Hotline On Call

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer explains her long fight over Arizona's controversial immigration law in her new memoir, "Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media and Cynical Politicos to Secure America's Border," which was released on Tuesday. Coming in at 228 pages, the book is hardly longer than its title, but in that space Brewer takes on the Obama administration and the mainstream media, describes her reaction to the horrific shooting in Tucson on January 8, in which her friend, Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured, all while making discussing immigration and border security.

The book is full of references to another female governor, down to Brewer's hairstyle on the book cover right next to a sticker, reading: "Foreword by Governor Sarah Palin." Brewer writes: "I am not the first governor to find herself in a no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners battle with Washington and the liberal media. But in Arizona, our fight is different, and all the more frustrating for it." Yes, just as Palin had her Alaska, Brewer emphasizes the values of her home state, writing of her opinion on border security: "(It is) simple and direct. Kind of like me. Kind of like Arizona."

The Hotline relied on the time-honored practice of using the "excerpt lottery," in which page numbers are chosen based upon recent winning lottery numbers from various states. Also check out our recent review of Levi Johnston's book, using the same method. The results:

"The best comparison I could think of was: This must be what it's like to be waterboarded. ... Advice, objections, encouragement, discouragement, fan letters and death threats were coming at me so fast I could barely breathe. ... Manning the buckets were the national media, the unions, civil rights groups, business groups and political operatives all the way up to the president himself. Was it torture? I never did ask Dick Cheney, but I'll tell you this: It was not an experience I want to repeat" -- p. 003 (N.Y.'s "Midday New York Numbers," 10/17).

"I was temporarily (and uncharacteristically!) speechless" - p. 080 (Ill.'s "Midday 3," 11/2).

"A strange cast of characters -- everyone from the Reverend Al Sharpton to Hollywood actress Eva Longoria to former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka -- was invited, but not one sitting governor and not one current member of Congress. I told the press that I considered it a 'snub' that I wasn't invited. Not that I was so eager to return to the Obama White House and be lectured again -- been there, done that" - p. 213 (Minn.'s "Daily 3," 11/1).

"(The Secret Service confiscated) our cell phones and cameras. Too bad we weren't illegal aliens, or we could have sued them" - p. 162 (Mo.'s "Midday Pick 3," 11/2).

"Then I thought - being Pollyanna again -- that I would try to address their concerns" - p. 120 (N.J.'s "Midday Pick 3," 11/2).

"This guy had clearly seen too many movies in which menacing Gestapo agents demanded to see a terrified refugee's papers" - p. 147 (Mo.'s "Pick 3 Midday," 10/23).

"Standing on the podium on election night before a crowd of boisterous supporters, I knew this wasn't about me. It was about America. At first I decided to have a little fun with it."
"'Tonight we foreclosed on a house -- the one that used to be run by Nancy Pelosi!'"
"The crowd erupted in cheers."
"Then I got serious."
"'Here in Arizona, we have not forgotten what our state and our nation are made of,' I said, my voice almost breaking with the emotion I felt'" - p. 13 (Puerto Rico's "Pega 2," 11/1).