Okay, just one more thought about Sarah Palin. According to TIME magazine, former Wasilla mayor John Stein said, "[Palin] asked the library how she could go about banning books. 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 book-banning thing is worrisome.
But why? What's the problem with banning books?
Well, the obvious answer is that we should be able to decide for ourselves what we should or shouldn't read. Politicians like Sarah Palin should not be deciding what books we have access to.
Often books are banned because they present a view of the world that is "abnormal" in some way. Some of last year's controversial children's books include one about a child whose father is in prison, another about a schizophrenic homeless woman, another that has the word "scrotum" (in a description of a dog).
The article "The Outsiders: Kids need controversial books like The Higher Power of Lucky," by Lisa Carver during the "scrotum" scandal, eloquently explains why it's such hubris to assume that just by having only books about "normal" families, you'll bring such a thing about. No matter where or how you grow up, you face complicated situations, confusing questions and powerful feelings and a book that acknowledges some part of your experience can make you feel less alone. She writes:
Not mentioning in children's books so-called controversial subjects (they're not, really; they're just life) in order to protect children is the same as how, in the 50s, blacks or Jews or single parents weren't part of stories. Not because they didn't exist back then, but because everyone somehow tacitly agreed to pretend they didn't. There is no Other. There's just us, and we're a motley crew.
We still don't know what books Palin wanted off the shelves, but it's nerve-wracking that she thought she should have the power to choose whose voices could be heard.
Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 6)
46. Isn't it funny that Liberals don't find it a problem to ban books like the Bible from schools? Or how about Michael Fumento's "The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS", and many more, which have been kept off of the shelves by many of the bookstores, libraries, and other liberal institutions who trumpet that they would gladly die to defend free speech, no matter how unpopular, but then choose to not present what doesn't agree with their liberal doctrine?
All of this garbage about Sarah Palin banning/censoring these books is not only a lie, but is so absurd, because the liberals are constantly trying to censor/destroy/ban authors and books that expose liberal lies, or go against liberal doctrine.
Just try to bring the Bible, or anything Christian, into a classroom in the liberal controlled public education system today and teach it as a book of truth,or in any positive way whatsoever. Of course you can bring in anything Muslim, or UFO, or pornographic, or wacky whatever, but anything Christian has been censored by those who cry out censorship against anything "they" want in. Try to even expose the students to Creation Science, or allow them to see that there are many, many cracks in the theory of evolution, and that there are absolutely NO chains of fossil evidence to support it, or man-made global warming(which there is tons and tons of evidence against). How about the fact that we are being legislated into all things liberal? Like hate legislation, gay marriage, the teaching of evolution, and a million other liberal beliefs. They are making it illegal to not be and think LIBERAL. If you believe anything but what they believe, you can be put in jail!!!
So don't give us this garbage about censoring by Conservatives. No one does more censoring than liberals.
Califgrl at 4:11PM on Sep 14th 2008
47.
1. Palin’s ‘Banned Books’ List Is a Hoax
After reports surfaced that Sarah Palin had sought to ban books from her local library when she became mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a list of the books she supposedly wanted to ban began appearing on a number of Web sites.
The list included such classics as “Huckleberry Finn,” “Silas Marner,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” It even found its way to a blog linked to the My.BarackObama Web site, where it was claimed that the list “comes from the records of the Wasilla library,” and was distributed via e-mail by a Palin foe.
The truth is, Palin never compiled that or any other list of books to be removed from the Wasilla library, various sources have reported.
In fact, several of the books on the list, including four “Harry Potter” books by J.K. Rowling, were not yet published when Palin took over as Wasilla’s mayor in 1996.
It turns out that the list is a reproduction of a generic list of “Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States,” which has been on the Internet for years, according to conservative pundit Michelle Malkin.
The original source of the hoax is unclear. But the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska reported that when Palin first became mayor in 1996, she asked the city librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, what her response would be if Palin asked her to remove some books from the library’s collection. She did not mention any specific books. Emmons responded by saying she would resist all efforts to ban books.
Emmons subsequently received a letter from Palin informing her that she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for firing, according to the Daily News.
“The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and had to go,” the paper reported. “After a wave of public support for [Emmons], Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.”
Editor's Note:
jane williams at 2:38PM on Sep 14th 2008
48. You know, at first thought I am totally against book-banning too. Especially when you see the list of books that have historically been banned, books that we now consider classics. However, after reading the post by Dennis Bowen abou the books on how to make bombs, drugs, etc., I had to relent. Some books most definitely should be banned. Books that do not appeal to anyone's sensitivities other than those who wish to do harm. Do I think books should be banned because they portray "abnormal" families, and/or alternative life-styles, or other controversial topics? Absolutely not. So, basically I would just like to know which books Gov. Palin wanted "removed" from that library. Was it "How to Cook Crystal Meth in Your Kitchen for Dummies" or was it "I have Two Dads?" That makes all the difference to me.
