Friday, October 10, 2008

Answering some Questions

An email came in this morning which asked several questions that have been coming up frequently in my mail, so I thought I'd just use it here, and answer as best I can.

As a 46 year old mother of three kids ages 6 1/2 and younger, I've known from the moment Palin burst into my consciousness that something is just not right with her fifth baby story. My husband thinks I am crazy and that there is no way this sort of complex deception could be maintained for so long, particularly in light of the increased scrutiny since the VP selection. But I know there is something so not right going on here and it needs to come out before Election Day. Please keep doing what you are doing, presenting a rational, intelligent and even cautious examination of the facts surrounding this bizarre situation.
Some questions I have that I'd like to see addressed at your website:
-- where is Bristol Palin and why have there been no (or few) photos of her since the convention in Saint Paul? Has the McCain campaign given any explanation?
-- where is baby Trig while his "mother" is out giving race-baiting speeches all over the country and watching the second Presidential debate at a party at a bar in North Carolina? Is he getting the care and attention appropriate for a special needs six month old?
-- is there anything in the "Troopergate" findings that could shed light on the baby Trig questions?


The first comment I'd like to make regards her husband's comment that he thinks she is "crazy" because nothing this complicated could be maintained this long. I believe that one of the issues with the birth is that it really was not that complex. It's important to remember that at the time all of this was going on she was the longest of shots for the V.P slot. No one could have guessed the kind of scrutiny that her choices last April would be subjected to now. I speculate that the plan was actually quite simple, and very few people knew for sure. (It may have even involved a private home birth, something that only fell through when labor began 4-5 weeks early. This would also explain why the use of Mat-Su feels so clumsy... because it was a last minute choice selected for privacy purposes.)

We know that rumors existed before the birth - before Palin even announced her pregnancy - that Bristol was pregnant. We know that there was disbelief in certain circles - especially among young people who had known Bristol - and there was gossip before the birth - and after - that as soon as Sarah announced her pregnancy, that she was covering for Bristol. But very few people were close enough to Gov. Palin and her family really to KNOW for sure what is going on, and since the "circle of trust" was very small, no one was talking. Two, three, four, five people really can keep a secret if they want to. Realistically, if one had a sympathetic birth attendant who was willing to falsify a birth certificate, you'd only need one or two people outside immediate family to be in on it.

Would some state staff members suspect? They would have to. Many of them would have been women who had had children themselves, and women who are 7 1/2 to 8 months pregnant move in a certain way, they hold their backs in a certain way, they go to the bathroom a lot. Your breasts hurt. Your baby's head is sitting right on your cervix, and if he moves in a certain way you can get very sharp pains. By the time I was seven months with my fourth pregnancy I was having Braxton Hicks contractions strong enough that I had to stop what I was doing and take a breath. Was Sarah Palin doing any of this? Doesn't really sound like it. But yet no one was in a position to look her in the eye and say, "I don't think you're really pregnant." I mean, how do you say that to the Governor? And some, who were undoubtedly loyal, could have understood what was happening but were willing to go along with it.

And then the baby was born, and anyone who suspected still did not have enough proof to "out" the story. Because, again, the number of people who knew for sure was very small.

As to your specific questions, first, where is Bristol? (Who according to the McCain campaign should now be nearly 6 1/2 months - i.e, VISIBLY - pregnant. Unless she takes after her mother of course. If so, then she'll have another two to three weeks of not looking pregnant at all!) Bristol did appear to travel with the family for the first week or so of the campaign, between the RNC and when Sarah Palin came back to Alaska to see her son off. The last official press siting of her is on September 13th at her mother's rally in Anchorage. Here's a (rather sad) description written by someone who observed Bristol carefully on that day.

...sitting three-quarters of the way up the bleacher was Bristol Palin and her eighteen-year-old impregnator, Levi Johnston. Once I noticed them, I kept my eye on Bristol and Levi. What I learned provoked an odd empathy for the awful pickle Wasilla High School's hockey stick wielding homeboy now finds himself in.

