The Pregnancy That Never Was

Before September slips away totally, I thought I'd post about a difficult topic:  proving a negative. When you find signs or evidence that someone actually DID something, you prove the positive.  The culprit can be convicted even with circumstantial evidence.  Proving a negative is much more tricky.  In this case, the negative statement is, "Sarah Palin did not give birth to the child who became her political prop during the 2008 election season."

Perhaps this is why so many in the other media have had such a hard time with the subject of Sarah's "wild ride" and its implications.  Here's what I mean.  They simply took for granted that she was the miracle mother who survived the 11-hour Dallas to Wasilla journey while leaking amniotic fluid to produce a 6lb 2oz, 5-week (at least) premature Down syndrome infant in a facility that was not even equipped to handle twins.  In order to challenge this story, one would have to prove the negative—that it never happened.

But what is missing from this story tale?  Are there not enough missing pieces to make the whole puzzle unsolvable?  Here's a partial list of what we have not seen as evidence to support this fantastic tale:

• Official or family pictures showing Mrs. Palin's normal progression through pregnancy
  -The reason?  She didn't TELL anyone, even her family, of the pregnancy.
  
• Hospital records of a live birth on the day specified (April 18, 2008)
  -Curiously, the local hospital suddenly stopped publishing birth announcements and went 'dark' in April 2008.
  
• A birth certificate
  -Mrs. Palin has claimed she provided this evidence but nobody has seen it.
  
• Medical records indicating routine pre-natal visits
  -Again, Mrs. Palin claimed she opened her medical records but nobody has seen them.
  
• Travel documents and time sheets accounting for normal pre-natal visits
  -Scrutiny of Mrs. Palin's official calendar reveals no time off or travel for such visits.
  
• Contemporaneous accounts by any patient or visitor who witnessed the birth mother arriving, remaining at, or leaving the hospital where birth occured
  -Apparently, nobody saw her at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, or they chose never to talk about it.
  
• Pictures of the birth mother in bed with child and/or being visited by family members in the hospital
  -We saw Mrs. Palin's parents with an infant identified as Trig in a single picture but not one of her with the baby, with her children, with her husband, or even with close friends and well-wishers in the hospital
  
• Contemporaneous accounts by anyone in Texas during the Governor's conference who had contact with Mrs. Palin at the hotel or at the conference itself or anyone seeing her on travel between Alaska and Texas and back (that support her state of pregnancy)
  -We only have Mrs. Palin's recounting of Governor Perry mentioning her pregnancy, but there is no supporting evidence this happened, and the Alaska Airlines statement declines to confirm her "state of pregnancy"
  
• Anecdotal evidence from anyone regarding the state of and progression of the pregnancy who may have witnessed her doctor's visits, trips to the store, interactions during the course of her government business or unofficial snapshots during public events
  -Instead of this sort of confirmation, we have legislators who were there, where Mrs. Palin was, on the job, saying she sure as heck did NOT look pregnant
  
• Baby shower pictures for showers given before birth, as is the norm
  -The only baby shower we know of was some weeks after the supposed birth, and the baby in the pictures is clearly NOT the same baby that was shown being held by Mrs. Palin's parents in a news release
  
• Evidence of any maternity outfits instead of the omnipresent long black jacket, black scoop-necked top, and black pants or skirt plus colored scarves
  -Surely a woman well-known for caring about clothing and appearance (she gets custom manicures for her toes!) would splurge and buy one or two stylish maternity outfits, but not Mrs. Palin...
  
• Baby pictures and/or stories about Trig's early treatment for Down syndrome or prematurity
  -Apparently the birth was so easy and the DS disability so trivial that Mrs. Palin never thought to talk about or write about or schedule appointments about taking care of her new "blessing from God"
  
• Correspondence from/to family members and friends or staff discussing any aspect of the pregnancy
  -Many of Mrs. Palin's e-mails requested through the FOIA were released but not one contained what would be normal information about her pregnancy except for a curious one, "How to answer questions about the pregnancy..."

There's a saying that the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence.  But in this case, the overwhelming absence of any evidence that Mrs. Palin was indeed pregnant is most telling. Surely there would be some publicly accessible documents or images that would add weight to Mrs. Palin's assertion that she was indeed pregnant with and actually gave birth to the child called Trig.

The only evidence for the positive is Mrs. Palin's own story, told and re-told and embellished and told again, plus the appearance of the mysterious Gusty photos right after Mrs. Palin's selection as the VP nominee.  That's basically it.  Is the reason there is no other evidence to support her crazy tale because it simply does not exist?

Anyone with knowledge or information regarding facts that either support or refute Mrs. Palin's "pregnant with Trig" claims:  Please contact me (find my e-mail in my profile) or better yet, send information to the secure and anonymous hotline at Palingates.blogspot.com.

If Mrs. Palin was living the simple, rustic life she espouses, none of this would be an issue.  Instead, she flaunts her celebrity status and exerts an impact on national politics whether or not she seeks to run for office.  Once she retreats (or is exposed for the extreme fraud she has perpetrated on the American people), I will stop reloading.

A Conspiracy By Any Other Name...

 With all due respect to two of my favorite Alaskan bloggers, and I say that sincerely, their discussion with Nicole Sandler made me grit my teeth.  I am speaking of AKM (Jeanne Devon), and Shannyn Moore. AKM is, of course, the brilliant writer behind The Mudflats, and Shannyn's got a widely-read blog, Moore Up North, and a topical daily radio show. I've corresponded with Jeanne by e-mail and called into Shannyn's show at least twice. I met them both in person, right after last year's Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, PA. Their warmth and humor were delightful.  Their disappointment in and disagreements with the former half-term Alaska governor are well-known.

Shannyn (L) and AKM (R) at Pittsburgh Mudstock

Why teeth-gritting, though?  Here's why.  It's one thing to make a personal or political decision about whether or not to cover a particular story, and I'm talking about babygate—the pregnancy that Sarah Palin faked in order to boost her pro-life cred with evangelical Christians and parlay her thin resume into a shot to become the Vice President of these United States.  It's another to disparage, however off-handedly, those who do address, research and endeavor to cover that same story.  If you listen to the Nicole Sandler interview (in the first link of this post), you'll learn that Nicole was able to interview Jeanne and Shannyn just as the two intrepid Alaskans concluded their second Netroots Nation in Las Vegas. Nicole had recently interviewed Patrick, one of the chief authors of the Palin watchdog blog Palingates, twice: see here and here for the details. As a result of her education about the babygate topic, Nicole asked some followup questions of the Alaskan bloggers on her segment.  Their responses were, to my ear, condescending and disparaging.

When you use words like conspiracy theory and tin-foil hats in conjunction with describing why you are not writing or talking about a potential story, you trigger a response in listeners, to wit: "Watch your step here, this is la-la land!"  Both these accomplished ladies seemed to "pooh-pooh" any efforts to get to the bottom of the clearly impossible stories Mrs. Todd Palin has given concerning the birth of the child she calls her son, Trig.

Like I said, I can understand why someone would not want to touch a story that the "mainstream media" decided to let lay fallow.  One only has to read the recently released e-mails from the Journolist group to find some sort of justification for this.  Is the justification valid?  I don't happen to think so, but then, that's me, and I have a day job. My future life plans do not depend on whether or not I blog about the right topics, or the safe topics, or the approved topics.  Running for political office is not in my future.  Cozying up to Marcos Moulitsas or any other notable in the Democratic Party is not one of my goals.

