Palin and Sexism
I recently received an e-mail from a very good friend with that list of books that Sarah Palin supposedly wanted to have banned from the library in Wasila. Perhaps you’ve seen it? It’s going around. This is my response.
My dear friend,
While it is true that you and I share many political views, I must be truthful and tell you that I do not believe that the e-mail you sent me, with a list of proposed books to be banned, is true.
This is an exciting time in politics and for the world. A woman is a nominee for Vice President! I do not agree with most Republican viewpoints but at the same time I am watchful of sexism directed at Sarah Palin. I am thrilled that a woman is in the position where Sarah Palin now stands, and I am saddened that the Clinton’s didn’t run a better campaign. Regardless of their politics, both women deserve better from the media and from American voters.
Regarding the banning of books, the librarian herself was interviewed and said that there was never a specific list of books discussed and that Palin had asked her how she would respond IF Palin wanted to ban books. Of course the librarian was horrified but it never came to that. Many of the books on that list weren’t even written when Palin was Mayor. I am not condoning her behavior. But she is a Republican with a strong Christian following and I do not find it surprising that she would want to know how to go about banning books. I’m not saying that all Christians want to ban books – but I am saying that I am not surprised that she asked the question. The point is that the story about her attempting to ban a specific list of books never happened. Please see the snopes.com research on this subject: Snopes – Palin/Banned books.
And the thing about the trooper – both the trooper who is her ex-brother in law, and the safety director kept their jobs. No one was fired. I think that the director has since left and has been giving interviews saying that he didn’t like working for Palin but it is still unclear that he was fired because he refused to fire her ex-brother in law. That matter is still being investigated and I have no opinion other than to tell you that if I were a Mayor or a Governor and my sister was involved in a nasty divorce with a government employee, I might drop a few hints that I would like him to be fired.
I am sorry if my viewpoints offend – that is certainly not my intention. But I want to see a discussion about issues and what will truly be best for the country. I worry that e-mails like the one you forwarded will only contribute to the ongoing “we are right and they are wrong” bullshit that divides us.
The American political process has become a war of talking-heads merely gossiping and investigative journalism seems to be a thing of the past. Photo opportunities are staged for the media, and American voters base their decision on height and hairstyle, rather than comparing leadership ability, negotiation skills, and a true desire to uphold the Constitution.
Lots of love and all my best,
Corinna
And that is what I have to say about that.
Actually, Alaska Public Safety Director Walt Monegan was fired, according to him.
See here and here and here. Note: KTVA and the Anchorage Daily News are both Alaska media outlets that supported Palin for governor.
So it’s not as simple as “he wasn’t fired”–he claims he was fired, she says he wasn’t, and the matter is under review by the state and the public employees’ association.
At the same time, I do worry that allegations of sexism are being used to deflect legitimate criticism from Sarah Palin. That list of banned books circulating seems like a lot of things to me – assumptions about Christians, e.g., – but I’m not sure I see the link to sexism (surely similar rumors are spread about Obama and Biden in mass e-mail – except, directed towards rightwingers instead of left) simply because its been used so often in the past few weeks to respond to any criticism of Palin’s politics or experience.
Jupiter – thanks for the links. That is exactly what I am talking about. Only you said it more clearly. What former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan says in those interviews is that he believes he was fired because he didn’t fire the brother-in-law, but of course it is going to be hard to prove.
Lilah – Thanks for your comment. I agree with you and I also worry that allegations of sexism will be used to deflect legitimate criticism but so far, honestly every time I watch the news (other than Fox) I hear criticism of Palin.
My main point in my letter is really to address the list of books. It is copied from this website: http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html and there is information at the top of the page on how the list was created.
Yes there are many mass mailings going around about Obama. Perhaps you’ve heard that he is a muslim and doesn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance?
The list of banned books is a fake, but it is still a fact that Palin asked about banning books and when she was rebuffed by a small town librarian, she fired the small town librarian. She was also on record before she was mayor on wanting specific books banned. This is no “old wives tale”. You corrected something that wasn’t true with an assertion which is equally untrue.
What’s more, the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner does not have a job with the state anymore because Sarah Palin dismissed him from his post. She never disputed that he was fired, only the reason. She charged it was job performance issues and Monegan has disputed these claims. Yes, the matter is still under investigation, but it is still important to note that the Commissioner has cooperated with the investigation while Palin has instructed her aides not to cooperate.
Both are issues that merit discussion by the American public as they tell us a great deal about what kind of a leader Sarah Palin is. That is most certainly an issue in this election. Do we want someone in the White House who has a history of using elected office to settle personal vendettas and agendas? That’s not sexism. That’s the scrutiny warranted by anyone seeking Constitutional office.
I’m really bad at politics. I don’t know the language. But I’m pretty sure that when you serve in a public office you are pretty much obligated to not use your power to fire people for only personal reasons.
Me, I’m way more concerned about the rape kits.
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/index.php?s=rape+kits
While I agree the list of ‘banned books’ has been thoroughly exploded and is a load of hogwash, I hesitate to call that attack sexist.
After all, when Bill Clinton was in the White House, there was a list floating around the internet of all the people he’d supposedly either personally killed or had killed…some of whom had died of natural causes, a couple of whom had no closer tie to him than the fact that they’d been to Arkansas sometime in their lives, and a couple of whom were still walking around alive and well when the list came out.
