That den of iniquity we know as The Wasilla Public Library. From my photo safari of Wasilla.
Book banning. This is just getting downright medieval. It’s out now that Sarah Palin, while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, tried to fire City Librarian Dorothy Emmons for not agreeing to remove “objectionable books” from the Wasilla Public Library. Dorothy Emmons, to her credit, and the credit of librarians everywhere, refused. Something about….which amendment was that?….oh, that’s right….the FIRST ONE.
Here’s what happened after Palin asked the librarian if she’d be “alright” with removing books that Palin found unacceptable.
According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and had to go.
Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.
The question everyone wants to know is, “What books was she trying to ban?” Unfortunately, no concrete information exists on this…yet. Emmons has not been reached for comment, but may be able to shed some light, especially since she now lives in another part of the state and is no longer in Wasilla, where perceived “Sarah bashing” can be risky.
But until then, I present for your literary amusement, a random selection of “the most harmful books of the 19th and 20th century” as compiled by Newt Gingrich’s conservative online cabal known as “Human Events”. Presumably, knowing what we do about Palin’s ideology, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume any or all of these would be on the hit list. (No link provided to Human Events because, trust me, …you don’t want to go there)
Das Kapital, The Feminine Mystique, The Communist Manifesto, The Course of Positive Philosophy, Beyond Good and Evil, Mein Kampf, On Liberty, Introduction to Psychoanalysis, Silent Spring, Coming of Age in Samoa and….wait for it…The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. And I’ll go ahead and do some wild speculation that the name Harry Potter may come up. It wouldn’t surprise me.
Ironically, the first time I remember Sarah Palin being portrayed in the national media was in a piece on the Daily Show where she was salaciously compared to a “naughty librarian.” I’d like to claim my very own Lloyd Bentsen moment right now and say to Sarah Palin, “I know librarians. Librarians are friends of mine. Governor, you’re no librarian.”
Mudflats 
Am I first ?
T’ hee hee hee hee….Governor, you’re no librarian. LOL
Keep it coming – and please make sure you let us know what’s supposed to be happening at 10am!! I’m at the edge of my seat
Seems like if she had her way there would be no need for a library proper, just a converted one room house with a bible in it.
Anybody see this yet??
Todd Palin’s former business partner files an emergency motion to have his divorce papers sealed. According to http://www.politicalbase.com/
the motion was denied.
I’d like to claim my very own Lloyd Bentsen moment right now and say to Sarah Palin, “I know librarians. Librarians are friends of mine. Governor, you’re no librarian.”
Oh mudracker of the muckflats, you are brilliant!
She is psychotic.
I am so pissed at the so called news media for being so tame about this. It is so transparent it’s a joke.
Why can’t they talk about her being a jihadist? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ypVSYoEKA
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
i think shes hot! 😉
THIS needs to get a lot of publicity. Americans don’t like censorship, no matter what their religious affiliation. I hope.
My husband called the naughty librarian thing before Jon Stewart. We had our little can of worms here on that one.
I hear tell there’s a bit of naughtiness and government intrigue within the Collected Works of William Shakespeare…
“Art made tongue-tied by authority.”
-WS
The divorce paper links are not working….not off of Andrew Sullivan’s blog, not off of Politicalbase….
the Republican ‘base’ is going to drive me to freebase.
I used to think Darth…er….Dick Cheney was the most dangerous man in America. Sarah Palin in the VP office will inherit the position and title.
You know muckraker…I just dont get it. Why are the only “news” people telling the truth, albiet in a funny way…people like Jon Stewart and Stephen C? Why oh why are CNN…MSNBC et al acting so damn stupid?
[…] widen the net by mentioning Mudflats, which looks at everybody with a gimlet eye (rightly so), and has posted some more today on this — regrettably the details are still murky, but it’s the best we’ve gotten yet. He […]
So weird – divorce links worked 20 mins ago…
Without your blog, I would have spent the last four nights in bed with a bottle of sherry. Actually, bottleS.
Silent Spring. Didn’t that book lead to a ban of DDT, which was causing American Eagle populations to decline? Newt is Anti-American Eagle!
Do you do requests? The Mat Maid Dairy scandal, please, please, please? It has all the earmarks, you should pardon the expression, of a Sarah Palin classic: firings, cronyism, and cheese futures.
Thank you thank you for keeping me off the Tio Pepe!
My wife and I both worked in a large Public Library while in College.
While I do have to say, librarians do have a very strange sense of humor (which is also generally very cerebral) they are almost universally protective of their literary charges. No single issue tends to get them more riled up than censorship – and when they get riled up, they can get positively hostile (reminded me of the Ents in LoTR).
I say kudos to Dorothy Emmons for standing up against book burners – especially in a town and region where it would be far easier to just “go with the flow”.
And I say SHAME on those who still think book banning is appropriate in this day and age.
Palin switched colleges 6 times in 6 years
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjGaAjQoUCE3VQ4N3M852LEdOVtwD9307GG00
No doubt she wanted to ban “It Takes A Village”.
I read on one site that she wanted books on dinosaurs banned from the children’s section, but there was no attribution so I can’t say that it’s valid.
However, I also read somewhere else that she was targeting books on evolution …
I know there are groups who work against such attacks. Maybe someone with some free time could contact them by e-mail and see if they ever were contacted by Wasilla folk concerned about attempts at censorship …
As a writer of horror fiction, I’m appalled at the thought of having this woman in the white house. Once again it boils down to the choices THEY want you to have, not the ones you should have. Palin is very, very scary.
