Sarah Palin: Book Banning Super Mom!
So, if you’ve been following the political news this past week, you’ll know that Sarah Palin was named as John McCain’s vice presidential nominee. And there was already a ton of reasons I was rolling my eyes at her: her devotion to Feminists for Life, her belief in the effectiveness of abstinence education to prevent teen pregnancy (ironically enough, days into the Republican National Convention, it turns out that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant…doesn’t bode well for her stance, does it?), her pro-gun policy, her generally seeming to be a good-old-boy with different plumbing.
Okay, so, as it goes, general liberal affairs, especially the reproductive rights, agreed?
Today, I discovered, that during her tenure as Mayor in a town in Alaska, Palin tried to ban books from the local library.
I’m a writer. I’m a reader. I’m a believer in free speech. And the banning of books from a public space pisses me off enough. BUT, it turns out that some of the books Palin wanted banned were for religious reasons.
SHE WANTED BOOKS BANNED FROM A STATE SPONSORED LIBRARY FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS.
Last time I checked, the first amendment guaranteed separation of church and state. Meaning that religion cannot and should not dictate what books are carried in a public library.
BUT IT GETS BETTER. For a full list of the bannings you can go here. There’s a lot of common works on there, including Huckleberry Finn and the Harry Potter novels.
However, Palin wanted the following banned:Twelfth Night by William ShakespeareThe Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
…really? I mean, SERIOUSLY? Oh, Ms. Palin. I cannot not even begin to dish out the insults here.
So, I shall let The Bard do it himself.
“Well, God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are fools, let them use their talents.”-Twelfth Night, Act One, Scene Five, lines 14-15
“[You’re] such a want-wit!”-The Merchant of Venice, Act One, Scene One, line 6
“The lady bade take away the fool, therefore I say again, take her away!”-Twelfth Night, Act One, Scene Five, lines 50-51
“[Your} reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushes of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search.”-The Merchant of Venice, Act One, Scene One, lines 115-118
“Welcome, ass.”-Twelfth Night, Act Two, Scene Three, line 18
“I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.”-The Merchant of Venice, Act One, Scene Three, line 175
“If this were played upon the stage now, I could condemn it an improbable fiction!”Twelfth Night, Act Three, Scene Four, lines 128-129
“Wilt thou show the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant?”-The Merchant of Venice, Act Three, Scene Five, lines 50-51
