Audrey has been quiet today. Audrey had way too much wine to drink last night.
WAY.
TOO.
MUCH.
As a result, on a creativity scale of 1-10 I was through most of today, hovering in the 0 range.
I do want to thank everyone who took the time to write to me today to thank me for the blog and the research I've done through the last two months. I don't know if, in the end, I made one whit of difference, but it doesn't matter. I felt strongly the day I started this that there was something wrong here, and someone had to do something. I became that someone. I don't regret a moment of it.
People want to know what my plans are.
I still have numerous posts "in me" that have never been made. I've done research on the board at Mat-Su Hospital that I've never put together into a final post. I have some thoughts on the Mercedes Johnston photos that I've never made public.
So here's the answer to that question: First, I have considered seriously today what impact the "medical statement" will or should have. My conclusion: not much. While it is more than we had before, and it does contain the statement that Sarah Palin is Trig Palin's mother, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson never states that she was actually present at the birth. As I pointed out in my last post on the topic of the statement, it also contains the information that Sarah Palin was pregnant in 1989. This was data provided to CBJ and accepted as true, probably without supporting documents, just like any of us might tell a current doctor we had chicken pox in the 1970s.
There is no clear distinction in this statement between information provided to CBJ in "history," and information CBJ knows because she was personally involved or present. The pronoun "I" is used multiple times, except in the paragraph relating to Trig's birth, where it is not used once. Is the information about Trig's pregnancy and birth derived from "medical history," or "first-hand observation?" We're supposed to assume it's "first-hand," an assumption were encouraged to draw because it's recent, but the fact is there is no way to tell from reading. No way at all.
This bland and mostly useless statement took weeks to produce. It is crafted with excruciating care. Andrew Sullivan referred to it as "giving the finger to the press," and he's dead-on, partly because it has almost no new info about her health, and partly because it was released less than eight hours before the first polls opened. The McCain campaign KNOWS that we were waiting for the simple statement from CBJ that she was personally present at the birth of Trig Palin on April 18th, 2008. They did not give it to us. There could be many reasons for this, but the most plausible is that she would not say it because she was not there.
My feeling is that the statement is not nearly conclusive enough that I am willing to accept it in toto and cease my efforts to get a final answer on the questions I still have about the birth of Trig Palin.
So... I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to post my thoughts, impressions, and any new research I unearth, definitely through December... then we'll see. Perhaps not quite as often as I have posted the last two months, but certainly 2-3 times a week.
Thanks for visiting... thanks for reading... thanks for all the kind comments and compliments.
Audrey
No Time for Tuckerman
-
Time. It is precious, they say. It flies, they say. And former Republican
Party Chair, former Dunleavy Chief of Staff, and now former University of
Alaska ...
1 year ago
47 comments:
Dear Audrey,
I hope it is not over until the truth emerges.... Is it possible to keep the site up, even if you don't update it very frequently? I still think it is a valuable resource.
I saw picture number 7 of Bristol in the ADN, but I would not conclusively say she looks anything. Remember those early shots all over the net which turned out to be too old to refer to the Trig pregnancy? Some people are just a little rounder--in fact, flat stomachs are pretty hard to come by.
All the best. I really had hoped you'd get the scoop. I can't imagine what will go on in that family from now on. Mary G.
Good question. It's really your call Audrey. You might be doing some of us a favor by pulling the plug. I guess for my own good I would vote yes .. but if others here want to see this thing through until, say, at least Bristol gives birth, I can't say that I wouldn't follow along. If you're satisfied and done with it, do what you need to do. Thanks again so much though! Please do let us know what you decide.
Appalled
Her non-election does not make this a non-story, especially seeing as how she'll likely be eyeing to stay in the limelight. Most DEFINITELY keep this blog alive. Truth doesn't have an expiration date.
Audrey,
Thank you, thank you for putting yourself out there and creating this incredibly thoughtful blog and site. I think that there is more story to tell on this one and am confident that the truth will come out. In fact, the ADN had an article today that said that Gov Palin would have to answer a lot of questions once she got back to AK -- it specifically mentioned family travel expenses and trooper gate - but I wonder if they aren't now emboldened to ask more questions surrounding the bizarre circumstances of Trig's birth.
