Looks that way -- at least in the past week or so. I was positively glued to the Democratic Convention, and then to the stunning announcement of Palin as VP candidate, which scared the bejeezers outta me, and yesterday to the news of Gustav following in the path of Katrina exactly three years to the day later. (It's horrific, and my thoughts are with New Orleanians!)
And then this morning, news -- or rather, rumors at this point -- that points pretty convincingly to Sarah Palin being the grandmother, not the mother of baby Trig. Three things (I hesitate to call them flat-out facts at this point) tell me that the rumors are likely true:
- Palin announced her fifth pregnancy to her staff a full seven months into it -- and she wasn't showing! Helllooo! Any mother having her FIFTH baby shows waaaaaay earlier than seven and a half months; that's just the way subsequent pregnancies are. Maybe first pregnancies can be hidden for seven months, but I sure don't know of any fifth pregnancy that can be! Now way. No how. Not Sarah's baby.
- At the same time, her 16-year-old daughter, Bristol, was absent from school with a SIX month bout with mono. Elisabeth had mono, a pretty bad case of it, even, requiring her to come home from Cal early at the end of her freshman year. She was housebound for maybe three weeks. I don't buy six months home and away from one's life because of mono. No way. No how. Not Sarah's baby.
- Sarah's water apparently broke early in the morning one April day when she was at a governor's convention in Dallas. (Now on this one I'm pretty confident, given that I'm a Certified Childbirth Educator...) Instead of going to a local hospital in Dallas that day (which any decent doctor would recommend for a 44-year-old multiparous mother, pregnant with a special needs baby), Sarah apparently got on an Alaska Airlines flight to Alaska, via Seattle. EVEN if she got on that flight with her water broken, why wouldn't she get care in Seattle, where some of the best high-risk neonatal care facilities are located? She didn't. She apparently flew on to Anchorage, where there's at least one hospital with an NICU...but she didn't get care there, either. Instead, she drove another 45 minutes to a tiny hospital outside her home town, to deliver her special needs baby there? I'm not buying it. A 44-year-old mom who is on pregnancy number five has too high a risk of both a precipitous labor and of infection if she casually waits 8 hours after her water breaks... and travels the entire time. No way. No how. Not Sarah's baby!
Know who I feel sorry for in all this? Bristol. Talk about shame and guilt and lies... That poor girl should be allowed to just deal with all the emotions and events of her past year -- and she should be supported and helped through all this. Can you imagine what she's being forced to silently endure?
The more I get wrapped up in all this stuff, the more I believe that politics is just one big life-sucking, lie-inducing, ambition-driven plague.
Ooooh. Gotta go. CNN is calling to me!
I just don't get it. She knew she had baggage... it seems irresponsible to run with that in the closet. Or McCain can use her as a scapegoat for his loss?
ReplyDeleteI'd be more worried about her competence than lies about her family reveiled in what starts to look in some mud digging campaign
ReplyDeleteThis person met her right before she gave birth. You can't see the stomach though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
Life-sucking, lie-inducing, power-driven...you got that right. And I tend to get caught up in it in the last few months before a presidential election. I HATE politics. But I do get caught up in it.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering why there have been zero images of her pregnant coming out. Given that she has been pregnant most of the last year, you would expect to see some pregnant photos floating around. I assumed they were trying to give her a tough image, but I hadn't heard this rumor before. I don't really trust the media to get things right early on, so I'll wait from some more info before I buy it.
ReplyDeleteNope, no way it's true. Can't hide something like that in Wasilla, or Juneau for that matter.
ReplyDeletePoor Bristol; how awful for this 16 yo girl that her belly is being analyzed nationally.
Here's a story that speaks to the birth: http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html
Hi - Actually the baby bump photo is from 2006 - read this article and on page 2, you will see a link to the Anchorage Daily News, which states the photo is from 2006.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.associatedcontent.com/article/998402/vp_candidate_sarah_palin_pregnancy.html?cat=75
Also if you go to msg boards you will hear Alaska residents saying they know its not true b/c Bristol doesn't go to school in Anchorage, the photo is old, etc. etc.
I have no idea about the truth of this but I can't wait to find out. My dh is all convinced McCain is the one and his vp is so blue collar good (Whatever. How fun is it being married to a rep when you are a dem?? AGGGH!)
ReplyDeleteGo find the truth Ms. CNN!
I don't think this rumor is true. If it were, it would point to a very incomplete vetting process, and a massive blemish on her character. She is a self-proclaimed "hockey mom", and as a former resident of North Dakota I know what thie means-- she is undoubtedly tough but I cannot imagine she would stoop to something like this; she must know that eventually the facts come out.
ReplyDeleteMy conspiracy-theory mindset wants me to add that it could be a ploy by the Republicans to increase sympathy for her.
In any case I have yet to hear of Democratic voters who will now vote for McCaine due to his VP choice.
On the other hand: if the rumors are true, it must inevitably lead to her being rejected from the ticket, and McCaine would be forced to find a candidate with a better resume, which could help his campaign.
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ReplyDeleteBefore I did any research, I was about to post that you, Ladybug, clearly assume this to be true, despite your qualifier, the language you use is one of complete accepyance of it as fact... when it may turn out to be idle gossip.
