In Sarah Palin'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's smartly written, pitch-perfect political exposé is unapologetically biased and leaves no stone unearthed in trying to crack the riddle of one of the most enigmatic cause célèbres the country has ever known. Bachelor writes: "Many sideline observers of Sarah's upward and onward trajectory express concern about all the things she doesn't know. It may, however, be time to also be disturbed about what Sarah thinks she does know." In eight fully annotated, thought-provoking chapters such as "Sarah Palin's Politics: A New World Recipe?," "At Issue: The Ingredients," and "Sarah Palin's Patriotism: Which Way to Slice It?," 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: "Some 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." Beyond Palin's ability to rally fellow countrymen with fiery rhetoric, Palin's plainspoken battle cries are often hollow of meaning and intent. Bachelor contends that Palin didn't get where she is by having "facts in her toolbox," 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 - or both. Bachelor takes a fairly liberal approach in her inquiries into Palin's sense of patriotism and religious freedom, as well as Palin's stance on priority issues, but this author ultimately lets readers resolve Palin'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'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'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: "We 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." 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's to making sure all Americans have a slice.
Rosemary Bachelor started her career as a journalist and feature writer with the Gannett Group of newspapers. While with Gannett she was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning journalism team honored for a series of articles titled "On the Road to Integration." Rosemary has interviewed such personalities as Duke Ellington, Neil Diamond and Malcolm Forbes, as well as CEOs of Woolworth, Merrill Lynch, First Boston Corp., TWA and other companies. She has also interviewed editors at Seventeen and U. S. News and World Report, people in film production and distribution, and an animal importer who took her to lunch accompanied by a chimpanzee in a three-piece suit. They sat at a window table facing the excavation site for what would become the World Trade Center in New York. After leaving Gannett, Rosemary moved to rural Maine and established her own publishing company, building a reputation as a historian and genealogical publisher. An active journalist, Rosemary has authored more than 500 articles appearing in print and online. She is a graduate of the genealogy seminar sponsored by the National Archives and the National Genealogical Society, has led workshops at nationwide genealogical conferences, and has authored articles published in the Mayflower Quarterly and other publications devoted to history and genealogy. She is currently editor of the eight-volume Rice Family Book Project. Rosemary was born in Michigan, grew up in Pennsylvania and now lives on Florida's Atlantic coast. An ivy league university graduate, she is an avid and prize-winning downhill ski enthusiast, loves everything French and escapes to a condo within the old walled city of Quebec to do much of her writing and editing. Rosemary, who is also an ordained deacon in The Old Catholic Church, came out of semi-retirement to write this book on Sarah Palin. It is her first book on a political personality. Readers interested in Rosemary's blog called "Spinning Sarah" should check in at her website, http: //www.sarahpalinanalysis.com. The website also has links to some of Rosemary's online articles, including several about Sarah Palin's ancestry.