Bristol and Levi sat shoulder-to-shoulder. But not once did they look at each other, speak to each other, or in any way acknowledge each other's physical presence. Not once. For an entire hour. Instead, Bristol stared straight ahead and Levi had the glazed look of a trapped feral animal.

Then when Sarah wound up her autograph signing and the people sitting in front of him on the bleacher began climbing down, Levi stood up and, without looking at or speaking to his betrothed, turned in the opposite direction and walked away.


As far as I can determine this is the last time Bristol has been seen in public, now almost one month ago. She was NOT at the VP debate, or at least not on stage with the rest of the family. Frankly, I don't know where this poor child is, and I personally resent Palin dragging the rest of her kids around like accessories (glasses, check, purse, check, Trig, check) when it would be "off limits" to ask anything about Bristol.

Second, regarding your question about Trig. It appears as if Trig, Piper, and Willow are all traveling with the campaign. If you really watch the news sites, you'll see shots of them virtually every day. Down's babies do need therapy in the first year of their lives to help them meet developmental milestones. Is he getting it? My guess would be probably. The campaign is certainly well-funded enough for them to arrange to have a full time medical professional knowledgeable about Down's infants to travel with them, and this is also something that would look really bad it if would come out that it was not happening. So my guess is that hopefully yes, this child is getting the therapy he needs. Of course this doesn't address the overall issue of using your kids as campaign props to begin with... when's the last time you saw the Obama children? (You haven't because they are in school in Chicago.)

Third, regarding your question about Troopergate. I don't know that much about it... Mudflats blog and website are the source for anything you EVER would want to know about that. However, Troopergate is not really that current in many ways. The initial incidents - the custody battle and conflicts with Trooper Wooten - happened many years ago, long before Sarah Palin became governor. The core of Troopergate as I understand it is that once Sarah Palin became governor, she is alleged to have pressured the "powers that be" to have him fired. So I don't really see any connection to a baby born last spring. However, just as an aside, there were allegations and complaints made that Sarah was not putting Trig in an "approved car seat."

This has come out recently as part of Todd Palin's sworn deposition. Here's the quote from the Anchorage Daily News.

On the car seat, Monegan sent an e-mail to the governor on June 30, 12 days before he lost his job, that said: "Via a soon-to-be-retiring legislator, we received a complaint that had you driving with Trig not in an approved car seat; if this is so that would be awkward in many ways."

The governor fired back from her private e-mail account: "I've never driven Trig anywhere without a new, approved car seat. I want to know who said otherwise -- pls provide me that info now."

Todd Palin, in his sworn statement, said this was a "false rumor," and that the governor was a passenger in a truck, "on a private farm road without traffic at low speed."


Now, I for one don't believe Sarah or any mother or grandmother would drive around with a three month old infant NOT in a car seat. Sarah Palin is very concerned about her image. This is one of the reasons I have never believed her birth story... can you imagine the headlines if she had given birth on an airplane? I never for one second believed that she would have risked that kind of awful humiliation even if she'd known for a fact that her chances of delivering were only 1%. Well, the same applies here. Even if she would not care for the child at all (and I don't believe that) the headlines and negative publicity should the governor's child be seriously hurt in a car accident and be found to not have been in a car seat would be horrific. So for that simple reason alone, I doubt it.

However, I do find it curious that Sarah needed to ask "who said otherwise" when Todd seemed to know a whole lot about the incident - a private road in a truck - etc. That would imply some closed event with friends. Well, then who would have reported it?

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you people serious? Get a life!

Anonymous said...

An excellent article -
"Why Trig Palin's parentage is a national security matter"

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Why-Trig-Palin-s-parentage-by-John-Toradze-080903-400.html

Anonymous said...

I don't know - the article linked by the prior poster seems a little nutty to me. I don't think Sarah gave birth to Trig, but I do think the article is just a tad to the fringe.

