Sarah Palin Isn't Not Not Dis-Un-Lying About Banning Books

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.

Comments

[Jon Raymond - Huffpost Blogger]

Rhetorical, hypothetical. Stop with the uppity big words already. We have Republican readers here.

[sinclairtx]

Holy crap
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/index.html

[frogluv73]

Holy crap is a complete undstatement. But, if the neo-cons were presented with this, they'd orgasm...this is the stuff they live for and believe in whole-heartedly. If McCain's elected, and something bad happens to him, we're screwed, big-time.

[whateverWorks]

One of the main reasons libraries exist is to teach people the power of words, such as the difference between rhetorical and hypothetical. A rhetorical question is a question that is so self-evident it doesn't demand an answer. A hypothetical question is one that asks, what are the consequences if I do something. I suspect that Palin meant to say that her question about banning books was hypothetical--seeking the opinion of the experienced professional about the consequences of banning books. In reality, the question was indeed rhetorical, because Palin expected the answer she wanted. But I doubt this is a Freudian slip,but instead a grammatical slip that ensured she told the truth when she really didn't intend to. My guess is that Palin lived in Wassila all her life and never visited the library until, as a member of the City Council, she was looking for books to ban. Too bad, because most libraries include a choice of dictionaries.

[BluesDogLefty]

City Council?

For God's sake, the job of a city councilman is to see that the potholes get filled----NOT police ideas and censor information.

[eatmorchikn 2000]

You haven't met many republican evangelicals have you? (retorical questtion)

[anniegirl9]

Sarah Palin is like the really cool looking (insert whatever you like here) in the catalog. So much so that you just have to order it. But amazingly when the package finally arives, you realize that it's a fraction of the size you thought it would be. If only you read the small print.

What makes Palin so dangerous is that she presents herself as something she is not. In her only interview thus far, she claimed to want to reach out to pro-choicers and work together to reduce the amount of abortions, presenting herself as much more moderate than she actually is. Actually taking yet another position from Obama and trying to make it her own. That outreach would end the very moment they overturn Roe v. Wade. And banning all forms of hormonal contraception would be right behind.

Like them or not, you know where Obama and Biden stand. If you are an avid pro-lifer, you should vote for McCain/Palin. But America should know what it's getting when we place our order.

[Pupadup4oBama]

No, even if you are an avid pro-lifer you should STILL vote Obama/Biden. Those other two are just downright scary.

[Stlouiewoman]

Do women in Alaska have to pay for their medical exams after being raped? Was Sarah Palin responsible for this decision?

[PurplePhase]

If Sarah Palin wasn't responsible as Wasilla's mayor in making rape victims pay for rape kits, she knew about the practice and didn't stop it. The rape kits aren't cheap. They range from $300 to $1200. The Alaskan state legislature passed a law in 2000 forbidding municipalities from taking such heartless action. Palin was mayor, rather, the community organizer with responsibilities at the time that law was debated and enacted.

Any wonder why we don't hear Sarah talk about rape kits?

[jacqmac]

Slide on over to one of those 'TOWN HALLS' and ASK the question about rape kits......

[goldnchyl]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

[JackieOC]

Anne Kilkenny lived in Wasilla and was involved in Palin's library episode regarding Mary Ellen Emmons-Baker, the local librarian. Kilkenny is verified as a person with first hand knowledge of Palin, says. I quote....
"I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian, against Sarah's attempt at censorship." While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter."


Let's keep our eye on the ball here. It was a clear attempt at censorship by Palin. Baker was, in fact, fired by Palin for not being loyal. She got her job back a day later with all the uproar, but then retired just prior to Palin's second term.

There's material we all take pause with for being on our bookshelves. But where do we draw that line? What's offensive to you is not necessarily to me. A very dangerous line indeed with our freedoms. Certain material, agreed, should be in a confined area, for adults only, and how difficult is that? We need to be very careful, the next in line in bannings could be political, religious, comic books, or nursery rhymes.

[orkranger]

The media has to be liberal, because a conservative media will only report what the overlords want reported. Wasn't this proven with Hitler? Censorship is not good for any country. The thought of inquiring about banning a book is as bad as banning the book itself.

