McCain Campaign: Palin's 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant
The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.
There's also this:
Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
McCain knew! Who says Palin wasn't thoroughly vetted?
Late Update: Here's the statement from the Palins:
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."
and stranger and stranger.
September 1, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
and stranger and stranger...
September 1, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
In a flurry of discussion with several others last night... all the while, not ONE media outlet reporting on this stuff... it was surmised that the GOP would use this as a way to claim victimization.
Here's the quote today:
Got that, now? It wasn't worthy of actual news coverage, but by Monday morning, it was serious enough to have a cover story AND a slam on Obama out on it.
The MSM refused to touch it, so "liberal bloggers" did the legwork. Now, conveniently, the whole scandal seems to be about the "liberal bloggers".
I keep thinking about "Rathergate", and all the similar skepticism the MSM showed toward "conservative bloggers".
September 1, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you completely -- see all the "pretend concern" about this over here by folks posting on this site for the first time today:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/water-breakgate-8312008-new-an.php
Same thing over on Kos. This is, at best, a weird story that does nothing to help Democrats win. At worst, it's a staged controversy to get liberals to look like they're attacking a pregnant 17-year-old and turn Palin into a hero for the culture warriors.
Either way, this does nothing to help us win the election.
September 1, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
But the Muslim rumors were not despicable? Wow, there is not limit to the extremism these people will go to in their lies, i.e. most Republican talking heads.
September 1, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you completely -- see all the "pretend concern" about this over here by folks posting on this site for the first time today:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/water-breakgate-8312008-new-an.php
Same thing over on Kos. This is, at best, a weird story that does nothing to help Democrats win. At worst, it's a staged controversy to get liberals to look like they're attacking a pregnant 17-year-old and turn Palin into a hero for the culture warriors.
Either way, this does nothing to help us win the election.
September 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The liberal blogs are not really the echo chamber that has been driving this rumor. Do a google search for Bristol Palin and you'll see who has been driving it -- the celebrity gossip blogs who love any rumors concerning pregnancy and lies. The rumor was alive and kicking in Alaska before anybody else had any interest in the subject, meanwhile -- it found the liberal blogs, the liberal blogs didn't create it.
The McCain campaign made a calculation that they could get away with blaming the rumor on DailyKos because they thought a lazy national press would reprint their accusation without seriously examining it (irony alert!).
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't decide whether this further ascent of the Palin's toward ultimate white-trash apotheosis helps or hurts them with the mass of the electorate.
September 1, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sadly, the Palin parents threw over their pregnant daughter just to change the subject everyone was passing around, ie the rumor that the daughter was the actual mother of the Trig. this rumor was ballooning so to salvage that, the Veep candidate told the entire world her daughter was pregnant. For me, they could kick me off of any ticket rather than for me to expose to the whole world that my daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. That fact was hers to tell. How selfish of these parents.
September 2, 2008 1:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
I concur totally!
September 2, 2008 4:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
How is it despicable if the rumor turns out to be true?
Another testament to the right-wing position that abstinence-only education works.
September 1, 2008 1:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the hell? This proves all the people who were claiming that Bristol was the mother of Trig were wrong, and probably crazy as well.
September 1, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually it proves nothing of the sort. The timing of this leak is very very suspicious. I wonder why McCain would release this information, destroying this girl's privacy, except as part of a cynical ploy to distract everyone from the rumors swirling around the identity of family member Trig.
Remember, it was McCain who divulged the fact that Bristol is pregnant.
September 1, 2008 9:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
can we fire mccain's "vetting team" and replace them with bloggers
Palin,”I would choose life” If Her Daughter Was Raped
September 1, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sure, sure he knew...
September 1, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.
I call BS.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
September 1, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dems need to stay the hell away from this. They're obviously using the storm to cover it up, but there's a smart strategy to deal with it:
http://strategy08.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/a-quick-note-about-all-the-palin-family-news-today/
September 1, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on! Are you buying ANY of this? AT ALL?
NO?!? Then, why the hell is it off-limits?!?!?
Because it's delicate? Because it's dangerous to talk about? Because it's "just not right"?
Is that how journalism is done, now? Is that how "we" fight back the most totalitarian government our republic has ever
known??
If you don't want to answer any of those more philosophical questions... ANSWER THIS ONE:
DOES BRISTOL'S SUDDENLY-REVEALED PREGNANCY NEGATE SO MUCH AS **ONE** QUESTION ABOUT SARAH PALIN'S CONDUCT DURING HER OWN ALLEGED PREGNANCY?
Does this explain her giving speeches while leaking; the refusal to go for immediate medical attention; the 22 hours on airplanes with broken water; the insistence upon landing and then travelling to freakin' Wasilla to have this baby??? Etc. etc. etc?
Come to think of it...
Did the universal media disgust at the New York Times' mere mention of Vicky Iseman explain McCain's extraordinary lobbying efforts on behalf of Comcast?
Did the claim of "kerning" (?) explain where the hell George Bush was, during his TANG time?
In each case, a big distraction and show of Outrage [tm] quashed any investigation, when the Republicans didn't want anyone going there.
Get hep to the jive, my friends!
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on! Are you buying ANY of this? AT ALL?
NO?!? Then, why the hell is it off-limits?!?!?
Because it's delicate? Because it's dangerous to talk about? Because it's "just not right"?
Is that how journalism is done, now? Is that how "we" fight back the most totalitarian government our republic has ever
known??
If you don't want to answer any of those more philosophical questions... ANSWER THIS ONE:
DOES BRISTOL'S SUDDENLY-REVEALED PREGNANCY NEGATE SO MUCH AS **ONE** QUESTION ABOUT SARAH PALIN'S CONDUCT DURING HER OWN ALLEGED PREGNANCY?
Does this explain her giving speeches while leaking; the refusal to go for immediate medical attention; the 22 hours on airplanes with broken water; the insistence upon landing and then travelling to freakin' Wasilla to have this baby??? Etc. etc. etc?
Come to think of it...
Did the universal media disgust at the New York Times' mere mention of Vicky Iseman explain McCain's extraordinary lobbying efforts on behalf of Comcast?
Did the claim of "kerning" (?) explain where the hell George Bush was, during his TANG time?
In each case, a big distraction and show of Outrage [tm] quashed any investigation, when the Republicans didn't want anyone going there.
Get hep to the jive, my friends!
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree, rule number one in politics is if your opponent is imploding, stay away and let it happen. Calling any additional attention to it just make them look like victims.
I do wonder though, do Romney and Huckabee combined (plus supers?) have enough delegates to take control of convention where a significant number of delegates are absent? At the press conference yesterday they were concerned enough to consult with the parliamentarian as to whether they had a quorum (which for the RNC seems to be 50%+1) do Huck, Mitt and Supers make up more than a majority of number, I'd expect so.
McCain needs to get Palin to withdraw and get either Huck or Mitt on the ticket to get his ship righted.
September 1, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain campaign actually was encouraged by the pregnancy, as this will give Palin instant Grandma credibility, working to eliminate talk of their age difference. GRAMS AND GRAMPS '08!!
:)))
September 1, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now, here's the follow-up question: Gov. Palin, would you have supposed your daughter had she decided not to keep her baby?
And if so, why won't you extend that right to other mother's daughters?
September 1, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Palin wanted to knock down the rumors of the fake pregnancy, why didn't she just release doctor records, birth certificate, etc? Why did she drag her 17 year-old daughter out like this and put her under the spotlight? Because there's something else going on here, folks! Don't be distracted! Sarah Palin was not pregnant in 2008. She did not give birth to Trig.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, and besides, it's okay for the Repubs to drag their pregnant and Down's Syndrome kids out as props in a political campaign... but just you "liberal bloggers" try so much as raising the subject!!
September 1, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
This was beginning to leak out yesterday. Apparently everyone in Wasilla knew. Bristol was wearing an engagement ring at the roll-out speech, and carrying Trig in such a way as to conceal her abdomen.
I think Obama should stay away from this as much as possible. We also should avoid demeaning or judgmental remarks -- children are off limits.
I don't think it's unfair, however, to speculate in a respectful way about the effect on the race, if any.
September 1, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
We also should avoid demeaning or judgmental remarks -- children are off limits.
Don't hold your breath.
September 1, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is fair game is how the adults in this handled the situation. I mean, did they say to her "Bristol, dear, hold your brother so that it covers your stomach. We don't want the world to know about your 'condition.'" That is sick.