Thank you for seeking the truth. There are many of us who are standing with you.
Thanks for all your hard work and excellent analysis. I, too, hope you continue to stay on this, as I am not at all satisfied with what we know so far.
One other thought-- it would be nice to know if her first four children were vaginal deliveries. Because if she had C-sections, a VBAC would add one more risk to her list. If she had a number of C-sections, it would be unlikely she could have had a VBAC at all. And you don't go back to work 2 days after a C-section. I've never seen this addressed anywhere.
Dear Audrey,
Thank you for all of your hard work. I'll keep stopping by to see what's new.
Thanks again,
alderbrake
I think you did make a difference, Audrey. In the end, Sarah was exposed for the selfish opportunist that she is on several fronts, such as Neimann Marcus, Troopergate, and witchhunting, to name just a few. The question of Trig's parentage is the one that you kept alive and did contribute to her downfall, I am convinced.
Palin may be history to the rest of the country but Alaskans still have to live with her. She will undoubtedly run for some other office in the next few years--could be as soon as a Senate race after Stevens gets booted by his peers. So as an Alaskan, I am selfishly hoping you continue. Thanks again for everything that you do.
Audrey,
First and foremost thank you for all you have done thus far. Since you do all the research and I just "lurk" here it is quite easy for me to say yes, keep going.
Since you seem committed to going at least through December I look forward to continue to follow. Sarah Palin has clearly indicated her desire to continue on the national scene. I fear that if this investigation is dropped now that in a year or two the trail will be too cold (not an Alaska reference)to ever find the truth.
Thanks again
Thanks again for your diligence and level-headedness. I hope you keep exploring the mystery of Trig's birth and keep the site alive. I don't expect Palin to simply vanish into the mists of political history, and it's important that the information you've presented here so meticulously be preserved.
I expect, sooner or later, some "true confessions" from Bristol. Now that there's so much less at stake for her mother, she may feel freer to talk. Should be very interesting.
I wonder if she will marry Levi.
Thanks Audrey for all your info, insights and musings. I've been a been a fan of your website/blog since I first learned of it several weeks ago. I'll keep checking back, so please keep digging and posting!
I've enjoyed this site. Thank you for sharing it with us Audrey.
I'll check back from time to time.
I just found this blog a few days ago and I would hate to see it end. You make so much sense and the truth has to come out because this woman thinks she isn't going away! Please keep up the great work!!
Don't give up. This needs to come out. Okay, who am I kidding, I just want to be one of the one's who can say, "I told you so"!
Keep the info coming!
Audrey, thank you for your diligence in this matter. We still need to know if this woman who has been touted as "the most popular Governor in the nation" has been telling the truth. Your decision to continue researching at least until December 18th, Bristol's "due date" is a good one!
It is amazing to me that today Sarah actually said: "If I cost John McCain even one vote, I am sorry for that." Is she that egotistical or dumb that she cannot see or comprehend the damage that she personally caused to the McCain ticket with her lies and nasty tone on the stump?
Keep your eyes and ears open, Miz A. Truth has a way of finding its way up into the open air, especially when things are calm and people think their lies are safely tucked away. I've seen this happen time and time again. Just think of John Edwards and Bill Clinton. . .
yes, thank you for your web site, and please do keep it going. Sarah Palin is going to be on the scene for a long time, I'm afraid, and if she lied about the Trig pregnancy, the truth does need to come out.
Now, when is Cajun Boy going to explain what the heck happened with his source?
Dear Audrey,
Please keep going until the truth comes out. I spent many years as a law clerk (law-school trained assistant to a judge) and have seen many affidavits carefully crafted to avoid saying the truth without actually committing perjury. As you said, a letter like this could have been composed in an hour or less -- if there had been nothing to skirt around and duck. I'll bet Dr. Johnson hired a lawyer to go over it, and there were negotiations.
The letter does not say Trig was born at the Wasilla hospital, or anywhere else. To say that testing showed that the baby had no condition "that would preclude delivery at her home community hospital" encourages the reader to assume that was where the baby was born, without saying he was. Trig was probably born at home, perhaps Dr. Johnson's home, and then taken to the hospital for evaluation and phototherapy, explaining that record that left its ghost on Google.
