Librarians against Palin!

Sure, like most of America, I hadn't heard of Sarah Palin before McCain's surprise announcement. Why would we hear anything about a politician with so little experience? But now stories are surfacing everywhere about the "pit-bull" hockey mom, and most of them are so unflattering, it's clear that the old man couldn't have picked a more venomous veep. And as if the moose hunting, aerial wolf gunning, oil drilling, and general anti-environment message weren't bad enough, I read an article tonight that angered me more than all that put together (and believe me, I care deeply for the environment and animal welfare):

Palin asked city whether she'd ban books

I read several more related articles and blogs on the subject, and my outraged tutting grew louder each time. The problem is this: shortly after she became Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin asked Wasilla's librarian Mary Emmons whether she [the librarian] would consent to banning books on Palin's command. Of course, like any good librarian, Emmons refused. A few months later, Emmons got a letter stating that Palin was firing her. This may or may not have had anything to do with the banning books comment, but there's a suspicious red flag there.

Now, there are lists popping up all over the Internet of books that Palin supposedly had banned. Apparently the lists are fake, which of course gives another reason for conservatives to defend their new celebrity. But even if Palin didn't ban a single book, the fact that she was even willing to ask such an unconstitutional question proves that she is not only an idiot, but that she was willing to abuse her authority (it wouldn't be the only instance) and bend the rules of the First Amendment to conform a library's collection to her warped ideas of morality. This goes against everything librarians stand for, and I shudder to think what would happen if this woman were given more power. In the future, would her destructive whims become more than a threat? Obviously, her threats have been carried out when it comes to other areas. I fear for our country's intellectual freedom and educational/cultural well-being if such a conservative administration is put into office (again).