People for the American Way: Palin's Troubling Record on Book Banning

[marmar]

People For Response to Revelations of Palin’s Attempted Book Banning


Time Magazine today reports that Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attempted to ban books from her local library as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and then threatened to fire the librarian who stood up to her for not giving “full support” to the mayor. People For the American Way president Kathryn Kolbert issued the following statement:

“People can disagree about a lot of things, but censorship is completely beyond the pale. Our democracy was founded on the belief that government shouldn’t tell people what kinds of books to read or what kind of beliefs to hold. No one with that kind of history should be anywhere near the White House. Sarah Palin needs to clarify her stance on freedom of speech immediately, and John McCain needs to explain why he chose a running mate with so little regard for the Constitution.”


http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_2008_09_people_for_response_to_revelations

[Catch22Dem]

1. Great response! Put the onus on McCain (n/t)

[hedgehog]

2. We need to find out what books she wanted to ban.

Harry Potter? Huck Finn? Catcher in the Rye?

[hfojvt]

5. maybe Lynne Cheney's book

I'm curious about the books too. Vonnegut? Madeline L'Engle?

[FatDave]

8. I agree.

We need to find this out.

[RufusTFirefly]

3. I (HEART) librarians!

Librarians are a courageous bunch. Most of them really understand and value the Bill of Rights and are ready to push back when those rights are threatened.




Example!
How one library saved Michael Moore's book "Stupid White Men" from getting pulped.

[madaboutharry]

4. Someone has to interview the librarian.

I want to know which books Mayor Palin wanted removed from the library.

Guessing these may have been on Palin's mind:

Catcher in the Rye - sexuality
Harry Potter #1-7 - witchcraft
The Diary of Anne Frank - teenager/mother conflict, too depressing
Twelfth Night - cross dressing
Orgin of the Species - evolution
The Grapes of Wrath - taking the name of the Lord in vain

This woman is so dangerous.

[DebJ]

7. Definitely Origin of the Species

[Zomby Woof]

6. She fits ALL the fascist bullet points

She's a cartoon, of the worst sort.

Thanks for posting this. Yet another excrecable example of her authoritarian, anti-American lunacy.

[crickets]

9. I'd love to see the book list as well. K&R