September 1, 2008 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on, come on. It would have been distracting at the roll-out to have everyone talking about the bump.
Let the church ladies of the right do the clucking. I have nothing against this family. They've got chutzpah.
September 1, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm thinking of Bristol here, who is probably a bit traumatized about this even before her mom went national. The whole time she was standing there she had to be thinking "can't show my condition." They could have least played she's not here she's sick card. But they rolled her out for the world to see Sarah big family.
September 1, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chutzpah! I agree, this is rough on Bristol. Some people are going to take that criticism even further then you do -- one of her neighbors in Wasilla has apparently taken the line "how could she run for VP, when she knew it would throw the spotlight on poor Bristol?"
But I say screw it. That kind of judgment isn't what we should be doing on the left. So, the girl's eggo is preggo. What's the big deal, homeskillet?
September 1, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez, have you been overdosing on multivitamins in the last couple of days? You've been hysterical. In a good, no, GREAT way, of course. : )
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I don't think she have not run for VP based on Bristol, but they could have made a statement early on, away from the cameras, that would have said that they proud of her and to respect her privacy. The only reason I can figure not to do that is that they thought they might be able to hide it until after the elections. Now it has the tone of "scandal" and "this just revealed..." Just more poor decision making which in this case adversely affects a 17 year old.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can't. Stop. Laughing.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. I really pity this poor girl, who has such an extremist and power monger for mother and father. How many more skeletons in the closet ? Will the repugs brazen it out this one too ?
September 1, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's interesting that they revealed this not because it happens to be true and that their proud of their daughter (which they're probably not) but to "tap down rumors." Where they planning on hiding it until after the elections?
September 1, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The VP debates would have been interesting with a visibly showing Bristol in the audience.
September 1, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
But I thought the Republicans were about family values.
September 1, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
The first thing I would say about the effect on the race is this: this will add to the impression that McCain may not have vetted his pick very carefully.
Does anyone recally the apologetic comment to NYT over the weekend, to the effect that "we vetted Sarah and Todd on a surface level, but not other members of the Palin family."
That would suggest that McCain may NOT have known.
September 1, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It also gets them off topic. They're not talking about taking on the old boys network, they're deflecting comments about this.
September 1, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
It also gets them off topic. They're not talking about taking on the old boys network, they're deflecting comments about this.
September 1, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aaaahhhhh, now I get it.
This news certainly clears up the entire picture. Nothing more to see here. Move along now....c'mon, just move along.
September 1, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought this was a joke, but it's real?
September 1, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, I'm all for being respectful, and not piling on a pregnant 17 year old, but can you imagine the reaction had it been the 17 year old daughter of Obama that made this announcement?
The religious right has to be torn by this. Young teenage mother to be, keeping the baby, but she had sex outside of marriage...
Hmmmm. Abstinence only education, anyone?
And, how much money does anyone want to bet that the wingnutters will dig deep to connect this decision with what Obama said about not wanting his daughters to have to go through a teenage pregnancy?
The tapdancing should be something awesome to see.
September 1, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh, yes.
And since her mother doesn't believe in sex education at all - ever - or abortion even if Bristol was raped (and she said so, publicly) then I'm afraid that this is big news.
September 1, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
There must be some reason she said that, too. Also, what are the chances she will "lose" this baby, forcing her to raise her brother as if, you know, her own?
John Eagleton come back. All is forgiven!
September 1, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
... and bring Tom with you.
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is exactly what will happen. In about one month, or maybe a few weeks, there will be an announcement that Bristol has had miscarriage and it's all Obama's fault.
Give me a break. This just stinks to high heaven.
September 1, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know Palin doesn't believe in sex education. What is her view on birth control? Abstinence obviously does not work.
September 1, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
NO contraception - period. Married couples - none.
Abortion - not even in cases of incest.
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you have a reference on this? I've seen claims that she is pro-contraception, although that may be based on http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1837523_1837531_1837538,00.html which cites her membership in "Feminists For Life (FFL), an anti-abortion, pro-contraception organization" which is a mischaracterization, since according to their own website http://www.feministsforlife.org/FAQ/index.htm#contraception "Preconception issues including abstinence and contraception are outside of our mission."
September 1, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's criticize her based on facts. She is pro-contraception.
Source: Anchorage Daily News, "Little play," by K. Hopkins Aug 6, 2006That said, she does support abstinence only until marriage education, no sex-education and no contraception distribution in schools. Here's the responses from the questionnaire during the race for governor.
My favorite response is her top 3 priorities if elected governor:
September 1, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think a big questions are "did the McCain camp think they could keep this underwraps until after the election? How stupid are they? Why didn't they just make this known right away? Were they ashamed of Bristol?" The more the Rightwings try to counter-punch the more the big questions stay alive.
I really really feel sorry for her. Her parents and McCain have now made her a national symbol for unwanted teen pregnacy. And the more I think about how it was revealed the nation, rather than being upfront in the beginning, just makes me sick.
September 1, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
The most interesting thing is that this is supposedly in response to some really easy to refute rumors. Instead of rolling out the lady WHO SAT NEXT TO PALIN when she flew home IN LABOR, they popped off with:
"Palin's daughter couldn't be the mother of 'lil Trig - she's knocked up! But don't worry - now that I'm running for VP there will be a shotgun wedding."
McCain has already stuck his strategists trying to sell Alaska's proximity to Russia as foreign policy experience; now they've got to polish up this turkey?
This little lady looks to be the gift that keeps on giving - yup.
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just release the medical records of her son's birth in April, with a righteous dose of indignation at the depravity of the press.
Problem solved. She gets to prove the rumor mongers wrong, and, bash the media in the process. A twofer.
One wonders why they haven't done it yet. Maybe waiting for the right moment?
September 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
How many of those strategists and consultants are banging their heads against the wall right now. "I have to go on television and deal with this? What has McCain done to us?"
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I agree. That was what I said to my wife last night. If this were Obama, the race would be over right now. Americans are prejudiced hypocrites.
But oh well. Two wrongs don't make a right. And personally -- I think the race is over right now. We've got three hurricanes right in the middle of the Rep. convention: Gustav, Hanna, and Bristol. 'Cause I kind of think the MSM may have something to say about this.
September 1, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG...Can someone say, 'scandal'.
September 1, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
A huge scandal with a life of its own. Dems need not do anything but express sympathy. This is tabloid and Leno territory.
September 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree completely! This is like a Jerry Springer show - you feel dirty just watching it.
September 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is getting beyond bizarre. Why don't the fundies and evangelical christians ever get investigated properly by the media ?
September 1, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree the kid should be left out of it.
But shouldn't someone be asking Palin about the efficacy of that "abstinence-only" sex ed she promotes? Seems it didn't work all that well for her own daughter.
September 1, 2008 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jenn- see my comment - nothing gets left out.
I mean, nothing.
This woman is against all sex ed, all contraception even for married people, and all abortion even in cases of incest and rape.
Babies are very much this story.
September 1, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess we could say that Bristol Palin is the poster child for abstinence only education.
A very pregnant Bristol Palin, that is.
September 1, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ooh, ZING!
September 1, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, and the rumor is that this is not her first baby.
September 1, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, maybe the 5 months pregnant info was thrown out there to prove she couldn't possibly have given birth to Trig back at the end of April...
September 1, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she's five months along, the baby will be born sometime around New Year's - far too late for anyone to question how far along she actually is. Something here stinks, and this statement doesn't resolve it for me. Forget about the rumors for a sec - Palin's cockamamie tale about how Trig was born is pure bullshit, and that's an opinion I've developed after talking with several friends and associates who are doctors and nurses, some of whom work in OB. She's lying about something in that story, if not all of it. What's more likely - that a 43-year-old woman who's had four kids already has her water break in Texas, gives a speech, departs Texas, travels through a layover in Seattle to arrive in Anchorage, decides then to bypass the two best hospitals in the state to drive 45 minutes to a Wasilla hospital to give birth...or that some part, if not all, of that story is a lie?
But most importantly is this fact: it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Palin wasn't vetted worth a damn. And that, to me, is all I need to know when I make my choice as a voter. What president would we want that simply picks a VP candidate for identity politics, without even knowing him or her?
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
No vet, no vote.
September 1, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bingo. I have five kids (does that qualify me to be VP?), and with my fifth, I went from the first twinge of a contraction to baby-in-arms in less than two hours. Damn near had her on the bathroom floor.
I call bullshit, too.
