Going Rogue

Lots of chatter about the book; appearances with Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey, some spoofs, even some foregone factchecking, but noticeably absent from most of the criticism and hype is a simple, overlooked fact: she didn't write it.

This bears frequent repeating, in the time-honored tradition of celebrity memoirs a paid hack ghostwriter shoulders the bulk of the work, sometimes even getting second billing. In this case, there's no way to ever know which parts are Palin's and which are co-author Lynn Vincent's: regardless of anything else in the contents the first lie is right there on the front cover. It might be common practice but it's unethical at best.

Somebody should tell her to "quit makin' things up."

And maybe not the best choice for a title:

rogue (rg) n.

1. An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.

2. One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.

3. A wandering beggar; a vagrant.

4. A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd.

5. An organism, especially a plant, that shows an undesirable variation from a standard.

“I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.” - Sarah Palin, 2006

*Update II 11/16: Cross-posted at Alaska Report and Mudflats!