[goldnchyl]

if the msm were truly liberal, as so many on the right like to claim, they would look like msnbc ... which they certainly do not

[degenerate1991]

Is MSNBC (owned by General Electric) not MSM these days?

[deliriousgod]

she wasn't asking if it were possible to ban a book, she was asking if it were possible to get away with it. Well, is it?

[Conniembz]

I was so happy to hear about the protesters going after her in her own state. I bet she burned so many bridges up in Alaska and p.o.'d so many people off it isn't even funny. And then to have her husband doing bidding for her that she couldn't get to herself is pretty pathetic and scary. I don't think for a second ol' fancy pants can keep a lid on all of her nasty shenanigans/and/or/law breaking tactics. Keep the protesters coming and drowned her out!!!! Hurry!!!

[mlweaver]

Shouldn't we let the FREE MARKET decide what people do and do not want to read? Oh wait, the Republicans are the party of big government... Hold on, I thought they campaigned as the party of small government? Yeah, market deregulation resulting in the most frightening economic situation in 80 years. That's them, but then why do they want to tell me who I can marry, what I can read, and what women can do with their bodies? These Republicans are really causing me some cognitive dissonance. Maybe we can block it out, repeat after me: "Drill, baby drill; USA USA USA; liberal bad, conservative good, surge, drill, surge, oil durge soil UScon badlibs kdnoiopuiasdwweopivn..."

There, that feels better

[degenerate1991]

Republicans and Democrats are both big government parties. You want small government? Vote Libertarian.

[mlweaver]

No, I would acutally like to see a big, competent government full of people who understand that fleecing the American people and raiding the treasury for the benifit of the upper 0.5% will ultimately screw even that upper echelon. A big government that understands that we're not all in it alone and ultimately everyone in this country depends on everyone else. A big government that will foster economic growth while regulating the robber-barrons. A big government that doesn't use expensive illegal wars to fatten their own pocketbooks and then attack those opposed as unpatriotic. A big government that will prosecute the law-breakers within it as they prosecute the crack dealers on the street.

Is that too much to ask?

Libertarians long for Hobbes' "State of Nature" where they can finally use all the guns and ammunition they've been saving all these years.

[luckyt]

What I have seen thus far, this woman will continue to be a media darling. Since the Republican Party has impressed on everyone once again of a liberal media bias, no one will question with conviction anything she says. Every election the people of this country fall for that Liberal Media Bullshit. If there were a Liberal Media the questions would be asked. And if the questions would have been asked we would not have been living the nightmare of the Bush Administration. Ask yourself when they accuse the Media of being Liberal, do you think they are going to say no we're not, we are Conservative. So how do we know their Conservative, they are doing everything they can to elect McCain.

[tdbach]

Not your funniest entry, Chris, but then not all subjects lend themselves to your humor.

What is more interesting (and not the least bit funny), from my perspective, is this: while we liberals debate and complain about whether Palin tried to ban or just thought of banning these books, and whether this makes her Nazi-lite, or not-so-lite, Palin's sudden fan base in Minimall, Ohio could care less. While they may not like the idea of banning books as an abstract concept, they find it somehow appealing that Palin wanted to get "diversity" books out of the library. It actually helps her image that we're so outraged.

What a mess...

[deliriousgod]

in what respect?

[mikeofga]

The librarian should have told here "thanks but no thanks on that book banning"

[ThePublicRecord]

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/322-palin-claims-she-has-right-to-access-confidential-employee-files.html

Palin Claims She Has Right to Access Confidential Employee Files

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is maneuvering to stop an investigation into an alleged abuse of power, in part, by claiming that she has an unlimited right to pry into the personnel records of all state employees, including the state trooper who divorced her sister.

Palin’s new position was summed up in a Sept. 9 letter from Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg to the state legislature, which has authorized an independent counsel probe into whether Palin and her staff illegally accessed confidential personnel records of her ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten.

The probe also focuses on Palin’s firing of state Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan in July after he refused to fire Wooten.

Colberg’s argument is that Palin can access confidential files of any state employee she chooses and thus the allegation that she got unauthorized access to Wooten’s personnel records – by whatever means – is moot.

[AFran90]

Seriously, it's felt like forever since you last updated. You're the best guy here.

[mightyhead]

What AFran90 said.