Vicious rumors about elected officials and people who want to be elected as officials abound no matter what the party affiliation, gender, race, religion, or shoe size of the person in question.
Yes, we should be vigilant about sexism in today’s political arena. There’s plenty of it around to be fought. And yes, we should be scrupulous about checking rumors about candidates. I just happen to think that not every nasty rumor about a female candidate is sexist in nature. Sometimes it really is more about being a candidate than being a woman.
That Moneghan was fired is not under contention. He was indeed fired. And there is more than enough evidence that her administration pressured Moneghan and her agency through email, phone messages, and in person to fire her brother-in-law. This is a better overview with a link to recorded audio that Palin herself called a “smoking gun” in the investigation against her administration.
The point of contention is whether Palin herself was involved in the pressure and whether that was an abuse of power and involved in her firing of Moneghan.
As an Alaskan, there’s nothing that goads me more than people not understanding Alaskan politics fully before making up their minds. There is plenty to criticize the Palin administration and Palin herself for.
>That matter is still being investigated and I have no opinion other than to tell you that if I were a Mayor or a Governor and my sister was involved in a nasty divorce with a government employee, I might drop a few hints that I would like him to be fired.<
Then you don’t belong in public office. That’s an abuse of power.
I’m also puzzled how sexism comes into play vis-a-vis the “banned” books email. The list is false, and I’ve referred folks to Snopes more than once. But sexist? Quite a leap. Words have meaning. Calling the situation “sexist” diminishes the meaning of the word. It’s like “Nazi” and “rape.” Use it correctly or don’t use it. Please.
You are absolutely right! Never ever vote for me. I would probably have state troopers bring my dog to the groomer.
Calendae and Twistie- I agree with you both completely. One, that the Public Safety Commissioner was fired, I see that now. When I wrote that letter a few days ago I still wasn’t sure what happened. And yeah I am hearing more and more about how much there is to criticize.
And as far as Calendae’s comment
Believe me I didn’t set out to “goad” you or to give you the impression that I understood Alaskan politics, or that I have made up my mind about Alaskan politics. I really have no idea what goes on in Alaska.
And Monegan, as far as the kind of leader that I want to see in the White House — I would never ever in a million freaking years vote for McCain/Palin for many reasons.
Yikes! What I wanted to make was a statement about how much I hate people distributing those “forward this to everyone you know” unattributed e-mails. THAT was my point. It leads to misinformation creates a culture of urban myths. Yes, like the list of people Clinton “had killed.” Hogwash.
And yes, it isn’t necessarily sexism. That is true. These issues must be discussed. That is also true. I’m just feeling really raw about the mud slinging and the posturing and mostly I’m feeling that no matter who gets elected will that even really affect my life? And how will we know anyway since all the voting booths are hackable?
I agree: Sarah Palin’s candidacy shouldn’t be discounted because of rumors regarding her conduct. There are ample reasons to reject her on policy alone. Take abortion. As a woman and the mother of daughters, I don’t want to live in a country where abortion is illegal even in cases of rape and incest. what about a 12-year-old who is pregnant with her father’s baby? Or take Palin’s belief that the Iraq war is God’s war. Take her belief that teenagers should be taught abstinence only. Or her belief that Creationism (religion) should be taught in public schools. That’s the really scary stuff about her.
If I vote for a candidate solely because she is a woman, then I am a sexist, too.
Since the 2000 election I have a hard time believing that who gets elected is insignificant. I don’t think we would be at war in Iraq had Gore won (well, he did, but had things gone differently). I would not have friends and family serving abroad. We might have had a real discussion about health care and my mother in law might not have had to die in debt because she was unable to get insured because of history of breast cancer. If it is true that it doesn’t matter or if you really believe that the election is rigged–doesn’t that call for even more significant action?
I don’t feel that the issues mentioned above are just mudslinging. There is evidence that Palin saw all government jobs as political, down to the city librarian, and that she was willing to use her position to advance personal interest. Given the last eight years and similar national scandals like the Justice Department scandal those tendencies should be of great concern.
Angela-
Thank you that is exactly what I was trying to say. There are plenty of reasons to reject her, and even fear her, on policy alone.
and Pennylane-
I agree completely with everything you are saying. When I said that I fear that no matter who is elected it won’t affect my life, I meant that the political machine is so vast and overreaching that our own President has said that he doesn’t care that the majority of American people are opposed to the war. I am feeling extremely jaded about the American democratic political process.
And honestly, I’m not so sure we wouldn’t be in a war (and if not a war than certainly troops overseas) right now if Gore were President. Perhaps the fighting would be more focused on Afghanistan, but do you really believe that if Gore were President that he would not have authorized violence in response to bombing the World Trade Towers?
All I ask is that you please don’t forward that list of banned books ok?
>Yikes! What I wanted to make was a statement about how much I hate people distributing those “forward this to everyone you know” unattributed e-mails. THAT was my point. It leads to misinformation creates a culture of urban myths. Yes, like the list of people Clinton “had killed.” Hogwash.<
Absolutely. It degrades the process and calls into question all the legitimate complaints and concerns.
Thanks Jordan!