Palingate: I read it was 5 in 6 years. Why hasn’t the MSM looked into this??
Those divorce links might not be working because of high traffic. They might not have the bandwidth capacity if the sites are fairly small.
What sort of deranged mind puts Silent Spring on the same list as Mein Kampf? I can’t decide if that is more insulting to marine biologists or Holocaust victims.
someone please explain to me why Rice is over talking to someone who blew up a airplane full of people? Is she an appeaser? Is she talking to our enemys? What’s her deal?
Gotta love it. From the ADN:
Palin’s lawyer tries to play Secret Service card
Gov. Sarah Palin’s lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, made an absurd threat in his battle to get the Legislature to back off its ethics investigation of the governor and her staff.
Van Flein said legislative investigator Steve Branchflower tried to call First Gentleman Todd Palin directly on “a secure and confidential line. This represents a serious security breach that we may be obligated to report to the Secret Service.”
Hello? Branchflower is acting on behalf of the Legislature. That’s a security breach?
Lawyers are supposed to vigorously represent their clients, but claiming that a legislative investigator’s phone call may be a security matter worthy of Secret Service attention is ridiculous.
Gov. Palin should keep her legal attack dog on a shorter leash.
Palinngate: I brought this up in a prior post. I think somebody should check whether she even has a degree. She said she majored in journalism because she “loves to write.” However, the school she supposedly graduated from has no record she either wrote for the school newspaper or did anything in the broadcasting department. Who majors in journalism that never wrote for the college paper? I only took a few journalism classes and as part of course requirements, I had to write for the paper. I just checked with both journalism and broadcasting majors i know and they all said they had to write for the paper and/or work in the broadcasting dept.
Funny, you should mention Harry Potter. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I like Sarah Palin. She reminds me of myself.
Professor Umbridge
In a interview yesterday with ABC News, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “has been in charge [of the Alaska National Guard] and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities.” But the Associated Press reports today that under Palin’s leadership, the Alaska National Guard has experienced a “crisis level” personnel shortage:
i found this over at “think progress” and thought you all would find it enlightening on the subject of ms. palin’s “commander in chief” qualifications:
[S]ix months ago, Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the Alaska Guard’s top officer, warned in an internal memo that “missions are at risk.” The lack of qualified airmen, Campbell said, “has reached a crisis level.”
The situation has improved since the March 1 memo was written, Campbell said Wednesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press — but not enough to eliminate his concern that shortages will result in the “burnout” of troops the Guard already has.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/04/palin-ak-guard-shortage/
and on a literary note — let’s learn a new word!
p a l i n o d e
1. a poem in which the poet retracts something said in an earlier poem.
2. a recantation.
Rhett, maybe she was misquoted, perhaps she “loves the right” is what she meant.
Mudflats, I love you and appreciate so much the info you are providing. I found you this past weekend while I was doing my own research on Palin since I hadn’t a clue. I only turned to blogs after learning enough in the Alaskan newspapers–since then, I have relied on yours exclusively. While I am behind on the comments and have much to read to get caught up, I do enjoy hearing from others and feel comforted by the seemingly diverse group of people commenting with their concerns.
If Pulitzers were given to blogs, you’d be my number one pick. (David Rossmiller’s insurance coverage blog would be a close second.)
As for banned books and besides my choice of her banning It Takes a Village because of Palin’s I Ran a Village, I’m thinking she also wanted The Job Description Handbook banned since it didn’t include a description of VP duties.
This power heady woman cannot be in a position of leadership in my country–her ignorance of basic law and her apparent lack of humility should be enough to scare every human on this planet. (She’s kind of a Bad Seed Forrest Gump figure.)
Thanks again for your investment of time!
i don’t know how this happened but my intro ended up in the middle of the quote, so here it is again so hopefully it makes more sense.
i found this over at “think progress” and thought you all would find it enlightening on the subject of ms. palin’s “commander in chief” qualifications:
In a interview yesterday with ABC News, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “has been in charge [of the Alaska National Guard] and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities.” But the Associated Press reports today that under Palin’s leadership, the Alaska National Guard has experienced a “crisis level” personnel shortage:
[S]ix months ago, Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the Alaska Guard’s top officer, warned in an internal memo that “missions are at risk.” The lack of qualified airmen, Campbell said, “has reached a crisis level.”
The situation has improved since the March 1 memo was written, Campbell said Wednesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press — but not enough to eliminate his concern that shortages will result in the “burnout” of troops the Guard already has.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/04/palin-ak-guard-shortage/
and on a literary note — let’s learn a new word!
p a l i n o d e
1. a poem in which the poet retracts something said in an earlier poem.
2. a recantation.
It seems like the MSM is taking four or five days to follow up on stuff once they hit the blogisphere or local papers. For example, CNN finally did something significant on Troopergate last night even though that was the very first thing to come out. It may take several more days before the affair mess gets into the MSM.
This must be a pretty expensive story to cover. Alaska is not exactly close to the major media centers. Has the NYT done any original reporting yet?
The wire services seem to be doing pretty well but they have people on the ground in Alaska all the time.
Rachel Madow called this the “drip drip drip” phase.