Let's face it. though.  Labels have meaning to people.  Label something a conspiracy theory and red flags shoot up everywhere.  BEWARE, BEWARE!

So fine, don't touch the story, but don't label it in such a way that I, and many of my blogging and commenting friends are made out to be kooks.  It's obvious from some of the details that AKM and Shannyn provided during the interview with Nicole that they are not very well read on the subject of babygate.  There is now a mountain of detailed evidence that makes it clear why not one of us, those who did choose to follow this story, have been threatened with a lawsuit for claiming that Mrs. Todd Palin defrauded the country with her impossible Wild Ride tale and imagined magical birth of Trig.  It is because it is NOT TRUE.

For an excellent overview/summary, I implore you to view these newly released videos:

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Videos are courtesy of lidia17 who published them at Palingates, and summarize the indisputable evidence that disproves the assertion that Mrs. Todd Palin was actually ever pregnant with the child she claims as her own son, Trig.

Babygate in the Blogs

With a H/T to Palingates' commenter AKSandhills for bringing it to my attention, please make sure to look at both of these posts in turn:

• A little holiday skepticism by progressive blogger Amanda at Pandagon, and
• Again with a post about Sarah Palin: Responding to the Department of Disingenuously Selective Editing and Smug Name-calling by Deborah at litbrit.

Normally, a skeptic seeks the truth that hides beneath a popularly accepted, "official" story. Not so in Amanda's case, unless she views the Babygate "conspiracy" as the new and now official truth.  But she doesn't.  Instead, she is skeptical about reasons people give for doubting Saint Sarah's holy birth story.  You know, those real good solid reasons like Bristol's cuddling Trig a lot.  If her blog post wasn't so rife with ridiculous statements like

... if you believe the theory, you have to accept Bristol conceived a second time while still pregnant

and warnings like

The Palin conspiracy theory seems tailor-made to rob liberals of our moral authority...

and supporting evidence from an article in the UK Sunday Times about women who don't realize they're pregnant, I could let it pass.

Thankfully, Deborah didn't let it pass -- no doubt because Amanda directly discounts Deborah's statement on the topic: "Litbrit claims it would be impossible to fly during labor, because it’s so painful."  That Sarah was in labor comes from Sarah's own words in both newspaper stories and her book.  (That Sarah slightly changes the story with every telling should be telling, but I doubt Amanda has kept up with the evolution!)  That Amanda disputes the assertion of how difficult it would be to fly for 10 hours while in labor should be enough to totally discredit the rest of her "holiday skepticism" post. Fortunately, Deborah does an outstanding job at rebutting the rebuttal.

Critical Mass - Reaching for it [UPDATED]

Last August I went to Pittsburgh for a gathering of "mudpuppies" - these are folks who respect and support AKM, the founder and primary author of The Mudflats blog.  Fans across the country have organized several of these gatherings, called "Mudstocks"—a testament to AKM's superb writing on political subjects, but most especially, on Sarah Palin.

On this occasion last August both AKM (now known by her real name, Jeanne Devon) and popular blogger, current radio host, HuffPo contributor, and occasional guest on Countdown, Shannyn Moore were in attendance.  They had just both attended the Netroots Nation convention where Shannyn was surprised and honored to win the Gilliard Grant of Merit, an award named after Steve Gilliard who wrote, "I'm a Fighting Liberal."

Shannyn Moore and AKM, fall 2009, right after their Countdown and Rachel Maddow appearances

I've been a great admirer of AKM since September 2008 when, along with many, I discovered her blog in my quest to find out more about Sarah Palin, this person who was named by John McCain to be his running-mate in the 2008 presidential race.  AKM gave us the inside scoop on Alaska's governor, warts and all, and I was so grateful for her excellent writing, her enduring wit, and her razor-sharp and honest analysis.

I've also admired Shannyn and read her blog, listened to her broadcasts on KUDO Alaska, watched episodes of "Moore up North," and have even phoned in a couple of times to comment and ask questions during her radio show.  During the Pittsburgh Mudstock I shared a brief chat at an outdoor patio table with Shannyn while having a quick cigarette away from the rest of the attendees.

AKM and Shannyn, as far as I saw, are both warm, incredible, lovely, funny, delightful people and nothing I write in this post should be construed to negate that.  The fact remains that they both were building, and now have, reputations as trustworthy voices from the far North, the Alaskan front.

Early on at The Mudflats, AKM determined that discussions about "babygate" would not be allowed.  I imagine this was a rather wise decision at the time, since the rumors that bubbled up were quickly labeled as conspiracy theories. Those who create and propagate labels have an unfair advantage over those who seek the truth in any issue.  Shannyn did speak of and even allowed discussion about Sarah Palin's "wild ride" from time to time, but she resisted going beyond questioning the plausibility of the official scenario.

I don't know AKM's personal feelings on the "babygate" matter.  Shannyn's take is evident in a broadcast you can listen to in audio files included in this post at Phil Munger's Progressive Alaska blog.  Shannyn says the reason Sarah Palin doesn't clear up the questions by once and for all producing a birth certificate for Tri-G or authorizing the release of her own medical records is because holding back "is working for [Sarah]," even though Shannyn is not sure why.  Shannyn tries to make the point that as long as Palin conceals the real truth, she gets to play victim while claiming those evil democrats are out to get her.

Frame from the April 7-8, 2008 video taken by Elan Frank

My take is that a simpler answer to the question "why has Sarah not put an end to the questions?" is because she can't—because she was not pregnant in April '08.  She tries to make it "work for her" as best she can, of course, since she can't make it go away. Any documents related to her pregnancy or the birth of Tri-G would prove she's been lying.

Please take note of the fact that she and her bevy of lawyers have never threatened any of us who have stated publicly that we believe her story is a complete fabrication.  Why is that, when she was so very quick to jump about other things—like Shannyn's reporting about the federal investigation "iceberg" rumors, or Gryphen's Immoral Minority blog reporting about the divorce rumors?

She hasn't even mounted a personal campaign à la the David Letterman joke or the Family Guy criticism.  She simply lets her minions try to marginalize and disparage those who continue to work on the babygate story.  Where are her Facebook entries decrying the efforts made by Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Dish or RPK of Palingates or several others?  Where is the cease and desist order from Thomas Van Flein?

I suppose if you are trying to build your career as a trusted voice in radio, television or the 'net, you might decide it's best to turn a blind eye to certain topics.  As a result, though, Sarah's dark cloud continues to swirl and spread and even if she never gets elected to another political office, the damage she has done over the past many months and the damage she continues to do will take a long time to repair.

Sarah Palin, 11 days before Tri-G's "birth"

It is my firm conviction that should it be revealed that Sarah never did make an oh-so-righteous choice to have a DS baby, her entire pedestal will crumble. She will no longer have even one leg to stand on.  Her most fervent worshipers will have to reconsider their object of devotion and their support of her.

