Sarah Palin killed this nice caribou in Alaska. She tried to kill some library selections in the Wasilia Public Library, but she was denied. And then, yes, says the Anchorage Daily News, she tried to have the librarian fired. And Ed Koch, for one, says he ain't voting for McCain because of it.

Here's a briefing on the situation from Snopes.com:

"According to the Anchorage Daily News, around the time Sarah Palin first assumed the mayorship of Wasilia back in 1996, she initiated some speculative discussions with the city's librarian about the possibility of removing some 'objectionable' books from the public library."

We doubt that these titles included Mein Kampf, but probably something more like the typical books right-wing Christians are always trying to shield from our sinning eyes—such outrages as "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret?," "Lady Chatterly's Lover," etc.

"In December 1996, [city librarian Mary Ellen] Emmons told her hometown newspaper, The Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her—starting before she was sworn in—about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

"When the matter came up for the second tie in October, 1996, during a City Council meeting, Annie Kilkenney, a Wasilia housewife who often attends council meetings, was there...

"Sarah [Palin] said to Mary Ellen [Emmons], 'What would your reposnse be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?'" Kilkenney said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat straight up and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilia Library were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for liaries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'" (You go, Mary Ellen, girl.)

"Palin didn't mention specific books at that meeting, Kilkenney said.

"Palin herself, questioned at the time, called her inquiries rhetorical and simply part of a policy discussion with a department head 'about understanding and following administration agendas.'"

Oh yeah, we believe that. In order to understand how my relationship to the library works, I'll just ask the librarian—three times—what she would do if I try and ban "Catcher In The Rye." And when she says, you'd be denied, I tell her she's fired. (Start theme song, Barracuda!)