Petrelis Files

Palin's Email Talk With Wasilla Paper;
Media Elite, Rape Kits & Gay Books

Sarah Palin, or surrogates who hopefully ran the replies by the candidate, answered some written questions posed by her hometown paper the Frontiersman. Many subjects were addressed, including, the matter of my recent donation of gay children's books to her local public library. "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Roommate" sure know how to put a politician in the hot seat and raise questions about a candidate's views on censorship.

From today's Frontiersman web site:

[Question] Reporters from around the globe have been investigating policies and decisions you made during your time as Wasilla mayor. Regarding the flap over questioning then library director Mary Ellen Emmons, at the time in December 1996 you said inquiries you made to her about censoring materials in the library were “rhetorical.” Please explain. Were there books at the library at that time you wanted removed? Was there ever a list of books you didn’t want at the Wasilla library? Also, a San Francisco man recently donated two books to the Wasilla library that attempt to explain homosexual family life to children. Do you see any reason these books should not be placed on the library’s shelves?

[Palin reply] As people there know, all questions posed to the library director were asked in a context of professionalism, regarding the library policy that was in place. Before I became mayor, there was conversation in our community about what sorts of books were appropriate for the public library. I asked the librarian about the process for answering that question as a way to familiarize myself with city staff and the issues being discussed in Wasilla at that time. I certainly never advocated banning books. This was a ridiculous, false claim. Supposedly one of the books the media claims I banned was “Harry Potter,” which wasn’t even published back then. There were never any books banned and any reports claiming otherwise are grossly false.

I’ve always believed the government closest to the people governs best, so I won’t try to second-guess local officials back home.

Cruise on over to the Frontiersman site and read the entire email interview.