We need to reach critical mass.  That's the point where enough voices with enough substance and respect finally weigh in with their doubts and questions.  That's the point where it is no longer unseemly to ask the vital questions of someone who has most assuredly been running for high political office since July, 2009 when she quit as governor of Alaska.  We could surely benefit from the now respectable voices of The Mudflats and Shannyn Moore.  But thanks to the tireless dedication and documented research of Palingates and others, more and more people are encouraged to speak out.  Visit the Buckeye Surgeon blog for example.

It's time for others to stop being selfish.

UPDATE: Replaced photo of Shannyn and AKM with one that is much better.  Also, just in case I did not make it clear -- I respect the AK bloggers who have decided not to focus on babygate.  At the same time, I wish they would sanction a broader discussion on this topic.  The reason?  Her abysmal ethics and perpetual idiocy can be and are, regularly, excused by most Palin supporters ("so, she misspoke, so what?").  Sarah's courageous and sanctimonious "walking the walk" is her trademark, though.  It is the central supporting column of her political essence. Once it becomes common knowledge that she made it up, we'll stop seeing every Facebook entry and Twitter from this twit reaching headline status, and nobody will suggest that she has any credibility at all as a future political candidate.

Blogging and Me

I recently told a friend about my blog and after he had a look, he was like, "It would be nice if you wrote about something other than Sarah Palin all the time."

There are definitely other things in my life that are more important than Mrs. (failed VP candidate and former half-term Alaskan Governor) Palin. First comes my family, but details about them are strictly personal and I will never expose that part of my life to an Internet audience. Then there's my job, but that's not something I can blog about either, and still keep said job. Let's just say that what happens at work stays at work. Then there are my diversions: one is my long-standing participation in online role-playing games. I could blog about that, but it is a world apart from politics and would seem incongruous here at H&HT to talk about how one of my World of Warcraft characters happened across the Time-Lost Proto Drake and got the high-speed mount item that mob dropped. Equally incongruous would be a warning I'd like to issue about the ripoff that is Evony, or my background in coding for and administering MUDs. That would require a new blog title and a great deal of effort and I hardly have time for this blog as it is!

Another is gardening, and I've been known to insert a few pictures of cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and other produce from the lovely raised beds in my back yard.

But my other main diversion (or call it passion) is politics. Well, not exactly politics, but hypocritical people who are politicians or who are in public view, people who seem to capture attention and imagination and have an apparent impact on our national dialogue. That's what H&HT is devoted to, and that's why Mrs. Palin figures so heavily into the content here. She's not the only one who needs calling out. But she's the one that touches home with me because she is constantly "out there," thanks to someone who wants to keep her in the public eye. She's the one who is the biggest hypocrite of all, based on what I know about her. She's all over TV, the Internet, magazines, radio, and every sort of media out there. Her indiscretions are never-ending. Her lies are incessant. Her chutzpah is without parallel. Her phoniness is without par. And yet she keeps playing the victim while flaunting her ignorance and disparaging anyone who doesn't buy her schtick.

An aspect of Mrs. Palin's story that particularly grates on me is the lie that she "chose life" in order to give birth to Trig Palin. Her history as a Mayor of a town of about 6,000 pales in comparison. Nobody even mentions the consolation prize she won after her failed run for Lieutenant Governor, a position on the Oil and Gas Commission. And after she quit as Governor well before finishing even one term, she hangs her hat almost entirely on the fact that she is a mother (so?) and specially, a mother of a child with Down syndrome. In the absence of Trig, she'd still be in Alaska and out of the public eye. In the absence of Trig, she'd never have become McCain's chosen one. In the absence of Trig, even if McCain had picked her anyway, her star would have faded by December 2008.

Instead, you can find stories and videos and transcripts of her trademark "word salad" speech nearly every day in countless media outlets. But the Trig story is a lie, and so far she's gotten away with it. I know it, she knows it, and a good number of other people know it too. Mrs. Palin is giving women everywhere a bad name. That's what bugs me and as a woman, that is why I will point out her hypocrisies on H&HT as long as she keeps providing the ammunition. She is, as far as I'm concerned, the biggest hypocrite on the public scene today and therefore, a worthy target of most of my blog posts.

"Happy Birthday," Trig

April 18 2008 - the day that God Almighty blessed Sarah Palin with a gift beyond compare, a child with an extra chromosome. Or so the story goes. In loving memory of this grand lie, let us have another look at Sister Sarah just a week or so before she had her miracle birth.

On the left, we have (ta da!) Sarah Palin, taken from a video of her on or about April 8 -- when Elan Frank visited Alaska to film her.  On the right, we have a woman who is actually 7 months pregnant.

Interesting that we have heard nothing about or from Elan Frank since then!

Anyway, the child most of the world knows as Trig, even though you didn't emerge from Sarah Palin's womb and even though your real birth date is not likely to be April 18, 2008, please know that a lot of people care about you and hope you are doing well -- getting the special help you need, even if your so-called mother is not the one providing it.

Happy Birthday, Trig.

Revisiting Preemies and How Many Trigs?

In August, 2009, I put up a post on how unusual "Trig" looked on the day of his birth, titled What a 5-Week Preemie Really Looks Like. I place Trig's name in quotes here because now we don't know for sure how many kids have played Trig since April, 2008. It seems as though renting or borrowing babies may be something that comes easy for Sarah Palin.

A closer examination of pictures of "Trig" from birth to present reveal that his features have been changing in ways that don't happen to real children! If you haven't already, please examine for yourself:

1. "Trig" at his baby shower early in May, 2008
   
   
   
   VERSUS
   
   
2. "Trig" on the campaign trail a few months later
   
   
   

For a great deal more information on this topic of many Trigs, please see Gryphen's and Bree's blogs for their excellent write-ups.

Psst... the ears, it's the ears...

Letter to Levi Johnston

Hey there, Levi. Ever since you got dragged onto the national stage as Bristol Palin's betrothed, I've had my eye on you. I mean, after all, you were intimate with someone in the Palin household and when Sarah got introduced to us all, we really wanted information about the Palin household.

I see you've tried to make the best of what is probably a really rotten situation. Your gal Bristol dumped you (was she enticed by the offer of a Cadillac or was it she had the hots for another guy?) and since then you've done your level best to be a good father to Tripp (whose last name was originally announced as Johnston). Sarah blew your cover on the electrician job on the slope although I don't know why your dad couldn't fix that up for you. So you started reaching out via the media and found yourself taking deals with glossy mags and even Playgirl. I hold no grudge against you for that, and in fact, find you to be an attractive young guy. I'm sorry that I'm way too old for you and probably shouldn't be saying that but hey, that's the way it goes.

But what I really want to write to you about is your former possible future mother-in-law. She's been prancing around the stage with her ultra-short skirts, her faux hair, her high heels and manicured fingers, and of course gobs of makeup over a plasticene face (courtesy of some surgeon). That in itself would be just fine except, because she is a ditz who once shared a ticket with John McCain, she makes national news whenever a piece of gravel falls from her perfectly pouty lips... The health care debate, for example, was derailed for days if not weeks because she claimed the proposed legislation would create a "death panel." Of course that was totally false. But just because she said it, it was repeated ad nauseum and continues to this day to be something that mindless minions believe.

