You misrepresent what happened with the librarian. Read this: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html

The right obviously circulates this known fabrication, in the same way they circulated the forged national guard papers that brought down Dan Rather. Most on the right don't mind the idea of banning books. The left gets all up at arms about this fake list. The list is exposed as an obvious fake and everything that comes after from the media is suspect.

I feel like I'm trapped in some repeating version of history. Instead of "ground hogs day" we'll call it "election day." Same stuff every 4 years, and every 4 years the "progressives" act as if they are seeing it for the first time.

That many books being banned would probably have left the library in Wasilla with very few books. There's no need to exaggerate Palin's failin's (Did I just coin a phrase?)--there are plenty of real ones to be concerned, about. That Palin would even consider banning books important enough to mention early in her mayoral tenure does not improve her standing in my point of view. I'll bet Giuliani wouldn't have tried that when he took office in New York. Makes me wonder which books she WOULD consider worth banning, if she'd had her way, and a librarian with less backbone. I will say that as library para-professional, I'm totally on Mary-Ellen Baker's side in THIS fight. Good for her for standing up to this uber-right wing pain!

That Palin expected "loyalty" and support from the city librarian, rather than viewing her as an employee with rights and responsibilities makes me think of George W.Bush and his insistence on putting personal loyalty to him above relevant qualifications in his appointees. And not in a good way. If she wanted 'support,' was it not her job to win it through setting a good example to the city's employees?

From the Anchorage Daily News:

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html

*Palin repeatedly (three times) asked the local librarian about how to go about banning books.

*The outraged local librarian said she would resist any effort to ban books. Later, she is threatened with termination for "not supporting" Palin.

*After a wave of public support for the librarian, Palin backed down.

One would think there is no way of making this look good, right? But let us create a straw man or two.

Step one: Point out that there is no list of books to ban ("But officer, I hadn't made up my mind who to kill yet!")

Step two: Point out the fact that no books were banned ("But officer, I shot and missed, that makes it okay, right?")

Step three: Repeat the two above points until the general public says "Oh yeah, that banned books thing. It was just an internet smear."

And so it goes...

Given all the handwringing I'm seeing on this site today, I think it's a good idea for everyone to take a deep breath and realize there's plenty of time for voters to learn the woeful truth about McCain's Folly between now and November 4.

For instance, below is the link to a front-page story from the Sunday Los Angeles Times, September 7, datelined Uniontown, PA. The headline--"The Palin charm is a tough sell here"--and the subhead--"Small-town working women say economic fears trump gender"--are heartening news for those who see McCain and Palin trying to lie their way into the White House.

Here's a short excerpt:

Republican delegates and activists in the convention hall delighted in Palin's jabs at the Illinois senator, such as when she poked fun at the columned backdrop for Obama's stadium acceptance speech or mocked him as intent on "turning back the waters and healing the planet."

For many women here [in Uniontown] watching closely, though, that portion of Palin's speech was all they needed to hear.

When Palin belittled Obama's history as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side--suggesting he was a do-little activist while she, as the former mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, had "actual responsiblities"--Sandy Ryan, 59, clicked the remote.

"That's enough of that. I switched over to 'House Hunters,'" she said with some disgust over dessert with a group of women from the senior housing complex she manages.

At the end of the article, one 23-year-old EMT, Jennifer Glisan, says, "I think Palin is a fake. She will run the economy into the ground.... I have to kill myself every day at work to earn enough to pay for gas to get there. I think Obama is sincere. I think we need a change."

Take heart then. I'm originally from Pittsburgh and now live in Los Angeles. I find it encouraging that folks in my formative neck of Penn's Woods still have the ability to call B.S. when they see it.

Here's the link. The reporters are Faye Fiore and Peter Wallsten.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-women7-2008sep07,0,2211156.story?track=rss

One would hope that whomever gets the chance to interview Mrs Palin would want to ask about this issue, but really none of us have the faintest idea what this is about.

It may well be that as a very young and inexperienced politician Mrs. Palin was disturbed about children reading unsuitable material in the town library and soon discovered that banning books that were generally approved for libraries was not a simple matter.

In any case, all libraries are censored to some extent, because a decision always has to be made whether to purchase a particular book or not, and libraries tend to steer away from books with sexual topics, even if they are scholarly and/or academic.

Of course if she wanted to ban Animal Farm that would be a very different matter--even though the book IS very subversive.

Let's hope Charlie asks her about this in his interview. My guess is that he won't bring it up at all and it will end up being a total puff piece and give her a chance to talk about her family instead.