September 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um... were actually considering John McCain? ;^}
September 1, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, but the point remains, and hopefully serves as an example to others that read this blog.
September 1, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
And what "liberal bloggers" were talking about that pregnancy? There were commenters making noise about it here at EC, but I missed where Josh, Eric and Greg made a post about it.
Aren't they liberal bloggers?
September 1, 2008 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daily kos and huffington post and who knows where else.
September 1, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Andrew Sullivan. Gawker. Buzzfeed. Not exactly liberal. It came out in the LONDON TIMES this morning, so it wasn't just bloggers, either.
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, you make a spectacle of yourself and people will talk. Don't blame the bloggers.
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Abstinence education seems to work very well.
September 1, 2008 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
And she fully supports the licensing of shotguns for the purpose of shotgun marriages.
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to agree with Alex to an extent. Voters will reach their own conclusions about whether they feel comfortable with the Palin family and how they run their lives. But being president is about showing to the voters that you can keep your shit together. Between getting brothers-in-law fired and teen preganancies, this just seems a bit too Wal-Mart for many voters to view them as presidential material.
Some female moderate voters may already be uncomfortable with Sarah Palin's going back to work right after giving birth and view this new story as further proof she is "not a good mother." To me it's just weird, considering the Down's Syndrome has to make caregiving more difficult.
We're better off, though, spending our time asking why she hates polar bears and the like.
September 1, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see this as an attack on the kid; I see it as an attack on right-wing religious culture. Also; am I the only one more troubled by the impending marriage than the pregnancy?
September 1, 2008 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is a shotgun was involved in the proposal.
September 1, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would mean either the Palins or the McCains would be pressuring Bristol's teenaged boyfried into marriage for political benefit. I wonder whether there's money involved?
Lastly, can we get a confirmation on the father-to-be's age?
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a mess.
September 1, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
O you got that.
You sure got that.
Pal-IN; Pal-OUT
September 1, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Given that Palin is against all sex ed aside from "don't do it", one wonders if this poor child even knew that one could get pregnant from having sex.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
EXCELLENT question, Jenn. Has she become pregnant twice? Speaks very highly of abstinence only sex education. Seems to me if you're going to educate kids about abstinence, you have to at least tell them what NOT to do. Explicitly. No?
September 1, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stranger and stranger is right.
I doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that the McCain camp knew about this.
Again Sarah Palin was NOT thoroughly vetted at all. This was a HASTY pick. I expect MORE things to come out.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I feel sorry for Bristol that her Mother decided to shine a national spotlight on her at this difficult time in her young life. I wish Bristol all the best, and that she may have a beautiful healthy baby. I also hope that she is not being shotgunned into a bad marriage, just for the sake of making her political mom look good.
I do not like the fact that Sarah Palin decided to run for National Office, and expose her daughter to all this scrutiny. It appears to me that Sarah Palin put politics ahead of family.
Let us not pile on Bristol. May she have a safe and healthy delivery, and be given the privacy that all women are entitled too.
Let us treat Bristol better than her own Mother has.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said.
September 1, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen, amen. I will pray for that girl. What a hell her life has become, in one short week.
September 1, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Call me heard-hearted, but I think the best thing we filthy Commie liberal bloggers can do for Bristol, right now, is to force the truth to come out. Whatever it is. Whatever it takes.
Know why? Because the girl's 17 years old. She still has a chance NOT to turn into the fine example of lies and corruption that her asshole mother is. Who, you've just got to know, is sanguinely dragging her daughter's entire life into the public toilet, to support her own ruthless ambition.
Yes, uncovering and exposing the truth will be traumatic. But if it's "values" she needs to have instilled in her, in order for young Bristol to have a spiritually uplifting and mentally stable life, they are NOT the "values" of that crazy right-wing bitch mom of hers (and all of you shocked and concerned citizens, listen up: if you haven't figured out what a mindblowing c-word Sarah is yet, you're easily bamboozled and I've got a bridge for ya).
It will be traumatic, yes. But if all the truth is revealed now; if Bristol ultimately confesses all, and lets her lying mom just collapse, she at least has a chance to right the ship of her own life, reject the lies, and grow up with her head screwed on straight.
That's a lot harder... read "impossible"... to do for yourself, by the time you're a grown adult.
Like SARAH Palin.
September 1, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just a tad Nazi-like, but no big deal.
September 1, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Sarah Palin who is touted by the RIGHT WING as being such an excellent MOTHER is leaving her family (her new Down's syndrome infant, small children and her pregant 17 year old daughter) to go on the campaign trail and this is what the Phyllis Schlafly's and Eagle Forum Types are hyping for VP???? Apparently, the abstinence only teaching didn't work out just as planned.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's the other aspect of this:
If Miss Alaska was home minding the kids like she wants every other woman in America to do, maybe Bristol wouldn't have gotten into such a fix, yo?
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that I say this is right, but can we now assume that abstinence only education doesn't work.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You people are nuts. I'm trying hard to accept Obama but this "gotcha" attitude is a drag.
Y'all are sounding a bit desperate considering the polls are even, as I predicted they would be.
You better get a reality check. This election is full of unknowns and "yet to be fully revealed" things on both sides.
Attack Palins personal life and I guarantee the Indo/Islamic formative years of Obama will be pushed front and center.
September 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meaning the Republicans would never do such a thing is the shoe were on the other foot?
BTW, we all know that Wright, Rezko, and all that other crap, is going to come back anyway, so why not punch first for a change. As Obama said on Thursday, "we ain't your bitch anymore!" Or something like that.
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh...how can you not see it as an issue when an unprepared, unvetted candidate for the second highest office in the land, who is known for pushing abstinence-only sex education, has an pregnant, unmarried teenaged daughter? At the very least, it appears that the policies she promotes are proven to be ineffective.
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you kidding? Obama's "Indo/Islamic formative years" have been "front and center" for awhile now, and they've been debunked. OBAMA IS A CHRISTIAN, for crying out loud. This pregnancy is new news. It will have an effect on the values voters.
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
fogu,
Hasn't that meme run its course ? Or you happen to have authentic information about more skeletons in Obama's closet ?
And why are linking this tragedy with Obama ?
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because he's obsessed. Ignore him, folks, please.
September 1, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tragedy? What tragedy? A 17-year-old girl is pregnant but she hasn't married the child's father. That's not a tragedy.
A child with Down's Syndrome? That's not a tragedy.
A tragedy is the richest nation on earth doesn't provide health care, including pre-natal care to every person who needs it regardless of cost.
Tragedy is that the US is the only developed nation that doesn't guarantee paternal leave.
Tragedy is that if Palin had her way, all pregnant women would be required to carry to full term pregnancies even if they were the result of rape or incest.
But two well-off well loved children, with between them four loving parents? That's not a tragedy.
amk, I think you owe the Palins an apology.
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with your sentiment, but I will say that throwing this poor 17 year old girl - whose trying to deal with something so monumental - out into the spotlight is, in fact, a tragedy.
September 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
And whose fault is that? HER MOTHER'S.
September 1, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you nuts rockgolf ? This is indeed a tragedy for the poor girl, who is being used a political pawn. I don't give a fuck about Palin, who is growing to be a scheming monster as every day goes.
September 1, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you nuts rockgolf ?
This is indeed a tragedy for the poor girl, who is being used a political pawn.
I don't give a fuck about Palin's feelings, who is the root cause of this tragedy (there I said it again) and who is growing to be a scheming monster as every day goes.
September 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you nuts rockgolf ?
This is indeed a tragedy for the poor girl, who is being used as a political pawn.
I don't give a fuck about Palin's feelings, who is the root cause of this tragedy (there I said it again) and who is growing to be a scheming monster as every day goes.
September 1, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're trying hard to accept Obama????? Wait. Let me get up off the floor laughing!
You've been bashing Obama for months. You hate him. You ridicule him. Now, you want his supporters to play nice because the other side has stepped in it by picking a candidate they didn't vet. Don't hold your breath!
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
After spending the better part of the last year smearing Obama with every bit of innuendo and bullshit masquerading as fact, I think you are the last person to caution others against vetting another candidate. Though I do agree that this isn't or shouldn't be about a personal attack on the Palin family. The focus should be on McCain's decision to offer this woman the job without vetting her and Palin for accepting the job without (apparently) fully considering the decision.
September 1, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
As if the rightys haven't beat the old "he's a closet muslim" meme to death already??
