# Palin supporters: did you know she's a book banner? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089 "2008-09-05T00:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/1 "2008-09-05T00:21:02Z")
From the [NYTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?em): > [@](#): > > . . . Ms. Palin’s first months in office here were so jarring — and so alienating — that an effort was made to force a recall. About 100 people attended a meeting to discuss the effort, which was covered in the local press, but the idea was dropped. > > Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question. > > Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said. > > The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. . . . Does this have any effect on your support for her? ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/2 "2008-09-05T00:24:30Z")
Yeah everyone knows. This was like eight scandals ago. 😛 Edit: 10 page GD thread: > **[Mayor Palin tried to force her local Library to ban books she didn't like.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=481583)** > > I think this deserves its own thread. Let’s see hpw the Palin apologists spin their way out of this one. NYTimes This is is pretty stark and indefensible. This, along with her desire to teach creationism in public schools, shows at least two... ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/3 "2008-09-05T00:30:57Z")
Couldn’t care less. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/4 "2008-09-05T00:31:01Z")
Good to know that makes it irrelevant. :rolleyes: Other tidbits from the article: > [@](#): > > Once in office, Ms. Palin asked many of [her opponent] Mr. Stein’s backers to resign — something virtually unheard of in Wasilla in past elections. The public works director, city planner, museum director and others were forced out. The police chief, Irl Stambaugh, was later fired outright. > [@](#): > > Ms. Palin also upended the town’s traditional ways with a surprise edict: No employee was to talk to the news media without her permission. > [@](#): > > Ms. Palin, who had campaigned promising to cut her own full-time salary, reduced it from about $68,000 to about $64,000, but she also hired a city administrator, John Cramer, adding a salary to the payroll. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/5 "2008-09-05T00:33:01Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Couldn’t care less. Really. You have no problem with a POTUS who would actively seek to ban books from a public library? Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/6 "2008-09-05T00:32:46Z")
Old news, at least, er, two days or so. What I got from the other thread is that she made some vague remarks about certain books being banworthy, without ever naming specific titles. Frankly, what I find much more troubling were the apparent circumstances of the librarian’s initial dismissal. Firing the town _librarian_ for perceived lack of support for the mayor? What the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/7 "2008-09-05T00:37:01Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Old news Leave McCain outta this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/8 "2008-09-05T00:39:49Z")
It’s all good, man. I love it. I **love** that the NYT is running with a vague second hand account, alleging that she at some point talked to somebody about “banning books,” but without context or explanation or even what books. I love that she shows up on the cover of US full of insinuations that her baby is really her daughter’s. I love that her daughter is being attacked for being pregnant. I love that she is being attacked for not being a stay at home. In short, I love everything that the left is trying to do. Keep asking for rope. Keep trying to dig up. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/9 "2008-09-05T00:41:51Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Really. > > You have no problem with a POTUS who would actively seek to ban books from a public library? > > Good to know. What books? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/10 "2008-09-05T00:43:41Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > What books? Um, what books would it be OK to ban, in a public library? (Is there a Nobel Prize for missing the point?) ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/11 "2008-09-05T00:43:48Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > What books? Th novelization of “Showgirls” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/12 "2008-09-05T00:47:41Z")
One vague attempt when she first took public office & never repeated. I think she learned her lesson. I don’t see any evidence she ever tried it again. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/13 "2008-09-05T00:47:51Z")
Which books has she banned? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/14 "2008-09-05T00:48:15Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > It’s all good, man. I love it. > > I **love** that the NYT is running with a vague second hand account, alleging that she at some point talked to somebody about “banning books,” but without context or explanation or even what books. > > I love that she shows up on the cover of US full of insinuations that her baby is really her daughter’s. > > I love that her daughter is being attacked for being pregnant. > > I love that she is being attacked for not being a stay at home. > > In short, I love everything that the left is trying to do. > > Keep asking for rope. Keep trying to dig up. Um, yeah . . . it’s almost as good as you totally dismissing anything I say by simply labeling me “the left” and associating a single question with every outrageous rumor. You are suggesting, you realize, that once a candidate has A SINGLE outrageous rumor tossed at them by a random nutcase, they are therefore and henceforth totally immune to any negative considerations _whatsoever_. By using the fact that some people are making a stink about her kid (I’m not) as your sole reason to dismiss any discussion of her support for active censorship, you are showing yourself to be utterly–UTTERLY–incapable of having a grownup discussion. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/15 "2008-09-05T00:50:26Z")
OK, I’ll bite. "An attempt to ban books from a public library is OK with me, as long as the books are 1. 2. 3. Other titles, I might frown." Anyone? Mace? Scylla? Friar? Posit me an instance where it’s OK for a public official to actively solicit book banning from a public library. Any instance, any title. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/16 "2008-09-05T00:55:43Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Um, what books would it be OK to ban, in a public library? > > (Is there a Nobel Prize for missing the point?) I’ll accept your nomination. Let’s see. What would I ban from being purchased in a library funded with public funds? Pornography. Hate literature. Anything by Sidney Sheldon. As for missing the point, what about you? Even according to your own cite, she didn’t try to ban books. She just asked about the possibility. You are taking a logical leap if you are assuming she wished to follow through. For all you know, maybe somebody else was trying to ban a book and she was simply investigating the rules in order to see if she need to openly oppose it. My point is that this desperate urge you and the rest of the “ilk” have to try to dig up something… anything… on Sarah tells me a lot more about the ilk than it does her. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/17 "2008-09-05T00:57:07Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I’ll accept your nomination. > Let’s see. What would I ban from being purchased in a library funded with public funds? > > Pornography. > > Hate literature. > > Anything by Sidney Sheldon. > As for missing the point, what about you? Even according to your own cite, she didn’t try to ban books. She just asked about the possibility. You are taking a logical leap if you are assuming she wished to follow through. > > For all you know, maybe somebody else was trying to ban a book and she was simply investigating the rules in order to see if she need to openly oppose it. > My point is that this desperate urge you and the rest of the “ilk” have to try to dig up something… anything… on Sarah tells me a lot more about the ilk than it does her. This is getting bookmarked, in case I ever find myself accidentally taking you seriously ever, ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/18 "2008-09-05T00:58:44Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. > > "An attempt to ban books from a public library is OK with me, as long as the books are > > 1. > 2. > 3. > > Other titles, I might frown." > > Anyone? Mace? Scylla? Friar? > > Posit me an instance where it’s OK for a public official to actively solicit book banning from a public library. Any instance, any title. Thanks. 1. “Hustler” 2. “How to Bash Queers for fun and Profit” 3. “The Anarchists Cookbook” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/19 "2008-09-05T00:59:22Z")
(The humorous part being how \*desperate \* (speaking of which) you blind, koolaid-addled wingnuts are to accept such a clearly inappropriate choice that you will even choreograph a dance around a _book banner_. SO good to know.) ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089/20 "2008-09-05T01:00:01Z")
**The Necronomicon.** Surely we can ban that one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-supporters-did-you-know-shes-a-book-banner/462089.md?page=2)