Sarah Palin: book banner?
Taken from Sarah Palin and Mark Halperin’s complaints of “liberal media,” Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com:
Perhaps the most disturbing revelation about Palin yet appeared in the [Sept. 2, 2008] Time article – that one of the very first things she did after being elected Mayor was pressure the librarian to ban books which she found offensive in some way:
“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.”
Indeed, while reading through the early accounts of Palin’s tenure as mayor, the most mystifying aspect was that she not only immediately fired people like the Police Chief and Finance Director — one could argue that a new Mayor would want loyalists in those positions to carry out her new agenda — but also the City Librarian. From the January 31, 1997 edition of Anchorage Daily News:
“Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin fired the city’s police chief and the library director without warning Thursday, accusing them of not fully supporting her efforts to govern. Irl Stambaugh and Mary Ellen Emmons said letters signed by Palin were dropped on their desks Thursday afternoon telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13 and that they no longer needed to report to work.
Emmons has been the city’s library director for seven years. Stambaugh has headed the police department since it was created in 1993. Before that, he served 22 years with the Anchorage Police Department rising to the rank of captain before retiring.”
Other than banning books which Palin disliked, what possible agenda could a librarian be expected to serve upon pain of firing? Community anger over Palin’s attempt to fire the librarian was apparently intense, forcing Palin to reverse her decision. From the The Anchorage Daily News on February 1, 1997:
“City librarian Mary Ellen Emmons will stay, but Police Chief Irl Stambaugh is on his own, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin announced Friday.
The decision came one day after letters signed by Palin were dropped on Stambaugh’s and Emmon’s desks, telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13.
The mayor told them she appreciated their service but felt it was time for a change. “I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment …” the letter said.
Palin said Friday she now feels Emmons supports her but does not feel the same about Stambaugh.
As to what prompted the change, Palin said she now has Emmons’ assurance that she is behind her. She refused to give details about how Stambaugh has not supported her, saying only that “You know in your heart when someone is supportive of you.””
Thereafter, Palin fired the City Attorney, who was replaced by Ken Jacobus, the counsel for the Alaskan state Republican Party. Between this behavior almost immediately upon becoming Mayor and her subsequent firing of the State Police Commissioner while Governor, Palin has a rather clear pattern of trying to use her power to advance personal grievances and fill government positions with political hacks, cronies, and those who are loyal to her politically — exactly what has infected so much of the Federal Government over the last eight years. Far worse, shockingly little is known about what she actually thinks and believes, and what little is known suggests some rather extremist and even bizarre leanings, beginning with an attempt to ban books from her local library, even firing the head librarian for refusing to comply.
Can’t wait to find out what books she was trying to have banned for her “Christian” right-wing base, but if it was Harry Potter or any of the other things that usually turn up on banned book lists, then I imagine her moment in the national spotlight will come to a screeching halt. By the way, Banned Books Week is coming up, September 27–October 4 2008.