Sarah Palin: Book Banner
Galleycat and Time Magazine are reporting that during her rocky tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin sought to remove many books from Wasilla's public library. When the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, refused to do so, Palin tried (but ultimately failed) to have her fired.
The full story on this isn't out yet--Baker, for instance, hasn't commented--but local news reports from the 90s confirm the bones of the story.
LATE UPDATE: The list of books Palin wanted removed that has been circulating isn't well-sourced. Hopefully we'll eventually find out the whole story, including the titles she wanted removed, but for now I'll reserve further comment.
posted by John Green @ Wednesday, September 03, 2008
34 Comments
34 Comments:
I guess an ultra-conservative could be angry at Catch-22 on the grounds that it makes war seem...you know...bad, but that's just what my ideological biases against conservatives would lead me to point out.
I myself am actually angry at my entire interlibrary loan system for not containing any one of the recommended books on mentalism/cold-reading (there are 19 titles recommended on authority Ian Rowland's website)...although I suppose it's possible that knowledge of that kind could be legitimately considered dangerous by mainstream authority....
-Nedfighter Jordon "with-an-'o"
I didn't really like her as soon as I found out she was against gay marriage. But now to find out she's a book banner! Now I really really really don't like her.
When I'm a librarian, I'm going to guard those kind of books with my life, They'd have to go through me to take Harry Potter away from kids!
Go Obama '08. :)
A Wrinkle in Time? I loved that one when I was younger but was overwhelmed in the subsequent ones in the series by the overt religious view point, thought it was heavy handed. I find it a little humorous a book I felt sort of shoved religion down my throat is on the banning list.
I had a dream last night that the Repubs voted to remove Palin from the ticket. I did not watch one seond of the 'Lican convention, opting for Freaks and Geeks instead. Looking forward to seeing you and Hank in Seattle!
Too bad Looking for Alaska wasn't published at the time or you could have made the list. After all, your book is pornographic and blasphemous.
Although I am entirely against book banning, I would advise you (as a librarian) about the possible source for that book list you posted. It originated in the comments at Librarian.net, but was quickly shoved off as false. Other news sites and blogs have been using the same list and stating the source is Librarian.net. I apologize if I am in error and the list you found is credible. I thought you would like to be aware that the most common one circulating right now is false.
Librarian.net blog post with this list: http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/
The list is in comment #11 and comments #21 and #22 give pretty good evidence why it it false.
A former McCain advisor (Mike Murphy) and a Reagan speechwriter (Peggy Noonan) are caught on tape criticizing McCain's choice of Palin:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html
Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste that. The video hasn't been reported on yet by the NYT or some other such major news source, but it seems authentic.
oh my my... book banning is awful. I can't see how someone would want to make a decision for many based on the opinion of one. If you don't want your kid to read the book don't let them. Don't impose your beliefs on people you don't even know. I had a teacher who in class told me i was reading inappropriate books and decided to give all the parent's of kids in my class a call. This was all because she found her daughter reading one and didn't approve. She made me tell her all of the recent books I had read so she could read them herself and see how "appropriate" they were. It was awful. She made me feel like a bad person for reading books I had chosen. What you read is a personal decision. I would hate someone to make it for you.
That is... fowl.
If the republicans are our unfortunate winners for this coming election, let's hope she follows along with that "the vice president does nothing" rule.
That's one of those things I consider to be an anti-freedom.
clearly she thinks that thinking for oneself is a problem. Censorship alone (plus a lot of other things in this case) is enough to lose my vote.
I appreciated the comment in the NYT that Palin said that her talk of banning books was "rhetorical."
Wow, Ms. Palin. Wow.
Oh this is not good. Not at all.
Well, this just makes me wish more that I was old enough to vote for Obama. Argh.
Wow.. that itself is enough to make me not want to vote for her. Banning books? What the crap. I'd like to see more info on this though, so maybe it will unfold in the next few days.
The idea of book banning gives me the heebie jeebies. As been said, if you don't want to read a book, don't read it. But don't stop others from reading it if they should so choose. Surely this is a fundemental breech of the freedom of speech? By banning a book, they are silencing an author, therefore curtailing their first amendment rights.
Sadly not a surprise. I'm feeling hopeful that this choice was the beginning of the end of McCain's run. If McCain/Palin wins, I'm pleading with the rest of my family to move up here to Canada with me.
This is from the Wikipedia article on Sarah Palin (Wikipedia being, admittedly, not the most reliable source:
"According to Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who observed City Council, Palin also brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting, but did not follow through with the idea."
hmmm....I'll have to find out more about this. I am a conservative libertarian vegetarian hybrid. I have liked what I have seen of Palin thus far-minus this. I don't think any books should be banned from anyplace...
If Sarah Palin becomes the VP, I say we have a good old fashion reading protest in front of the White House. Lets get our lawn chairs and sit there on the lawn of the White House. We will not move, we will raise our books highly and that librarian she got fired is welcome to come and read a book out loud!
Anon, may I join you and bring these book deckchairs with me that I saw in a shop once? You can see photos if you click my name link.
While it would be an awful lot of fun, I'm.. er.. sort of hoping it doesn't have to happen due to her not becoming VP.
I really hope this story isn't true. Book banning is something I really cannot stomach unless it's something like the Anarchist's Cookbook, which is completely understandable.
Eek, possibly the most sure-fire way for me to dislike a person is for that person to ban books.