Amy at 1:43PM on Sep 14th 2008
49. Willet,
Relocation, huh? Isn't that what Hitler did with the Polish Jews in 1939?
Magrum Yuff at 1:48PM on Sep 14th 2008
50. If you listened to Charles Gibson interviewing Sarah Palin, you would know that nobody was banning anything. As she related, a question was asked to the head librarian, "What would you do if someone came in who wanted to have a book banned?" It was a question of procedure, not, as so many hyped, Gov. Palin wanting a list of books banned. It is a shame that so many are willing to jump to conclusions about someone in order to discredit him or her. Try to be fair.
jdep at 11:42PM on Sep 17th 2008
51. That Sarah Palin asked about banning books has never been denied by Palin nor the McCain camp--never. They have said that she did not ban books, not that she asked about banning books. What is wrong with book banning? Another example of another freedom taken away or in the case of Palin the desire to take away a personal freedom. Much like the option of choice....what happens when one small freedom is taken away...then another and then more....many people have lost their lives in wars to protect individual freedoms...freedoms and individual choice is what America has been built upon. Can any individual honestly say that they wish to have more freedoms taken away? Does McCain want to control the government? How does the 'desire' to ban books fit with McCain's camp? Palin is a Trojan Horse put there to take focus away from the issues of the poor economy, people losing their homes, jobs, outsourcing, wars, education and McCain desire to lower the taxes on those earning more than $250,000. Everyone, liberal and conservative should stand up and vote against book banning--this is not the middle ages! Other conservatives, join me and fight against book banning!
Valdar at 6:15AM on Sep 16th 2008
52. Whether or not Mrs. Palin actually tried to ban any "specific" books from a public library (as she said in answer to the question during her interview), there is documentation that she "inquired" how "banning" of books might be done (and whether or not the librarian would "cooperate"). It is noteworthy that most of us do not object to limiting the kinds of books available to children, but it is clearly unconstitutional to prohibit published material from a publicly supported (for which please read tax supported) library. Under proper circumstances, childrem will not have access to materials that their parents (who should be the ONLY deciding authority) wish to withhold from them. If parents wish to provide certain books objected to by other parents, they would be able to obtain these books from the part of the library "for adults only" or from other sources. On the other hand, to attempt to "ban" any other text from a public library flouts freedom of the press and other protections in our constitution.
If book banners' argument in favor of censorship is carried to its logical conclusion, a fundamentlist Christian might be horrified to find that there are parents who would now object to any children's books dealing with the Bible, creationism, anti- abortion beliefs, etc. from the same libraries on the same grounds that "these books can be damaging to the minds of (fill in the blank).
On the other hand, comparing efforts at book banning
to banning of other public activities is specious, because no one is ever "forced" to be exposed to any of the books in a library, whereas public billboards, TV, radio, (but not films to which people must actively choose to be exposed by buying a ticket, for example), or public smoking (which impacts on the rights of others without their consent), etc. cannot always be avoided by those who would be "offended" by them.
Needless to say, the great concern that Sarah Palin's "inquiry" while Mayor of a small town in Alaska raises in some of our minds pertains to what this may say about her willingness to support other possible attempts to restrict constitutionally supported rights and freedoms without reference to the rules of law (i.e.as in legally initiating a constitutional amendment to ban abortion perhaps) or by abuse of power granted by the electorate (perhaps as Vice President or even President).
Harvey at 3:27PM on Sep 14th 2008
53. To Califgrl: I agree that your educational experience sounds like a travesty. It's clear that your teachers were far too restrictive with the texts they taught. I'm especially sad to see they banned all books on logic, research, grammar, or clear expression. Let me begin to make things up to you by recommending Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. If you get through that, we can on to the heavy lifting. That is, assuming you were taught to read at all. But even if not, sweetie, don't worry. I'm here for you. We'll make it through this together!
Ben at 5:08PM on Sep 14th 2008
54. Irish Common Sense#19
Irish posts what Irish says is the list of books Sarah Palin wanted banned.
