Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Real Thing


One of the more farcical claims that Democrats have leveled against Governor
Sarah Palin is that as mayor, she "banned" books from the Wasilla, Alaska public
library. The claim was a complete fabrication, and anyway, a mayor has no power
to "ban" a book. Suppressing a work of literature in our time requires href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4837994.ece">something
quite different
:

Scotland Yard's counter-terrorist command yesterday foiled an
alleged plot by Islamic extremists to kill the publisher of a forthcoming novel
featuring sexual encounters between the Prophet Muhammad and his child bride.

It was withdrawn from publication in America last month after its
publisher there, Random House, said it feared a violent reaction by “a small
radical segment” of Muslims. It said “credible and unrelated sources” had warned
that the book could incite violence.

That's how you go about suppressing a book. No one seems to mind much,
though, when the real thing happens.

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