September 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
We don’t need white trash and Beverley Hillbillies in the White House
September 1, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it true that Dick Cheney will officiate at the shotgun wedding?
September 1, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha! Good one.
September 1, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dick Cheney is gonna shoot the father of the kid's baby, then he's gonna take out that pesky ex-brother-in-law!
September 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since (it seems) she is running as an exemplar of family values - touting her "mother of five" status, and her mother of a Downs syndrome baby status as talking points, she (not her children) should certainly be under scrutiny for her familial decisions. I guess the question is, will it do us any good? IOKIYAR
September 1, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
For me, I'm still stumped on the "tamping down rumors" aspect of this. They actually did this in response to "liberal bloggers"? Seriously?
If so, then "liberal bloggers" must have a boatload more influence than most people think.
Second, can you imagine Sarah Palin's response when she's asked about abstinence only education in the debates? 'Course, asking Gwen Ifill to ask about a controversial topic that might not be favorable to Republicans is probably asking a lot.
If she sticks to her fundamentalist stance, isn't it going to turn off a lot of young women and parents?
September 1, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if Palin is reconsidering her opposition to sex education in the schools in light of this development. Obviously, she didn't do such a great job of educating her own daughter at home.
September 1, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
So much for family values...Palin needs to go.
September 1, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
What does this say about Palin's judgement? She's got a 4 month old infant, a pregnant daughter, a son going to Iraq and she's got time to be VP?
I totally believe in women being able to do it all but any women of middle age knows you can't do it all at the same time.
September 1, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
What does this say about McCain's judgment.
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
An 18 year old son going to Iraq where she says she didn't give much thought to the war until he enlisted.
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Time to be all of those things, and, still governer of Alaska. That's a lot to ask from someone. And I tend to think that if Sarah Palin were Sam Palin, these questions would still be raised.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't want to be tiresome, but let's not go there. My feminist spider sense is tingling. She's got a spouse -- in principle, he can do the childcare.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed.
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
One thing in isolation, I'd agree. But we're talking about a four month old baby. With Downs. And a 17 year old pregnant, unmarried daughter, about to be married. And an oldest son leaving for Iraq. She's a government official, and has a son leaving for Iraq, and she hasn't thought much about it?
Each thing in isolation, fine. Combined? I agree that the standards are not the same for male and female candidates, and people are going to judge a female more harshly when it comes to family responsibilities and career responsibilities, but all of these things, combined, seem a bit much.
However, I have no doubt that this is how Republicans will spin it: "It's complete double standard to question Sarah Palin's commitment to her family!!!" They'll milk the feminist argument for all its worth.
This is a freaking circus.
Er, hurricane.
September 1, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Laura Bush just made that argument, that Dems better careful about criticizing Palin in any way because it might provoke a "feminist" backlash. (These people have absolutely no shame - let alone principles -- whatsoever.)
September 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
And we're scared of Laura fucking Bush and what she says?
I'm not.
I am not afraid of anyone - not the religious right, not the Repugs, not the MSM and not anyone else.
This is all bullshit - she put it all into play herself with her crusade to control every other woman's sex life.
I'm sick of this bullshit - this is a liberal board? This woman is dangerous - stop being wussies.
September 1, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eh, give it up, Tena. We're talking to a goddamned wall.
It isn't the JOB of political consultants not to be too timid by half... much as it isn't the job of your company's lawyers to say, "Oh, I dunno, sounds okay, go ahead and do whatever you think best!" Fer godssake, they're paid to come up with 100 reasons why you could be sued for going to the rest room.
There is only one contrarian political consultant, who says that if your candidate is a war hero, attack him no-holds-barred as a coward and a fraud. You know his name. He does not work for Democrats.
If the Obama campaign had its own Rove, Palin AND McCain would have been dead meat by Sunday night. In fact... I'm not 100% sure that wasn't supposed to have been the case (they just happened to get lucky that the MSM kissed Sarah's ass, and is still kissing. Well. Bonus!)!
THINK: McCain makes no bones about the fact that he hardly knew the woman.
Meaning, he was told who his VP pick would be.
BY WHOM, EXACTLY? And, would this other party not have had a clue as to all the maggots, underneath the Palin rock? Somehow... I think they sorta would have. I think they sorta did.
Now follow: I do not claim to know their exact m.o. But I can surmise. If all this crap from back in Alaska (where it was openly discussed) was supposed to spill out immediately, it stands to reason that Sarah Palin was supposed to bail almost immediately; say, within a week.
WHY? My only guess at this juncture:
Maybe it was a way of saying to the religious right base, "See? We TRIED to give you a 'pro-choice' candidate! But those FILTHY LIBERALS conspired against you! So now... for the sake of the Republican ticket... please welcome Senator Joe Lieberman!"
(So far, attack/blame on liberals: CHECK.)
September 1, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've had that very thought myself... next week, welcome new VP candidate Joe Lieberman
September 1, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was thinking the same thing the moment I heard it. It's the Harriet Miers ploy all over again. Hey, but if that's their strategy, they are even stupider than I thought, because a pure an innocent Palin was really their only hope. Joementum ain't gonna get no Hillary voters, that's for sure.
September 1, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
In principle he can, but from what's come out he has at least a part-time job as well (with BP, no less).
September 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay - woman's perspective. It's not just about a warm body there to tend to the kiddies. It's about being there for your family. Palin appears to have her hands full. Are these kids getting the parenting that they need? Can they be expected to if she continues down the path that she's set on now? How would your average working woman w/kids, who comes home in the evening and struggles to get food on the table and homework and baths done and kids in bed, etc., etc., answer that question?
A supportive husband is great. A well-paid, competent nanny can also be helpful. But, you know what? Kids also need their mom.
Not saying that her family situation should necessarily prevent her or any other woman from doing this job. But, as working women, we do make hard choices, every day.
September 1, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. I'm a little shocked that Palin accepted the nomination.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
We should respect the privacy of the daughter. Not the candidate though. If those days are over for Democrats, they need to be over for the Thugs as well.
September 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't stop thinking that this is all a big joke and he is going to roll out the real candidate at the convention... I mean, a woman would never let her husband name their daughter after a NASCAR race, right?
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
You need to practice abstinence...
Nice, I guess like the Bush administration, the rules apply to all but us...
Soon she will call for not allowing the use of condoms...
This woman is on the extreme right. She is just dangerous, and with McWar to her side, you can imagine the results, and what could be ahead of us...
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
My heart goes out to Bristol, who is in a very difficult position. I make no judgment on her.
I do, however, double my resolve to keep her mother out of Washington. I do hold Sarah Palin responsible because she pushes abstinence only and this is the inevitable result. Abstinence only is a disaster, and it damages the lives of young women and men. It is grossly irresponsible. A pox on all those right wingers who see this as great family values.
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
She expects the media to respect her kids' privacy? No mention of the kid headed to Iraq, then? No more about the not-aborted Down Syndrome son?
This candidate's kids' privacy seems to be on a toggle switch.
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
wow. i didn't think this campaign could possible get any more interesting. But it has.
September 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Puts that long trip home in a different light, eh? Yup.
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, all, what happened to the tolerance you preach? There is nothing inconsistent about the Palins' family beliefs and the fact that the daughter is pregnant. When did the Palins say that there teenagers were incapable of mistakes? When did she and Todd say they were perfect? They didn't. Conservatives like Palin don't contend their children are perfect or that underage sex isn't a temptation to all. They just promise to try to do the right thing when mistakes happen- which they did, by promising their daughter their love and support.
Go back to wishing for your secular nanny-state and try to practice your own occasionally espoused tolerance.
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
What support! Grandma is going to Washington.
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why didn't they let it be known before? This was going to eventually come to light before the election, so why not come out and say off camera how they're proud that are of their daughter and love her very much.
September 1, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
exposing..blah, balh, blah ... is a first time poster. Seems like McCain just activated his troll army.
September 1, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is nothing inconsistent about the Palins' family beliefs and the fact that the daughter is pregnant.
You're right. There is absolutely no inconsistency. And that's the issue. For anti-choice, anti-sex ed, anti-contraception fundies, this is rather the norm. Pregnant teenagers are the inevitable result of an abstinence only, anti-contraception approach to sexuality, and the fundies just fix it right up by shuffling everybody into shotgun marriages.
Classic family values.
Me, I prefer those liberal values of giving young women information and options to prevent this entire situation.
September 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
so what does this say about palin's parenting competence?