Some people are calling the Palin McCain team a bridge to nowhere. Not true. They’re a bridge back to the the Dark Ages. Roll out the new Christian inquisition!
Palin’s going to solve our nationwide library funding crisis by henceforth reducing all libraries to a single room with a table, a stack of Bibles, and the latest issue of the John Birch Society magazine.
Muckraker…it’s 10am…has the phone rang?
>> I think somebody should check whether she even has a degree.
Big deal! GWB has a degree from Harvard.
You were saying?
(note dripping sarcasm)
I *am* a librarian and we are outraged. First Amendment rights are kinda big in our circles. By an amazing coincidence, Banned Book Week is Sept. 27-Oct. 4. For a list of some frequently challenged books, try the American Library Association website. I like the idea of some of the Potter books (or – gasp! – Darwin) being on Palin’s list, but who knows.
madbluedog (09:56:08) :
Palingate: I read it was 5 in 6 years. Why hasn’t the MSM looked into this??
They are. MSNBC just had a Wash post reporter on, and the reporter said they are working this story
@Chicago….is having a degree a prerequisite for running for that office??
Again ~
With regard to SP asking how the librarian would respond to requests to ban books in the library: It really doesn’t matter what books and if there WAS a LIST.
What is important is that she wanted to know if the librarian would acquiesce to her request. The action could apply to any book she deemed inappropriate that was on a list or wasn’t on a list; now or in the future. It’s enough that she wanted to know.
Many kudos to the brave librarian who stood her ground against the nazi-esque mind-set that would want to limit speech.
This has been so disturbing – Like “Deja Vu all over again”, as the saying goes (wasn’t that Yogi Berra?) I remember thinking they could not possibly elect W over Al Gore. Wrong. I remember thinking, they can’t POSSIBLY re-elect W. Wrong. I am literally sick with worry for my three children that they will do the unthinkable. I live in crazy South Carolina (neo-con alley)
I need ALL the humor I can find to survive – Jon stewart and others are helping to keep me sane. Here is a pretty funny U TUBE – many of you may have already seen it but maybe some of you haven’t. It is The Ballad of Sarah Palin and it makes me laugh – maybe some of you will get a chuckle.
chunkalove – LOVE it! btw affairgate is now on Fark, and mudflats gets props from http://www.politicalbase.com
Oprah says she would love to have Palin on her show AFTER the elections. Go Oprah!
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3os.htm
The whole story is here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/3/9330/95523/364/584429
with extra cheesiness!
btw – in case you haven’t seen it, this is the dude that she alledgedly had the affair with: http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=3623
John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty”? Really? Dangerous? It’s one of the most important books of philosophy ever written.
Lord, don’t tell me. She shot DixieChicks CD’s also??? Or maybe just ran over them with a snowmobile????
Just read the ADN editorial on TrooperGate. You folks do good work. Leg is moving up the release date on their report.
I think Sarah may find, she can run, but she can’t hide.
When I look at her, or read about the latest scandal attached to her, the word “radioactive” comes to mind.
What the hell could have McCain been thinking?
England:
Not that I know of. I believe that Harry Truman was the last president without a university education. He is noted for having a boatload of commonsense.
cheers!
(where’s that tequila bottle?)
I want to thank you guys for providing these links and following up on stories as they appear. My internet access at work is somewhat limited, but I’ve been emailing myself the ones I can’t access here.
Think ‘Resume’, as to qualifications for a job, and while people get a cult mentality about political people running ‘To Get Hired’, that’s what vetting and campaigns are about, laying out your ‘Resume’ and ‘Experiance’, and if short on the ‘Experiance’ what in the ‘Resume’ may give insight to compensate.
“Sarah Palin’s lover exposed” with photo:
http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=3623
I really do need a scorecard now.
PalinGate,
The musical college thing is very interesting, but we need to let the people know that Sarah Palin went to college in Moscow.
Who is calling them dinosaurs! THOSE ARE JESUS HORSES GET IT RIGHT!!!1!!
🙂
This reported in the LA Time (then reprinted in the Vancouver Sun) that McCain who has campaigned “vigorously against earmarking, has listed Wasilla 3 times in the past as an example of the most ‘objectionable’ earmarks”. The Mayor of Wasilla during that period, Palin.
As for Palin’s record as Governor when it comes to earmarking: under her administration the state has requested $750 million in special federal funding, easily the largest per capita request in the US. (Keep in mind that Alaska operates with a surplus which she gave to her voters, then asked for special funding – talk about milking the federal govt teat and taxpayer).
Following is the complete article: ENJOY & PLEASE PASS ON
Sarah Palin lets the pit bulls loose
She’s plucky, takes no guff, and her policy’s, er, crap
Pete McMartin
Vancouver Sun
Friday, September 05, 2008
You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Only about half the pit bulls are bitches.
— a joke posted by “JoeKv99” on a thread at http://www.broadwayworld.com
– – –
My apologies to hockey moms everywhere.
The above joke is sexist, insulting and guilty of stereotyping.
But that is its point. Jokes are meant to stereotype. And in a sly, diametrically opposed way, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin did the same thing in her version of the joke, the one being that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is “lipstick.”
Which is to say:
Grrrr! Plucky Sarah. Takes no guff. Takes no prisoners. Takes hold and never lets go.
All of which are admirable attributes, especially for someone aspiring to the penultimate political office of the world’s only superpower. I would not expect less in a leader.
