There are too many Palin Smears to mention. Someone should create a website debunking all of them. Check.
So if you get those God-awful e-mail forwards that everyone in their brother gets, chances are you’ve seen the rumors that as Mayor of Wassilla, Sarah Palin tried to ban a whole bunch of books from the library. Of course its all a lie, the same list, in the exact same order, that has been going around for years on the internet as “Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States.”
So its an old, unattributed list, that has morphed into a lie against Sarah Palin that was recirculated by a member of the Obama campaign (albeit a low-level one) and on the Obama campaign website.
Will the smears ever stop? Will the mainstream media put half the efforts into debunking these lies as they did the reported Obama smears? I doubt it.
so since it is a lie please tell us the actual list of books Ms Palin did in fact try to ban in the well documented fight with her local librarian
Steve,
Try getting your news from somewhere other than the Daily Kos. She didn’t try to ban any books. SHE DIDN’T TRY TO BAN ANY BOOKS. It has *not* been well documented because it didn’t happen.
This is what did happen.
Newly elected Mayor Palin asked the librarian for insight on how to respond to questions from citizens that mayor’s office received requesting that a book is banned. It was a rhetorical question. The librarian told her, rightly, that they don’t ban books. That was the end of it. No books were ever banned, and no requests to ban books were ever received by the librarian. Try doing some research on your own instead of just drinking the Kool-Aid.
Did she also tell the librarian she was going to fire her? Yes, but pay attention to context. Did she actually fire her? No. Was it related to the request for information about banning books, No. Mayor Palin sent the librarian a letter asking for her support for her policies regarding the library system, et all… and let it be known that without her support, the librarian would be replaced (as she did with ALL department heads). This happens at ever level of government, new leadership comes in and they are asked for their loyalty or resignation. It wasn’t just for the library and in fact the librarian didn’t leave. AND IT WASN’T RELATED TO BOOK BANNING AND NO BOOKS WERE EVER BANNED.
By the way, the librarian did get a little testy about the question, understandably, but even SHE says no books were banned and it never came up again. So get a grip.
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Sources included this from 1996 when this all actually happened:
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/08/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt
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Also check out this:
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html
QUOTE:
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.Books may not have been pulled from library shelves, but there were other repercussions for Emmons.
Four days before the exchange at the City Council, Emmons got a letter from Palin asking for her resignation. Similar letters went to police chief Irl Stambaugh, public works director Jack Felton and finance director Duane Dvorak. John Cooper, a fifth director, resigned after Palin eliminated his job overseeing the city museum.
Palin told the Daily News back then the letters were just a test of loyalty as she took on the mayor’s job, which she’d won from three-term mayor John Stein in a hard-fought election. Stein had hired many of the department heads. Both Emmons and Stambaugh had publicly supported him against Palin.
END QUOTE.
You might also want to check out this website:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html
[...] continues the FALSE rumors that as mayor of Wassila, Sarah Palin banned books. We posted on this debunked rumor previously. Facts regarding this rumor are also available via [...]
comments left by visitor “xhtml” were deleted not because I disagreed with them (although I did) but because they appeared to be from a bot and not a person. similar comments appeared on another post but with a different user name.
if you are a real person, feel free to post again, but try using the same name for all of your comments stead of different random names every time interject.
The fact reamins that she did fire the librarian after being told that she would face resistance to removing books from the library. Only after the townspeople reacted angrily to the firing was the librarian reinstated. Also, since when does a librarian have anything to do with the mayor of a town? What does a librarian’s “support” for the mayor play any role in either’s jobs? The librarian is there to help build the library’s collection, make sure the system runs properly and to be a friendly and inviting face for the community. The fact remains that Palin has been very Bush-like in her treatment of employees, using a my way or the highway aproach, and as a strict constitutionalist, it scares me to think what she’d do to the Justice Department, the FBI or other important organizations. Republics, Democrats and Independents like myself have real concern about her lack of judgement….Troopergate, Librarian Firing, Bridge to Nowhere, Her Flip-Flop on Global Warming, and her insistance that being able to see the Siberian coastline from Alaska gives her insight into Russia and the current conflict. I don’t care if she’s a man, woman, married, single, kids, no kids…I care about what kind of judgement she’s shown. And I am far from impressed. Furthermore, if she was just able to admit that she had numerous shortcomings than it would show humility and a willingness to learn. Instead she treats us like fools. C in C of the Alaska National Guard? 5000 members or less, all actions decided by the Pentagon, never employed within the state during her tenure. You are not going to win this Independent by treating me like an idiot. I haven’t decided yet, but if she continues down this path, I’ll vote for Obama/Biden (as they seem to atleast discuss real issues) or a real conservative option like Bob Barr (or even Ron Paul, although he’s a little too “out there” for me)
The fact remains that you don’t know the facts.
Your diatribe there is full of continued lies and liberal talking points. Try reading real sources and checking out real facts. FactCheck.org for one.
She sent a letter to the librarian asking for her resignation… THE SAME LETTER SHE SENT TO A NUMBER OF OTHER DEPARTMENT HEADS IN OTHER AREAS BESIDES THE LIBRARY. Its akin to the a new President coming into office and asking people for their loyalty to his/her policies or resign. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BANNING BOOKS. Get over yourself. And don’t use this website to continue to spread lies, because that is what you are doing.
When you were growing up, did your mommy ever ask you “If your friends jumped off a bridge would you do it?” Saying Palin tried to ban books is like saying your mom tried to kill you. Its a stupid argument and its been beaten to death.
JUDGMENT? She had the JUDGMENT to change her position on the Bridge to nowhere when the costs DOUBLED. What about Obama or Biden? They continued to VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE. This talking point from them is such a joke. Governor Palin said all along that she wanted to look for fiscally responsible alternatives, and when the bridge costs came close to $400 Million.. she said enough is enough. Biden and Obama still supported it. So what does that mean? She showed the judgment to make the right decision… they obviously did not.
Troopergate? Really? Try looking into that. The trooper tasered a kid, drank in his patrol car, etc… he was a joke and this controversy is just contrived B.S. Do some research on your own including the papers from Alaska instead of reading the AP drivel or Daily Kos talking points.
I watched her last night. Did you? It wasn’t exactly a flip-flop on Global Warming. Am I super happy with her answer? No… but did she flip-flop? No. She said man may have some cause in this. And either way, it can’t hurt to try and fix it. She also said that its quite possibly cyclical and not based on man’s actions. Was that the firm stance I want? No. Is it better than all three other guys running? Yes. Was it a flip-flop? Please.
She has shown more judgment than your boy Barry ever has. Get a clue. While she was doing something to fix her city and her state, Barack was sitting in Bali writing a memoir. Whatever.
[deleted because author compared Governor Palin as a mayor to Adolf Hitler]
RedWhiteAndBlue,
Comparing someone, anyone, to Hitler in the absence of desire for genocide will get your comments deleted from this site.
You obviously only selectively read FactCheck. You obviously haven’t bothered to read any other REAL sources. You obviously have never worked for a large organization or government where it is routine to ask for loyalty whenever a new person is at the top. You keep lying to yourself and spreading smears about Governor Palin all you want, but Americans see through this b.s.
Thank you for debunking some of this crud. The smears come from both sides unfortunately, but BO has the liberal-biased media to debunk any lies spread about him. All we have is conservative talk radio and they definitely don’t have time to debunk all the lies thrown this way. Appreciate your work
Go Palin-McCain!