Author targeted by Palin: “She’s my mortal enemy”
The author of Daddy’s Roommate has responded to Sarah Palin’s attempt to remove his work from her hometown library. Celebrated author Michael Willhoite believes the Alaska Governor has a “small-town mind,” is an enemy of intellectual freedom, and a “disastrous choice” for vice president.
As reported on The Huffington Post, Willhoite says he is not surprised that his work was targeted by Palin. And, he admitted to being “strangely flattered” that he was “on her list.”
Openly gay Willhoite tells HuffPost’s Sam Stein:
“I rather suspected one of my books might be the one she targeted. I can tell you right now, Ms. Palin is a very good mother and everything. But she is my mortal enemy. She is one of the enemies of the First Amendment and I can hardly [organize] my thoughts here, I am so offended by this.”
9/15/2008
Sarah Palin and evangelicals believe landmark gay parenting book is immoral
A recent report in The New York Times emphasizes Gov. Palin’s relationship with religious extremists.
The Times says she “…tended carefully to her evangelical base. She appointed a pastor to the town planning board. And she began to eye the library. For years, social conservatives had pressed the library director to remove books they considered immoral.”
According to the report, Palin took direction from the extreme religious right.
Laura Chase, Palin’s campaign manager during her first run for mayor in 1996, finds effects of the relationship “disturbing”.
Chase recalls, “…in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book Daddy’s Roommate on the shelves and that it did not belong there.”
Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand same-sex relationships, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Palin read it.
The baffled campaign manager said, “Sarah said she didn’t need to read that stuff. It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn’t even read it.”
9/9/2008
Checking the facts on Sarah Palin
Our friend Dr. Warren Throckmorton helps us take a deep breath and collect ourselves in the remaining months of the U.S. presidential election.
In his latest blog post, Dr. Throckmorton points us in the direction of FactCheck.org – a site that attempts to dispel some current myths about Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin.
Among the facts, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania:
- Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a courtesy when he visited Wasilla – but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
Does this make you feel any less desperate for an Obama/Biden White House?
No, I dont feel less desperate for Obama. The book rumor was a good one. It is easy to believe she would bann those books just like she will bann womens rights. And as for the contents of this site. I feel Palin is a terrible mother she had so many kids she couldnt keep track of her teenage daughter. She was too busy lobbying to steal money form the federal government to teach her daughter how babies are made/prevented and why. I couldnt imagine having that close-minded woman for a mother.
It’s true that Palin did raise the issue with Mary Ellen Emmons, Wasilla’s librarian, on at least two occasions, three in some versions. Emmons flatly stated her opposition each time. But, as the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla’s local paper) reported at the time, Palin asked general questions about what Emmons would say if Palin requested that a book be banned. According to Emmons, Palin “was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can’t be in the library.” Emmons reported that Palin pressed the issue, asking whether Emmons’ position would change if residents were picketing the library.
In January 1997, Palin fired Emmons, along with the police chief. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons’ firing, but said she didn’t feel she had Emmons’ support. The decision caused “a stir” in the small town, according to a newspaper account at the time. According to a widely circulated e-mail from Kilkenny, “city residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter.”
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html