The Wacko from Wasilla . . .

WACKO, INDEED. SLATE has a fascinating article by David Weigel, "Rogue Author", which describes aspects of and the controversy over Joe McGinniss' new book on the life and times of Mama Grizzly, aka Sarah Palin. Conservatives are upset, but the author is unrepentant. Adding to the fun is the appearance of the book on Doonesbury.

Joe McGinniss is no longer surprised at the hate engendered by his new biography, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin. "Did you see this crazy blogger, Stacy McCain, saying he's starting a legal fund for Todd Palin?" he asks. The blog post appeals for $25 donations to SarahPAC to "help defray Todd's legal expenses when he shows up at McGinniss's first book signing and pounds that scurvy worm into a bloody pulp."

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Palin won office in Wasilla with the help of evangelical Christians. "On her first day in office, Sarah changed the screen saver on the mayor's official computer to read GOD LOVES YOU SARAH PALIN." Phil Munger, whose band played at a commencement for homeschoolers that Palin spoke at, reports on her creationist views, saying she spoke of seeing "pictures that showed human footprints inside dinosaur tracks."

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This story pales before the already infamous Glen Rice anecdote. In 1987, according to McGinniss, Palin slept with the University of Michigan basketball star while she was a reporter for Anchorage's KTUU-TV and told friends that it was a mistake. "The thing that people remember is her freak-out," says an anonymous friend, "[and] how completely crazy she got: I fucked a black man! She was just horrified." Rice confirms the story to McGinniss, but he's puzzled by the secondhand report of regret. "Even after I left Alaska, we talked a lot on the phone."

What a sociopathic douchebag. Anyway, it's a great excuse to insert this wonderful song by the late, great Johnny Horton, who died way too soon. Although better known as a country/honky-tonk blues singer, Johnny had 3 huge pop hits, and they all went into the Top 10 within a six month period beginning with "Battle of New Orleans" in late '59, "Sink The Bismarck" in early '60 and the title song to the John Wayne film "North To Alaska" which peaked at #4 in October of 1960. Johnny died in an auto accident in November of 1960, killed by a drunk driver, while "North To Alaska" was still high on the charts.