CNN Reporter and Snopes DEBUNK Rumor Palin tried to Ban Books...

[KoKo]

That list of books posted here and all over the web includes Harry Potter books that weren't even written when Palin was Governor or Mayor of Wasilla....

So...who is posting that? Or, was CNN Repoter Abby Tatten not reporting correct info...and Snopes is lying?

Do we have Disinfo Specialists here? The book thing might be the only disinfo ...because the rest of the postings about Palin are proving true. And, I still want to see Baby Trig's birth certificate..there's too much there that's verified that she should answer to.

But...the Book Banning so far...seems to be debunked according to the "Most Trusted Name in News..CNN." (snark)

[Joanne98]

1. That's the "christian" book burning wish-list. It probably gets updated every year.

[mikelgb]

2. I know the list of books was bull, but...

sis they debunk the actual story? that she asked the librarian to ban any books?

[yourguide]

3. fuuuuuuuuck. not helpful.

she DID try and censor books. that list is just a bogus fucking list

[TwilightGardener]

4. From what I read, she approached the librarian to test her willingness

to ban books--the librarian said no. Palin was later quoted as saying it was only a "hypothetical" question, not a suggestion.

[OilemFirchen]

18. And then tried to fire her.

Apparently her "hypothetical" question may have been a bit more "rhetorical".

[Eric J in MN]

5. It's a bogus email going around. I assume that most people...

...who forward it assume that it's true.

re "that weren't even written when Palin was Governor or Mayor of Wasilla"

She's the governor now.

[yourout]

6. This baby has Roves slimey fingerprints all over it.......

Post a list that is easily proven false to throw off the media hounds.

[Eric J in MN]

11. I doubt it.

This doesn't particularly help the Republicans.

I think that the reason this list is so popular is that after reading that she wanted to ban books, people want to know which ones, but there is no proven list and so people turn to an unproven list to answer the question.

[DeschutesRiver]

29. Exactly right

They haven't debunked the "Palin request to ban certain books, which ended with the librarian fired, then rehired under threat of a recall" story.

Merely debunked a list of alleged books that might have been the ones she wanted off the shelves as "not the correct list of books".

Okay, they need to check out the real story, so we can learn which books bothered Palin.

[panader0]

7. Waitr a minute. She did approach the librarian about banning some books.

It's the list that's circulating that is not true.

[wvbygod]

24. Did we ever get a link to prove it?

The list is toast but where is the librarian story?

[pnwmom]

28. Here's a link to a Time magazine story.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

[KoKo]

30. If "Snopes" debunks it...it kind of "falls flat if we send this to our E-Mail Lists...

would ya think?

[pnwmom]

32. Snopes has debunked the specific list.

Snopes hasn't debunked the fact that the librarian was fired and that the librarian claims that it happened because she told Palin that it would be wrong to ban books.

[KoKo]

37. I gottcha....thanks.

[budkin]

8. Classic misinformation... it's the list that's wrong, not the fact that she tried to ban books

[NatBurner]

9. one down, who-knows-how-many-more to go.

apparently there's no shortage of skeletons in her closet, it's like a graveyard in there-

she can keep debunking it until election day, for all i care.

[MarjorieG]

10. Could be like the Natl Guard story, where document questionable but not the facts.

[chelsea0011]

12. It's funny but I when I first saw the list on DU, after I clicked on the link

and read the story it took all of two minutes to go down to the comments to find someone calling it a fake list. Nice investigative reporting CNN. Now could you investigate the real stories out there.

[woolldog]

13. The list that is circulating is false. BUT

the story that she tried to get books banned is true and was reported in Time magazine.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

[wvbygod]

27. We need Mary Ellen Baker to put truth to the claim

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.

[woolldog]

14. The list that is circulating is false. BUT

the story that she tried to get books banned is true and was reported in Time magazine.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

[WeDidIt]

15. Book list debunked

Book banning not debunked.

Two seperate issues, but apparently a Rovian operative associated a bunk list with a real story and now both go down the tubes.

Hell, the list was debunked here the very first time it was posted.

[Plaid Adder]

16. She tried to fire Wasilla's librarian.

That much is documented. She had several "hypothetical" or "rhetorical" conversations with her along the lines of "what would you do if a certain book were banned?" The librarian said she wouldn't put up with it.

The librarian was asked to submit a letter of resignation, along with the police chief and all the other department heads, a few months later. Palin's story was that she would get everyone's letter and then decide which to accept. I guess she thought this would be more palatable than just firing people? Who knows, but there was enough of a stink raised over the librarian that Palin took her back on.

