Sarah Palin Worked To Ban Books, According to Time, Other Sources

There is much buzz about how Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attempted to ban books from a library while she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.  While there's disagreement on which books were targeted, led by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, there seems to be no question that Governor Palin did indeed work to block books as reported in TIME Magazine:

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.

This has become so widespread, there is a blog called "Librarians Against Palin".




OpEdNews has more to add, also pointing to Palin's call for a gag-order on city staff:

In 1996, Palin first ran for the Office of Mayor of Wasilla. According to articles in the Alaskan newspaper, The Frontiersman, Mayor Palin asked the director of the town's free public library if she "could live with censorship of library books." Palin was not specific about which books, what topics or passages would be questionable in nature.

Rindi White reports in today's edition of the Anchorage Daily News that in December of 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." White goes on to further state that "Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship."

In response to the firing of Emmons, the well respected former Wasilla mayor, John Stein, told local newspapers that Palin felt some voters thought the library held inappropriate books and "asked the library how she could go about banning books," Stein further stated the head librarian, Emmons, was "aghast" at Palin's question.

"The librarian, who resisted mayoral censorship, was fired shortly after Palin took office." [CBS News]

Several of the conversations between Palin and Emmons took place within a new and very radical political environment for the small town of Wasilla, one wherein Palin, during her very first days in office, asserted her newfound authority by instituting a mandate requiring all department heads obtain her direct permission before talking with any reporter on any subject at any time.

"She put a gag order on those people, something that you'd expect to find in the big city, not here." [The Frontiersman]

And writing of The Frontiersman, I happened by that paper to read the coverage of Palin.  I found a letter from a Palmer Councilman that made no sense at all and since he's a politician "under" Palin, who's governor, I discounted it. But then I saw this letter by a simple Alaska resident, Suzanne McCausland, also of Palmer, Alaska:

John McCain is pandering. By selecting an inexperienced person, he is disrespectful for the office of the President of the United States. He is acting in a vindictive and unpatriotic way. Is he senile?

 Someday maybe Sarah will be qualified, but right now she is just too inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency of our country. Our country is in trouble. We have to act like adults, not for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren.

We have saddled them with a huge national debt, we have lost our jobs overseas, and now our very Constitution is being eroded along with our freedoms. Anyone remember that we are in a war based on a lie?

It is time to take our country back.

Shame on you, John McCain. 

Suzanne McCausland

Palmer

The bottom line here is that Palin is clearly conservative and opportunistic.  Nothing wrong with ambition, but such a hunger always leaves a trail of angry people.  It's only a short matter of time before more of them come out against Palin.  The question is what did she do to gain the positions she obtained?  That's not clear.  Who was her mentor?  Who backed her?  When and Why?  More questions than answers.