Let me sum up here. The longer she remains someone that a certain small demographic cling to, the longer our national dialogue on some very important issues is clouded with her stupidity. I know and you know that there is information you have that could blow her out of the water. I know that she and her daughter are doing their best to drain you of any financial resources you may have or may even hope to have. I know that the longer you remain silent (out of some dutiful or honorable notion regarding Bristol), the less likely it is that we can finally send Sarah back to the wilds of Alaska where (forgive me, dear ones in Alaska) she should remain forever banished.

It's time, past time even, Levi, for you to say what you know and/or get your book out. And I'm not talking about revealing that Sarah likes crunchwraps. It's time for you and Mercede and even your dear mom to tell -- once and for all -- what you know about the Palin clan (mafia, if you prefer). Don't succumb to fear. It's clear that either they will get you, or you will get them. I know which option I'd prefer. Please think about it, but don't take too long!

What's holding you back? Let us know. You have a lot of support down here in the lower 48. Reach out, we can and will help.

Best wishes,

Ennealogic

Short 'n' Sweet - A Challenge

I firmly believe that Sarah Palin was NOT pregnant with Trig Van Paxson Palin when she announced that she was, just a day after John McCain got the nod as the Republican presidential candidate. Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy with Trig for a variety of reasons, but an important reason was that "choosing life" when she supposedly knew (from week 13!!) that this child would have Down Syndrome would serve as a tremendous boost to her cred with the religious right.

In order to disprove this statement, all Sarah Palin (or Todd Palin or any member of her family) has to do is provide medical records showing the care and treatment she received during this (fake) pregnancy. Who saw Sarah Palin obviously pregnant in late February or March or early April 2008? At the store. At the doctor's office. At a sporting event. At a government function. On the airplane to or from Texas in mid-April. At the Mat-Su clinic where she supposedly gave birth. Anyone?

An independent DNA test would work best, of course. What do you say, Sarah?

Sarah Palin is very good at one thing -- fooling people. Just take a look at some of the e-mails that MSNBC finally got from the state of Alaska. She knew full well that she'd have to fudge about a lot of things in order to rip off the taxpayers in Alaska. Children's travel. Per Diem while living at home. Getting her tanning bed hooked up. Dumping security detail during her trip to Texas when she supposedly went into labor. And she's still fooling people. But that's the subject of another Short 'n' Sweet.

The challenge stands. Who can certify that Sarah actually gave birth to Trig? And if you have no verifiable evidence to offer, why do you just take what she says for granted when she's been proven to lie many times before?

To Sarah Palin's Fans

The media knows when someone is a celebrity. They rightfully labeled this picture, "Sarah Palin waves at fans during book tour."

I don't think religious figures in history had fans. I don't think monarchs had fans. Even politicians don't seem to have fans. But musicians do. Television, movie and stage stars do. Some professional athletes do. But not Senators or Representatives or Mayors or Governors or Presidents.

But that's neither here nor there. Bottom line is, Sarah Palin has fans. Fans who wait in the cold for her plane to touch down, wait while she switches to the big blue bus parked on the runway, wait while the bus drives a few miles to the local bookstore, and wait while she regally disembarks the bus, clutching Trig (the token child) like a security blanket and her personal pro-life badge, and wait while she enters the bookstore for "The Amazing Signing Ceremony."

Fans of Sarah Palin, I know you are out there. I doubt many of you frequent my blog but I have a very serious question to ask you, and I would really, really love to get an answer from some of you. But before you consider the question, you have to promise to think about it and then be as honest as possible with yourself, with me, and with my other readers.

I don't expect many responses but hey, surprise me! So here's the question:

If you found out that Sarah Palin told a lie and continued to perpetuate a hoax about giving birth to a Down syndrome child, would you still be a fan?

Even if you who read this have absolute adoration for Sarah Palin (if your minds are at all free to think), you should be able to imagine the scenario. I'd be very happy if you left a comment on how that might change your perception of her. Would that totally destroy what you think of her? Partially destroy? Would you forgive her this kind of fraud if it occurred under certain circumstances?

I'd really like to know.

Here's a Sign I'd Like to See

Wouldn't it be lovely... to drive down a local highway... and see this:


I can dream, can't I?

What a 5-Week Preemie Really Looks Like

Sarah's "gone dark." Her devotees are experiencing withdrawals. Her lawyer is sending out unprofessional attack letters with demands—via e-mail, for chrissakes!

It's time to re-visit a certain time and certain images many in the media took for granted.

According to popular myth, Trig Paxson Van Palin was born on April 18, 2008. He was also reportedly born with jaundice, a hole in his heart, and with trisomy 21, otherwise known as Down syndrome.

Not only that, he was also reportedly born at 35 weeks, which would make him 5 weeks premature.

This little fact has never been examined much, as far as I know, so I did some reading on premature babies. Even those who are NOT already genetically challenged and are born this far in advance of their due dates normally undergo a week or two in a NICU, or a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Why?

Because infants born before they achieve 37 weeks gestation have difficulty breathing and eating. Additionally, even without the Down syndrome complication, premature babies require temperature control because they simply do not have the capacity to warm themselves... thus they need a special environment in which to spend their first several days. They normally have to be fed by a nasal tube because their ability to suck a bottle or a breast is undeveloped. They also frequently need additional oxygen because their lungs are not developed enough to take in sufficient air. Another very common complication is jaundice, as a result of the fact that the infant's liver is simply not mature enough to process the bile before it builds up. If you doubt anything I'm saying here, please check yourself.

Here are three pictures of premature infants. These images were found searching '5 week premature infants' on Google's "image" search page. After reading the stories that came with each picture, I have every reason to believe that they represent actual pictures of newborn babies who were 5 weeks premature.

4-day old infant born 5 weeks prematurely, with feeding tube, in NICU

Infant born 5-6 weeks prematurely with jaundice

Newborn, 5 weeks premature, with jaundice and feeding tube

Now, here is Trig Paxson Van Palin right after he was born on April 18, 2008.

Trig Palin, shown here on the day of his birth, supposedly 5-weeks premature

Please recall that Trig and his "mother" were supposedly released from the hospital the day after the birth—a Saturday—and that his "mother" took him to work the following Monday for show and tell with the media.

Re-think this. The facility in which this premature infant was supposedly born didn't even have a NICU. So whatever early intervention may have been required was not even possible. If you knew you were having a special needs child, five weeks too soon, with the great likelihood that special equipment or treatment would be needed to preserve the life, would you intentionally go to a local clinic without the facilities, staff or know-how to help?

Re-think this. This 5-week premature infant with jaundice (what jaundice?) and a hole in his heart and Down syndrome, all conditions which require, anywhere else in the world, careful treatment and monitoring in a facility specially equipped to handle it, was taken to work a couple days after birth and presented as proof of the crazy ex-governor lady's religious pro-birth credentials.

As the crazy ex-governor lady would have us believe, not only was she pregnant for just a month, her miracle baby managed to be born and survive without any of the customary clinicians or neonatal equipment that any of us would have insisted upon, in spite of his early arrival and challenging circumstances.

Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge to nowhere for sale. Any bidders?

By Popular Demand...