But Palin’s version of the joke is just as sexist as the one I quoted above, only she’s turned it upside down to fit a post-feminist world. By characterizing herself as a hockey mom, a small-town hockey mom to boot, she plays on the idea that she is remarkable as a politician because (a) she is a woman and (b) she is a woman who is strong.
To which I can only say: So?
Politics is a hard game. I would expect her to have — as my esteemed colleague Ms. Fralic puts it in regrettably sexist language that burned my ears — “balls.”
But the world is full of strong women. Washington is full of strong women. My newsroom is full of strong women. Ms. Fralic is a strong woman, however misguided she may be. Strong women are not news.
But Palin’s neat trick?
She’s turned that upside down. She’s used her womanhood not only to highlight her “strength” — as her supporters would have it — she’s used it to protect herself. It gives her licence to do and say things that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama could not, because, you know, she’s just a hockey mom, albeit a feisty one.
Her speech, for example. It wasn’t bitchy, it was just plain mean-spirited. It took gratuitous swipes at Obama and his wife that had little to do with policy, but kept to the level of cheap-shot discourse John McCain has previously set.
And while the Republicans and the media were mesmerized by this vision of middle-aged pulchritude, few took notice that when she did stray from insulting Obama and got on to policy, much of it was . . . what’s the word I’m looking for? . . . crap.
Her claim of protecting the taxpayer by vetoing wasteful spending and trying to end earmark spending by Congress? (Earmark spending is where members of Congress direct federal cash for projects back home to their districts with little or no public scrutiny.)
According to a report from Associated Press, as mayor of Wasilla (pop. 6,200), Palin hired a lobbyist who worked Washington to support earmarks for the town totalling $27 million.
Odder, still, that McCain should choose Palin as his running mate on this count. The Los Angeles Times reported that McCain, who has campaigned vigorously against earmarking, has listed Wasilla three times in the past as an example of the most “objectionable” earmarks. The mayor of Wasilla during that period? Palin. As for Palin’s record as governor when it comes to earmarking: Under her administration, the state has requested $750 million in special federal funding, easily the largest per capita request in the U.S.
Or how about her claim that Obama would increase the tax burden of normal American citizens?
Again, from the Associated Press: “The Tax Policy Center, a think-tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about five per cent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by three per cent, the center concluded.”
But that’s all boring policy, right? Better to to be dazzled by a pretty face and gender and “balls.”
On the other hand, if you think it’s a good idea to turn the reins of the world’s only superpower over to an anti-abortionist with a pregnant teenage daughter, who is so ambitious she would expose her teenage daughter’s pregnancy to the world’s attention, who believes creationism should be taught in schools, who once belonged to a political party that advocated Alaska secede from the U.S., who was a mayor of a town of all 6,200 persons in the middle of nowhere while denigrating the experience of an opponent who rose up through the meanest political arena in the U.S., namely Chicago, who knows exactly nothing about geopolitics, who supports the war and once beseeched her congregation to pray that “this country, that our leaders, our national leaders are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” and who campaigns for the continued dependence of the U.S. on oil and for the drilling of that oil because it benefits her state, then, hey, go for it. The lady’s a pit bull.
The one problem with that?
That stain she leaves when she bites won’t be lipstick.
and of course – sold the jet on ebay is disingenuous…
http://www.dailykos.com
A pic I just remembered from a few years ago.
Cynthia, TX asks:
“someone please explain to me why Rice is over talking to someone who blew up a airplane full of people? Is she an appeaser? Is she talking to our enemys? What’s her deal?”
Why indeed, Cynthia. She’s meeting with the known terrorist sponsor who, unlike Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, actually attacked us and bombed our citizens out of the sky.
She is there to gift American-made attack jets and weapons to the Libyan regime to make sure that Gadaffi will help pump enough oil to make up for supplies we’ll lose when we start bombing Iran.
I posted this on the Anne Kilkenney article, but now it really has a home:
go to Librarian.net http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/ for a brief discussion.
One of the comments, states that it is “THE” list http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/#comment-119807
… unfortunately there is no independent confirmation that it is the list, but it is different from the standard lists on the ALA site.
On a personal note, the second book on the list is one of my all time early teens favorite — A Wrinkle in Time (sigh).
About that gov. jet sold on eBay:
http://www.BadChili.blogspot.com
Keep in mind Folks, while Palin has Sucked all the air, and God I think there’s probably more to come, It’s Extremely Important To Look Very Closely At Your Congressional Reps, Money Is Needed, Time Is Needed, and a Big Change In Congress Is Needed!!!
Bush = All Hat, No Cattle
McCain = All Medals, No Honor
Palin = All Librarian, No Books
Not that you need to know or anything, but… my husband just said he would run naked down a major highway here if it could somehow get Palin of the ticket. We are scared stiff – and we are Danish!
Jan Arnold… thank you thank you thank you for posting that hilarious tribute song to “Sarah Palin, Queen of the Alaska Frontier” ROTFLMAO
I needed that laugh. We must pass this around the net ASAP.
and I withdraw “the list” … apparently it comes from this website:
http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html
SO SORRY for the misinformation folks.
“Sarah Palin’s lover exposed” with photo:
http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=3623
I really do need a scorecard now.
It would seem that, if there’s truth in this, that at least this guy shot blanks, or else used condoms. Trig’s father (and supposedly another of Palin’s lovers) is alleged to be First Dude’s business partner.