There is no evidence that Palin actually banned books while in office. But that doesn't mean it's not an issue for her.

Find out more at Librarians Against Palin (yes, this is a real blog with, apparently, real librarians).

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[mikelgb]

17. CORRECT. Here is the LINK to Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/palin/bannedbooks.asp

According to the Anchorage Daily News, around the time Sarah Palin first assumed the mayorship of Wasilla back in 1996, she initiated some speculative discussions with the city's librarian about the possibility of removing some "objectionable" books from the public library:
In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her — starting before
she was sworn in — about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.

Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.

"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'"

[Blue Diadem]

19. There was no list, but Palin most certainly did ask the librarian what she thought about censorship.

She asked her more than one time too. Here is the original article from the Frontiersman archives:
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/07/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt

It really ticks me off that the entire story gets wiped out because people add false parts to it. I can't help but wonder if it's repukes putting false info out there knowing the portion that's true will be minimized or ignored due to the lies that are added to it.

[iamthebandfanman]

20. actually we debunked that the same day it came out

guess you werent around for that.


but as far as her banning books, i think we'll find out its true...
it just wasnt the list that someone posted on DU... as it was a list from a website saying 'all the books banned in the united states at some point'


so once again, you dont need to post this... as MANY people debunked this on the original thread... i mean within MINUTES of it being posted.

stop trying to make us look like jackasses... we policed ourselves on this issue.

[Barack_America]

21. She did try to ban books, but not necessarily THOSE books.

Only the Wasilla librarian can set this straight.

[flamingdem]

22. This is why people have got to realize that much of the Palin stuff is a Rove Red Herring!

Watch out for their distraction techniques.

[kath]

23. You need to change the title of your OP, as it is blatantly FALSE.

See here- an account from the local newspaper, published Dec. 18, 1996 - that's right nineteen-NINETY-SIX.
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/08/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt

this current story also gives the details:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1117009&srvc=2008campaign&position=15

[KoKo]

38. I reported what CNN Reported...so my OP Title is not false....Sorry you saw it that way

but it's what CNN says...and what millions of Americans will see.

[pnwmom]

25. Not exactly. They may have debunked that particular list, but they can't debunk

the librarian's own claim that Palin wanted her to remove certain books.

[Peacetrain]

26. Thinking we have been had by the hard right

The librarian she tried to fire was out there.. so they did send out a false list so when that got disproved, they could then try and pooh pooh the rest.

[theothersnippywshrub]

31. Mooselini never tried to ban any book. She merely asked the librarian if the librarian was willing

to remove "objectionable" books from the town library. There is no evidence as to what Mooselini considers to be an "objectionable" book. I think the American people probably deserve to know what books Mooselini considers to be "objectionable."

[Matariki]

33. I noticed that they FAILED to mention the fact that she tried to FIRE the librarian

who said NO to banning books.

[KoKo]

34. they did end on that...but saying "Librarian was questioned by Palin"..

which kind of diffused the issue...because only we who were involved with the story would have picked that out.

Still, unless we can come up with more "concrete evidence" about Sarah the "Bookburner" we gotta figure it was some kind of "DisInfo thingy" posted all around the Blogosphere.

But...somehow...I still believe that Sarah is such a RW'er...that someone is going to find..that she REALLY did...target some books that might cause her trouble. Just because the "list was fake" doesn't mean Palin didn't have a few books as her "choice targets" that maybe didn't make "Snopes" or "MSM Factcheck" ...but I somehow feel she's not off the hook on "book banning."

[Doremus]

35. I've noticed a definite RW tilt at Snopes. Ever since Kerry's swiftboating in '04.

I don't like that site. Who runs it anyway and who declared them the final arbiters of truth?

[kwolf68]

36. The POINT IS NOT

That she didn't mention/list specific books, but that she even broached the idea with the Librarian. That in itself is objectionable and offensive to me even if she didn't give a list.

As far as I'm concerned it's still a bad bad thing that a potential VP even asked about the possibility of BANNING books that were 'objectionable.'

[Teacher in SC]

39. List bogus, but story true

The e-mail that has been circulating from Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla local, fully explains all of this. Who started the list of books I have no idea. Obviously someone is trying to debunk Anne's story. Snopes called her and verified her e-mail and listed it as true on their site, by the way. I have to assume that CNN is caving to RW pressure. Here is the link I can find now. It had been easily accessible at Mudflats, a blog in Alaska. It is probably in their archives at this point.
http://www.zimbio.com/Anne+Kilkenny/articles/10/Anne+Kilkenny+Alaska+Email