Question: Do you think Palin asked about banning books at least twice just for the fun of it?

[Skwmom]

[ben_meyers]

1. Of course not.. A lot of wingers wanted to ban the Harry Potter

books, and they were on the list of books that she wanted banned from the Wasilla library. And Wonkette has the list.

http://wonkette.com/402615/list-of-books-sarah-palin-banned-is-just-list-of-books-that-have-been-banned-before

[Skwmom]

2. The list has been debunked as another Rove game (who else would

put out a false list).

On edit: I read the link. Yeah, it does seem feasible that she may have had such a list from her right wing buddies.

[jobycom]

3. Some of those books weren't even written when she's accused of banning them.

Or trying to ban them. Supposedly she brought this up in 96, and some, like the Harry Potter books, weren't even written yet.

[Skwmom]

8. She was accused of trying to ban books. What facts support her

NOT wanting to ban books.

Just b/c a dumb book list, put out by the Rove gang no doubt, was debunked does not discredit the assertion that Palin wanted to ban books.

[blondeatlast]

15. She asked about the procedure; there's no doubt of that.

And see my post below; it was discussed among librarians at the time.

[jobycom]

20. Show me one single bit of evidence that she tried to ban one single book.

I'll be here all night.

[victoryparty]

23. typical GOP misdirection...

...of course the Republicans do stuff like this. Look at Dan Rather and the Bush Air Guard story. The GOP set him up, then acted as if their little trick meant Bush actually served with honor in the Air Guard when in fact he decided to skip several months worth of drills. Barack is right to call them shameless.

Keep the faith! We triumph in November, if we just keep the faith and keep working hard...

http://www.allvoices.com/users/Punditty

[greguganus]

4. Snopes debunked it. n/t

[Skwmom]

9. Debunked the list, NOT wanting to ban books. And what side do you think

put out the fake book list to try to discredit the book banning issue?

[sandnsea]

11. No they didn't

The list is debunked. Her questioning the librarian regarding censorship has not been debunked.

[jobycom]

5. Who knows? There's barely any context to that story, so we have no idea.

All I've heard verified is that she asked a librarian what would happen if she tried to remove some controversial books from the library, and the librarian told her that the books were chosen by accepted library procedure and that she would oppose removing them. From that, a list grew of books Palin tried to ban (some of which weren't printed at the time, so we know the list is a lie), and the claim was made that she tried to fire the librarian (debunked).

I hate when the other side slander my candidates, so I'll stick to stuff I can observe and verify when attacking theirs. To me it's not about winning at all costs, it's about trying to make the world a better place, and I can't see doing that through lies and slanders. But that's just me. I'm in a minority here, I guess.

[Skwmom]

16. Barely any context? Well before anyone is accused of trying to slander Palin maybe

you should do some further research.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/05/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt

But on Monday, Oct. 28, Emmons said Palin asked her outright if she could live with censorship of library books. This was during a weak when Palin was requesting resignations from all� the city's department heads as a way of expressing loyalty.

“She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied 'Yup',” Emmons recounted Saturday. “And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would get involved, too.”

Emmons said Palin asked her on Oct. 28 if she would object to censorship, even if people were circling the library in protest about a book. “I told her it would definitely be a problem the ACLU would take on then,” Emmons said

Palin called Emmons into her office Monday to discuss the censorship questions again.

Emmons said in the conversations with now-Mayor Palin in October, she reminded her again that the city has a policy in place. “But it seamed clear to me that wasn't really what she was talking about anyhow,” Emmons added. “I just hope it doesn't come up again.”

Oh no, we don't want to slander and lie about Ms. Fundie. No lies and slander are needed. The mere truth will do.

[jobycom]

19. Proves what I said more than what you are saying, but knock yourself out.

"Monday Palin said in a written statement she was only trying to get aquatinted with her staff at the time. “Many issues were discussed, both rhetorical and realistic in nature,” Palin added."

snip

“All questions posed to Wasilla's library director were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city. Obviously the issue of censorship is a library question... you ask a library director that type of question,” Palin said

----------

As I said, we have no context. We don't know why Palin was asking--whether she was planning to ban books, whether she was answering a question someone had asked her, or whether she was just learning the parameters of her job.

When stories like this rise up about Obama, everyone smashes them and laments the sorry state of journalism and politics, but too many here hold themselves to standards no higher than rumor-monger and gutter-dweller when we can attack the other side. If that works for you, go for it, I guess, but I despise it.

[DangerDave921]

22. I'm with you Jobycom!

I think fairness and honesty and procedure are paramount in our political process. The ends do not justify the means, as many on here seem to believe. And yes, we are a minority on here but a valuable one.

But of course you will now be accused of defending Palin, and maybe even accused of wanting to ban books. Such is life.

[WinkyDink]

6. The "fun" of intimidating a librarian?

[Orsino]

7. She may have had an analogous test of loyalty for every city employee.

Any thoughts of actual book-burning may have been incidental, when Palin's goal was simply to construct a government loyal only to her.

Power as an end, not a means.

[Skwmom]

18. Well that doesn't seem to be what the librarian thought.

Plus, that argument just doesn't pass the smell test.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/05/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt

[Orsino]

21. Palin doesn't seem to have asked for any specific book-banning.

Her first priority with every employee seems to have been the loyalty test.

[Skwmom]

24. Then why did she PURSUE the book banning question? The librarian understood what was going on,.

[Orsino]

25. Ask rather: why did she not pursue book-banning itself?

I can imagine that such requests would have followed, but it is clear that Palin's first priority was dumping anyone who didn't play ball. This went far beyond the library.

I don't mean to minimize our First Amendment concerns, but Palin had bigger plans.

[blogslut]

10. She asked the librarian if she was willing to ban books

When the librarian said "No." Palin tried to fire her.

The book list is bogus but the incident is true.

[blondeatlast]

13. It is definitely true; see below. But the list reads like the ALA's 100 yearly list

of banned books.

This is an issue librarians take very seriously--and librarians do love to talk among themselves!

[blondeatlast]

12. Ex-library assistant here; I don't think so. (Meaning I have a Bachelor's,

not Master's).

At the time this happened, librarians already had a very active web presence; listserves, internet sites, and the ALA does NOT take any forms of censorship lightly. She definitely asked about the procedure; my former boss and still very good friend remembers getting a listserve about it (news travels really fast) and the librarian was very concerned about it.

[Statistical]

14. My opinion:

My opinion:
Did she WANT to ban books? Hell yeah.
Did she actually ban any books? No.
Did she ban the books on that stupid list? Hell No.

The people on blogs thinking they are "cool" by making the story have more "impact" or trying to make it "as bad as possible" are NOT helping. All they are doing is giving ammo so she can defend herself.

I told some people at work yesterday at lunch about her wanting to ban books. I didn't even say she banned books or say "Harry Potter" (which wasn't even written in '96) was one of the books. Most of my co-workers were either a) shocked or b) didn't believe it.

Dollars to Doughnuts I GUARANTEE you tomorrow I will hear about how it was all a lie. Trying to explain part of it is a lie but part of it is true isn't going to fly. That entire talking point is now wasted.

[Skwmom]

17. My money is on the list coming from Rove. Once the fake list was debunked they would try

to argue the whole banning books issue was debunked.

[NewJeffCT]

26. When Palin asked about banning books

It's like Tony Soprano saying, "You have a lovely family. Wouldn't it be a shame if something bad happened to them?"