Time -- Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
My sweet librarian sister brought this to my attention the other day:
[John] Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.
The incident occurred while Palin was mayor of Wasilla, AK.
My initial response was to categorize this as hearsay, because there is a lot of false information flying around during election time. Remember the infamous Obama emails? Despite my skepticism, I investigated a little (librarians are not prone to lying). To my surprise after a simple online search, I found the allegation showed up a number of times, including in the Time article listed above.
Palin was also accused of bringing "big-city politics" into Wasilla, AK (pop. 9780), "big-city" meaning issues like abortion. The article states:
Vicki Naegele was the managing editor of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman at the time. "[Stein] figured he was just going to run your average, friendly small-town race," she recalls, "but it turned into something much different than that." Naegele held the same conservative Christian beliefs as Palin but didn't think they had any place in local politics.
"I just thought, That's ridiculous, she should concentrate on roads, not abortion," says Naegele.
There are examples of this nonsensical voter reasoning in rural Western Montana also. A friend recalled to me her run for County Clerk of Ravalli County. During the clerk debate (I'm not sure what people running for County Clerk debate), my friend brought up ways to improve the department that were well received and people praised her ideas afterwards. One of the individuals after telling her what a good job she did followed up the compliment with, "But are you Pro-Life?"
Earlier, I dispensed a little advice for McCain. Now, here are a few wise words for Palin: Don't piss off the librarians! Those ladies in the wire-rimmed glasses and hair buns are scary! They are the keepers and protectors of the written word and wield power you and I can only dream of. They are skilled in the arts of subversion and your name is on their radar. Be afraid Sarah Palin, be very afraid!
5 comments:
Wow, I never realized librarians were so scary! Of course I do know one that used to stamp her foot pretty soundly and make loud threats to her brothers that she was going to do something -- scream or call her mother..... -- if they didn't leave her room post haste.
Yeah!...I know someone like that also.
CNN -- Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs
A good article diving into Palin's religious beliefs.
Key points: Pastor says issues of belief could be misunderstood, played upon by people (there is no mis-understanding); Speaking of the troops in Iraq, Palin says they were sent on "task that is from God" (yes, that's right, the Lord wants Americans to make war on other nations)
USA Today -- Palin Did Not Ban Books In Wasilla As Mayor
A follow up article. In the articles I have seen, no one actually said she was able to ban books in Wasilla, AK.
If you don't live in Wasilla, it doesn't matter whether she was able to succeed in banning books; the salient issue is that she wanted to do so.
Someone ought to ask Laura Bush what she thinks of a mayor asking a librarian about banning books, and then trying to fire her.
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