Well, thank you to one of my readers for asking for more video.  Same as the last, this video displays clips from the Faux Noise production about Sarah Palin when she was a candidate for vice-president.  They got lots of footage from Elan Frank, who had shot video over 2-3 days encompassing April 8, 2008.  The reason this footage is so incredibly valuable (and likely the reason Faux has pulled its video of this very time frame) is because Sarah supposedly gives birth to Trig just 10 days later.

Clips here are taken from Part Two of the Faux Noise production (credit: Elan Frank) that I captured and converted.  There may be more coming, I still have to scour parts 3 - 5 of that "commercial for Sarah" that Greta Van Susteren narrated.  Take it for what you will, at least this time I figured out how to add some sound!

Why Babygate Matters

There are some people who say they don't care whether or not Sarah Palin gave birth to a 5th child, a son named Trig Paxson Van Palin. I care, and here is why.

Sarah Palin seems to see herself as a national political figure. She's done nothing to discourage any talk about running for President in 2012 or 2016, and in fact, she seems to be eager to promote herself as someone worthy of consideration.

Palin's supporters push for her candidacy and promote the idea on numerous blogs and other Web sites. They support her potential run financially through SarahPAC. I get the feeling they are not all that numerous but they are very vocal. We have to wait until the PAC's first accounting comes out to see how the support translates into dollars.

Even though many voices I respect claim Sarah Palin stands no chance being selected as the Republican nominee, much less winning the Presidency, I'm not confident enough in our mainstream media or our voting machines to think that such a fluke is 100% impossible. Besides, there is always a 3rd party ticket possibility.

I think most reasonable people would acknowledge that Sarah Palin uses people, including her own children, to further her political aims. If she did not give birth to Trig, she is especially using those who are against legal abortions, or those who also have a Down syndrome child, by appealing to them in events across the country. If she did not give birth to Trig, she has been lying to them and everyone else for a long time.

A person who would perpetrate a deception like this would also attempt to deceive on other issues. These are not the morals or ethics I want to see in a President, or in a person who holds any political office for that matter.

Sarah Palin's resume, and her appeal to what are called the core voters in the GOP, rests almost entirely on these "facts:"

1. She is an attractive woman and a mother of five.
2. She chose to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome.
3. She is a Governor.
4. She is knowledgeable about the "energy" issue.
5. She has a "servant's heart."

Point one is in dispute (the mother of five part). Point two is very much in dispute. Point three is true, but her legacy as Governor is still being written and it is so far peppered with incidents that do not reflect well on Sarah Palin's ability to govern wisely and well. That point four is in dispute is apparent if you do even a little research on the topic. That leaves us with point five, but it's not up to me to judge that.

Babygate is about points one and two. I can say with great confidence that the woman shown below could not have given birth to a 6 lb 2 oz baby a few weeks after these pictures were taken:

Sarah Palin on March 14, 2008

Sarah Palin on March 27, 2008

Sarah Palin, first week of April 2008

Babygate researchers have turned up all kinds of additional evidence that increases my confidence. This information is being preserved online at Team Truther as well as several other places. It's not hard to find if you look!

The only evidence to the contrary remains:

1. Sarah said she was pregnant. ("So, it was really great, I was only pregnant a month.")
2. The mysterious Gusty photos taken on one afternoon that appear to show a pregnant Sarah.
3. An ambiguous printed statement released by the McCain campaign purporting to be from Sarah's family doctor.

As for #1—We heard Sarah claim that the Alaska Legislative Council report on Troopergate cleared her of any wrongdoing even when it plainly told us she was guilty of abusing her office as Governor. Sarah also said she turned down the funds for the "bridge to nowhere" but neglected to mention she kept them anyway. And she also let everyone believe she sold the governor's jet on E-Bay for a profit even though she sold it at a loss to a political contributor. Believe what Sarah says at your peril.

As for #2—We know that a woman can appear to be pregnant when she is not. There are many ways to pad oneself under clothing. For some reason, the Gusty images are no longer publicly available. Neither are any other images that show a pregnant Sarah Palin. There are quite a few images that show a not-pregnant Sarah Palin though!

As for #3—Sarah's family doctor has never spoken on the issue even though local news media gave her the opportunity a few times in an attempt to put Babygate to rest. No birth certificate or medical records have ever been released that would back up Sarah's claim of being pregnant with and giving birth to Trig. No hospital birth announcements were published for Trig Paxson Van Palin.

If the Babygate deception was revealed as truth, would Sarah's chances at a national political office be virtually eliminated? My Magic 8 ball says:

That's why Babygate matters to me, and I'd guess that's also why Sarah Palin's supporters are so savage and vicious when anyone brings it up.

[cross-posted at Team Truther]

Over the Top: C4P Can't Handle the Truth

It's not often that someone opposed to my personal views on political topics adds a comment here at Hypocrites and Heffalump Traps. But when someone has, that comment remained in the thread as part of the discussion. I have yet to remove a comment, much less ban someone from posting altogether. Maybe I'm just lucky not to have incited serious hate speech or excessive foulness.

I admit that I can be aggressive in a gentle sort of way. I was in that sort of mood when I posted a few comments on C4P's site last night under a topic that was excusing Sarah from "lifting" thoughts and words from the Gingrich-Shirley article without attribution. I wondered aloud if there was anything her highness could do or say that would raise an eyebrow of concern among her disciples. And I further wondered if anyone at C4P had a problem with Michael Reagan, and Sarah's glowing praise and encouragement of him when she introduced him.

The first poster to reply to me said, " Go away DivaPiglit."

Another wrote, "Tell your masters they need to come up with a better boogey man then Michael Reagan ok."

A third chimed in, "In case you haven't noticed, this isn't 'Converatives4MichaelReagan'. Who cares what he said or didn't say? And why the hell do you care if anyone here agrees with him or not?"

Then R.A. Mansour joined the fray, "She cited her source. How can she have plagiarized when she vited [sic] her source?"

The next thing I know, I read this from RAM, "Bye troofers. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." Every post I'd made on the thread so far was removed.

So I wrote an e-mail asking what happened and why. Full content below, in chronological order:

Ejected from C4P...

Sunday, June 7, 2009 11:20 PM
From: "Lee Franklin"
To: ramansour@conservatives4palin.com

On what grounds, please?

I did not, to my knowledge, break any rules about posting.

Thank you for a prompt response,

Lee Franklin
aka Ennealogic

Re: Ejected from C4P...

Sunday, June 7, 2009 11:26 PM
From: "R. A. Mansour"
To: "Lee Franklin"

Off topic, spamming the thread, and being an over all jerk who annoys all of us. How's that?

I didn't actually ban you. This thread was your warning. Do it again and you're gone for good.

Re: Ejected from C4P...

Sunday, June 7, 2009 11:38 PM
From: "Lee Franklin"
To: "R. A. Mansour"

The topic was Goeffrey's article about Sarah's plagiarism. I do not believe I was off topic.

I opened some remarks and then responded to replies directly made to me. I do not understand how that qualifies as spamming.

As for being an "over all jerk who annoys all of [you]", perhaps that is how you see it, but I did not impugn any poster or the site. I did not malign you or anyone else there, I only asked a few questions about plagiarism and the speech that Sarah gave -- which was, in all 17 minutes, supposed to be a glowing introduction to Michael Reagan.

As for me, I did not receive even one honest answer to any of my questions from any of the people who spoke with me. Yet I am not annoyed, I am only saddened. Why does what I said annoy you?