Funny photo: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/204324/483
McCain/Palin MiniMe
here is and interesting article about an interview with Anne Kilkenny
http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=426807
SoapOperaSarah should read the Constitution. Or is that banned too?
i’d say this and troopergate establishes a pattern of behavior with regards to how she enforces loyalty…
[…] War On Books I wasn’t sure if this was going to get anymore play, but it’s revealing for the ugly kind of mentality Palin actually has. It’s out now that Sarah […]
No, that list is not accurate. If you go to the librarian site, someone links to the page where that was taken. It’s of books that have been banned in various places in the U.S., I believe.
(Harry Potter books weren’t around when she was doing this …)
oh my, how would I get through a dreary Friday without you lovely people?? Mudflats, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? From one of my heroes (and I guess this comes as no surprise, but he is a fabulous speaker and if you got the chance, you were enthralled) David McCullough (yep, he of JOHN ADAMS and HARRY TRUMAN fame. . . ):
“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”
To adamently refuse to read some of the books on the list is to turn one’s back on how to make change. I forgot who said “History repeats itself. The first time it’s a tragedy, the second time it’s a farce” but it sure feels fitting right about now.
To the Dane who will run naked through the street – not a bad idea – wouldn’t it be cool if the entire country went up and arms and did this in protest? Love it.
DONATE. VOLUNTEER. VOTE.
This site is worth checking out. They issue the annual ‘Pig Book’.
Alaska has been #1 in pork for the last few years including 2008.
http://www.cagw.org
In 2006 and 2008 Alaska received about $500 million in pork (there was no 2007 for some reason). That was on average $350 per capita (the national average was $30.)
Our lady Palin is definitely not Kosher.
Here’s a link to the article in the LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-earmarks3-2008sep03,0,2482434.story
Note the mention to the earmark for an “agricultural processing facility” … AKM, is that a reference to the infamous dairy?
Proud2BUSA, once again you are posting what I believe so well. You said:
To adamently refuse to read some of the books on the list is to turn one’s back on how to make change.
I think that the “CHANGE” thing is what scares small minded people in this country. It is their inability to accept that change is a constant in life and instead of fearing it and fighting to achieve it, they prefer to believe the path of least resistance. I have come across this so much lately in my own life dealings with these “small minded” individuals and I only see this as a widespread illness that is taking over our country.
OBAMA / BIDEN 08
The link on Politico to the 2006 opposition research on Palin is gone… gone.
You know – I don’t really care what her educational level is or where she went to college.
I just don’t want her to lie to the American people about it.
Maybe that is too much to ask. *eyeroll*
How about: “SARAH STALIN”?????????????????????
AKMuckraker,
Is the city librarian’s name Dorothy or Mary Ellen Emmons? It’s mentioned both ways in your post.
To Ulla,
You are right to be scared. I am not an American either, but as we have seen over the last eight years, the effect of the unbridled arrogance of the Repubs has left its footprints all over the world. I am scared too if they get in again.
When I was still in school (don’t remember what year it was, but I’m now 28), I remember “Where the Wild Things are” being banned from the Fairbanks library, because it scared some politician’s daughter. I also believe they banned all books by Shel Silverstein. o.0
I just hope poor old J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher In The Rye” is NOT on Saracudda’s list once it is revealed to the world. (sigh) Every hick School Board out there has been taking it out of the school library for decades now. (yawn) (sigh)
But in the last seven days of SHEER EMOTIONAL HELL we have all been through as the Mudflatians here seeking knowledge rather than excessive alcoholic medication to take the edge off – perhaps just two quotes from J.D. Sallinger are in order for moral support.
“’Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.”
– J. D. Salinger
“Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behaviour. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them—if you want to. Just as some day, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
– J. D. Salinger
And, as for School Boards, Mark Twain has always been my favorite:
“God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.”
-Mark Twain
A few more fortifying quotes from Mark Twain might come to mind in the present hour:
“The trouble ain’t that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain’t distributed right.”
-Mark Twain
“There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”
-Mark Twain
“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work.”
-Mark Twain
“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
-Mark Twain
“When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.”
-Mark Twain
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
-Mark Twain
The only thing that keeps me going these days is that I actually met Kurt Vonnegut face to face in NYC back in 1983. He was wonderful. In person he was exactly how you thought he would be. The fact that a man like that ever existed keeps me getting out of bed each day in these trying times.
I absolutely love every person posting on this Blog!
I think Kurt would be proud that we are all somehow moving with Billy Pilgrim now back in Dresden across the Universe.
All Mudflatians hang in there!
It has ONLY been seven days yet.
We must ALL pull together and get stronger.
Try to help anyone who is tempted by going for the bottle a little too much in this to try to mentally survive as Mrs. Polly said back at (09:51:01)!
Just come here and read the posts as an intervention to try to stay strong!
Interesting. Now, can you imagine what she’d do if she was VP. She’d ban everything she didn’t like. You can’t have someone with that mindset in a position to make/change/audit law.
Jeez. Can they get rid of her already?
Thank you for the update on book gate. Wow ! some crazy bitch on CNN is going off about the abuse of power. Wow is this bitch one of the Palin-bots. Sorry I said bitch that was sexist. ( I’m female by the way) Please let us know if find Emmons and get an actual list. Thanks love your blog!