Irish Common Sense post is a LIE
Here is where he got it
Books Banned in the United States
A Public Service Report from Adler and Robin Books
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Now here is Irish Common Sense Post#18
18. We still don't know what books Palin wanted off the shelves...
Here is the list:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
> A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle
> Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
> As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
> Blubber by Judy Blume
> Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
> Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
> Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
> Carrie by Stephen King
> Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
> Christine by Stephen King
> Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
> Cujo by Stephen King
> Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
> Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
> Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
> Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
> Decameron by Boccaccio
> East of Eden by John Steinbeck
> Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
> Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
> Forever by Judy Blume
> Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
> Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
> Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
> Have to Go by Robert Munsch
> Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
> How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
> Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
> Impressions edited by Jack Booth
> In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
> It's Okay if You Dont Love Me by Norma Klein
> James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
> Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
> Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
> Lord of the Flies by William Golding
> Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
> Lysistrata by Aristophanes
> More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
> My House by Nikki Giovanni
> My Friend Flicka by Mary OHara
> Night Chills by Dean Koontz
> Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
> On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
> One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
> One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
> One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
> Ordinary People by Judith Guest
> Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
> Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
> Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
> Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
> Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> Separate Peace by John Knowles
> Silas Marner by George Eliot
> Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
> Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
> The Bastard by John Jakes
> The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
> The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
> The Color Purple by Alice Walker
> The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
> The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
> The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
> The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
> The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
> The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
> The Living Bible by William C. Bower
> The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
> The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
> The Pigman by Paul Zindel
> The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
> The Shining by Stephen King
> The Witches by Roald Dahl
> The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
> Then Again, Maybe I Wont by Judy Blume
> To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
> Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
> Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
> Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
> Symbols by Edna Barth
Irish's list of Palin books to be censored was a LIE. It was a copy of an existing list from a book publisher
Robert OKane at 6:58PM on Sep 14th 2008
55. Ben is the typical liberal who, unable to deny the point that I have made, must instantly resort to infantile personal attacks on the writer rather than seeing, or commenting on, the point to be made. It is why I rarely write in to any of these. You all just gang up with your verbal abuse on anyone who tries to write anything that varies from your liberal religion. You censor them, and their ideas that way. You all think you are such open-minded, DEEP THINKERS; but no one is allowed to think different than you do. You proved my point!!!
Califgrl at 11:58PM on Sep 14th 2008
56. Califgrl
"Just try to bring the Bible, or anything Christian, into a classroom in the liberal controlled public education system today and teach it as a book of truth,or in any positive way whatsoever"
1) Banning legal publications from a publicly supported library is entirely different from bringing religious materials into a publicly supported classroom.The Constitution of the United States does not prevent anyone from choosing to read or teach any belief in a church or non-public school, but it does prevent imposing religious beliefs (of any kind) on children during a publicly supported education.
2)"Try to even expose the students to Creation Science"...
which, of course, fundamentalists keep trying to do. The same prohibition applies with regard to publicly funded schools. Nothing prevents these same books from being included in publicly funded libraries, where people have the choice whether or not to read them. (By the way "Creation Science" is an oxymoron. It certainly does not meet the definition of science in any way, since it is entirely based upon belief, with no scientific support.)
3) Let me point out, in passing, what I included in my previous posts on this matter. If ANY books can be banned from a library for ANY reason, then religious books, such as the Bible, or dealing with "Creation Science", etc. will be subject to the same arbitrary banning if someone objects to exposing their children to them. Be certain that this would be the result! At that point, Bibles and other religious tracts would not only be prohibited from public schools; they would also be prohibited from libraries.
Harvey at 10:07PM on Sep 14th 2008
57. ***************Now Showing**************
DUMB & DUMBER 2: The McCain/Palin ticket
Marie Noguerole at 10:23PM on Sep 14th 2008
58. Ada, Governor Palin never asked for any books to be banned. Please stop spreading lefty lies. Thank you.
CherDee at 10:59PM on Sep 14th 2008
59. Learn a lot more about Sara Palin
And why she doesn't belong in office
http://votenotpalin.com
promethea at 11:19PM on Sep 14th 2008
60. Califgrl:
How about my response. I never used any ad Hominem attacks on you. I have pointed out that your post simply restates the fundamentalist belief that you should be allowed to introduce religious based teaching into public education, which idea has repeatedly been knocked down by constitutional law. I have pointed out the great difference between banning books (that you don't like) from public libraries and such introduction of religion into public education and that religious books (i.e. the Bible) could be banned from public libraries if other, non-religious books could be banned as well.
Have you no response to these observations?
This has nothing to do with hatred of fundamentalists' agendas or of you, in particular. As do many fundamentalists, in my opinion, you seem to see people who think that the Constitution should apply equally to both sides of this issue as hateful, angry, devil worshipers, who are "organized" into a "religion" in opposition to yours.
I suppose there are some individuals on both sides of these issues who are extremeists, but the majority of us who are not the right kind of "believers" (i.e. whatever particular sect of Christianity you happen to espouse)would be happy if you would stop trying to force evryone else to accept your version.
Harvey at 1:09AM on Sep 15th 2008