August 31, 2008 10:09 AM
Palin's pregnancy - lies, scandal, or redemption? Updated
At this point these are rumors from ultra-radical and wildly popular Daily Kos - but just so you know the kind of smear campaign we can anticipate from the Left:
From a friend:
I hate to think this is true, but I thought I'd give you a heads up. Daily Kos makes a serious case that this is not Palin's baby but her duaghters. She didn't look post-partum to me in any of the photos after birth, but I chalked it up to all her exercise. Maybe not. Daily Kos: Sarah Palin Is Not the Mother
My reply - thoughts off the top of my head as I'm dashing off to church
That would only make her more of a hero in my book - sparing her daughter who was in the spotlight not of her own free will - the embarrassment and shame.This was the way people used to handle this sort of thing.
My mom came from a family of 12 and learned as an adult that the last 2 kids after her were twins her oldest sister had birthed.
Jack Nicholson had a similar situation - raised by his grandmother with his mother as sister - which is why he himself is anti-abortion.
The shame is not Sarah's, but that of anyone who would use it to attack her.
If it were true, it would not make me love her less - but more.
barbara
Then there is the very real possibility that this is a smear campaign like the one way back when that John McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was really his illegitimate daughter.
Interesting that the Left chooses the most heroic thing to cut their opponents at the knees - at the expense of the most weak and vulnerable.
Posted in Campaign 2008 | Permalink
Comments
This sort of gossip is typical and almost expected whenever the mother of a teen girl gives birth. My own grandmother was falsely accused of faking her last pregnancy. Several other women I know have had to endure ugly questions, especially if their daughters were seen holding the baby. Good grief.
Posted by: Rebecca | August 31, 2008 11:22 AM
I have to wonder though, if this were a democratic candidate (say HRC?) would you love her more? Or would you call her a liar?
Posted by: Maegan | August 31, 2008 11:24 AM
After reading the article it does seem possible. If so, she sounds like a good mother to me.
However I disagree with Daily Kos' blanket assertions that women always show more and always have shorter labors in their 5th pregnancy. In my 5th pregnancy I gained exactly 4 pounds (I certainly wasn't trying to keep my weight down, and I had no medical problems causing this or caused by it, it just was that way). And my 3rd labor was my shortest, with my 5th being my second longest.
BTW, when I was a few weeks from giving birth to my 2nd baby, I stood and had a ten minute conversation with a man who was then shocked to hear that I was pregnant. It's easy to hide pregnancy with the right clothes.
Posted by: Michelle Potter | August 31, 2008 11:28 AM
Maegan -
You may have intended this as a gotcha question. But I'm really glad you asked!
If a Democratic candidate had a baby with Down syndrome instead of aborting him or her - and how likely do you think that might be?- I would love her too. I would think that somehow her mind had been opened to the wonderful possibilities of life. And I would defend her the same way.
I think the more obvious question is that if a Democratic candidate had the same rumors being floated, Leftists would be screaming that they had a right to privacy and didn't it show their compassion and love for their family/child.
Seriously, Maegan. Democrats are notoriously double-standard. I'm not.
Posted by: barbara | August 31, 2008 11:38 AM
Saturday's WSJ "McCain take calculated risk picking Palin for V.P." calls into question Palin's late pregnancy flight to Dallas to deliver a speech on energy. She supposedly went against medical advice. I don't know of a doctor who would advice you not to fly due to your impending delivery if you weren't pregnant.
Posted by: Kelly | August 31, 2008 11:51 AM
I don't know if the story is true or not, but if it is not, I feel so badly for poor Bristol (and half the teenage girls in America). In the photos, she looks basically normal - she does not have the toned midsection of Brittney Spears, but basically all of these websites have declared that if a teenager has a little "pooch"/not rock hard abs, then she looks like she is 6 months pregnant.
We have enough body image problems without teens starting to think that!