My Mother just sent this email to Alaska’s Senator French.
I did likewise and hope some of you will too.
Senator, I am writing to encourage you to move quickly with your report on Sarah Palin. Democrats across the country are watching and hoping you’ll do the right thing.
I don’t know why, but something just doesn’t feel right about this person. With Carl Rove in the mix, it just doesn’t feel right. He is a skate to the highest degree.
The whole world is watching us – the whole world is depending on the United States to change its approach to foreign affairs. This election is too important to have a weak, inexperienced, uneducated, dishonest person one breath away from the presidency.
Thank you for your bravery and hard work.
Sincerely,
Your Name Here
Senator_Hollis_French@legis.state.ak.us
[…] Bilia’s Weblog {September 5, 2008} Palin Wanted to Ban Books Book Gate. Palin Wanted to Ban Books. […]
I need some bumperstickers with a different Palin catch phrase on each. If the guy sitting behind me in traffic doesn’t learn something new about Palin at least he will know where I stand. How many cars are on US highways anyway?
Thank you mudpress! Now how about them stickers?
HamletsMill:
Thanks for the quotes. An overconfident ignoramus describes Sarah exactly. A danger to all of us.
Everyone:
I check in every chance I get. You all are my lifeline!
Thanks bwilder!
I am grateful for the opportunity to feel like I am doing something. I just sent this:
Senator, I am writing to encourage you to move quickly with your report on Sarah Palin.
The whole country, in fact the world, is hoping the upcoming presidential election will bring about change. This election is about change. We cannot replace one administration with a track record of abuse of power, disregard for the Constitution, and blatant lies to the public with a Vice President whose record includes more of the same.
I urge you to get the truth to the American people.
Thank you for your work and courage.
[…] nonstarter in the eyes of conservatives, no matter what? And does being an anti-choice, book-banning, global-climate-change denier mean otherwise, no matter […]
Professional/legal experience: 4yrs Biden, 4yrs full-time and 8yrs part-time Obama,
County government experience: 2yrs Biden,
Federal legislative experience: 36yrs Biden, 4yrs Obama, 26yrs McCain.
TV reporter: 2yrs Palin,
Small business owner: 9yrs, includes part-time work Palin,
Municipal legislative experience: 4yrs Palin,
Municipal executive experience: 6yrs Palin,
State commission experience: 1yr Palin,
State executive experience: 2yrs Palin,
Community organizer: 3yrs Obama,
Teaching experience: 11yrs part time Obama,
State legislative experience: 8yrs Obama,
Military experience: 22yrs McCain.
Sourced from Politfact a non-partisan fact check site.
Hello All
I have had a very bad day…tried to get ready for fantasy football…but the TV for fill with those right-wing-christain-brainwash…lying crying about unfair treatment of SP..
Well if SP can attack everyone else…if she think she is not going to get it right back…what fantasy world is she living in…well enough of that…
McCain and SP say they are not going to let SP talk to news media unless they feel it is in their best interest…and people want to vote for these “Whopper Lier”
This is McCain and SP new name “Whopper Lier”
So here the first ———”Whopper Lying #1————–
Sarah Palin Slashed Funding for Special Needs Kidsmomocrats.typepad.com — In amongst all the other blatant falsehoods, Sarah Palin’s speech contained a heartwarming section about her youngest son and his special needs. She told special needs parents around the nation they’d have a friend in the White House if she was elected. With friends like this, they wouldn’t need enemies.
I will be posting regular “Whopper Lying #1 as I hunt them down on the internet, TV…she may be able hide from new media on TV but not us here at “mudflat family” … we will report everything..these too are good at lying
http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/09/sarah-palin-sla.html
September 04, 2008
Sarah Palin Slashed Funding for Special Needs Kids 60% in One Year
Sarah Palin is proving to be the Mayor of Liarsville and Governor of the State of Deception. Her speech last night was so full of inaccuracies, falsehoods, misleads, and flat out untruths I’m surprised that she thinks the American public is that stupid and I sure hope the GOP is regertting their crazed applause and support of her speech last night.
Palin got her ignorant ass kicked by a librarian !! LOVE IT !
bwilder (13:37:32) :
My Mother just sent this email to Alaska’s Senator French.
I did likewise and hope some of you will too.
TH-WV (14:08:34) :
I need some bumperstickers with a different Palin catch phrase on each. If the guy sitting behind me in traffic doesn’t learn something new about Palin at least he will know where I stand. How many cars are on US highways anyway?
Thank you mudpress! Now how about them stickers?
Let me know about the bumpstickers when they get them…
at yourinfo2001@gmail.com
Thank to you both…
Here is how to get in line for the pork: http://www.cfda.gov/
The online Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance gives you access to a database of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally -recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals. After you find the program you want, contact the office that administers the program and find out how to apply.
I bet this is one book that Palin found out about and didn’t tell anyone…but her closes friends…
You guys really ought to fact check this story better.
The Latest Accusation on the Left Wing Blogs and Media: Palin is a “Book Banner” and She Spent the City Into the Ground as Mayor… (but what’s the truth?)
New Blog – Librarians Against Palin:
http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/
From School Library Journal:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6593199.html
“[Palin] essentially forced Mary Ellen out,” says June Pinnell-Stephens, chair of the Alaska Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee and a friend of Baker’s. “She all but fired her.”
