No one really knows what's inside Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, which hits stores Tuesday. The AP has obtained a copy, and published this story, which suggests that the book is a gauzy, campaign-heavy memoir that "follows Palin from childhood to her departure last summer as Alaska governor" -- and not much else. Palin, we are told, has a lot of folksy gossip to share in her book, but little to say of substance. John Ziegler, the director of Media Malpractice who has also read the book, was the first to say that the AP report is inaccurate:
[T]he book that the AP supposedly read sounds like it is full of self-serving whining and almost totally lacking in substance. That is not a remotely accurate evaluation of Going Rogue. First of all, there are far more interesting and important revelations in the book (I have noticed in my own experience with my film "Media Malpractice" that one of the most insidious forms of media bias against conservative projects is to paint them as boring) that the AP has for some reason chosen to totally ignore. Second of all, Palin's analysis of what really happened with the now infamous (and totally misunderstood) Couric and Gibson interviews could not be LESS whiny - it is instead full of fact-filled writing that finally provides the full story of what really happened in the way that only a book can do (my documentary, which I am told Palin handed to her collaborator and said "here, this is what happened" could only provide a foundation of understanding that is magnified in much greater detail in Going Rogue).
Today, Palin herself weighed in with this message: "The AP and a number of subsequent media outlets are erroneously reporting the contents of the book. Keep your powder dry, read the book, and enjoy it!" So, who are we to believe? Palin and her defenders, or the AP? Well, a report out tonight says that Palin's book includes criticism of bailouts, the Obama economic program, the Obama climate-change agenda, and the stimulus. Sounds pretty substantive to me. Which Palin defender published these snippets in order to combat the media portrayal of Going Rogue as shallow? Why, it was the AP -- in the course of a ridiculous "Fact Check" of Palin's book. (Among the "facts" in this piece: "Few politicians own up to wanting a high office for the power and prestige of it, and in this respect, Palin fits the conventional mold.") We'll have to wait until Tuesday to see the actual contents of the book. But, by the AP's own biased reporting, it seems that it will be filled with policy indeed. (SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION ALERT: While waiting for Going Rogue, check out The Persecution of Sarah Palin!)