Why 'Rogue' is a better book than 'Dreams' ~ By Jack Cashill

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Jack Cashill Posted: November 19, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 A few weeks back, the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, said of Barack Obama, "This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln." Landesman was not alone in his praise. This month's GQ has a faux-exhaustive article on "the untold story of the first man since Teddy Roosevelt to serve as author in chief." In truth, however, if Teddy Roosevelt came back to life today, he would find that he would have much more in common with Sarah Palin than Barack Obama, both as a fellow adventurer and as a fellow writer. I am not being ironic here: Palin's new memoir, "Going Rogue," is superior to the 1995 memoir that made Obama's reputation, "Dreams From My Father." A clue as to why can be found in one choice moment from "Dreams." At the time, 1988, community organizer Obama was contemplating law school, and he announced his potential choices as "Harvard, Yale, Stanford." What makes any narrative compelling is when the protagonist confronts obstacles and overcomes them through force of will and character. But when a mediocre student with LSAT scores too humble to reveal can casually limit his law school choices to Harvard, Stanford and Yale, the reader winces. It is as if the good witch told Dorothy to click her heels together on day one and skip the damn yellow brick road. There is no drama here. In fact, Obama's career has been greased by affirmative action and its bastard offspring – "diversity" – from prep school on. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]