Somebody raised the issue of malpractice insurance. Dr. Johnson does not say she is trained or certified in obstetrics. She probably does not normally deliver babies, and is not paying the corresponding insurance premium. Of course, any doctor can deliver a baby in an emergency, but a mother's need for confidentiality and cover-up is not a medical emergency. Dr. Johnson's unusual handling of Trig's birth could explain why she no longer has admitting privileges at Mat-Su.
For all of the reasons that have been given from the beginning, it is extremely unlikely that Sarah flew back to Alaska after her water broke, unless she had an extremely urgent reason to have the baby there. Is there a pill that an over-cooperative physician could have prescribed for Sarah to take with her that would have prevented her going into labor, or halted labor temporarily once it started?
Note that Dr. Johnson does not mention Trig's date of birth, so unless other things militate against it, if Sarah was the mother she probably gave birth before the trip to Texas, perhaps by induced labor. Whether an ethical OB would induce labor five weeks before term for the convenience of an ambitious mother is another question.
Somebody, perhaps yourself, questioned that "routine" prenatal testing including amniocentesis was done for a woman who would not have considered an abortion if the child were genetically defective. Correct me, but I believe Down's can only be confirmed by amniocentesis (or chorionic villus sampling), each of which has a small but significant risk of causing miscarriage. I don't think an anti-abortion religious hardliner would have it done. Then again, why should we take her religious commitments at face value?
An explanation for the testing, consistent with her religious principles, would be that it had been intended to have the mother immediately give the baby over for adoption. Arrangements would have had to be made in advance, and prospective adoptive parents would want confirmation that the baby would be genetically normal, particularly if they knew the mother was 44. Once it was determined that Trig would be a Down's baby, other plans had to be made.
Another thing that may be in play is that I believe in a normal hospital delivery a sample of the baby's blood is taken and the blood type recorded. The baby's blood type, if known, together with the mother's blood type, could exclude men of certain blood types as the baby's father -- perhaps the man claimed to be the father.
Finally, although it is irrelevant to the "baby" question, one should ask what it means that "Governor Palin is οn nο routine prescription medications." What does "routine" mean here? Taken daily? Taken regularly? Or medications that are "routinely" prescribed -- and "routinely" prescribed for what condition? Is she "on" any "non-routine" prescription medications, in either sense?
This wording may be careless or exceedingly careful. This kind of verbal nitpicking is what people hate lawyers for -- and hire lawyers to do. If anyone says, "oh, come on," he or she hasn't been following Sarah Palin. She has earned every bit of the the mistrust she gets.
Oh my God, I just switched to the O'Reilly Factor on Fox in the middle of a Carl Cameron report from Arizona (I didn't see the whole thing). Now that it is all over, he was going on and on about all of the trouble the McCain campaign was having with Sarah and her temper tantrums, etc. I knew that smile constantly pasted on her face was fake and hiding the REAL witch underneath! Thank you, God, that the best man got elected last night. Poor John--he really goofed when he got talked into getting the religious nutcase, Sarah, to satisfy the evangelical base!
I'd like to see this blog remain open. Hope the truth can slip out eventually.
trish in SW FLtedighte
Thanks for all your work! Please stay on the case. Something is definitely not right and I still believe we deserve the truth.
Audrey:
The loss of the election puts a powerful factor in play: people who know the truth will now be far less reluctant to spill the beans, as they will no longer fear that Ms. Palin will have the security apparatus of the federal government at her disposal to settle scores.
As someone who did serious research on this issue, including in Alaska, I am still very curious why there is still no persuasive evidence that has been made public that puts the issue to rest -- it's just not that hard to scotch this rumor -- but they have not done it.
Think hard about how to use the loss of the election to get people to talk who have been reluctant since August 31st...
"Her non-election does not make this a non-story, "
I couldn;t have said it better. Keep up the good work.
I think that had Gov Palin not decided to run as the champion of life and family values this would be her own decsion and her family's decision.
However as she has persnally decided to carry the flag for the moral majority we need to understand those choices and know the truth.