Press reports ranging from the New York Times and Time magazine to the local Frontiersman and the Anchorage Daily News say that the newly-elected Mayor Palin asked Baker (whose name was Mary Ellen Emmons at the time) about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose. Baker refused to consider any kind of censorship and replied, “This is different than a normal book-selection procedure or a book-challenge policy,” reports the Frontiersman.
A few months later, the librarian received a letter from Palin saying she would be fired, without any mention of the censorship issue. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Palin told Baker that she appreciated her service but felt it was time for a change. ”I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment,”’ the letter said.
But after a public outcry in support of Baker, Palin eventually reversed her decision and let the librarian keep her job.
It doesn’t appear, however, that any books were actually banned, says Pinnell-Stephens, who documents book challenges in the state but couldn’t find any evidence in her files and doesn’t remember any conversations with Baker about the subject.
Although Pinnell-Stephens hasn’t had personal contact with Palin, she doesn’t think the Republican vice presidential nominee is up to the job. “There are many, many issues of which she has no understanding at all [like] the role of libraries in a democracy,” she says. “I certainly have no reason to believe she’s ever been a strong supporter of libraries, partly because she [forced out] a very competent and wonderful director.”
Those voicing their opinions on Librarians Against Palin! have similar views. “I am a public librarian who is concerned about having Sarah Palin in the White House,” writes the author of the blog. “I do not want a book banner in the White house!”
The blog is for “library staff, library lovers, and anyone who cares about public libraries and freedom to read!” says the site.
Baker, who is on vacation this week and didn’t respond to telephone and email requests for an interview, is currently the public services manager in charge of the reference department, youth services, and circulation for the Noel Wien Library in Fairbanks.
[…] Book Gate. Palin Wanted to Ban Books. […]
[…] along with her plan, has a list! The story is in the Anchorage Daily News, but came to me via the Mudflats […]
Thank you so much for pointing out this era of Palin’s disgraceful history.
I try to read every banned book that comes out…well, I put it on my to-read list anyway…and sometimes I even check it out from the library rather than buy it with cash at my local bookstore…who knows how many “eyes” the Republican anti-civil rights people have out?! I can proudly say that I’ve actualy found the time to read many of those banned books…and to think that this woman is being heralded as the great hope for Republicans. Yeah, their great hope to continue with the Patriot Act and other egregious acts against civil liberties. There’s major double-hink for you. (Of course, they wouldn’t read George Orwell, since I’m sure his work would be censored by them!)
Please do keep us updated with all of her crazy stunts. The more and more I read your blog and research this Palin character, the more and more I get frustrated about her running for VP. The worst part is, I don’t like politics and I try to stay out of it, but with her, it is basically impossible. I am definitely worried for the sake of everyone in this country! I mean she is banning books!! Isn’t education important to her?? WTF!!
Wow, I’m surprised by that Gingrich list … there are way more “dangerous” book’s than Origin of Species
——–PLEASE HELP —- PLEASE HELP —-
—-PLEASE READ ALL OBAMA SUPPORTER —–VERY VERY IMPORTANT —
Hello, my name is Johnson
I was watching C-span Saturday morning at about 10:45 and a man by the name of Cliff Kincaid,
was on there sprewing lies about Obama being a communist and many other bad names..
Please investigate this information at the website :
http://www.usasurvival.org
or both
Click to access hawaii-obama.pdf
Please send a reply that you receive my important email. I will also
be checking Obama website for additional information.
The GOP is starting a swift-boat smear campaign and a attack on the new media…
I hope Obama/Biden will speak with strong voice …not softball responses
Please help me to find answer to this trouble information
Thank you
Please send a email to Obama at watchdog@barackobama.com
I have send him one email and I will keep sending it everyday at least 5-10 times a day until I get a reply…
@ AnneinWA (09:00:02) :
yourinfo (08:41:09) :
Are you sure you want to draw attention to this wacko’s website? His and many other smear sites are out there.
—– MUDFLAT FAMILY —PLEASE DISREGARD MY LAST POST —–
AnneinWA…. you are so right … lack of sleep the last few days … is taking toll on me …
I will try to take a short break for fantasy football …. but I don’t know how I can…
McCain/SP are so crazy….thank you again…I will post this message everywhere….
Hmmm. Wonder what former librarian Laura Bush would say about book banning.
Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.
According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and had to go.
Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.
It all happened 12 years ago and the controversy long ago disappeared into musty files. Until this week. Under intense national scrutiny, the issue has returned to dog her. It has been mentioned in news stories in Time Magazine and The New York Times and is spreading like a virus through the blogosphere.
Some of the banned books on the hit list were not even written then.
The stories are all suggestive, but facts are hard to come by. Did Palin actually ban books at the Wasilla Public Library?
…Were any books censored banned? June Pinell-Stephens, chairwoman of the Alaska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee since 1984, checked her files Wednesday and came up empty-handed.
Pinell-Stephens also had no record of any phone conversations with Emmons about the issue back then. Emmons was president of the Alaska Library Association at the time.
That piece is from the Ankorage Daily so I question why and who you work for. Fight the smears works for Palin as well. Uhm, she is not running for POTUS people.
I realize that since she did do some shaking of the political sphere in AK, she probably made many enemies. Goes with the job.
As far as I can tell, people in Wasilla are not that happy about all those media people landing in their peaceful town. Could this man want his divorce sealed because he wants to protect his kid? I know that as a parent I would.