Anonymous said...

One question you haven't yet addressed: what percentage of Down syndrome babies need immediate heart surgery? I recall reading that it was as many as 50%.
And if it is a substantial likelihood, could the need for heart surgery have been ruled out prior to birth through sonograms, etc?
If not, then how great was this risk? Leaving the flight and travel aside, would a responsible doctor agree to deliver in a smalltown hospital with no neonatal unit a 44-year-old carrying a Down syndrome baby? Or is that really not so risky in and of itself?

Anonymous said...

Regarding Sarah Palin's slapping of her belly in the Israeli video, have you ever seen another pregnant woman do that?

It looks the way you might slap a water-filled fake-preg belly, like a water-balloon.

And is it true that strong abdominal muscles keep a baby from showing, as she says in the video?? Have you seen that in other athletic women? I don't see how that's really anatomically possible. The muscles aren't designed to hold in a 5 or 6lb baby.

Anonymous said...

Good post by Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic on Oct. 8

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/births-at-mat-s.html

Sullivan notes that Trig Palin's birth is not among the births announced for Trig's birthdate on the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center website. Sullivan contacted the hospital and asked what the criteria was for including the names of the babies born in the hospital.

He was told that inclusion on the list is by parental choice and that the hospital asks all parents. When asked if it was therefore a fair inference to say that the hospital asked the Palins and the Palins chose not to have their child included on the list, the hospital told Sullivan that the Palins' privacy barred the hospital from answering those questions. Sulivan asked the McCain-Palin campaign to comment, but they refused to answer his emails.

Okay, everyone, Sarah Palin is so proud of being a hockey mom from a small town that she flew all the way back to that small town from Texas to give birth after her water broke, rather than subjecting her child to the indignity of being born in a big city Dallas hospital (or a big city Seattle hospital, where she had a layover, or a big city Anchorage hospital where her plane landed in Alaska). And she doesn't want to give publicity to her hometown hospital by listing her son's birth on the hospital's website like all the other parents who give birth in the hospital?

This just doesn't smell right.

Anonymous said...

I am very suspicious about this issue as well, and am annoyed that light hasn't been shed on it. I have some pictures that are rather helpful for you but I have no idea how to get them to you...is there an e-mail or somthing you use?

Anonymous said...

I am still puzzled about Palin's doctor's role in all this and wondering why anyone feels bound to "protect" fake documents. But also, about C. Baldwin-Johnson: it is more than significant that her work involves abused children and teens. This is potentially great and necessary work, but it could also be coercing children back to family situations when that is actually their problem. (Read the description of the clinic and remember that Alaska may have parental notification laws about abortion, pregnancy, etc.) I remember reading about clinics that bill themselves as refuges for pregnant teens, only to present them with the (coerced?) option of giving up a newborn--in other words, they are pro-life fronts and do not really offer all of the services and options that a confused, possibly abused or raped teen needs. Given Palin's position opposing abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, I have always wondered at her high commendations of Baldwin-Johnson.

Anonymous said...

I believe you can reach Audrey at her email listed on the main site, info@palindeception.com

Anonymous said...

To the fifth comment, I too thought Sarah slapping her pregnant belly was odd. It doesn't seem like something a pregnant woman would do. And it sounded strange, not like the slapping human flesh. I watched that part many times and it did not seem right to me.

Anonymous said...

For the first anon blogger, NEWS FLASH! We have a life and we have a country. We are concerned about our country and the direction it is headed. Do you want a person....potentially a president who faked a pregnancy, lied to her constituents in Alaska and the the American people? A woman who claimed to give birth to a special needs child, who accepted the empathy of the American people as she held her supposed child up as a prop. A woman who threw her own daughter under the bus for her personal ambition? Is this who you want to run this mess of a country. Do you read? Do you understand what an economic mess we have? Do you understand what a foreign policy disaster is looming? This woman went to 6 colleges with below average grades, she cannot even put a sentence together, cannot think logically on her feet. That is why the MCCain camp won't let her meet with the press, hell, the press is smarter that she is. You don't care about your country, you care about a your political party. Sounds like Germany in the 30's and they all followed in lockstep with the propaganda.