Posted by: Milehimama | August 31, 2008 11:53 AM
You may not be (or say you are not), but ALL political parties have double standards. I am a Canadian living in the States (I would consider myself a democrat- but wouldn't vote solely on one issue) and I would NEVER have an abortion. For all my pregnancies I have chosen not to have any genetic testing, for the reason I would never abort any child. To me my children are a gift from God, and I mourned the loss of my unborn child to a miscarriage deeply.
Since you brought up the issue of double standards, two glaring double standards from conservatives come to mind. First, most recently, Focus on the Family asking people to pray for rain of Biblical proportions during Obama's acceptance speech. The presenter later said that it was a joke, but honestly, my God isn't a joke. I don't joke about prayer.
And, the former governor of Massachusetts and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ok'd gay marriage in his state. How is that not a double standard (especially given his mormon beliefs)?
I could go on and on about John McCain and his double standards (calling his first wife a cruel and demeaning name in public for example) and I would be interested to read your comments on that.(And yes, I do remember that he was not your first choice for Presidential candidate).
While I don't always agree with you, I do respect your opinion.
Posted by: Maegan | August 31, 2008 12:55 PM
Rebecca's comment reminded me of a friend of mine in high school. She was a late-in-life baby, and she recounted a story to me of how a woman in the mall rudely accosted her older sister and accused her of being my friend's teenaged mother. People always seem to assume a scandal.
Maegan, if Palin were a Democrat I wouldn't be more likely to judge her over this; I'd just be more shocked that a Democrat would do the right thing. If Palin's teenaged daughter is the baby's mother, then Palin is not lying to cover up having done something wrong -- she's simply keeping quiet about having done something GOOD: keeping and raising a baby that many others would say (disabled AND illegitimate!) would be best "gotten rid of."
Posted by: Michelle Potter | August 31, 2008 12:59 PM
I doubt the claim. I think the fact that he has Down's Syndrome is better evidence that Sarah had the child. Not doubting that younger people can have kids with Down Syndrome, but it just seems more likely that it's Sarahs'.
Aisha
Posted by: Aisha Hoffman | August 31, 2008 1:12 PM
I could see this as more likely if 1. the baby wasn't downs and 2. if she had not already given birth at the age of 38.
Posted by: paigeu | August 31, 2008 1:14 PM
She certainly looks postpartum (lower torso) to me in the grocery store photo under Photo Gallery in your Sarah Palin Background post of August 30th. Isn't it far more likely that Sarah, because of her age, would have a DS baby than her daughter? The thing that really irks me is that this rumor is an attack against Sarah's daughter as well. How low will the libs go? This is probably just a taste of things to come. They must be feeling desperate.
Posted by: Evergreen | August 31, 2008 1:23 PM
Maegan -
You have to stretch pretty far to come up with examples, don't you? Like comparing apples to oranges: a tongue-in-cheek piece by an employee of Focus on the Family about praying for rain - for which he later apologized - vs. the savaging of a 16 year old girl in order to keep her mother's political party from winning the election?
The fact that I have run Stuart Shepherd's Stoplights before and didn't run the prayer one shows that you are way off base to accuse me of having double standards because of this trivial incident.
I'm not familiar with the remark you're attributing to McCain. If it's as bad as you say, I'm sure I wouldn't condone it or say it was okay because a Democrat did such-and-such.
It is naive and immature to defend the indefensible just because of your political affiliation - no matter which side of the aisle you're on.
I'd have more respect for people of your political persuasion if you could once in a while just say, "yeah, that IS over the top." Or how about, "I'm sorry."
One of the admirable things about Camille Paglia - see my next entry - is that she thinks for herself and does not feel obliged to defend every single misstep her party makes.
And I'm left to wonder that no matter what your political opinions are, how could you have the nerve to tell me what I would think or do in any situation?
Posted by: barbara | August 31, 2008 3:27 PM
And btw, I've been thinking. I know lots of moms with more than five kids. While I myself was out of shape and packed on a lot of extra weight, I know many moms who didn't. Vicki Farris has 10 kids and you'd never know it - as is true of many other megamoms at the church I used to attend with her. In fact, that was one of the reasons I finally lost weight. I knew having a lot of kids was no excuse.