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is remarkable that the McCain campaign stated that it was Bristol's own choice to keep the baby. The GOP is campaigning precisely to eliminate that choice. I can't understand why they would have used that wording.
September 1, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's been, what, 96 hours since McCain picked his soulmate, I mean, running mate. Yes he won the news cycle on Friday (but the upside is Obama's speech wasn't dissected one thousand ways and is emblazened in the minds of 40MM+ Americans), but this pick is proving more and more disasterous by the minute. Sarah Palin deserves criticism not for her family choices or parenting skills, but for not having the political acumen to know that neither she, nor her family was prepared for the national spot light. Maybe in 10 years, but today? With a pregnant teenager and ethics investigation looming overhead and her paucity of interest in national politics? It demonstrates her arrogance and her ignorance.
As for Candidate McCain, if we needed more proof that we don't need this man in the White House, this is it. I don't want this man anywhere near the White House. And certainly not with his hands on our military.
That being said, if I'm Obama and his team, I don't dwell on Palin at all. I focus squarely on McCain and his judgment and temperament. He's made it perfectly clear that the VP is an unimportant position, so why bother digging into Palin's positions (or lack thereof)? She won't be advancing legislation. She's political eye-candy. Keep your eye on the old man.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Man, I go away for the night and all hell breaks loose.
Pregnancy announcements? Speeches to secessionist groups?
I'm tellin' ya, peeps. This family is ca-reepy. There's some weird shit going on in the house of Palin, and I'm thinking that this ain't the end of it.
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I wasn't one to jump on this rumor and I think one needs a lot more than Fristian reading of images to try to argue that Sarah's most recent child is actually her daughters, but isn't trying to bat down the rumors by saying that her daughter is 5 months pregnant (and thus got pregnant 2 weeks to a month before Trig was born) kind of a round about way of doing it?
September 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think this is the type of thing Dems have to treat with a light touch, or else it backfires.
That said, a governor who opposes sex education has a daughter who has pre-marital, unprotected sex? Granted, Palin's daughter is responsible for her own decision, but it doesn't give sex education a good name.
And for some reason it reminds me of when Dan Quayle said he was pro-life but would be okay with his own daughter having an abortion. Hypocrisy.
September 1, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Er, rather, it doesn't give abstinence-only education a good name. Brain fart.
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now who's more like the Britney Spears & family, huh McSame?
What's the over/under on when Palin gets bounced from the ticket? I say 7 days.
September 1, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they'll stick it out. If they don't, it looks even worse. How would they explain bouncing her from the ticket? They would come off looking so friggin moralistic, they'd lose everyone who watched Juno.
It would also say terrible things about McCain's judgment.
September 1, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alex39: Haha! Masterstroke invoking JUNO...
About his judgment... Sometimes you just gotta "know when to walk away, and know when to run." (To quote McCain's new theme song.) This is the time to run away from Sarah Palin. He f'd up. His base is crazy anyway. Feed them Bobby Jindal instead, and they'll be fine.
MCCAIN/JUNO 2008(b.c.)
September 1, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ummm....yeah, nailed that.
Think before this is all over, we're gonna see Palin wailing on some poor Press guy's vehicle with an umbrella? :)
September 1, 2008 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The right wingers will totally miss the irony of this paragon of family values teenage daughter getting pregnant, and instead laud the daughter for not terminating the pregnancy.
As the stepmother of a young man with Down Syndrome, I find that emphasis particularly disturbing. Sara Palin knew her baby was "defective", but she chose to go through with the pregnancy anyway. Wow, what a wonderful woman! What a saint! She didn't have an abortion! Her daughter didn't have an abortion!
I tell you, these people are shameless.
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sounds like the McCain campaign will use Bristol for all she can give:
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Really? What happened to
Fricking hypocrites.
September 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excuse me, but isn't the REAL scandal here that Sarah Palin may be pretending that "Trig" is HER daughter, when it's her granddaughter? If this is true, it is soap-opera material and could well lead to her withdrawing her name in order to "spend more time with my family."
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Make that "grandson" (not granddaughter).
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not for nothing, but how 17 years old is she? Seems to me if she turned 17 in the last couple of months then she was 16 when she got pregnant.
September 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR MCCAIN!!
(sorry, folks, I was feeling nostalgic for the Primary race)
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
". . . which is why they will have the love and support of our ENTIRE family."
Yes, governor, as VP you will be there to guide your wayward daughter through her new motherhood. Maybe if you had spent more time at home and/or doing more than preaching abstinence your daughter might be finishing high school instead of a pregnancy. This is the typical hypocrisy we often see from those who preach family values and loudly disdain minority girls' loose morals if they become unwed teenage mothers.
September 1, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama/Biden just won the election, provided we do not overplay this.
What ever you say, say nothing!
Vote for:
McCAIN/FAILING 2008BC
September 1, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like it... Here's a tweak:
McCAIN/FALIN' 2008BC
September 1, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
aw, don't worry about the girl. she'll give birth, then have herself one of those fundy revirgining ceremonies and all will forgotten.
September 1, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another example that abstinence only sex ed does not work, and that perhaps, mom should be spending more time at home with the kids while they are growing up instead of being Governor. Having to work is a reality for many families, but having fives kids by choice and choosing a demanding career have consequences.
September 1, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
"abstinence only" doesn't work especially in the dead of winter in Alaska.
September 1, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's still something not right here. I'm wondering if they are just throwing this out there to squelch the other rumor. Then, maybe they'll get rid of Palin for some other reason (God knows, there's plenty). Then we'll never hear of Bristol and her pregnancy again. Also, does this mean she got pregnant while she supposedly had mono?
September 1, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's the next question. If she's been pregnant 5 months, that would put in right in the midst of her time out of school with mono. There's more to this than they've let on. Two days ago, it was clear to everyone that McCain hadn't vetted this womany and that he had chosen to grab ahold of wet dynamite with this pick.
This thing may be about to blow the hell up any minute.
September 1, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I will admit to having been mesmerized by this thing over the last 2 days and to thinking Ms. Palin's behavior was mighty odd, but we should absolutely leave it alone--as Josh has. It's a completely no win situation for us. To the degree that this whole thing resembles a Coen brothers movie, people will figure it out over time. We need to get everyone to focus on the top of the ticket again!
September 1, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, we should just totally, totally respect her and her most exalted postition as nominee of the Grand Old Party. Never let the American people forget that she is not running for a spot on Oprah or The View, she's running to be the potential President of the Free World and Commander in Chief of the Army, Airforce, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard....
September 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin, with five children, one with D.S., and now t'other is pregnant, clearly has bigger fish to fry than pursuing a career she has shown zero interest in having, her utter unreadiness aside.
This is an easy conclusion to get to. Obama need only keep the focus on the issues, and he's in.
Frank Luntz is at is again, though I seriously doubt the uncommittedness of these voters:
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/08/focusedthe_sequel.html
September 1, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had to check with website i was on. For a minute, I thought i was on Perezhilton.com
September 1, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is what you have to say on your very first post on TPM. Nice try wingnut. How do you like the pick that your Republican Ayatollahs forced on McCain, now, Wingnut?
September 1, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha! They wear such thin veils, don't they?
September 1, 2008 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a crappy parent Sarah Palin is. She and her family are shaping up to be well-turned-out trailer trash.
September 1, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't go there.
September 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meet the newest advisor to the McCain-Palin ticket...Jamie Lynn Spears. She knows how to handle such a p.r. debacle.
Hell, the teen daughter to Palin can sell her baby pics to a tabloid for millions of dollars, Ka-ching!
September 1, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is this, a presidential election or a melodrama?
Can we just get on with it.
I want to hear about health care, social security, getting out of Iraq, re-regulating of the banking industry -- policies not pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great catch blmack. Trace back to when Bristol was first out of school with "mono". They will be tripped up by their own lies shortly.
Sarah Palin: footnote in presidential campaign history - file alongside Eagleton.
September 1, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ease with which Sarah Palin lies about the big things means many small things have been even easier.
This is exactly W's MO.
September 1, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. Pattern of behavior. And she doesn't even hide it. This woman is poison and does not belong in a position of power. Back to Juneau she goes without delay!
September 1, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Strange . . . during the McCain announcement, which I watched online, I was talking with a friend over the phone & mentioned that Palin's older daughters seemed kind of affectless and unhappy (or that was the vibe I got anyway). My friend said they were probably just nervous & overwhelmed. Still, I argued, the cohesion, happiness and sweetness one felt from the Obama & Biden clans just wasn't evident on the McCain stage.