Here's the real list of books she wanted banned:
1) Bridge To Terabithia, Part II: Thanks, But No Thanks
2) What To Expect The First Year: High School Edition
3) Mike Mulligan and the Solar Powered High Efficiency Oil-Independent Steam Shovel
4) Sarah Plain and Tall and Pregnant
5) Memoirs of a White House Amnesiac
6) The Astonishing Life of Sarah Barracuda: Part 1, A Pox on Liberals!
7) The Outsiders: Two-Bit and Dally Go To Washington
8) Are You There, Godless Democrats? It's Me, Sarah.
9) Sarah Palin and the Pro-Choice Hillary-Loving Feminist Voting Block of Doom
10) The Tale of Desperation: Being the Story of a Maverick, a Beauty Queen, A Nation in the Soup, and Long Tangled Threads of Lies
11) An Abundance of Crackers
12) From the Mixed-Up Medical Files of Sarah H. Palin
13) The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things You Whiners Can Kiss
I see you have the whole "lets smear Sarah Palin with unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo" thing down pat.
if this is "lets smear Sarah Palin with unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo" then apparently the Anchorage Daily News is guilty as well. http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html
Unsubstantiated? Hmm, let's see:
- She WAS pregnant and had a baby, which she nicely displayed during the convention (see transcript);
- Her daughter IS pregnant, by the family's own admission (see convention transcript again);
- She DID say "Thanks, but no thanks" on the Bridge to Nowhere (see convention transcript again);
- She DID list offshore drilling, oil, natural gas, and clean coal as her top energy alternatives, before the words "solar" or "wind" ever left her lips (see convention transcript again);
- She DID call herself and John McCain "Washington outsiders" (about a dozen times);
- She is NOT fond of Democrats or liberals, by her own admission;
- She DID win a local beauty contest;
- Her medical records ARE mysteriously mixed up, though whether that's intentional or not is debatable (and not something I mentioned);
So I guess the "unsubstantiated rumors" and "innuendo" part of my post would be what? That she might or might not be counting on some Hillary voters swinging her way?
Oh, I guess there was also the "cracker" comment. But that's just a plain old-fashioned jab.
Hi John,
Here is what the Atlanta Journal Constitution has dug up on the book-banning issue.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/09/05/palin_book_banning.html
Best,
Tricia (The Miss Rumphius Effect)
And let’s not forget that our current Democratic VP hopeful, Joe Biden, is arguably the most famous political plagiarist, forced out of the 1988 presidential race because of it. That wasn’t the first time he was caught; he failed a course in law school because he lifted five pages! Not much for librarians, authors, or lovers of the truth to praise here either.
Mary Ellen Baker should of been McCain's VP she stood up to Sarah Palin Mary Ellen is the pitbull.
Banning books is just immoral and a horrid way to censor people. If you don't want to be privy to a certain subject, then don't read the book. Censoring certain material is just a way for the government to control us and strip us of our freedom. Can't wait to see John and Hank in Boston on Oct. 17th!!!! Obama '08 for the win.
John,
I love how you use your blog to engage people in politics, especially young people. I just want to tell you I think that is awesome.
Honestly, my question for you... Do you think McCain and Palin could win this election? And what will happen to the country when hell subsequently freezes over and the entire civilized world implodes upon itself? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
- Ms P.
Please, do you people believe everything you read. I am the Messiah - do you believe that? No, because the Muslim dude is. The book list is phoney. Get off your lazy butts and do some research yourself. The Imbecile that started the vile rumor opied the list from Imbecile http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html. Check for yourself. While you're at it, check the dates the 4 Harry Potter books were published. Clue: all after the 1996 library incident. Please, please, for the sake of the Republic, do not take everything you hear or read as being true, especially from the news media. If you don't educate yourself, please do not vote.
www.factcheck.org is a website with no political affiliation that researches rumors and comments related to the election. I think I remember seeing something about this on there, you might want to check it out.
Well said, diviney, and thanks to michal for the factcheck.org site - very good, informative site.
And to gatemouth - great list of books there - very witty. And the guy who posted after you, chinaskee, was commenting on John Green's post, not your list.
On Palin banning books, see FactChecker.Org. They note the following: She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.
As a writer, a reader, and a lover of free speech I think it's important to seek the facts...
Interesting. Internet rumors control the minds of, not only teenagers, but loved and respected authors as well. Way to dig for truth, you guys.
1. Palin's 'Banned Books' List Is a Hoax
After reports surfaced that Sarah Palin had sought to ban books from her local library when she became mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a list of the books she supposedly wanted to ban began appearing on a number of Web sites.
The list included such classics as "Huckleberry Finn," "Silas Marner," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." It even found its way to a blog linked to the My.BarackObama Web site, where it was claimed that the list "comes from the records of the Wasilla library," and was distributed via e-mail by a Palin foe.
The truth is, Palin never compiled that or any other list of books to be removed from the Wasilla library, various sources have reported.
In fact, several of the books on the list, including four "Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling, were not yet published when Palin took over as Wasilla's mayor in 1996.
It turns out that the list is a reproduction of a generic list of "Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States," which has been on the Internet for years, according to conservative pundit Michelle Malkin.
The original source of the hoax is unclear. But the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska reported that when Palin first became mayor in 1996, she asked the city librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, what her response would be if Palin asked her to remove some books from the library's collection. She did not mention any specific books. Emmons responded by saying she would resist all efforts to ban books.
Emmons subsequently received a letter from Palin informing her that she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for firing, according to the Daily News.
"The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go," the paper reported. "After a wave of public support for [Emmons], Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job."
Yeah, I can TOTALLY see how y'all mixed up lies and reality. Happens ALL the time.
Wake up America ! Mc Cain is playing us for fools picking Palin as his running mate. Please don't let him.
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