ReplyDeleteFrom Digital Journal:
The risk of reporting rumor as news without doing the proper research and homework for an article, is embarrassment when the facts are eventually revealed. This is evidenced by recent reports about Sarah Palin's baby, Trig and daughter, Bristol.
Rumor ran rampant about Sarah Palin, her child Trig and her daughter Bristol. The rumors started with a popular website, Daily KoS, and certain media outlets touched on them and was even reported here at Digital Journal com.
The reports focused on pictures of Republican vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, showing that she didn't appear to be pregnant, then the story followed with their "proof" that the baby was her daughter's, Bristol Palin. They "proved" her daughter had missed time at school and then they produced pictures of her daughter which they claimed showed her to be "pregnant."
Specifically the reports focused on the 17 year old's stomach, with the rumor perpetuated by the Daily KoS website and others that reported on the rumors.
The photo that KoS used and claimed was taken on March 9, 2008, was taken in Wasilla, Alaska in 2006. The photo was taken by Lester, from the Anchorage Daily News. (URL linked above to the Anchorage Daily News photo gallery) KoS then provided photos from 2008 which showed the same type of belly fat.
Sarah Palin at home with her family in Wasilla, Alaska in 2006. From left is Piper, 5, husband Todd, Willow, 12, and at right is Bristol, 16. Not pictured is Palin's son Track, 17. Trig Palin was born in 2008.
Baby Trig Palin, a Downs Syndrome baby, was born on April 18, 2008.
No matter how you do the math, there is no way a girl can be pregnant from 2006 to April of 2008
Daily KoS and those that reported on the speculated rumor, without doing their homework and just repeating the rumor, all have now maligned a 17 year old girl, her mother who is the vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket and their whole family.
-----
Not to mention showed themselves to be unreliable about fact-checking.
The blogosphere should not become a rumor mill, but a counter to that kind of abuse.
I never thought Bristol's belly showed anything. She looks like a typical (adorable) teen in the pictures.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the incriminating stuff is Sarah's behavior in Dallas and her flight home after her water supposedly broke. As a former childbirth professional, I can assure you that NO doctor would encourage a 44-year-old primip (has birthed before) mom pregnant with a special needs baby to fly 10 hours, bypassing medical assessment in Dallas, Seattle, and Anchorage, to drive 45 more minutes to a TINY community hospital in the middle of nowhere. (Elisabeth has accounts at that hospital and has been there numerous times; she says it's basically "a hallway.") ANY doctor would have told Sarah to be assessed by a doctor or clinic in Dallas, because when there's a "leak" of amniotic fluid, as Sarah claims there was, sometimes it turns out to be urine. Any good doc needs confirmation before giving further instructions.
I don't care about any of the photos. They prove or disprove nothing (but it IS curious that there are NO photos of Sarah pregnant!). What I need explained is the whole flight story.
Carol
I find it odd that you are a Producer & Program Manager of positive media for youth and yet you are spreading a hurtful rumor that is completely untrue of a innocent teen! The photo is from 2006, so was she pg for 2 years??????????? (See the article from SAHM above.) Bristol doesn't even go to school in Anchorage - the mono story is false!!!!!!!!!! I could make up a rumor that they've invented hoverboards (from the Back to the Future movie) and you'd believe it, lol.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I hope the story IS false. I think it makes everyone look bad if it's true. And mostly, I feel sorry for the position Bristol is put in. IF it's true, she just needs time to be a mom, without guilt and with support.
ReplyDeleteBut this is the potential VP of the United States -- hell, the potential PRESIDENT of the United States -- that we're talking about, not a small-town PTA president, so I DO think this needs to be explored and proven beyond a doubt to be either true or false.
It shouldn't be hard for Palin to prove these rumors to be false. All she has to do is produce hospital records or a definitive pregnancy photo from last Spring or something else that shuts down the rumor mill. If the rumors are false, that should be a BREEZE for her to do. WE can't access her medical records, but SHE can.
This should take NOTHING for her to quiet. That's what I'm waiting for.
C.
What I'm most upset about in all of this, as the cousin of a lovely young man with Downs is that all the research points to massive intervention within the first year. At least 70% of Downs Syndrome children are raised by their families and research bears out that this is crucial in their later success in life.
ReplyDeleteSo not only did Sarah Palin risk this baby's life by flying to Alaska to have the baby, but now she's risking his future by her choice. Yes, this is a big deal to get the nomination, but for someone to claim to be a family values type and then just dump their special needs baby, for all intensive purposes, doesn't seem like someone I would trust on any level, even if I did share her politics.
I don't see how she can claim the values she claims to have and not live by them.
It's interesting because in order to dispel the rumors, Sarah Palin announced today that her teenaged daughter is pregnant NOW and is planning to keep the baby. Weird!
ReplyDeleteWhether or not that 5th baby is hers or her daughters, the reported behavior after her water broke was very odd and borderline abusive if she was indeed pregnant with a baby with Downs who was coming a month prematurely.
Brilliant on the part of the McCain campaign!
ReplyDeleteI still want Sarah's travel adventure last April to be explained.
