers Speech, he’d first taken the edge off by mixing Benzedrex inhalers into his rum and Cokes, the ones Dick Tuck had laced with pure Sandoz LSD, and then Nixon had gone on camera and wrestled an imaginary bear that turned into a black Satan and he’s going to keep that precious baby, no matter what anybody says, even the NBA coaches. That kind of nutty.Click here for the rest of Jim’s blog.
Read more about: Alaska, Ann Coulter, Books, Jim Washburn, Margo Howard, News, Politics, Sarah Palin
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648 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
"loyalty"
"And would you use that term if your very own mother got pregnant with the person she loved but had not married.."
Deber, therein lies the problem. During the initiation of Sarah on the national stage, along with a visibly pregnant Bristol, Team Palin insisted that they were " in love" and "planning marriage for a long time" and Palin seemed to just love, love Levi. There he was.. in a nice new suit, holding Bristol’s hand, and both smiling lovingly for the cameras.
But then, the Titanic sank, the Palins quickly dumped him, and Levi says they were " active " for around three months. Sometimes with protection, sometimes not. Say what??? Three months is all? What happened to " a long time" ? Sometimes they were doing the deed in the Palin home , according to Levi. No real mention of love or a marriage or goals for a future together. Nothing. That is what is called " hooking up" and leads to being " knocked up". Pure and raw sex. He admits this on national television along with that he is now ostracized by the Palin compound. So, tell. Why should we believe the Palins who once just loved the kid dearly but now that the national arena is past, want nothing to do with him. This smells worse than three day old fish.
deber, I shall impart on you the wisdom my mother gave me and which I will pass on to my daughters "If you are mature enough to have sex, then you d*mn well better be mature enough and smart enough to obtain the appropriate birth control and USE IT, otherwise, you are just stupid!"
As a mother, yes, it is my job to protect my kids. But that does not mean picking up the pieces AFTER they screw up, it’s giving them the tools and wisdom to help keep them from screwing up!
No one can make a statement like that, Maggie, because we have no proof. We don’t know if she ever thought about using Levi. It seems to me that Bristol and Levi didn’t want to get married. My guess is because of his family problems and the fact that he wasn’t ready to settle down with a wife and a baby.
I would never use another person to further a cause and I am assuming that Sarah Palin feels the same way. However, none of us have any proof …. we can only assume how she is "thinking."
When a publisher thinks a book doesn’t measure up, they do not go forward, and the writer does not receive the full advance (which is always paid in stages.) It is unlikely that Palin’s book will displease the publisher; it is, after all, the Christian imprint of Harper Collins — and that is Palin’s base. There will also be a professional writer engaged, because the former governor is not equipped to write a book. (Now before the right wing whack jobs go after me for that remark, many substantial people engage writers for books - executives, theatrical people; that statement was not directed at Palin’s ideas or intelligence.) Usually when people work with ghosts or co-writers, they get together, talk, and the writer may record it or take notes. The writer will clean up syntax and perhaps turn some incoherences into what she actually meant.
Re the "knocked up" business, that is clearly a red herring and just another excuse to criticize me. One of the strong points of my writing is that I use language that most people use in conversation. This is why I have an extensive on-line readership and am carried in 200 newspapers, and have entree to any magazine I choose to write for.
While we’re at it, I sincerely regret the tone of some of Ms. Palin’s fans. They are either ignorant of or unconcerned with the reality of her situation. I am particularly tired of the woman whose icon is a horse’s head. Actually the hindquarters would be more representative of her posts. She is gratuitously insulting, which never makes for a good debate.
Margo
I am the poster. I appreciate your response. I enjoy your articles. You are soooooooooo on target!
You have blown that pathetic group out of the water!
Margo , mediocrity always attacks excellence!
Margo…..lol…the horsehead comment got me…as it was the very thought that was going through my head as I read a response to my own posted comment!
I’ve noticed the "fans" of Mrs. Palin and the "right wing whack jobs" you speak of are again talking without saying anything (as Sarah regulary seems to do). I cannot fathom why so many choose an "icon" who is a public servant incapable of forming a complete sentence without a cheesey wink and a thumbs-up to the crowd. If she were more polished in her speeches, if she spent more time on serious issues, while keeping closed-mouthed about personal family issues (giving the evil media monsters out there less ‘ammunition’ against the poor little Palins of the world), and educate herself on politics rather than how to maintain an Entertainment Tonight mentality, then perhaps people would take her more seriously as a candidate…alas, I do not see that any of that happening anytime in the any future.
Regardless of her reasons for quitting, and I could not care less what they might be, it says quite a bit about a person who wants to control the Free World but can’t handle the job at McDonalds for a few more months. And I don’t buy her BS about the millions she will be spending by staying on….the money she spends doing her job should be calculated, not frivolous, as she surely has learned over the short time she has been a Governor. She could have taken the high road, gained respect by staying on, and left with a certain dignity. Instead, she insulted every other lame duck representative who chose to stick it out no matter what and do the job they were hired to do until it was time to hand over the reigns.
It frightens me that she might seriously be considering running for President-not because I fear she might win, but because there are far too many people out there who vote strictly party and not for who is actually the more intelligent and qualified person to run our country and handle foreign policy (that is, beyond seeing Russia from your house).
Love your work!