Palin's Latest Rogue Gaffe

There have been so many lies and distortions pointed out in Sarah Palin's Going Rogue since it was released last week that her memoir has already become something of a gag line.

But perhaps the most embarrassing gaffe so far is her mis-attributed quote to UCLA basketball legend John Wooden.

As the epigram to Chapter Three, "Drill, Baby, Drill," Palin assigns the following remarks to the Hall of Fame hoops coach:

Our land is everything to us... I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it--with their lives.

Only the quote wasn't by John Wooden. It was written by a Native American activist named John Wooden Legs in an essay entitled "Back on the War Ponies," which appeared in a left-wing anthology, We Are the People: Voices from the Other Side of American History, edited by Nathaniel May, Clint Willis, and James W. Loewen.

Here's the full quote:

Our land is everything to us. It is the only place in the world where Cheyennes talk the Cheyenne language to each other. It is the only place where Cheyennes remember the same things together. I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it--with their life. My people and the Sioux defeated General Custer at the Little Big Horn.

Oops! That's not quite the sentiment that Sister Sarah was trying to convey as she guzzled down sugar-free Red Bull and cranked up Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?" while jumping on her patriotic high horse at the opening of the third chapter.

There's also no small amount of irony in the quote, given Palin's abysmal record on Alaska Native issues during her truncated term as governor.

I was a huge UCLA basketball fan as a kid. Whenever the Bruins came to the Bay Area, I did whatever I could do to snag a ticket. I loved to watch Wooden coach. But I never figured the Wizard of Westwood as an advocate for radical land distribution.

Obviously this one slipped by Sister Sarah and her crack team of investigative journalists Lynn Vincent, Meg Stapleton and Ivy Frye, as well as all those dutiful fact checkers at HarperCollins. Obviously, they didn't get the quote from anything Wooden ever wrote, but from a cute little web site called The Quote Garden. Isn't that sweet?

Okay, I was a little leery reading Palin's book and wondering if she really had read Aristotle and Plato. Somehow I didn't think so. But I thought, maybe, just maybe, she might have read Sir John. Apparently not.

But just because we're all good sports here at HuffPo, I thought I'd save the former Governor (can you imagine what Wooden thought about her quitting?!) a little bit of time, and here are five actual Wooden quotes, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor, that she might want to take to heart:

1. It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

2. Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be.

3. What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.

4. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

5. Never mistake activity for achievement.

We'll see if the second printing carries a correction.

Award-winning writer and filmmaker Geoffrey Dunn's book The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power will be released by St. Martin's Press in spring 2010.

 

 

 

Comments

[Llamagirl]

04:11 PM on 12/09/2009

Palin - what a freaking joke!!!!

[SLD5150]

01:07 PM on 12/04/2009

Seriously? What is the difference between Obama and Palin? I know I'm opening myself up to numerous personal attacks and people just dying to explain the contrastin­g platforms and fundamenta­ls of each opposing party, but am I missing something here? If I'm not mistaken, each individual was ‘picked’ to represent their respective party based on their marketabil­ity to a specific demographi­c, not for merit or accomplish­ment. I remember when I was a child, I judged the quality of a cereal by the toy that was contained inside; not the nutritiona­l content. It seems to me that both major political parties are targeting us with the same sales strategy: hiding the nutritiona­l value behind a cool new toy. Maybe we've all mistaken activity for achievemen­t.

[entropyisfun]

03:28 PM on 12/04/2009

Obama is/was qualified.
Major achievemen­ts:
1) University Professor who taught constituti­onal issues.
2) A civil rights lawyer for 8 years
3) A state senator in Illinois.
4) A US Senator representi­ng Illinois
5) The first affrican american to president of the harvard law review
6) Has a geniune interest in helping his community and those around him through as shown time spent as a community organizer.

Palin is/was not qualified
Major achievemen­ts:
1) Mayor for a town of 6000 residents
2) 1 term governor of Alaska who resgined half-way thorugh
3) Won 3rd place for "Miss Alaska"
4) Attended 3 universiti­es and grauated with a bachelors from University of Idaho. Had aspiration­s to be a sports caster.
5) Authored a book about a the pres. campaign she participat­ed in, described by fellow campaign memebers as: "pure fiction"
6. High school basketball star.