Anonymous said...

I pose this question to Polical Truth Finders of our candidates;

"Ethic Reform"

Who talks it?
Who walks it?

Ex: Sarah Palin based her platform on "Ethics Reform" in 2006 for Gov. of Alaka. What bills has she signed as a result of ethical reform?

Anonymous said...

I don't think it is particularly significant that Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson's work includes involvement in sexual abuse. That may be an interest of hers, but essentially she is the founder of a ten doctor family practice in Sarah Palin's hometown. http://www.providence.org/Alaska/matsu/matsu_physicians.htm She is not primarily a sexual abuse specialist as far as I can tell, but rather just a suburban family physician.

I do find it highly odd, however, that a family practitioner, as opposed to a oby-gyn, was the delivering doctor for am allegedly known Down's syndrome (i.e., high risk) baby. I know that they have oby-gyns even in Alaska.

On another note, I found this puff piece article about Sarah Palin and her family in the February 2008 issue of Alaska Magazine. http://www.alaskamagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=876&Itemid=46

It is unclear when the author interviewed Palin, but the author does mention seeing Bristol at the Palin home. It was the night of a gala ball that the Palin family, including Bristol, was attending. The article mentions that Vogue came to Alaska in December 2007 to photograph Palin, so the article must have been written sometime between the Vogue shoot and the article's February 2008 publication date.

The article mentions Bristol driving to Anchorage from Wasilla to buy a special dress for the ball and spending her gas money in Anchorage to get her legs waxed, to the chagrin of her parents who thought lex waxing was a waste of money. This doesn't jibe with Bristol being pregnant in December or January (when I assume the author visited with the Palins), but it also doesn't jibe with Bristol being home sick with mono.

Does anyone know the date of this ball that the Palin family was about to attend?

Anonymous said...

I reread the Alaska Magazine article (see post above) and it wasn't a "ball" but a "gala." Sarah Palin was set to wear a black skirt and silver-sequined sweater (obviously you wouldn't wear a sweater to a ball, as opposed to a gala).

I'm just wondering when this gala was that Sarah and Bristol were attending.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else notice today Sarah told the crowd, that Willow and Trig were traveling with the campaign as she turned around looking for them behind her all with big smiles, and then while looking forward very non-chalantly said," And Bristol is traveling with us" as she resummed her speech?

Bushwack said...

oh man You folks are the dumbest bunch of fucknozzles I have read in FOREVER!

Lets worry about the VP candidate's daughter.... who has not been in prison, never preached HATE from a pulpit, Never blew up buildings in OUR country, Never committed voter fraud, never took funds from terrorists... Yeah good move lemmings...

Anonymous said...

Bushwack, if you can make it through the words on this website, (a 3rd grade dictionary might help) please read it. Then we'll talk about who is a "fucknozzle".

Anonymous said...

Bushwack's Profile.....
Gender: Male
Astrological Sign: Gemini
Industry: Manufacturing
Location: United States
My Blogs-
Redneck
Mafia
Reject the U.N.
Team Members-
Basti Findalis Yid With Lid Bloviating Zeppelin Kate TexasFred Maggie M. Thornton cary rich glasgow


Dude, I'm sure any of us really care what you think!!

Anonymous said...

To Bushwack:

1. We're not worried about Palin's daughter, we are worried about Palin. We saw how she lied at the RNC - I said no to the bridge from nowhere (a proven lie); I sold the Governor's plane on EBay (another proven lie). She lied about Troopergate. And there are many indications that she is lying about the birth of Trig.