Can someone post the links to the Photos of Bristol in the ADN? I've looked on their site and couldn't see anything.
dipsydoodlenoodle
More news this morning that Sarah was having temper tantrums behind the scenes, throwing papers, etc. and that Randy Scheunemann was fired by McCain close to election day for leaking these problems to the media!
Yes, please keep this blog going, at least until the outcome of Bristol's current pregnancy is known.
"I still have numerous posts "in me" that have never been made. I've done research on the board at Mat-Su Hospital that I've never put together into a final post. I have some thoughts on the Mercedes Johnston photos that I've never made public."
We'd be very interested to read more of your posts, whenever you get a chance to add them to this blog. And thanks again!
Yes, Audrey, you made a difference. I am personally very grateful for your blog. As a mother of seven, my reading of Sarah Palin's version of her fifth delivery was that this woman is completely abnormal and not to be trusted. Having solid input from a medical specialist was a source of strength to me. Thank you.
And all those intriguing facts you mentioned as possible future posts are fascinating! I hope you will be able to get the time and energy to do that. But if not, please be assured that you have provided real information and filled a real void. Cheers and prayers; and I'll keep checking the blog. grammy
As someone who has worked as a journalist, I want to take the time to pat Audrey on the back for a moment. What she has done is no less than extraordinary. I've known reporters with less tenacity and instinct than she has displayed with this blog.
She's been thoughtful in vetting sources. It's a shame McCain weren't as thoughtful in vetting his V.P. pick. If he had been then we'd have had no need for this blog.
Audrey has also been fair, and there were many times when she either gave the Palins the benefit of the doubt if she couldn't verify a fact or photo or debunked her own find altogether. This has verified the very best thing about her - despite the criticisms from some, this woman was never about bringing Palin down, but about getting the truth we all deserve about a politician seeking one of the highest offices in the land.
Hers was a brave and noble task, especially given how many news outlets with far more sources and resources shied away from the story.
I'm so proud of Audrey and what she's done here and am glad to hear that she will continue. I personally thing this story is far from over, especially with ongoing buzz that indicates Palin will seek to revive her presence on the national stage with a stint in the Senate.
So keep watching, folks. This story will eventually break and I firmly believe that when it does Audrey will be on the cutting edge of anything that's revealed.
I started my blog Sanity Rant totally focused on finding out the truth about Sarah Palin - there is so much more that needs to come out so that she never holds a public office again.
I'll be keeping my blog up to date for awhile too, and including some Obama info. now and then.
I thank you for your hard work on the issue of Trig's birth. Looking forward to future posts.
I'd also like to add support of keeping the blog open and live, even after you decide to no longer update it. There is a lot of valuable information here. Should Palin decide to run in 2012 or later - it is good to have the information here, should down the road investigation begins again.
Since there is a lot of talk this morning about Sarah possibly taking the Senator Stevens seat if he is officially elected and then booted out of the U.S. Senate, the public needs to know if this woman is the deceitful person we suspect she is!
Understand in reality Sarah having the baby is even worse than a cover-up Hoax. Because here is what would have happened. She reported her water broke at 4am. That is an automatic trip to the hospital at 35 weeks pregnant. She knew if she went to the hospital, she would have been hospitalized, and NEVER allowed to travel back home to have her baby. If she left the hospital with Doctors knowing she going to travel for 12 hours, they would have been ethically obligated to call the Police and have her detained!
If she went to the Hospital she would have been caught in the act of risking her unborn babies health by traveling so far so late in her pregnancy, and it happened, instead of resting in or near her home, the travel ling to the Governors conference obviously caused stress leading to early labor. She would have been forever Branded a Fool by fellow Alaskans & media for laying with her legs open and a baby sliding out of her so Far From Home!!!!
She traveled to Dallas risking child health to further her political ambition and increase her chances at VP. (she was in the running, she did not come from nowhere, read New Yorker article).
She lost bet number #1 and decided to double down, playing bet #2, taking risk of giving birth to premature Down's baby on airplane. She won bet #2 and made it home, thereby keeping in position of being VP nomination. What can we say, she played poker to win and she won!!! All's Well that End's Well.