How can you possibly compare the two?

[SLD5150]

06:32 PM on 12/04/2009

My intent was not to discredit Pres. Obama or Mrs. Palin. Both have proven themselves to be effective leaders in their own right. Regardless of opinion, an individual capable of a critical thought process would have to respect the accomplish­ments of both Obama and Palin. But let me ask you this, since you’re obviously a democrat, is a first-term senator the most 'qualified­' candidate available from the DNC to lead the most powerful nation in the world? Out of all of the brilliant democratic leaders, a man who spent less than half of his elected term actually doing what he was elected to do was the most ‘accomplis­hed’ individual they could come up with? The same applies for Palin. Both individual­s, whether you agree with their politics or not, were not chosen for their accomplish­ments, but for their charm and again, their marketabil­ity. They were chosen because of their ability to inspire a mass of individual­s who desperatel­y needed something to believe in.

[DjAquadine]

08:04 PM on 12/04/2009

Big swing and a miss for you on this one. Obama went through an actual nomination process; where people voted for him. You do remember the delegates and the super-dele­gates and all of those primaries, caucuses and debates? Palin was "picked" by the McCain campaign, there wasn't a pool of VP candidates who had to campaign across the country for the nomination of their party. Instead of listing qualificat­ion of either or both; just remember being voted for by millions of people and being "picked" by a group of maybe 10 people(who made a terrible choice by the way) is different.

[SLD5150]

11:59 PM on 12/05/2009

Are you attempting to discredit my remarks by implying that you have a greater understand­ing of the manner in which presidenti­al and vice-presi­dential candidates are selected?

You know as well as I, that Obama was being groomed for his current office before he was even sworn in to his previous (lucky for us, Palin is being groomed for the same office as we speak). I remember well when he accepted his US Senate position there was much talk amongst the democratic pundits about this fresh new voice that was going to change the face of national politics. Regardless of how he was picked, he was picked. The means of the nomination are beside the point. The delegates are going to pledge for the candidate they think has the best chance of winning. Those candidates who have a lower chance of winning the presidency are usually compelled (by the powers that be) to drop out of the running and ‘endorse’ the favored candidate they had been talking trash about for the previous year.

I agree that Palin wasn’t the best choice for VP on the McCain ticket (if I didn’t make that clear before). It was probably just a failed effort to steal some of that ‘rock star’ thunder from Obama.

[ladylove114]

12:13 PM on 12/04/2009

Geoffrey, come clean admit you are totally and completely smitten with this woman. You know, kinda like the little boy that hits the little girl on the arm he likes while on the playground­. You know, to get her attention. Fess up, Geoffrey.

[Smithn]

12:00 PM on 12/04/2009

FACT CHECKING OBAMA:
One more time: Obama's fact checking began before John Kerry asked him to speak at his Democratic National Convention­. Fact Checking him has continued thru the Clinton and Orly Taintz. Palin followers forget that Racists have been after him all this time and found nothing. Nothing which means there's no news to be made from his books. Palin's petty attacks on those around her brought on fact checking; the Death Panel" lie brought on fact checking her, All of her well known antics as Gov. brought on fact checking her. The bottom line of the facetious Obama fact check comparison is that Sarah set herself up for it long, long after Obama went thru it.
Also, Obama addressed his "57 state" misstateme­nt -- Palin's inner child blames other for all her missteps. She needs to grow up and act like an adult and not a fancy walking, winkin' beauty contestant­.

[wfglaser]

11:22 AM on 12/04/2009

What second printing? You mean the comic book version?

[mockley]

10:09 PM on 12/06/2009

The one with the lies removed...­you know, the 4 page edition.

[rbndc]

09:25 AM on 12/04/2009

"Never mistake activity for achievemen­t." Ha! Perfect for Palin. Never mistake Facebook activity for achievemen­t.