Now it makes more sense. It can't have failed to cross the minds of Bristol and Willow that this pregnancy would become national news. It makes me really sad, actually. The scrutiny, inescapable because of her mother's role (and positions), the fear, the unfathomable changes (motherhood, marriage), all the serious consequences of one's decisions at such a young age. And the spotlight.
As citizens, we can handle this with some grace. But I really do question Palin's eagerness to accept a role she's obviously not qualified for yet(/i> when her family is in such tumult. I guess this is what's meant by "Country First."
September 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
In terms of the Palin girls' affects: you know how teenagers are. They only found out on the plane ride down to Dayton what the hell was going on. Their entire lives were just thrown topsy-turvy, and to a teenage girl, that could mean "my life is ruined!"
They might very well have been preoccupied, and who knows what their jet lag was like!
September 1, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did McCain know? Did the Palins know?
September 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
He claims to have known, but there is NO WAY a campaign lets news like this get sprung on them after a pick. This is the sort of thing that if it was known by the McCain camp, they would have forced her to put it out before the pick, and then seen how it played out. And then, if he chose to pick her, the pick could have been characterized that much more of a family values pick. Clearly, McCain thinks the American people are stupid.
Sarah Palin wasn't vetted in any way, shape, or form. This is a direct indictment on a McCain Presidency, and needs to be shouted from all the rooftops.
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the Palins are such good parents, such good Christians, such good citizens, that they could not even convince their daughter of the preferability of getting married before she got pregnant? And Palin is such a feminist she could not convince her 17yr old that life held something for her besides being a convenient receptacle for the sperm and lust of her high-school boyfriend? And the boy? Jeez, there's a young man with respect for women, and respect for women's God-given powers to bear children.
And if the girl was, as girls can be, sorta flighty, romantic, and didn't have good impulse control, couldn't they keep an eye on her, and not just turn her out to the first boy that came along? Ho-kay! Basically, helping her to keep her legs together?
Oh and their plans to impress their daughter and potential son-in-law with the responsibility of child-bearing don't impress me. It sounds like "give them all the resources they need to get married, and really get themselves in marital and parental trouble
September 1, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have a lot of Obama supporters in my classes, they get pregnant at 14 and 15. Many of them want to have Obama's child....ah the mind of an almost adult. Ok for those who actually are adults, the leftists jump on any rumor and publicize it whether it is true or not. The activities of a child of a candidate does not speak to the candidates ability to do the job. Kids make bad decisions all the time, why should Sarah's children be different. By the way, what is more of a medical probability, that a 17 year old would have a Downs Syndrome child, or a 43 year old? As to whether McCain knew, the campaign says so and logically would not the first question in vetting a running mate be, "Is there anything I should know about?" And given that Sarah's is pro-life, at least she has principles and sticks to them. Oh by the way, thanks to the rumor and innuendo mill, Obama's off the front page and Sarah is getting to be known by all of America as the principled woman who is being attacked because she wanted to defend her children. Nice going morons.
September 1, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your post is completely reactionary.
Sarah Palin's choice of extreme political positions surrounding a woman's right to her own health decisions have put the issue right back into presidential politics. This year wasn't going to be about abortion, and now it is.
Ergo, any deviation from this extreme is fair territory. Obama need not do it, but word will spread nonetheless, and I say shout it loud: Sarah Palin has bigger fish to fry at home.
Bristol Palin is an example of the life you get to lead when you give up your rights. Her mother has alrady made her choices for her.
And what of endangering her fetus by flying for 11 hours in a leaky jumpsuit? Were's the "family values?" Completely reckless.
This must be challeneged, because it goes right to her credability and readiness to lead, and I am sorry you have no stomach for it.
Pax,
M.
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said, Marioth. It is Palin's extremist views about women and abortion that is getting these reactions.
BTW, looks lamadev is another fresh drone released from McCain's troll army today.
September 1, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
LamaDave is another one of those Far Right Wingnuts that just showed up for the first time.
The Republican Ayatollahs forced Palin on McCain, and now they are deploying their servants to try and cover for them having shot The Republican Donkey in The Ass.
September 1, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shotgun wedding in AK ...literally...
September 1, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.keeganprints.com/images/shotgunwedding2.jpg
September 1, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby."
We just don't believe she has the right to make the decision.
September 1, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Watch them turn this on Barack by saying they don't think Bristol is being "punished with a baby," or that this is a "mistake."
Also, I'm going here: it makes me put the "Where's Bridget?" question in a whole new light.
This is some soap opera.
September 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not so much about tolerance from the perspective of the left. It's the abstinence only education (that doesn't work), and the no sex before marriage spiel (that doesn't work) along with the non use of contraception.
It's all well and good when this happens to an upper middle class family, but if this is the result of the type of education our VP is preaching, then there are thousands of kids out there for whom a similar situation would be much more difficult.
No Legislation of Fundamentalism!
September 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's right and there are loads of mothers of young women of sexual age out there and I think they need to know the ramifications of this no sex ed, no contraception, no abortion ever crusade.
They end up raising their grandkids.
I hope this puts an end to this bullshit once and for all. God, McLame may have inadvertently done the women's movement one of the biggest favors of all time.
September 1, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish it was true, but they'll almost certainly spin this into some kind of half-assed triumph of Family Values . . . which is what they're already doing . . . and then carry on with their agenda as before.
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shotgun wedding
http://www.keeganprints.com/images/shotgunwedding2.jpg
September 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow--this is so strange. Here are my reactions:
1) Sympathy for the poor daughter whose pregnancy is suddenly national news. She must be mortified.
2) Surprise that Palin accepted the nomination with all this baggage she clearly knew she had (i.e. pregnant teenage daughter and investigation into whether she had her brother-in-law's boss fired). That's not judgement we can believe in.
3) Amusement that McCain is all puffed-up and offended by the rumors flying around the Internet (and on liberal blogs "with Obama's name in them"). Uh, hello, this is just the sort of whisper campaign Rove and his band of thugs engage in alllll the time!!! In fact, it's they're trademark. The Republicans can apparently dish it out but can't take it. Not that there's anything right with it...
September 1, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
"with Obamas name on them" LOL. That doesn't mean anything of course-McCain has his at the top of TPM.
September 1, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
OR...
He hired a bunch of Rovian thugs, and they planted this obvious landmine of a candidate (right... they just forgot to vet her!), so that she would distract the media right after the Obama speech, and then have to get the hell off the stage quickly.
So that...
... um, why??? THAT is the mystery, here.
Why would Rove & Co. throw up an obvious non-starter, exactly when he did, and what's the next phase of this Rovian ratfuck?
Because, you know, it is one. We rubes just haven't figured out the ending, yet.
September 1, 2008 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have a lot of Obama supporters in my classes, they get pregnant at 14 and 15. Many of them want to have Obama's child....ah the mind of an almost adult. Ok for those who actually are adults, the leftists jump on any rumor and publicize it whether it is true or not. The activities of a child of a candidate does not speak to the candidates ability to do the job. Kids make bad decisions all the time, why should Sarah's children be different. By the way, what is more of a medical probability, that a 17 year old would have a Downs Syndrome child, or a 43 year old? As to whether McCain knew, the campaign says so and logically would not the first question in vetting a running mate be, "Is there anything I should know about?" And given that Sarah's is pro-life, at least she has principles and sticks to them. Oh by the way, thanks to the rumor and innuendo mill, Obama's off the front page and Sarah is getting to be known by all of America as the principled woman who is being attacked because she wanted to defend her children. Nice going morons.
September 1, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Feel better now?
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again, why did they wait so long to say anything about this. Were they not going to say anything until after the election (because they're so proud of her), and then this other rumor was out there so they throw her daughter in the spotlight? Did they think this wouldn't come to light in the glare a national campaign?
May Bristol and the baby be healthy. Her parents have treated her badly in the way they let this play out.
September 1, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Every 15 year old daughter should be on birth control, simple as that.
Of course so many parents are total idiots and in denial about their kids and sex; "My kid would never do this"
So did the Palins ever give their daughter the education and tools she needed about contraception, or did they just not talk about it and expect her to behave a certain way and to pray to Jesus hoping he'll pull out in time?