As for your warning... I do not know what not to do again. Perhaps if you'd lay out the rules? Can one not question Sarah Palin's actions? Can one not point out that Mike Reagan wants to stuff hand grenades into babies' butts? Can one not link Sarah Palin with those she introduces and cheers on?

Thank you for a response, though. I wasn't expecting it.

Sincerely,

Lee Franklin

Re: Ejected from C4P...

Monday, June 8, 2009 11:56 PM

From: "R. A. Mansour"
To: "Lee Franklin"

You know what "saddens" me? Your Trig Trutherism.

Re: Ejected from C4P...

Sunday, June 7, 2009 12:08 AM
From: "Lee Franklin"

To: "R. A. Mansour"

I do not believe I have posted anything about Trig (Palin, right?) on the C4P site, ever. Have you removed my posts from a thread about Sarah's alleged plagiarism because you suspect I may not subscribe to your beliefs concerning the birth of Trig?

Seriously?

Re: Ejected from C4P...

Monday, June 8, 2009 1:16 AM

From: "R. A. Mansour"
To: "Lee Franklin"

"Trig (Palin, right?)"

That's it. Now you are banned for life, you sick son of a bitch.

"may not subscribe" to my beliefs?

Yes, I would also delete and ban racists, Obama birth certificate truthers, and Holocaust deniers.

You are at home with those people.

Don't ever come back to my blog. Don't email me again. Your emails are going in my SPAM filter.

For some reason I don't fully understand, the topic of Trig Palin's parentage is as horrific as garlic soaked in holy water and wrapped around silver stakes would be to a vampire. RAM and most everyone else at C4P seem to be deathly afraid of touching the topic at all. And I didn't even bring it up.

I pointed out the apparent disconnect between how they viewed Sarah Palin's cheerleading for Michael Reagan, and Obama's non-connection to Bill Ayers' revolutionary actions. Go figure.

Gosh, now that I'm branded as a sick son of a bitch, maybe I should get a tattoo?

Larry King - Levi Open Thread

Comments are welcome on your take about the Johnston's appearance on Larry King Live tonight!

Did you send a question? 
Did your question get answered?
Will we find out anything new? 
Why is Levi doing these interviews?
Has his situation improved any since the Tyra Banks and CBS Morning Show interviews? 
How will his TV time tonight help or hurt his image, his chances for custody, or his future?
What response will we see from Sarah and Meg?

Sarah Palin's Amazingly Short Pregnancy [Updated]

Here is the story we are supposed to believe about Sarah Palin's 5^th pregnancy. I don't buy it, but I thought it might be worth retelling anyway. The story details that follow are largely from Sarah's own words. [Updates appear in blue]

Sarah found out in late September 2007, while attending an oil and gas conference, that she was pregnant (5-6 weeks). She considered having an abortion. "No one would ever know."¹

Sarah didn't tell anyone she was pregnant because of the "Neanderthals out there," who would criticize her for being pregnant.²

At 13 weeks, she underwent amniocentesis and discovered the baby would have Down syndrome. She once again, "for a fleeting moment," considered an abortion.³ (There is confusion about the date of the procedure. Sarah told told reporters she had the amnio in December at 13 weeks, but if we accept her doctor's statement that this child was born at 35 weeks and the 'official' birth date of April 18, the amniocentesis would have been done in mid-November.)

After receiving the results from the amnio, she waited three days until Todd came home from the North Slope before finally telling him the news.⁴

She chose to have this invasive procedure done, even though she is staunchly pro-life and the results should not have mattered. She also had the test done dangerously early in her pregnancy instead of waiting until the recommended 15 to 18 weeks gestation.⁵

She didn't know what a baby with an extra chromosome would look like. She had a "heckuva time researching Down syndrome" when she was pregnant—she just couldn't get herself to open the book about DS that the doctor gave her. However, she was "very anxious to meet [Trig]."⁶

As time went on, she kept her children, other members of her family, and the people with whom she worked in the dark. She didn't tell anyone about the pregnancy or the DS diagnosis. And nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary—not in November, December, January or February—halfway through the 90-day legislative session.

Finally, on March 5, the day after John McCain's nomination for President was announced, Sarah revealed to the public that she was 7 months pregnant (26 weeks). Nobody had even guessed that she was pregnant. She still didn't mention the DS diagnosis to anyone, not even her children.⁷

She was amazingly fit for a 44-year-old woman who had already given birth 4 times. She did not appear to be pregnant in multiple photographs taken during February, March and even April. She successfully used 'fashion-assisted camouflage' to disguise her condition.⁸

(She was also uncharacteristically frugal about maternity wear. Despite her penchant for clothes, she seemed to have only one outfit to wear for her pregnant public appearances: a black skirt or slacks, a black scoop-neck top, and a long black jacket, changing out a few large, colorful scarves for variety. She even kept wearing her snug-fitting high-heeled boots.)

When she was 35 weeks pregnant (eight months) she flew from Alaska to Texas for a conference on energy. The day she was to give a keynote address (Thursday, April 17) she woke up at 4AM leaking amniotic fluid and feeling a different kind of contraction from the Braxton-Hicks she'd been experiencing. She called her doctor and said she really wanted to give her lunch-time speech, and her doctor said okay.⁹

After the speech was over, she left the conference and boarded a flight back to Alaska without getting checked out by any local obstetrician. Her flight had a stopover in Seattle where she called her doctor again and then she continued her flight to Anchorage. Total travel time was around 10 hours. The flight attendants didn't notice she was pregnant said that the stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation.¹⁰

On arriving, she drove past two large hospitals in Anchorage that were equipped to handle premature at-risk deliveries. An hour later she reached a small, local hospital near Wasilla that had no neo-natal intensive care facilities. Her doctor decided to induce labor, and she gave birth a few hours later (early morning Friday April 18) to a 6-pound 2-ounce premature Down syndrome infant with jaundice and a heart condition.^{11 12 13}

Three days later she took the 4-5 week premature infant to her office where she introduced him to her staff and the news media. It turns out she wasn't really in labor when her water broke in Texas. That is why labor had to be induced even though that meant giving birth prematurely to a baby that would have been high risk even at term. ¹⁴

¹ YouTube - Sarah Palin address at Evansville pt 5
² ibid.
³ People Magazine
⁴ People Magazine
⁵ WebMD
⁶ YouTube - Sarah Palin address at Evansville pt 6
⁷ Fox News
⁸ New York Times
⁹ Alaska Daily News
¹⁰ Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
¹¹ Alaska Daily News
¹² Dallas Morning News
¹³ Trailblazer by Lorenzo Benet
¹⁴ Alaska Daily News

"Trig Truthers" ... scum?

"(Except the Trig Truthers, they're just subhuman scum.)"

The above parenthetical comes from a Conservatives4Palin post that thanked AKM and Mudflats for sticking up for anonymous opinion-giving.  No, I won't link there, but the post is named "Should Anonymous Free Speech Apply to….THEM??" -- mimicking exactly the title of AKM's post.

The essence of this Mudflats blog post was to support C4P who was chastised by Jay Ramras after C4P criticized their fellow conservative for being absent from the AK legislature in session, after Jay Ramras criticized Sarah Palin from being absent from proceedings, especially during the critical final weeks.