2. Nevertheless, we welcome her supporters here (even if, like yourself, they are apparently incapable of speaking without using obscenities and vulgarities). That means our site must be hitting a nerve.

3. Sarah Palin can put an end to this controversy by releasing her medical records.

Anonymous said...

I, like all of you, have been puzzling over all of these inconsistencies. The evening MSNBC and CNN did special pieces on Sarah Palin I watched both. All the facts did not add up. Every day I have been checking TMZ, gossip sites, etc. for a current picture or video of Bristol Palin, to no avail. I have seriously considered going to Wasilla. And I live in Texas. It seems that no one in mainstream media understands the ramifications of these kinds of lies being perpetrated on the American people. And they wonder today why the lack of trust in our president, our stock market, our Congress......

Anonymous said...

I don't think this photo has been pointed out yet:

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2008/09/trig-palin-bristol-palin-levi-johnston/

Anonymous said...

To the poster above looking for a current picture of Bristol, she appears to be in purdah. Wonder why.

Are they ashamed of her and her swollen belly - 6 1/2 months pregnant (due in December according to Levi Johnston's mother) and deciding to give birth to an illegitimate child (again according to Levi Johnston's mother, her son and Bristol won't think about getting married until summer, although they could easily get married now and make sure their baby is born to a married couple). Or is the problem that she is not really pregnant and she can't display a swollen belly?

It seems to be one or the other. Which is it?

Anonymous said...

Or perhaps the problem with Bristol is that she is pregnant -- again -- just like the National Enquirer claims is Jamie Lynn Spears, but just not 6 1/2 months along, and they are waiting until she starts showing sufficiently to remove her from purdah.

Just release the medical records Sarah (may I call you Sarah?).

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering how this issue will play out in the remaining 3 weeks of the election.

Clearly the National Enquirer is on the case, and they realize that the news value of their story would diminish considerably if Obama wins the election.
That said, I believe only a handful of persons are in the know. Since Bristol was spirited away to her aunt's home, it's doubtful that the other siblings or even Levi and family know of this for sure.
The doctor and perhaps a nurse or two know the truth. Perhaps there has been an internal investigation and some of the administrators in the hospital are aware. The patient records are probably under lock and key.
This is a case where everyone suspects, but only a few have access to the truth. As such, the National Enquirer will have a really tough time getting to an "honest to goodness" smoking gun.

Of course, if as is reported, Bristol and Trig are travelling with the campaign, then people have seen whom Trig spends the most time with. Perhaps someone has seen Bristol nursing Trig. I am pretty sure that journalists travelling with the McCain campaign have their suspicions.

There is a very simple way to resolve this - a reporter asks her for the birth certificate in an open press conference. If she refuses this simple request, as she has done in the past, one is free to draw any inference.

In the meantime, the composited 3-image graphic that this site has of the changing pregnancy bulge is the closest that comes to a smoking gun.
I wish there was a way in which that could be made to go really viral - which in turn would encourage reporters to finally confront her.

Anonymous said...

Her response to Troopergate reaffirms my feelings that this woman is delusional and a pathological liar. She makes her own rules and feels that she is above the law. A perfect mix to make the fake pregnancy story plausible.

Here's a transcript on her response to the Troopergate findings to some reporters:

Palin: Hey, thank you so, Meg. Thank you so much. Thank you also to our local reporters up there in Alaska. Even hearing your names make me feel like I’m right there with you at home. It’s good to get to speak with you. Let me talk a little bit about the Tasergate issue if you guys would let me and, Meg, you want me to just jump right on in there?

Stapleton: Sure governor, go ahead.

Palin: OK cool.

Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that. Todd did what anyone would have done given this state trooper’s very, very troubling behavior and his dangerous threats against our family. Todd did what I think any Alaskan would do.