And I thought Palin did look pregnant in the photos - just not as grossly pregnant as I used to allow myself to get. Her face was rounder and had that look we get when we're pregnant.
Posted by: barbara | August 31, 2008 3:33 PM
I wasn't saying that you had double standards Barbara, I was saying that all political parties had them. My question wasn't a gotcha one, an honest question. I guess I will leave it at that.
I didn't really feel that my examples were a stretch, as they weren't about you... they were about the party in general.
I do believe I stated that I wasn't a one-issue voter, therefore, to me that would mean that I don't "tow the party line".
The fact of the matter, and I almost said it in my last post, is that I HATE this political season. I can't stand the demonizing and tearing apart of the candidates. You'd think that we could be above all that. I wish that the candidates could just run on the issues rather than resorting to attacks.
Posted by: Maegan | August 31, 2008 4:53 PM
Barbara-
I thought you would want to see this. It is a blog post from April in which the blogger saw a pregnant Mrs. Palin in Fairbanks.
I'm sure it will be ignored by the liberal media, though...
http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
Posted by: Shannon | August 31, 2008 5:19 PM
I read this rumor last night and it completely baffled me.
What do people mean she doesn't look postpartum?
She certainly does in this picture (which shows only her face): http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/050508/sta_275624093.shtml Her eyes are puffy, she has a bit of a double chin and she looks exhausted - none of which is the case in the rest of her photos.
And this one (in which you can see her abdomen) it's even more obvious: http://alaskareport.com/news48/x61145_trig.htm
Now does she look like I do postpartum? Um, not exactly, but I'm wasn't ever a size 2 former beauty queen so that's not really a surprise.
Sarah Palin is a beautiful - and tiny - woman and she looks fantastic in those early postpartum pictures . . . but she still looks like she just had a baby.
Posted by: Minna | August 31, 2008 6:09 PM
Barbara,
Have you seen Rod Dreher's post on some of the things that are being posted at Daily Kos and other places? http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/08/politics-as-blood-sport.html
Wow. I like to believe that people are better than this and that just because we disagree we can all respect each other. I know lots of people with different views and while I don't understand how they can hold certain views, I certainly respect their right to those views, knowing that we all have different stories. Fortunately, at least in this case, no matter what, Palin comes out a winner.
Posted by: Lucy | August 31, 2008 6:34 PM
I don't even know what "doesn't look postpartum" means. I have 7 children. My labor with #5 lasted around 12 hours (but I got smart and stayed home for most of them).
I also have known many women who were pregnant and didn't "look" it. There are stories all the time in the press of babies left at hospitals (or God forbid, under bushes) and no one knew the mother was pregnant.
How very sad that within 24 hours, enemies of Palin were attacking HER CHILDREN. Interesting that when it is a WOMAN candidate, all manner of issues concerning what she looks like in her clothes, and how much she weighs, crop up immediately.
Posted by: Milehimama | August 31, 2008 7:12 PM
Is there no one questioning her decision to fly illegally at 8 months pregnant(a doctor's note is REQUIRED to get on a plane in the 3rd trimester) or the fact that she not only finished a speech after her water supposedly broke but then got on an 8 hr flight. She is said by the airline people to have neither mentioned it or showed any discomfort throught the entire flight. She got off the plane and instead of going to the nearest hospital, she drove 45+ miles away to a lesser facilty of have this baby. That shows beyond poor judgment.
Posted by: melissa | August 31, 2008 7:19 PM
How does one fake nursing and pumping breast milk???
Ladies, I never mention this because it sounds like bragging. But I don't look post-partum right after having babies....and I've had lots of children right together. Most people don't think I look pregnant until 6-7 months, and that's with 8 kids. If a woman is really in shape, six years is a long time between pregnancies. It's very possible.
