My grandmother Grace was a librarian in a tiny northern town. (Population 20,000. Average annual snowfall 11 feet.) She was a little old Irish lady. Flinty. You'd have liked her. She'd help you find a book. So, while I know there are lots of other, better reasons to dislike Sarah Palin, bullying the librarian is mine.
You might think that makes me sound like someone with a petty grudge, but I prefer to think of it as rising above politics and putting the family first.
If my grandmother had been a rape victim, I'd probably be more annoyed that Sarah Palin made rape victims pay for their own exams. And wants to make them deliver their rapists' babies.
If my grandmother had been a wolf, I'd probably think Palin's least attractive proclivity was hurting animals for fun.
We may never know exactly what happened between Sarah Palin and Wasilla's librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons. Alaska under Palin has replaced war as the province of uncertainty. But we can certainly agree that the mayor wanted the librarian's head.
We also know that Palin asked Emmons three times about banning books in the library, and Emmons refused and Palin tried to fire her. But does that prove Palin wanted to ban books? "It's an old wives' tale," Palin told Charlie Gibson, in a statement that only resembles a denial from a distance.
Everything gets slick in Alaska, I guess. Even the past. Palin admits that she had at least one discussion with Emmons but, according to FactCheck.Org:
Palin characterized the exchange differently, initially volunteering the episode as an example of discussions with city employees about following her administration's agenda. Palin described her questions to Emmons as "rhetorical," noting that her questions "were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city."
She wasn't asking Emmons to remove the books. She was sounding out Emmons on her feelings about an agenda. Of removing the books.
This statement, by McCain spokesman Brian Rogers, looks a lot more forceful:
"The fact is that as Mayor, Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, period."
That's true, as far as it goes, but look at it again. Fans of Jesuitical hair-splitting might think the wiggle room here comes from the distinction between asking someone whether you can ask them to do something and asking them to do it. But that's not it.
Ignore "period." Look at the place where he might have said "dependent clause." The important words are:
"The fact is that as Mayor,"
Sarah Palin never asked anyone to ban a book as Mayor. As Mayor -- of a Wal-Mart and a snowmobile trail -- she was only interested in censorship in general.
As the New York Times reported this weekend, she only pushed to ban books by name when she was on the city council.
I hope that clears up everything.
Why was it so important for Brian Rogers to slip in the words "as Mayor" a week ago, before anyone had heard about Sarah Palin's city council campaign to protect Alaska from Daddy's Roommate?
The fact is that when silent, Brian Rogers isn't lying.
Period.
--
Brian Rogers kind of reminds me of something John McCain said during the national pig/lipstick crisis last week:
"Senator Obama chooses his words very carefully, okay? He shouldn't have said it. He shouldn't have said it. He chooses his words very carefully."
He's right. You've got to despise people who act like that.
--
Speaking of choosing words.
As FactCheck.org points out, when Sarah Palin said her questions were "rhetorical," she probably meant they were "hypothetical."
Sometimes you'd almost swear the person John McCain wants breaking ties in the Senate is a numbskull.
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Why is it that you think that the government owes you DEFENSE but not much else? I know not all Republican
Money, Money, Money
And the more we hear about her, the worse she seems.
Awesome!!!
Makes my head spin more than listening to Rove or Kristol.
I don't believe any of this account is under dispute. Palin concedes all the above, but claims the questions were hypothetic
That's more than enough informatio
I started posting there, hoping to present the Obama issues and where McCain/Pal
failing us. It's a tough sell over there, but I think there are some "independe
might hear the message. So, if there are any takers, I'm over there from time to time under
the same name buckeyeann
Will be back here, too, still cleaning up debris from our mini hurricane in Ohio--tree
shingles off-- roofer supposed to come today. See ya soon.
,you have to be a yes person and not disagree with her at all or you'll be gone.
It is said,"put a person in a possition of authority and find out their true idenity"
Perfectly spoken about Ms. Palin.
When someone alludes to a censorship battle or even initiates one-THAT'S LESS government
When someone talks about teenage pregnancy being a 'decision' but would 'choose life' every time and really doesn't seem like the type to just 'live and let live', especially when she states that it is HER mission to overturn ROE v. WADE, thus inflicting HER decision on EVERYONE? That's LESS GOVERNMENT
And no, just because they're not doing their jobs properly doesn't count.
She never attempted to have any books banned! A conversati
Semper fi
Semper fi
She asked a librarian how to go about banning books, "Hypotheti
Given that the country was screwed into the dirt by a Republican administra
McCain offers four more years of continued economic rape!
I think the center point is shifting!
No. There is nothing inappropri
Semepr fi
I guess I mean non readers?
" which books did she want to ban?" - DOES IT MATTER?
Maybe children will read romances with lurid sex scenes ( rather than act them out?)
By all means let them shoot guns- books are so dangerous
You can have my books when you pry them from my cold dead fingers
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