And Banning Books Too??

From crooksandliars.com
[Former mayor] John Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.

This comes from a TIME article filed from Wasilla, where journalists are busy doing the vetting that McCain left to a secretive ultra-right group, the Council for National Policy.

The TIME article goes on to describe how Palin back-stabbed early supporters and put gag-orders on her department staff, telling them they couldn’t speak to reporters without her permission. It also outlines how she’s changed what is important to her in successive elections, always taking a position she believes will win her votes rather than taking a principled stand.

But have you noticed, as one of my C&L colleagues pointed out to me, how Palin uses that “not giving full support” phrase as the reason for attempting to have those who disagree with her fired? It’s implicit in her defense on Troopergate and seems to have played a part in her firing of her original police chief in Wasilla too. He, on the other hand, alleged big-politics interests behind her move.

[Irl] Stambaugh, the police chief and a member of Palin’s step-aerobics class, filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination, alleging that Palin terminated him in part at the behest of the National Rifle Association, because he had opposed a concealed-gun law that the NRA supported. He eventually lost the suit. The animosity spawned some talk of a recall attempt, but eventually Palin’s opponents in the city council opted for a more conciliatory route.

So this is the true Sarah Palin. Not only a devoted and principled believer in ultra-right causes and authoritarian control but also a cynical and manipulative politician willing to use underhanded methods and authoritarian edicts to get her way. (Yes, I know - in other words, a Republican.)

As my C&L collegaue also says: “This woman is quickly moving from unqualified to downright scary.”