And he, Todd did what the state’s Department of Law Web site tells anyone to do if they have a concern about a state trooper. And that’s you go to the commissioner and you express your concern. And Todd did what our personal detail asked him to do. Bob Cockrell early on as I was elected and was asked are there any threats against ya, and Todd brought the concern as I did to Commissioner Monegan about the state trooper’s threats. He did what any – I think — any rational person would do so again, nothing to apologize there with Todd’s actions and again very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing.

(Stapleton invites the first question).

ADN: Governor, finding No.1 on the report was that you abused your power by violating state law. Do you think you did anything wrong at all in this Troopergate case?

Palin: Not at all and I’ll tell you, it, I think that you’re always going to ruffle feathers as you do what you believe is in the best interest of the people whom you are serving. In this case I knew that I had to have the right people in the right position at the right time in this cabinet to best serve Alaskans, and Walt Monegan was not the right person at the right time to meet the goals that we had set out in our administration. So no, not having done anything wrong, and again very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all.

ADN: Have you read the whole report? (No response; Stapleton invites question from KTVA reporter).

KTVA-Channel 11: … The report that came out yesterday, do you think that the end result is partisan?

Palin: Yeah, I did think it did turn into a partisan circus to tell you the truth. Yes I did. You know from Day One it’s been the Personnel Board that clearly laid out in state statute there — Personnel Board deals with any issue of question regarding a governor, a lieutenant governor or an attorney general in the state of Alaska. What this legislative investigation — quote unquote — turned into was a political circus.

KTUU-Channel 2: Governor, so good to hear from you. Do you approve of the way that your campaign has handled themselves here in Alaska? We’ve had a lot of people voice concerns about what they call attacks of good people in our state while you are away.

Palin: Well I haven’t heard of any attacks on good people in Alaska from our campaign. If you have specifics there, maybe I could answer specifically. But no, in John McCain’s mission here, in taking the high road, as you’re going to see too with a lot of unfair shots he has taken in this campaign with some of his opponents’ supporters, McCain and I taking the high road, being positive. I wouldn’t support nor would I condone taking shots at any good Alaskans.

KTUU-Channel 2: Let me answer your question since you asked for specifics.

Palin: Sure.

KTUU-Channel 2: Walt Monegan was called “rogue.” How do you feel about that?

Palin: Rogue isn’t a negative term when you consider that in a cabinet you need a team effort going forward with a governor’s agenda. And our agenda has been to find efficiencies in every department and make sure that we are serving the people of Alaska to the best of our ability given the resources that we have. And remember I fought very hard to increase funding for state troopers so that we could fill positions there and goals not being met that included not being able to recruit and retain all the state troopers that I wanted to best serve Alaska. That could be characterized I think as a cabinet member who – it’s not a negative term I think — being rogue in terms of not meeting those goals.

Wow! I think that's more than just political spin. I think she actual believes what she says is true and that she makes sense. Maybe she has convinced herself that she really was pregnant. Where's the birth certificate Sarah?

Anonymous said...

A birth certificate for Trig may not prove anything.

If Sarah and Todd have officially adopted Trig, their names will appear on the birth certificate.

If they are adopting Trig, a private adoption will still take six months or so. We may still see Trig birth certificate this month.

But it won't proved that Sarah birthed Trig.

I find it more interesting that no one has come forward to collaborate her stories. No security person has said, I was there, or other statement.

The whole birth was very hush hush... and as was pointed out, for someone who craves the limelight, very different than the Sarah we have seen.

~Emma

Anonymous said...

There is one thing that stands out in reading the Branchflower/Troopergate report.

Soon after Palin assumed her office as governor, she began to reduce her security detail (which didn't square with the whole "we're terrified of Wooten" bit, apparently why that information was important in the report). It was to the point where I believe it said she only had one part-time guy in Juneau (down from originally 5 or 6, and one full-timer somewhere else who was around age 70. She would then rely on them hiring troopers for various events when additional security might be needed.

The start of the reduction in security doesn't apply to any of the pregnancy timelines looked at on this site, but it would have been helpful if something needed to be hidden.