Several bloggers, most notably Andrew Sullivan, are calling attention to Shannyn Moore‘s bizarre post about being banned from a Sarah Palin event by husband Todd Palin.
Sarah Palin’s Wasilla book signing had a few rules. “Per Todd Palin”, three of us were banned. “Public servants” in their police uniforms at a “public event” in a “public building” had a list of “public citizens” not allowed in.
My qualms about Sarah Palin are longstanding and well documented and I’ve never previously heard of Moore, even though she apparently has a television show of some sort. But the Palins have every right to ban whomever they damned well please from their book signings.
The event was “public” in the sense that a ticket was apparently not required but actually private in the sense that the Palins had rented the room and were controlling access. Media were required to present credentials and Moore and two other people I’ve never heard of were specifically banned.
“Public” buildings are frequently rented to private parties, at which point they aren’t open to “the public.” Indeed, even when in their capacity as public buildings, they’re frequently not simply open willy-nilly to whomever walks by.
And, while I absolutely detest the practice, it’s been a fact for at least a quarter century that many police departments allow their officers to moonlight as private security guards while wearing their official uniforms. I hate it precisely because it conveys the illusion that it did to Moore — that they are acting in their official capacity as public servants — but it’s done all the time.
As to the larger question of “transparency,” I’m reminded of Ronald Reagan’s famous retort, “I’m paying for this microphone, Mr. Breen.”
Sarah Palin is, so far as I’m aware, simply a private citizen trying to capitalize on her 15 minutes of fame by selling a book she paid someone else to write in her name. She’s under zero obligation to subject herself to press scrutiny while so doing. One presumes that Todd Palin thinks the three people on the “banned” list are going to somehow disrupt a staged event for his wife’s fans. So, why shouldn’t he exclude them from the festivities?