Carol
Not to nit-pick, but in your post from earlier today, Carol, you said a primip is a woman who has birthed before. A primip (primaparous) is a first-time mother. A woman who has previously given birth is called a multip (multiparous).
ReplyDeleteBack to the scandal...
The conspiracy-theory-loving part of me thinks that Bristol might suddenly have a "miscarriage" of this current pregnancy, just as soon as people stop talking about her mother's supposedly-faked pregnancy.
I feel sorry for Bristol. She's been sacrificed at the alter of her mother's ambition.
Carol - my gosh, get a grip!!!
ReplyDeleteYou've stated you're voting for Obama anyway, and that nothing going on in McCain's campaign is going to change all that, so why get so spun up, especially about something that sounds like it's straight out of the National Enquirer. Even if the rumors are true, so what? I wouldn't blame a mom for trying to protect her daughter, and many voters wouldn't either. As "goofball" said, let's not get sidetracked over to the mudslinging; let's take the high road and focus on real issues and competency.
Your tweet to Rick Sanchez saying "critical to us voters" - you've already decided how to vote so this isn't critical at all, yes?
Also I believe it's rare for a young girl to have a trisomic baby, but not so much for a 44y/o woman.
I'm not trying to rag on you, seriously, but I see this kind of stuff all over the internet right now, and I think it's playing right into McCain's hands: Palin in the headlines, Democrats appearing panic-stricken to find every possible speck of dirt. We're diminishing Obama to page 2 with all this hysterical carrying-on rather than focus on real issues that should influence the election.
I totally see Carol's point. let's forget the arguement of who's baby Trig is. let's just look at who is would be VP if the republicans cheat again.
ReplyDeleteA woman who selfishly put her own needs to give a speech, to fly home above those of her unborn-on-his-way child. It wasn't like the counrty was at stake to give a speech on energy.
If you have a person who shows such bad judgement in a situation that was so clear cut as what to do, what will happen when it gets a little iffy.
Now, let's look at troopergate. As with John McCain, we have a person who, when in a position of power, heedlessly uses that power for personal justice. And she wasn't even smart about it.
Come on, people. This person is a moron.
You guys are right: I've been way too caught up. CNN is all over it; as of midnight tonight, I won't be! :-)
ReplyDeleteCarol
I worked as an L&D nurse for nine years, and I might have done the same thing that Palin did if a leak of amniotic fluid developed, assuming no signs of labor, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs a childbirth educator, you are aware that sometimes these slow leaks even seal up on their own...they don't always result in labor.
She says she was in touch with her doctor (and in fact, induction was required to start labor once she got to Wasilla...which is a modern hospital, built in the last 3 years or so; not a podunk clinic, by any means ;)), and she says she wouldn't have done anything to risk her child's life. I have no reason to disbelieve her.
If you want some discussion of the real issues surrounding Sarah Palin (and there are several), minus the personal family drama, I suggest you check out www.andrewhalcro.com. He's declared the kids to be off limits on his site, which is refreshing.
Isn't it all "just politics" ... aren't you guys finally getting towards the pointy end of the election now? It just seems to take so long for the USA to vote, I think I would possibly lose interest rather than gain it - our last election, we had 3 weeks, start to finish ... great, it was allover before the media got it by the throat. You are all taking it too seriously. :-) RH
ReplyDeletePalin will self-destruct I think. The big news today is that she was a member of an Alaskan secessionist group in the 90's(Alaskan Independence Party). Even the Republicans won't want a Veep who actively tried NOT to be an American. The Daily Kos posted videos as proof: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/4231/18477/878/581881
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of many and depending on my previous birth histories, I, too, would have flown back home if the only sign was a slow leak. With my 7th child, I had a slow week for about 24 hours until I self-induced with castor oil. Obviously Palin was not in active labor as she was induced the following day.
ReplyDeleteAt home she would be with her own doctor and would have supportive family around. I don't blame her at all.
To Homejewel -- the bigger question is why she was flying at all when she was 8 months pregnant while expecting a baby with a known serious genetic disorder. Downs babies often need medical intervention fairly soon after birth. The commercial flight from Texas to Alaska is long. Labors often get shorter with subsequent babies and there was no reasonable expectation that she could have her water break a month early and yet be able to KNOW FOR SURE that she wouldn't have that baby on the plane. Selfish, self-centered, ego-centric and rash. Hey, sounds like McCain ... maybe she WAS carefully vetted! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have been unblogged for around a month and am now just slowly catching up on missing time … I sometimes put comments on blogs anonymously, and if I don’t feel I “know the person” I don’t put a name, however I am a bit surprised about jennifer’s very defensive (of you) comment on 17 July regarding an anonymous blogger leaving nasty comments. Surely there is not only the one anonymous out there? Now I notice that on this current post, her attitude changes. Is it OK for her to make constructive comment now, or is that a bit nasty too? Hmmm
ReplyDeleteBut how could Trig be her daughter's baby if he's 4 months old and the daughter is now 5 months pregnant?
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I totally agree with you about this woman. Something very scary there.
here is an interesting letter i found on another blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://my2bucks.wordpress.com/feed/