My sister is smaller than me. She used to borrow my regular jeans to wear when she was SEVEN months pregnant. Annoyed me to no end - but it is true.
Posted by: Holly | August 31, 2008 7:19 PM
Wow. What a bunch of ignorant comments. So now we know people based on their political affiliations and NOT on their individual character ? Be careful who you trash, they could turn out be your best friend.
As far as whether or not it is Gov. Palin's baby or her daughter's has nothing to do with whether she is a good pick for the Vice Presidency. But I don't see why covering up her teenaged daughter's pregnancy would make her "hero" or a "good mom"...
It would just make her a liar.
Posted by: oneL | August 31, 2008 7:44 PM
http://www.adn.com/front/story/336402.html
Posted by: emmie | August 31, 2008 7:46 PM
AlaskaAir does not require the Doctor's note.
(And that info definitely came from Daily Kos.
Posted by: Holly | August 31, 2008 8:05 PM
It's not her daughter's baby. In this day and age, no governor of a state is going to get away with that. The people who think this think 911 was an inside job. This would be a conspiracy (though not a particularly malicious or menacing one) and that takes the collusion of too many people to keep it a secret.
Let's everybody not lose our heads here. Good freaking grief.
Posted by: Amy K. | August 31, 2008 10:12 PM
It seems to me that right around the time she might've announced her pregnancy is probably when they got the DS diagnosis. I think, if I were in that situation, I would surely want a few months to adjust to that before I broke the news.
I find myself waiting a little longer with each pregnancy to make the big announcement and I don't have a state to run.
Posted by: Shannon Miller | August 31, 2008 11:01 PM
As I'm sure that you wish to be accurate in your analysis, I thought it important to point out that it was the Republicans who orchestrated the smear campaign against McCain regarding his adopted daughter. It was not the liberal media.
Posted by: Alice Taylor | September 1, 2008 12:02 AM
I agree that this appears to be an unfounded rumor - there is a lot of "evidence" but it is all circumstantial. That said, I do find Gov. Palin's insistence on returning to have the baby in Alaska more concerning - it demonstrates a basic lack of judgment to prioritize a minor professional goal (a forgettable speech far away from the State for which she works) over the fundamental health of her unborn child. Moreover, I don't mean to appear last century or anything, but it doesn't seem right to me to take on the VP slot with a DS baby in tow. I understand that "First Dude" Todd will take a bigger role in caring for little Trig, but let's be real. I wouldn't commit to such a grueling campaign and an even more grueling role in Washington at my newborn's expense, and I wouldn't want my husband doing so, either. Just look at the pain this has already caused their family. McCain has shown himself to be rash and imprudent in the past - this pick just really calls his judgment into question, as well.
Posted by: Susan | September 1, 2008 12:05 AM
Looks like you are suggesting that the rumors about John McCain's adopted daughter were circulated by Left. Is that true? I heard that they were circulated by George Bush campaign or supporters during the South Carolina Republican Prmary in 2000.
Posted by: Victor | September 1, 2008 3:12 AM
Here is a photo of Palin looking "quite" pregnant.
That shows beyond poor judgment.
It could also show that she knows her own body.
Posted by: MzEllen | September 1, 2008 10:14 AM
It shows that she didn't want to fly for 8hrs with a newborn premature infant and believed she had plenty of time before labor started. Turns out she was right, because she ended up needing pitocin during her labor.
Michelle Obama is on the campaign trail also, and she still manages to put her kids to bed at the same time every night. She is on record as saying that she occasionally leaves early just so she can do that.
I really think that the odds of McCain dying with in a couple years of being in office is pretty slim...considering how vigilant he is being about his health. I also read that the responsibilities of VP are not more strenuous than that of governor...or even that of the first lady.
Heck, not even the presidency is that strenuous it would seem by Bush's example, who somehow manages to spend 400+ days at his vacation home.
Posted by: paigeu | September 1, 2008 11:04 AM