Ramras asked the bloggers behind C4P to "step out of the shadows." Having recently been 'outed' by an aging and sad ex-newspaper columnist named Mike Doogan, AKM of Mudflats naturally stood up for blogging under pseudonyms.

The essence of the C4P article re-affirmed the right to speak your mind whether or not you identify who you are.  And the author went further to say that it's alright that C4P and Mudflats have opposing political views, and that "we recognize that no matter how bitterly we disagree with our opponents, no matter what their political persuasion, they are still Americans, and human beings deserving of respect."  Except those who have serious doubts that Sarah Palin gave birth to the Down syndrome child named Trig.

This gave me real pause.  Why is this particular subject so touchy for the die-hard Sarasites?  Is it because they have nothing from which to build a counter-argument?

We disagree on pro-choice vs. anti-abortion.  We disagree on exploring ANWR.  We disagree that the people and former leadership of Iraq had anything to do with 9/11.  We disagree on thoughtlessly slaughtering wolves and their cubs to artificially pump up the moose population for out-of-state trophy hunters.  We disagree on allowing Pebble Mine to dump its waste in a pristine river.  We disagree whether Alaskan natives' subsistence lifestyle should be cherished and supported.  We disagree on a lot of things, but it is only when we disagree whether Sarah lied about her pregnancy that we are are no longer human beings.

Sensitive much?  Protesting too much?  Why is this issue so worthy of attacking the messenger and not the message when other disagreements are "still deserving of respect?" 

It is because, in my opinion, this issue strikes too close to home, and the C4P folks know that when it can be shown that Sarah pulled the wool over the eyes of her "right-to-life" base about Trig, the jig's up.  Sarasites are willing to suffer through her all-too-obvious inability to govern wisely and well.  They are willing to make excuses for her routine ethical failures.  They are even willing to pull the blinders over their eyes when, for instance, Sarah nominates an overtly chauvinistic, US government-hating racist for Attorney General.  But if it is proved that she faked the whole "I'm your candidate because my faith helped me to bear a special-needs child, which proves I believe in the culture of life!" — the façade that is Sarah Palin will truly crumble.

 
Let me know if you are an "I love Sarah" person and if you would still love her if you found out she lied, big time, about her right-to-life credentials.  I'd really like to hear how you'd justify that, if you can.  In the meantime, you might want to peek out from behind your blinders.  Palin's Deceptions is a great place to start if you are willing to spend the time.  And if any of the folks there have it totally wrong, well, they welcome reasonable and courteous discussion.

Babygate Research: Where We're At

Diana, a valued correspondent and a frequent poster at Palin's Deceptions, has summed up where we are in the citizen investigation regarding Babygate -- the examination of facts as we know them regarding Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy.  With Diana's permission, I am re-posting an excellent comment she left on Audrey's site (Palin's Deceptions).  The only things I've changed are to add some images and a link to Diana's well-researched timeline, and I made a few very minor spelling and grammatical corrections.  I concur with the majority of Diana's suppositions.

I know we can't prove it yet, but I believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Bristol and Levi are Trig's parents and that Trig was born in Feb 2008. For me it seems obvious and the only struggle I have is getting more facts to flush out the final picture. All the information we have gathered makes it only plausible for Bristol, not Willow, to be Trig's as well as Tripp's mom. Willow was photographed January 15th 2008 when it would have been obvious if she had been pregnant. She was not. She was also still visible and in travel reports going back and forth to school. Not true for Bristol. It appears Bristol became pregnant mid June of 2007 when she was still 16 and just after she finished her sophomore year in High School. This would have made her due with Trig mid March 2008 if she had carried him to full term. It is obvious that Bristol was kept out of view and in hiding once she started showing. It seems she was kept hidden until after the baby was born so that Trig could be put up for adoption and a scandal could be avoided. Bristol moves in with her Aunt and leaves behind all her friends and family and is able to keep anyone in her town from realizing that she is pregnant. They are used to her traveling back and forth to school during the year and they are only hearing rumors, not seeing for themselves she is pregnant.
	Look at the timeline. It tells you everything. She is not photographed once from 9-14-2007 until 4-25-2008 when we see her posing with Mercede the night of Mercede's prom. She left school once it might be noticed she was pregnant and moved in with her Aunt. She is off her mom's travel schedule permanently after 10-7-2008 and doesn't attend any events, family or otherwise, again until June... with one exception: she attends the "American Heart Association" luncheon on Feb. 15th which should have had media coverage and photos yet nothing has been found to show Bristol attended. She either had Trig by then or she did not attend.
Remember she was only 16 and just finished her sophomore year when she got pregnant. Her mom taught abstinence and was very vocal and active on this subject. This would have, at the time, been a crisis for the Palin family.  However, if they looked into the future at the decisions and choices that were being made, they might have realized this should have been addressed straight on and with the truth.  The larger crisis was yet to come. I can't imagine that Sarah ever planned on adopting Trig after Bristol told her she was pregnant.  I think Sarah hoped to keep Bristol's pregnancy private so that her 16 year old could adopt him out without the media finding out and or her friends and Christian following knowing. Sarah was extremely focused on not losing her momentum in her drive for the national stage. Having an adopted newborn, that was her 16 year old daughter's, would have been very difficult to explain. Not when she could privately adopt him out and avoid the fallout for her daughter's benefit as well as for hers. However Trig surprised them all by being born a month early, not only with Downs syndrome but with a heart problem, that would need to be watched and addressed possibly needing a future surgery. This is what changed the direction of the plan Sarah had put into place. From everything we know and from all the reports and timelines we have gathered it appears that Trig was born sometime during the month of February 2008. This was the unexpected catalyst that changed Sarah's direction from adopting Trig out to faking a pregnancy. It appears, Trig having Down syndrome came as a shock to everyone, especially with the problems and health concerns that he would be facing. The information we received from Sarah about knowing Trig had Down syndrome came after the fact and not prior to him being born. It seems they just dated the knowledge backwards to make it appear like they knew, but it doesn't appear like they did. It seems this sudden knowledge attributed to Sarah's rushed and poorly thought out plan.
It seems as this point Bristol's mom decides to adopt Trig as her own and decides to start faking a pregnancy in late February, only after Trig is born. This coincides with the photos of when Sarah started wearing scarves and "pretending" to look pregnant although not very convincingly. Sarah knows that she has at least 6 to 8 weeks to fake a pregnancy before Trig reaches a size that is "not presentable" as a newborn. Sarah already knows she will "present" one month earlier than she tells the press and it becomes a part of her plan to buy some time. Sarah telling everyone he is "one month early" will be very believable and it works to her advantage in being able to make her fake pregnancy work. All Sarah thinks she needs to do is to pretend long enough, say Trig is hers, and she can make this "embarrassment become a solution".
	It appears Sarah was waiting to get the "nod" to become "VP" before she decided to go into labor. On April 18th, after flying home in the middle of the night Sarah starts the birth story and later in the morning when everyone is in place she "presents" Trig as her own child. All the while avoiding the media scrutiny that should and would have been present if she hadn't planned on coming home late in the evening and having the time to make sure everything was in place before they were alerted to "Trigs birth".
In reality Trig was born early, by at least one month, but by Bristol. Trig was born with the complications of down syndrome and a heart defect. He was born to a teenage girl who more than likely tried to hide her pregnancy by "under-eating". Trig very likely lost at least one or two pounds from problems associated with not being able to nurse correctly, in addition to already being smaller by arriving early. Consequently, Sarah was able to present to the public a newborn looking Trig, April 18th, 2008 as her own child.  What Sarah didn't expect was how many people were going to question her behavior. She was use to getting away with mis-behaviors and having things go her way without question. She appears to have been very naive about the position she put herself into and the scrutiny she would receive when she accepted the offer for the Vice Presidential position.	Sarah Palin on March 27, 2008, three weeks before Trig's 'official' birthdate
It seems however, that even before Sarah presents Trig to the public as her own and after Levi and Bristol understand and accept that they are not keeping and raising Trig as their own, Bristol gets pregnant again. Easy to do when you are healing your emotional wounds with the boyfriend/father of your first child you are having to relinquish. Especially when you think breastfeeding will protect you from getting pregnant. Statistics show that it is relatively easy and not uncommon to get pregnant within 6 weeks of delivering because of the false sense of protection nursing mothers feel. So, now begins the newest Palin family crisis! Bristol becomes pregnant “again” at the end of March 2008. Nine months later on December 27th or 28th (as the date is a moving target), they are welcoming baby number 2, Tripp! It all seem clear for me, from their photos, interviews, behaviors and actions! I know from my own experiences that actions always speak louder than words. This could never be more true than what has occurred in Palin family drama! Sarah, Bristol, Levi, Mercedes, their actions ALL speak louder than their words. I sincerely understand Bristol's mom wanting to help these kids out and adopt Trig. But this shows Sarah's own immaturity and incredibly poor judgment. She showed her lack of ethics when she decided to lie and hide the truth.  Then she used her kids as her own personal, righteous and religious platform to further her political career. We have the basics correct. We have the timelines and dates Bristol disappeared. We have photos of Sarah, not pregnant. We have rumors, MySpace pages talking about being sexually active and actions that make it very clear what happened. The rest is coming. It will fill in the missing pieces to the picture. But I am convinced and I think a large majority of people following this site feel the same. We are in the process of filling in the last pieces to this puzzle. That is when a puzzle can be the most difficult to solve. We have been working for months and have accumulated an incredible amount of information. I know more is coming soon and I hope that it will continue to fill out the picture and give us the information we need to finalize this sad family drama. I personally would like to move on and let Sarah get back to finding ways to heal her broken family. But until we have Sarah acknowledge that she lied and covered up the truth or until we uncover that final piece of information that makes it clear, I for one will continue the search.