Um, did anyone else have to read 75% of those books in college? Funny thing is- for me it was a state college, clearly not an alaskan one though! lol
[…] now–until this morning when I happened to catch a recent post on the Mudflats blog about Sarah Palin’s attempt to ban books. Unfortunately for Governor Palin, she was, as she should have been, […]
yeah right! Some books are just bad, just like some movies are bad. So are some politicians, I won’t name names, but Joesph Biden is just a stinker!
Um…that rumor has been soundly debunked. Palin couldn’t have asked to ban books. The list going with the rumor has a litany of books that actually weren’t published until AFTER 1996, when this incident supposedly happened.
Even the ACLU has admitted this is a patent lie. Don’t believe everything you read, folks.
Please see http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com for the latest updates – including news reports from the local papers at the time of the event.
The book banning story is bogus and has been proven as such. It is one thing to discuss issues and quite another to start smear campaigns to spread lies, which is EXACTLY what this story has done. Please check your sources before continuing to spread outright lies.
This supposedly happened in 1996, which is weird, because several of the books on the so-called banned list that Palin supposedly handed over to the local librarian had yet to be published in 1996. And the book list is a copy and paste list straight off a list that has been circulating the internet for years.
Here’s one article debunking the entire thing
Anyway, why can’t we keep this clean and stick with issues? This kind of bs, smears and lies are rampant on both sides of the aisle and it is downright disgusting.
One minor quibble. The “naughty librarian” quip actually came from Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show, rather than Jon Stewart:
Many times I have been told to not believe everything I have read or seen on television… remember that America media is a giant propaganda factory… looks like the internet is fast becoming one too…
trust no one…. think for your selves, not the media or whomever is popular at the moment..!!!!
THIS needs to get a lot of publicity. Americans don’t like censorship, no matter what their religious affiliation. I hope.
Rohit Gogia
Fastest-growing name in the SEO industry
Folks, time to do you homework. Read, read, read, and do not let history repeat itself:
http://www.andrys.com/palin-kilkenny.html
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-bookburn.htm
The vote….but vote smart!
And don’t forget, Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW’s 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4).
My friends in Kansas City and I are really appalled by Sarah Palin. I am so worked up that my kids are getting sick of all the bad Palin things that I am emailing them….. and they are liberal. But it seems that some new horror is reavealed daily. To conservatives, none of it matters as long as she is an evangelical. I don’t understand why supposedly progressive leaning television anchors are saying things like “Sarah Palin wowed the crowd” and other positive statements. Surely our country can’t be duped again. It just cannot happen. Thanks to all the people on this website for adding a little sanity to my life.
8th September – CNN reports it is not true that in 1996 Palin banned books. Moreover, CNN says that a number of the books on the list were not published in 1996.
Comments?
in the documents that Wasilla just released there is a statement from the library regarding the four books that have ever been challenged since the 1980’s. what i find very funny is that one of them is Jon Stewart’s America Democracy Inaction………and they misspelled his last name.
here is the link to the letter: http://www.cityofwasilla.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=516
or go to this site and clink the url: http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=136
Palin Rumor a Hoax
Sorry heres the link from CNN video:
Palin Rumor a Hoax
http://www.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/politics/2008/09/08/tatton.palin.books.rumor.cnn
Apparently getting elected to governor in the State of Alaska is equivalent to being elected president to the student council in high school. You really don’t need to know anything, have cute sayings that don’t offend too many people; “What’s the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lip Stick!”, and have the prettiest smile. The article below was taken from Think Progress by Satyam on 9/8/08 filed under economy.
Palin’s first gaffe: Claims Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac are taxpayer-funded.»
Speaking in Colorado this weekend, Gov. Sarah Palin tried to explain the recent federal bailout by claiming that lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, however, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization,” McClatchy noted. Palin’s satement “is somewhat nonsensical because up until yesterday there was sort of no public funding there,” said Andrew Jakobovics of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “The ‘too expensive to tax payers,’ I don’t know where that comes from.”
Digg It!
I think I will move to Alaska, I really enjoyed the high school experience. They question why the federal government is so involved in their affairs.
Tapper Wrong, Palin Right on Fannie and Freddie
No Rick. Fannie and Freddie were never private entities. Fannie is a relic of the New Deal and Freddie was chartered by Congress in 1970. When Fannie was partially privatized, and since Freddie’s inception, both entities have benefited from an implicit federal guarantee of their outstanding obligations. If they were just ‘private entities’ as Tapper claims, they never would have been able to establish a massive duopoly in the U.S. mortgage market. Only because of their ‘government sponsored entity’ status were they able to lower their borrowing costs below what real ‘private entities’ had to pay.
http://theheritagefoundry.org/2008/09/09/tapper-wrong-palin-right-on-fannie-and-freddie/
Man it’s amazing how afraid the left is of this woman. In all my life I have never seen so much made up stuff about a politician.
Now we know these were all lies from the Democrats. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Obama now calls Palin a pig with lipstick.
That’s a wrap.
This election is over.
The only thing funnier than seeing an urban myth – Palin’s supposed censorship -created and debunked within 24 hours is seeing how easily liberals can be induced to froth at the mouth and how long they will keep it up after the cause has evaporated.
[…] “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. Some say this is a rumor, but visit Mudflats to hear the story straight from the Wasilla […]