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Was the librarian actually fired? I've read that the librarian and the police chief both received letters telling them their services were no longer required, so they needn't bother to show up for work any more, but then that the librarian was re-instated when she agreed to support a library/museum merger plan that Palin wanted to accomplish (though it didn't happen). It does sound like Palin fired people who didn't support her political plans, and that doesn't sound like a fair way to treat people who are city employees, but it's important that the complete story be told, not snippets of the story that support various people's agenda. Palin does agree that she asked the librarian how to go about banning books, and city council members also agree that she raised the issue at city council meetings, but there isn't any mention of particular books that she wanted removed. Palin says her question to the librarian was a simple inquiry, and that her question to the librarian if she would support any censorship measures was a rhetorical question, but the letter firing the librarian does suggest that Palin's velvet glove may be pretty thin when wielding the iron hand.
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
The old articles are out there from when it happened, but I don't want to pay $2.95.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DasNootz
That's why I'm asking what "Certain" books were attempted to be banned... If she asked to specifically ban books that opposed her conservative viewpoints, but didn't cross legal lines... I have a problem with her.
If she merely asked, what is the process for banning books, but didn't state specifically what she was looking to ban.. it's just an inquisitive question.
If she asked to ban something that's specifically illegal, I have no problem whatsoever.
Illegal things are not allowed in libraries, so why would she need to ask about banning them?
Oh you do, do you? How about when the end result is EXACTLY the same -- books are not made available to the public, and stories/cartoons are not made available to newspaper readership. Publishers and media are backing down, not because of a "business decision," but from FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES. Muslims are using intimidation and violence, and where are the *******s through all this??
Remember the burning cars in Europe, the bombs at the embassies, the death threats? Remember Salman Rushdie living in seclusion? How about Aayin Hirsi Ali? Dr. Wafa Sultan? (The New York Slimes did the honor of outing Dr. Sultan's residence and workplace, in order to aid their buddies, the Islamists).
When businesses and news organizations cower to extremist groups, THAT IS CENSORSHIP. It may be the censorship of cowardice rather than the censorship of law, but the end result is the same. Is that okay with you?
The ALA (American Library Assn) has long been known to cater to the platforms of the left, and getting away with it. Also known to fire conservative librarians without consequence. In bed with the ACLU I suspect....
Here's a little article revealing where the ALA is coming from....alert for parents:
Brent Bozell III :: Townhall.com :: Librarians Against Censorship? (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrentBozellII/2008/05/09/librarians_against_censorship - broken link)
The old articles are out there from when it happened, but I don't want to pay $2.95.
Illegal things are not allowed in libraries, so why would she need to ask about banning them?
This is from today's NYT article on Palin's start in Alaska:
The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,†Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.
So it clearly says Ms Emmons was fired but reinstated.
I'm not a supporter of book banning at all, nor am I saying Ms Palin was right in her actions. But there's a WHOLE story that happened here, and I think we owe it to ourselves, all the people interested enough in posting on this thread, to get as much of a complete story as possible after all these years before passing judgment on Palin. She may be my worst nightmare as a VP candidate, but until I know more about her I'm holding back.
This is from today's NYT article on Palin's start in Alaska:
The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,†Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.
So it clearly says Ms Emmons was fired but reinstated.
I'm not a supporter of book banning at all, nor am I saying Ms Palin was right in her actions. But there's a WHOLE story that happened here, and I think we owe it to ourselves, all the people interested enough in posting on this thread, to get as much of a complete story as possible after all these years before passing judgment on Palin. She may be my worst nightmare as a VP candidate, but until I know more about her I'm holding back.
I'd shell out the $2.95 for the local article to get the story as reported when it happened, but I'm pretty sure it would be against TOS to repost it here.
I'd shell out the $2.95 for the local article to get the story as reported when it happened, but I'm pretty sure it would be against TOS to repost it here.
I'd be darned interested in that article as well, but one article isn't going to tell the whole story. There will be the article about the firing. Then the article about public responses to the firing. Then I read somewhere else that part of the reinstatement had to do with the librarian supporting a merger between the library and the museum, so there's got to be an article on that. And you've got news columns and opin articles, so double the number of articles. And the final article with the librarian being reinstated. Then the lawsuit articles about the police chief, where I'm sure since their firing letters were on the same day the lawsuit cites the librarian's issues with the new mayor. And the article when the librarian resigns two years later and leaves town surely merits a perusal. The librarian has decided not to engage in this discussion as of today, and that's probably the best decision I've read about so far in this entire story.
Goldwater Republicans were shanghaied when their Hollywood Hasbeen took over in '80. That party no longer exists. It is now a grotesque abomination of freak religious right neocons with 'blow em up' IQ's and a skeleton in every closet!
Where are the conservatives in the Republican Party? The people who had values and believed in the principles that our country was founded on?
I have, from time to time, heard of some nut groups trying to keep certain literature out of our libraries, but the shocking thing is that a public official should consider it.
There is something seriously wrong with how this woman thinks.
What I heard is that she started the process of firing the librarian.
There was such an outcry from the public, that she rescinded.
I believe the woman may have quit, afterward.
This woman behaves like a little totalitarian dictator.
She, along with McCain, promise an administration very much like we have now, in Bush.
Did she become disrespectful to Palin?
Are you serious? She was probably incredulous that a public official should even suggest such a thing.
Do you respect people for stepping on the flag???
The flag is but a symbol - this is much worse.
I am astounded that such a person could remain in office, even.
What was McCain thinking?
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