173. "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin" by Frank Bailey, Ken Morris, and Jeanne Devon

Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years is Frank Bailey's mea culpa for his part in the excesses, abuses, and vindictiveness of Palin's Alaska administration. During his four years with Palin, Bailey worked on her gubernatorial campaign, served on her cabinet, pursued her enemies, weathered her moods, and acted on her personal vendettas.

Bailey was the type of person to whom Palin most appealed: a committed Christian and staunch Republican who believed she could effect important change for her state. The book chronicles the many decisions he made that he now regrets, and the "slippery slope" mentality that allowed him to go from being committed to integrity to violating his own ethical and moral standards. He talks about how his family suffered, how much time he devoted to Palin, how she demanded absolute loyalty from her supporters but was always willing to sacrifice them to save herself. Using e-mails, he documents how she consistently betrayed staff members who followed her and her husband's directives, if those staff members were caught and threatened to embarrass her administration. He talks about the toll on her family, her apparently cavalier attitude toward her children, and her decision to accept the VP nomination even though it meant revealing her 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy to the world.

Bailey comes across as believable, sincere, and in some ways still naive. He defines himself as a "Fox News conservative" and is open about how he violated his own faith and moral principles. He takes responsibility for his own actions and choices. Without assigning blame or sounding bitter, he wonders about the thought processes that enable Palin and her husband to operate the way they do.

This is an eye-opening book. Highly recommend for anyone who still thinks Palin has any Presidential qualities, is anything more than a lip-service Christian, is a good mother, or has any integrity.