So, what does this all mean and what does it matter? Like it or not, the Governor of Alaska, supported by a small group of Sarasites, wishes to re-enter the national political scene. If a potential candidate can go to such lengths to deceive and trick her followers, I have no doubt she would lie about lesser and greater things as well, as long as it furthers her aims.

The day Sarah Palin swears off any future political candidacy is the day that I will happily let her slip quietly into the Alaskan night to take care of the family she professes to hold most dear.

Babygate - Editorial

Let me ramble for a bit.  If you haven't taken the time to check the Babygate resources that are available, well, that's sort of your loss, I guess. This post is a basic summary of what Babygate is all about.  I welcome your comments or any information that challenges what I post.

Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate in the last days of August, 2008.  Because nearly nobody knew who Sarah Palin was at the time, everyone who could buy a plane ticket to Alaska and everyone else who had access to "teh Google" began looking.  Blame John McCain for selecting a veritable unknown.  Nobody denied that McCain's running mate would stand a decent chance at inheriting the Presidency if he won.  And since he'd chosen someone almost nobody had ever heard of, the search for information ensued.

Throughout the McCain-Palin campaign, countless individuals and several bloggers brought information to light.  Who was this Palin person?  What did she believe?  What records did she leave behind?

Here was a new Governor (not even 18 months in the job), a former mayor of a village of less than 6,000 people, a mother (ostensibly) of five children, the last of whom suffered from Down syndrome.

Governor Palin made quite a splash on the national scene.  Her pro-life credentials went unquestioned even when her 'maverick' credentials turned out to be stagecraft.  Rumors swirled, almost immediately.  She had given an unbelievable story surrounding the birth of her Down syndrome child, which she "chose" not to abort, and for which she gained multiple kudo's from the far right Republican base.  On closer examination, the story of her pregnancy was more akin to fantasy than reality.

Sarah Palin, two weeks before birthing a 6lb+ baby

In brief, when Sarah announced her "pregnancy" when she was supposedly 7 months gone, it was met with disbelief.  Nobody -- and I mean NOBODY -- said, "Yeah, I thought so."  Everyone said, "Wha???"  If you don't believe me, go look it up.

And then, barely 6 weeks after her telling everyone she was pregnant, she supposedly gave birth.  There are scores of pictures of Sarah dating from February through April 2008.  With one salient exception, these pictures do not show a pregnant woman.  The only picture that does show a belly on Sarah was, conveniently enough, released and published right after she was announced as McCain's running mate.  The image is vouched for by a single 'reporter,' who, curiously enough, has no explanation for who posted her private picture on the Internet.

As if that is not enough, we have the wild ride story.  That is, Sarah claimed that she flew from Alaska to Texas when she was 8 months pregnant to attend a conference.  The night before she was supposed to give a keynote address, 'her water broke.'  Unfazed, she dressed, breakfasted, conferenced, and gave her luncheon speech.  Afterwards, she flew back to Alaska, spending at least 8 hours in the air and a few on the ground for a stopover.  Then she drove past fully equipped hospitals and finally arrived at a small local hospital where she allegedly gave birth.

Since reasonable people can have reasonable doubts as to whether she was pregnant in the first place, the wild ride story is almost an insult.  Add to this that, as the official story goes, she KNEW she was pregnant with a Down syndrome baby who would likely need special care at the time of birth.  The wild ride took place approximately one month before Sarah was supposedly due.  In other words, she suposedly gave birth to a premature Down syndrome baby, after the wild ride, in a facility that had no equipment to deal with such births.

Then.. to top it off, she appears at work WITH the newborn, just three days after birthing this month-premature Down syndrome baby (born with a heart condition, according to a biography).

Any thinking human would have a lot of reluctance before buying into this story.

For anyone who reads this and doesn't know the backstory, I'll try to add in links later, or just leave a comment and I'll reply.  I believe that someone other than Sarah Palin birthed the child known as Trig Palin.  I've got my suspicions.  But that's what Babygate is all about.
So, what does it really matter?  To me, it matters in two respects.  One - Sarah Palin bases her entire political persona on the notion that her family values and morals are unblemished.  Two - whenever a politician lies, either about personal or professional matters, I can no longer trust them.  And it is clear that Sarah Palin (and a small but dedicated following) thinks that she has a future in national politics, so it matters to me.

Hypocrite?  Liar?  Snake oil saleswoman?  Maybe.  After seeing first-hand how she's tried to destroy the reputations of Randy Ruedrich, Walt Monegan, Mike Wooten, and lately, Levi Johnston and his family, I have a good feeling about where I should place my bets.

I urge you to do your own investigation.