We all thought she didn't want to be interviewed because was hiding Hoax, when she was just completely self-loathing and conscious about the danger she put her unborn in to "further her political ambitions". These are the questions she was afraid to face.....maybe.....
Dearest Audrey....
The talk of ending this website has me a bit concerned about your initial intentions. You assure us in your main page that this isn't about the election, but merely about getting the truth out (as it should be). The fact that McCain/Palin lost has NO bearing on getting this truth out. As others have stated, it may be over for McCain, but Palin is so blinded with ego and ambition that she isn't going anywhere anytime soon. This is the truth that needs to come out to end her personally, not end the McCain party. Now that she is no longer part of the McCain party, there is even MORE reason to get this out. McCain won't suffer from the release of this info (and nor should he, he didn't make this mistake although he might have helped to cover it up). Palin thinks she has escaped all of this and is coming out squeaky clean. DON'T LET THIS DIE.
The above analysis also explains why Dr. Cathy didn't want to give any interviews, because She Knew she should have ordered her patient to the Hospital and was involved in the complicity and chance taking to further political ambitions. Here is an Obstretricians view of the goings on.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/water-breakgate-8312008-new-an.php
"What can we say, she played poker to win and she won!!!"
sarah.hoax: I don't think she has won anything. She burst on the scene out of nowhere and acted as if we all had known her for years. She was mean and nasty all the while smiling through her completely venomous words. She was arrogant and condescending, setting herself up as some kind of a saint because she had "chosen" not to abort a Downs syndrome child. This morning I saw her holding that child like a sack of potatoes. Does she really love him? I wonder!
oops, very sorry, wrong link. this is from the Obstetrician.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/palins-leaking-amniotic-fluid.php
thanks audrey for keeping this issue alive.
i also suggest you consider writing your findings into a book.
it would get this hoax more widely distributed and would be the final nail on the coffin of the religious and political nuts.
the nation owes you big.
Thanks for all of your hard work Audrey!
dipsydoodlenoodle,
Here's the link to picture #7 of Bristol that was in the ADN.
http://tinyurl.com/5drtbe
long time reader, first time commenter!
please keep the blog going! people need to know the truth about this woman. she's not going away, unfortunately. everything you are acquiring is very useful and could be very influential.
peace!
I'll be checking back if you decide to keep the blog going. Audrey. You've done an amazing job during a completely surreal campaign. It feels like an entire lifetime has passed since 8/29. And if I'm feeling shellshocked, I can only imagine how Alaskans are feeling now that SP is back in town.
I think this issue IS still important. I don't doubt that, after laying low on the national scene, her image will be retooled and she'll show up somewhere down the line. I think what has been getting to me all along is the pervading sense of being lied to--YET AGAIN. After being deceived and kept in the dark so often over the past eight years of the Bush administration, I felt like it was going to happen all over again...more of the same "(YOU) don't ask, and (WE) won't tell..."
So to be presented with this woman as our potential 2nd-in-command, with a completely odd story about what should be a basic human event...and then to be told that we're imagining things and it's all totally normal...well, no, it's NOT.
And it doesn't matter to me who the mother is; SP may well be the mother and so much the better if she is. I just can no longer stomach being told that to question the exceedingly questionable is the wrong thing to do.
Here's to more hopeful years ahead.
"This morning I saw her holding that child like a sack of potatoes. "
I saw that today also. She often holds him like that and it makes me want to cry.
Please keep going with the blog and investigation Audrey.
Truthseeker
Dear Audrey,
Please keep up the wonderful work you have been doing. I was wondering if you had been contacted by anyone from the McCain or Palin people to not blog or even to clariy anything about "Palin's Deceptions"?
DMS
You go girl! Keep writing. Who cares if they didn't win the White House? They're still both figures of authority in this country and if they did indeed choose to lie to the American public, it is necessary for someone to look into!
Please don't stop your investigations. I have a feeling Sarah Palin can't escape this, no matter how long it takes to finally verify. (And especially since they are coining her "the future face" of the GOP.)
