Palin and Book Banning

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1-UP

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Does anybody have more information about a report that Palin was looking into banning books in a Wasilla library while she was mayor? I've been trying to get the whole story but everything I've found so far basically summed it up as "She tried to, she failed to, she moved on."

Here's one reference to it - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1839190,00.html

I love her history on cleaning up corruption (I was dubious about the Bridge to Nowhere thing but it sounds like the money was already committed and she diverted it to something more worthwhile). I love her position on the 2nd amendment. I don't care for her religious beliefs, but Obama also has a dubious church under his belt so as far as I'm concerned it's a wash. Book banning is serious business though and might be a deal-breaker for the ticket for me. I haven't even been able to find out what she was trying to ban though. Any links or info would be greatly appreciated!
 
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mtlucas0311

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I did a little google searching, it looks like most of the articles are in the blogs (ie: worthless) and any source with any type of credibility, like the Time article you cited, refer to it second hand. I'd bet you could put it in the diggin' for dirt and dirty pool column.
 
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WhyteP38

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The article is peculiar and vague:
Over the past few years, a growing number of Evangelicals have been consciously distancing themselves from the more extreme stands of the Christian right. They live in the suburbs, hold graduate degrees,
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So if you live in the suburbs and/or hold a graduate degree, you have consciously distanced yourself from Evangelicals? That's a peculiar way of distinguishing between different groups of Evangelicals. I'm not an Evangelical, but I've known some, and this portrayal is inaccurate.
and while they might not want their children reading certain novels, would be embarrassed by attempts to ban certain books from libraries, as Palin is reported to have briefly considered while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
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More qualifiers in that statement than in a Publishers' Clearing House entry form. First, Palin is "reported to have briefly considered while mayor." So, who reported this? How brief was "briefly"? A second, a minute, a week, a month? If true, and that's still just an unfounded assumption left unresolved by the article, which libraries are we talking about? School libraries? Are the "certain books" the kinds of books that would be inappropriate for kids? Was it really a "ban," or a buying decision, as happens every day for libraries everywhere? And finally, why would these younger Evangelicals "be embarrassed" by these "attempts" that the article cannot even state actually happened, what the books were, what the libraries were, or even what Palin supposedly "briefly considered"?

Too vague for my tastes.
 
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Hawg

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I saw on another forum where she was supposed to have tried to ban the Harry Potter books two years before they were published. :confused:
 
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toybox99615

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Anchorage news reports the issue

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html for what it is worth. Now if the question is did Palin ask the librarian about her willingness to censor book I believe the City Council minutes would reflect the matter. But this article does not refer to any such minutes. I'd personality look for some more solid information before I'd rely on a she said -- she said kind of report.
 
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JuanCarlos

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I saw on another forum where she was supposed to have tried to ban the Harry Potter books two years before they were published.
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Well, she was only mayor for one year before the first installment was published.

I've heard Harry Potter, I've heard books in general, but I haven't heard a lot of facts. And it seems everything I heard suggested that she didn't take much (or any) official action...more of a "call the librarian to apply pressure then back off if it doesn't work" kind of thing.

Personally, based on her social conservative views and how common this kind of thing is in general, I'd not be surprised if it was true. But it doesn't sound like any real facts are likely to surface, and at that point you'd be pretty silly to base a voting decision on it.
 
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1-UP

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Thank you Toy, that has been the best write-up of it I've seen so far. As was mentioned before, everything about it seems vague and second-hand. If anybody gets anything else solid, please share. :)
 
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HKuser

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A political opponent told a reporter that he heard it from a librarian. In other words, self interested unsupported gossip reported as holy writ because it would help Obama. The media are like Obama's Nazgul.
 
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Casimer

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This has been debunked. The list in question is apparently a compilation of all books ever banned in any library in the US.

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_08_31-2008_09_06.shtml#1220725447

The gist of it is that she'd apparently made an inquiry, in '96, w/ the town librarian how she'd respond to an attempt to censor specific books, but never requested that she do so. Someone then took this fact and spun it into an actual attempt to ban all sorts of books.
 
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