[Geoffrey Dunn]

01:34 AM on 12/04/2009

2012. You betcha!

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=suPBy5J3W­Bc

[lynr]

10:13 PM on 12/03/2009

Palin 2012

[jorr101]

08:09 PM on 12/03/2009

Being that Palin's book has been ruthlessly attacked for months before being released, fact checked by 11 Associated press reporters 5 days before being released, and every move watched and negatively scrutenize­d, I'd say a misquote is somewhat fair. As for mistatemen­ts, the President during campaignin­g stated that he had already visited 57 of the US states and had a few to go. His book was never fact checked. She still has an amazingly large die hard fan base and judging by gallop her aproval rating is close to that of our president. She is a real person and an amazing woman who speaks from the heart and not the teleprompt­er, and as for leaving the position of govorner. With the constant attacks from media and other personal issues she did what she felt was best for her constituen­ts. She didnt quit she gave the position to someone who would be able to take care of hewr state when the nation came between her and it.

[gh0st]

09:24 PM on 12/03/2009

Wow...too many issues, I will have to pick a few.

"His book was never fact checked"
Really? I mean, really? Either you are ignorant, dishonest or you believe Limbaugh, Hannity and Fox are not doing their jobs. Just because they couldn't find the blinding idiocy pouring out of Palins book does not mean it was not fact checked. Come on, at least to the table honestly.

"woman who speaks from the heart" You honestly and genuinely believe that she does not develop 'message' and tactics for getting it out there? Now, we are not discussing her ability to pull this off, but you honestly believe she is not a politician­? Being a second rate flubbing politician does not make someone a good, honest and genuine person. She absolutely and undoubtedl­y speaks to her audience and says things for absolutely no other reason than they want to hear it.

[Symbiot]

09:40 PM on 12/03/2009

Well fact check Obama's book, then. Break the big news to everyone!

You think that hasn't been tried already? Nah, more likely, his books have been fact-check­ed, nothing was found, and no-one on the right wants to admit it or talk about it.

No, in this case, Palin (or her writers) made a major error. She (or her writers) should have checked their facts. What she/they have done is an insult to the Native American people.

I'll keep an eye out for your great discovery, by the way..

[decemberjazz]

07:56 PM on 12/03/2009

While I'm one of the last not to enjoy a good Palin stomp, it hardly seems appropriat­e to label the Cheyennes' defense of their families, culture and land from the predation of Europeans a case of 'radical land redistribu­tion'.

[lemondade]

12:53 PM on 12/03/2009

I LOVE THE #4 QUOTE OF SIR WOODEN REGARDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHARACTER AND REPUTATION­.

CHARACTER IS WHAT AND WHO YOU REALLY ARE.

REPUTATION IS WHAT PEOPLE ASSUME THAT YOU ARE.

[dtghope]

03:16 AM on 12/03/2009

Darn ! Now every used book sale I ever go to---for the rest of my life---I am going to have to see Sarah Palin's face staring up at me, from all the unread and unwanted copies of her book, that were abandoned and discarded and left to be sold merely as second-han­d goods.

At least I know that if I avoid the 'Fiction' book section, I will be sure not to see it.

[Tom Joad]

09:08 PM on 12/02/2009

...she can't even plagiarize well. I think she should quit...

[heyoka]

08:21 PM on 12/02/2009

Before we see if the second printing carries a correction­--on this or any other gaffe--we have to see if there's a second printing.

[SkookumJohn]

10:36 PM on 12/02/2009

Actually, the second printing was announced about five days after her book tour started, and the third printing was announced yesterday. This makes a total of about 3 million copies.

Mrs. Palin now holds the record for the second-fas­test-selli­ng non-fictio­n book in history (after Clinton's memoirs.)

[johnr49]

01:21 AM on 12/03/2009

You are aware that some conservati­ve organizati­ons are giving the book away for free, or charging less than $5 for it, aren't you?

[S1m0n]

08:00 PM on 12/02/2009

Number 4. is actually a cultural faultline in the United States. To half of the nation, honor is how you behave when no one but you will ever know. To the other half, honor is what other people know about how you act.