There are going to be alot of people who will tell you to stop or that this is no longer important, or that it is just plain silly at this point. But no. All of these little details don't make sense and no one else has put them together in one place as you have. So don't stop or delete this blog!
I look forward to what else you have to show us!
Great blog! Well written and carefully investigated. Everything you point out surrounding SP's long trip back to Alaska after her water broke is true. But there's another explanation for why she might have done it (assuming she actually was pregnant): she didn't want the baby to survive. Just sayin'. I do agree that she almost never looks pregnant and there is an almost complete lack of consistency in the sort-of pregnant-looking pix. I'm glad you're pursuing it, because if this is the kind of deception she's willing to engage in, it should be reported. Good luck!
Hello:
Discovered your blog a few days ago and have been riveted.
I've always thought this is Bristol's child and what you have published just reinforces that.
Thanks for all your wonderful sleuthing.
Girl, you've got a tiger by the tail! And a book. Ya betcha!
Someone said in an earlier post that it looks like Sarah is holding a sack of potatoes when she's holding Trig. I completely agree and noticed it immediately when I saw her with the baby in September. Furthermore, I've never seen Todd even look at the baby when they're all together. If it's his son, you'd never know it from the way he seems to shun the boy. There's no obvious bond between Sarah or Todd and Trig.
In contrast, the photos of Bristol holding Trig are so touching. There's obviously a close bond there, and Levi also seems much more interested in Trig than does Todd. Those little things are tellng to me, increasing the likelihood that Trig is really Bristol's baby.
I hope Bristol herself comes out with the truth some day after she and Levi get married (which I actually think they will).
I have been thinking about this matter for months now and I must admit to have been, at times, driven mad by the whole issue of Trig's birth and possible parentage the more I pondered it though my tiny brain.
Finally, I believe, I may have a rational and plausible understanding of this very perplexing situation.
The bond between a mother and child is strengthened through eye contact and I believe this to be especially true when a child has downs syndrome. Sarah does not seem to look at Trig and it is telling that she always seems to be holding him away from her rather than close to her. As I recall a mother's instinct is to protect her child not expose him to any possible injury and danger. Body language reveals such a lot about our deeper motivations and hers with regard to Trig, seems, at best, to reveal the fact that she has not bonded with him. There could be several reasons for this. Either she is not his mother or she is/was suffering from post/ante natal depression. If she has post natal depression she could be taking medication for this and perhaps that is something that she did not want revealed, through the release of her medical notes, because of the obvious implications, to the country.
I should make it clear that I am absolutely not trying to look for reasons why she may be Trig's mother. As a mother of three girls myself I have considered what seems like a thousand and one questions with regard to Sarah's behaviour in this matter and nothing about this situation made any kind of reasonable sense to me, especially the factors involving her trip back from Texas when she did not seek immediate medical attention for her baby when her waters broke. She is an important woman, the Governor, and I am convinced that a doctor could have easily been summoned to exam her and the baby. This would have been, I think, the most sensible, protective and obvious option for her child also. But if Sarah was also suffering from depression before the birth the obvious answers may not have been clear to her and thus she acted rashly. It could well be the case that depression was brought on by the fact of her knowledge that the child was going to be born with Downs Syndrome just at a time when matters, politically, were looking extremely bright. (I am thinking of the factor of her being considered by the GOP as McCain's running mate.) National knowledge of her being pregnant with a Downs Syndrome child may have caused her to be knocked off the GOP list early and so she hid the pregnancy until the last possible moment. ( Whilst also being careful not to reveal the fact that the baby would be born with Downs when she did finally announce her pregnancy.) If this was the case it could have put Sarah under an enormous pressure and strain which resulted in stress which could have then led to depression.
Perhaps Sarah might also be prone to depression which affects her both ante and post natally. Regardless of where the depression originates it could be that it profoundly affected her ability to make sensible decisions and point towards an instability in her personality which would not have been understood by voters and she did not want this information released.
Of course this is all pure conjecture on my part but it does go some way to perhaps explaining why she acted as she did and why she still seems to be disassociated from Trig.
Katy
The Dr may have well been there and just doesn't want to be responsible for saying that the birth mother was not Sarah Palin. This way she isn't really telling a lie.
Post a Comment