September 1, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. It speaks to the effectiveness of the abstinence-only approach that the Republicans have been pushing so hard. It speaks to the incredible stupidity and hypocrisy involved in first pretending your teen-aged daughter is not going to have sex, then denying her a responsible way to prevent pregnancy, then pretending that discussion of her pregnancy is off-limits when it speaks to the very heart of your oh-so-very moral worldview.
There are children all over the country having children--many because of the sort of stupid policies people like Bush, Palin and McCain have promoted. Not all of them are so lucky to have the support of a loving family.
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
A the dad of both a 14 y-o daughter and a 12 y-o, if three or five years from now I were approached
to run for some sort of high-profile political position, and I knew my daughter had gotten pregnant, I would definately turn the offer down. It is not a demonstration of good family values to knowingly put your daughter under the spotlight in such conditions.
I don't condemn the Palin's for being in this situation, but don't anyone try to hold them up as an example. I'm sorry to say that this is a family in distress.
September 1, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why would she even accept the nomination?
I don't think Bristol should be villified. But I have to ask, doesn't this go against the whole family values narrative they were fostering with the self proclaimed "soccer mom" with five children?
Will this go over well with the conservative base they were trying to "fire up"?
September 1, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shotgun wedding
http://www.keeganprints.com/images/shotgunwedding2.jpg
September 1, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
With all the family problems this woman has how is she ever going to have time to help run the country? This is starting to look like a trailer trash family that's overreached!
September 1, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's campaign has officially turned into the Jerry Springer show now. I'm sorry for Bristol, that her mother put her through this.
September 1, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is truly bizarre. How far down the fucking rabbit hole are we going to go on this? One seriously has to wonder if McCain picked Palin - a living, breathing sitcom caricature - so that she would fail, allowing him to choose someone else AFTER the RNC.
Additionally, given the McCain campaign's fixation on news cycles, we can't assume that this announcement happening at the same time as the 24 hour Gustav news coverage is a simple coincidence.
September 1, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
[blockquote]ericvsthem said: This is truly bizarre. How far down the fucking rabbit hole are we going to go on this? One seriously has to wonder if McCain picked Palin - a living, breathing sitcom caricature - so that she would fail, allowing him to choose someone else AFTER the RNC.[/blockquote]
I doubt McCain thinks that strategically. He's much more reactionary.
September 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I doubt McCain thinks that strategically. He's much more reactionary.
September 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, that abstinence-only education really works!
September 1, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Will the kids get married before or after the election? Inquiring minds want to know.
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us pray that the Republicans don't have pictures of John Edwards sneaking into the Alaska Governor's mansion around March of this year...
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
With all the family problems this woman has how is she ever going to have time to help run the country? This is starting to look like a trailer trash family that's overreached!
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really disagree here about leaving this alone. This event speaks to a potentially bigger issue of oversight. To be completely objective here, if Palin cannot monitor her on teen daughter and who she's dating, how in the world can Palin monitor the massive federal gov and deal with federal officials who live on circumvention. I think this is a line of argument that is brutally cold but completely relevant to the issue of preparedness for being VP.
September 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is one helluva Punk'd episode. Ashton should get an emmyfor this. "Best WTF" award
September 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks lefties for taking an unsubstantiated rumor and blasting it out there. Thanks to your groundless innuendo, Sarah will become known as the mother defending her daughter's privacy. So, just for s and g, do you think it more likely for a 17 year-old or a 43 year-old to have a Downs Syndrome child? Its a life, not a choice. Those of you who believe in infanticide should not be casting stones at Sarah's values. Hmm casting stones sounds vaguely Middle Eastern, maybe even Islamic sorta like Barack Hussein Obama's father. Hahahahah.
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
If anything, the rumours forced them to admit the truth, something that Palin has a hard time doing.
It's going to make her look worse of a serial liar, as she already was caught in lies about her involvement with the fired trooper scandal in Alaska.
Good old right wing family values in action.
McCain's gamble is not panning out very well. Thank god he picked Palin, for a moment I was worried he would have picked a really qualified woman like Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Susan Collins.
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmm, casting an entire religion and/or region as people who practice a form of punishment is listed in the Old Testament, among other religious texts, as being a form of capital punishment...sounds vaguely racist, maybe like too many of you GOP trolls.
What does his father's religion have to do with anything? If you knew the first thing about Obama, you'd know that he hardly knew the man. And was raised by h
September 1, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, removing a woman's right to determine her own choices sounds more fanatical islamic to me... what's next, deciding that women's clothing is too revealing so ...burquas anyone?
September 1, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, removing a woman's right to determine her own choices sounds more fanatical islamic to me... what's next, deciding that women's clothing is too revealing so ...burquas anyone?
September 1, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us pray that the Republicans don't have pictures of John Edwards sneaking into the Alaska Governor's mansion around March of this year...
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to laugh at what the country club wing of the Republican Party must think of this soap opera.
September 1, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us pray that the Republicans don't have pictures of John Edwards sneaking into the Alaska Governor's mansion around March of this year...
September 1, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
and the lives of potential V P candidates as we shall soon see.
September 1, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I sense gnashing of teeth and an epic battle between the "old" winger guard (against sex out of wedlock) and the "new" guard (support them no matter what). Which is the more likely group of voters?
September 1, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can somebody tell me the Date of Birth of Bristol Palin? Is there any indication if the father's name and D.O.B. as well?
Curious, though it seems that age of consent in Alaska is 16 - 2 I was wondering.
I guess it wouldn't matter as her Mom is governor and would issue a pardon as long as the father married the bride.
September 1, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, AoC in Alaska is 16. So on a purely technical standpoint, "she was legal". That's still a hard sell when you're dealing with someone with such a socially conservative stance as Sarah Palin, but there you go.
The real question here would be tracking the timeline, and figuring out where her pregnancy fell in her bout with "mono".
September 1, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she's been pregnant 5 months, that would put in right in the midst of her time out of school with mono.
Well, it is the "kissing disease". So her boyfriend uses her time off from school (and what, she was home in bed all alone while the rest of the family is bear-hunting?) from mono, to finally go all the way to the South pole, and her family wants her to marry this schlemiel? He either is not to cognizant of the facts of life, or he does not care for Palin's daughter very much.
Oh, and a "shotgun engagement" won't scare her boyfriend. All he has to do is make sure he mistreats and frightens the poor girl enough (first making sure there's no one to see) to get her to break the engagement. That's easy enough. Should be second nature to a guy like that. Or he can just "fail out" himself.
If you're gonna wield the shotgun, make sure you've got a loaded and cocked Minister or Justice of the Peace, too. Shotgun engagements don't work.
September 1, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jeebus, this pick is looking more and more like a train wreck. Pregnancies, seceding from the union, my head is spinning.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I realize most think that Palin's mothering sensibilities if off limits, but, really, what kind of parent would knowingly subject a 17-year-old child to this kind of scrutiny?? Wouldn't it be better to lay low and get thru this family drama in Alaska rather than having it play out on a national stage? This raises serious questions about Palin's priorities and her judgement. Has she know respect for the demands of motherhood???
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she's been pregnant 5 months, that would put in right in the midst of her time out of school with mono.
Well, it is the "kissing disease". So her boyfriend uses her time off from school (and what, she was home in bed all alone while the rest of the family is bear-hunting?) from mono, to finally go all the way to the South pole, and her family wants her to marry this schlemiel? He either is not to cognizant of the facts of life, or he does not care for Palin's daughter very much.
Oh, and a "shotgun engagement" won't scare her boyfriend. All he has to do is make sure he mistreats and frightens the poor girl enough (first making sure there's no one to see) to get her to break the engagement. That's easy enough. Should be second nature to a guy like that. Or he can just "fail out" himself.
If you're gonna wield the shotgun, make sure you've got a loaded and cocked Minister or Justice of the Peace, too. Shotgun engagements don't work.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
As McCain's alleged trump cards -- "judgment" and "competence" -- corkscrew into the ground, one wonders whether there will be anything left of his campaign by mid-September. Even the diehards that managed to scrape together a happy-faced rationale for the Palin pick must be shaking their heads in disbelief today. By Thursday, they'll be glad to have a hurricane to blame for leaving the Twin Cities as rapidly as possible.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can somebody tell me the Date of Birth of Bristol Palin? Is there any indication if the father's name and D.O.B. as well?
Curious, though it seems that age of consent in Alaska is 16 - 2 I was wondering.
I guess it wouldn't matter as her Mom is governor and would issue a pardon as long as the father married the bride.
September 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lord have mercy, where do I begin?
I know many of teens that have ruined a large part of their lives by getting pregnant at a young age(20 or younger) when they are still children.
Growing up in the inner city, it is easy for people to say "well look where they grew up" and poor "parenting skills". Usually it is the latter. And you see it all over the country.
I wonder will people jump on Palin and her husband wondering "wth were you 2 doing while your daughter was out getting pregnant?".
Is this poor parenting? Or just a dumb spoiled kid?
Or maybe we are seeing a direct correlation between Britney Spears sister, Jamie Lynn who got pregnant at 16 and the 17 GIRLS who decided to all try and get pregnant after Jamie Lynn came out. Its all I could think about reading this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25272678/
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you suggesting Trig was born in March and his mother was Bristol and she got knocked up again?
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is the age of consent in Alaska? She is only 17. Isn't that statutory rape?
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
The age of consent in most states is 16, not 18. And most of the time there's additional rules making it legal even under that age; for example, something like "under 16 is illegal unless you're less than four years older than the other person."
I don't know about Alaska in particular (actually I don't know about any state in particular), but I strongly doubt that statutory rape happened.
September 1, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
All that this is going to do is rally more people towards Palin. McCain is drawing bigger crowds than ever now - The GOP ain't no dummies. Palin might be a train wreck, but she's America's train wreck. It will make people feel better about themselves and thus want to elect her to continue feeling better about themselves.
September 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biggest rally with Palin, Huckabee, and Romney all aboard.
September 1, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's the Republican base. They'll eat it up.
I don't think that's how this will play among independents. McCain now has egg all over his face, and his argument that "he knew" is paper thin, and can be blown to hell.
This is bad for the McCain camp. Their base can't beat our base, and their VP selection has turned into a hotter version of Dana Carvey's Church Lady skit.
September 1, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really hope everyone just lets this be. Nevermind Palin the candidate. Her daughter shouldn't be penalized because of who her mother is. That said, the STRANGEST thing in the campaign's statement is this:
.."one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd..."
Seems odd to point out that Bristol is one of Palin's five children "with her husband, Todd." As opposed to with someone else?
September 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Politics ain't beanbag. This isn't Bristol's fault. I'm shocked that her mother accepted knowing this news.
This really reflects on John McCain and his willingness and ability to manage. I'm surprised about how quickly and thoroughly this has blown up on him, but I'm not terribly surprised that it has gone wrong. You could see this coming from the way McCain leaped after Obama's acceptance speech.
September 1, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is landmine that is going to explode on Republican's face. What kind of example is Vice President Plain setting for millions of teenagers in this country? Is she advocating that they should get pregnant while in high school?
What is her policy towards teenage pregnancy? Democrats should pound on the implication of this pregnancy. They should use the opportunity to inform suburban voters on why McCain/Plain is dangerous for their family value.
September 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
As McCain's alleged trump cards -- "judgment" and "competence" -- corkscrew into the ground, one wonders whether there will be anything left of his campaign by mid-September. Even the diehards that managed to scrape together a happy-faced rationale for the Palin pick must be shaking their heads in disbelief today. By Thursday, they'll be glad to have a hurricane to blame for leaving the Twin Cities as rapidly as possible.
September 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
This does get more bizarre by the minute. The McCain campaign is obviously taking advantage of Gustav and Labor Day to do a bad news dump. First the "Bristol is 5 months pregnant" and now the opportune leak to CBN's David Brody that Todd Palin has a DUI from 1986 in the record.
And putting the conspiracy hat on, the commenters above who noted that the 5 month timeframe would knock down Bristol being Trig's mom may not be coincidence on the McCain campaign's part. Very astute. That would be the height of f-ed up cynicism, but certainly not beyond the McCain camp. As old Chinese proverb says, the cover-up is often worse than the crime...
Too strange...think the McCain camp would like to call do-over right about now?
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
"McCain knew"
During which of his three fifteen-minute-or-less encounters with Palin did this come up?
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
As McCain's alleged trump cards -- "judgment" and "competence" -- corkscrew into the ground, one wonders whether there will be anything left of his campaign by mid-September. Even the diehards that managed to scrape together a happy-faced rationale for the Palin pick must be shaking their heads in disbelief today. By Thursday, they'll be glad to have a hurricane to blame for leaving the Twin Cities as rapidly as possible.
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is the age of consent in Alaska? She is only 17. Isn't that statutory rape?
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this not the perfect story for LABOR Day?
September 1, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really disagree here about leaving this alone. This event speaks to a potentially bigger issue of oversight. To be completely objective here, if Palin cannot monitor her on teen daughter and who she's dating, how in the world can Palin monitor the massive federal gov and deal with federal officials who live on circumvention. I think this is a line of argument that is brutally cold but completely relevant to the issue of preparedness for being VP.
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Touche!
September 1, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really hope everyone just lets this be. Nevermind Palin the candidate. Her daughter shouldn't be penalized because of who her mother is. That said, the STRANGEST thing in the campaign's statement is this:
.."one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd..."
Seems odd to point out that Bristol is one of Palin's five children "with her husband, Todd." As opposed to with someone else?
September 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I realize most think that Palin's mothering sensibilities if off limits, but, really, what kind of parent would knowingly subject a 17-year-old child to this kind of scrutiny?? Wouldn't it be better to lay low and get thru this family drama in Alaska rather than having it play out on a national stage? This raises serious questions about Palin's priorities and her judgement. Has she know respect for the demands of motherhood???
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait, how does this disprove the rumor?
Lil Trig still isn't on the hospital's online nursery list for that month...
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why do I get the sense that Trig's birth records have gone the way of George W's DD-214?
September 1, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Goodness gracious, Michele Obama is sure lucky she doesn't have these problems - you can imagine the flack from the indignant self-righteous holier-than-thou pseudo-moral minority. Splutter.
Seriously, who is caring for the infant with Down syndrome? The condition comes with a long list of serious medical challenges and necessary operations, each one of which need full time support from the parents who have chosen to nurture this person through adulthood.
Perhaps the Palins (or the government) can supply a full-time nurse, but medical advice stresses that "Bonding time may be especially important for the family of an infant with Down syndrome." On the campaign trail?
They could hire Bristol to care for both infants and keep it in the family. Or perhaps there is a conflict of interest here.
I wonder if Palin will reconsider following McGoat around, fending off his gratuitous need for huggies.
September 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I realize many think that Palin's mothering sensibilities are off limits, but, really, what kind of parent would knowingly subject a 17-year-old child to this kind of scrutiny?? Wouldn't it be better to lay low and get thru this family drama in Alaska rather than having it play out on a national stage? This raises serious questions about Palin's priorities and her judgement. Has she know respect for the demands of motherhood???
September 1, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Sarah Barracuda nickname is making more and more sense. She was not going to let this opportunity go by. So, assuming she was pregnant, she hid it because she was on the right wing radar and wanted to stay there as long as possible. She wouldn't miss that speech in TX because any exposure in the lower 48 was good for her prospects. She'll drag an infant all over creation for the next 64 days. She'll disrupt Bristol, Willow and Piper's lives and schooling without so much as a whaddya think. She'll be there to support Bristol and her new family from what, 4,000 miles away, if God forbid she get elected.
She will not be denied.
September 1, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
you forgot "for more than eight years"
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin is the Thomas Eaglton of 08.'
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
MY HEAD IS SPINNING
OK, the daughter is off limits for now. But, what if this IS the second time around and the son is actually a grandson?
This is an ‘Eagleton’ moment gone berserk. This whole family has issues.
- Her name is first mentioned as a VP candidate from a blogger a few months ago.
- She supports an “Alaska First” group.
- Her husband and son are ‘Independents.’
- She has at least one misuse of office scandal ongoing. AND SHE HAS BEEN CAUGHT IN THE LIE!
- There is a potential of past misuse of office.
- Her political experience amounts to being mayor of a town smaller than most neighborhoods.
- She is the less than two-year governor of a smaller population State – and no offense to my friends in Alaska.
- He reviews as a governor appear to be mixed.
- She supported then didn’t support Ted Stevens.
- She supported then didn’t support the ‘ Bridge.’
- She met or talked to John McCain twice (maybe) before the announcement.
I know I have missed some stuff, but this alone would make any consultant run for cover and voters, no matter what party, wonder what on earth is going on! And those on the extreme right should be at the point of apoplexy.
So, the McCain folks knew about this and fully vetted this person? Right – no one believes this and so it’s about time for the MSM to make this the political story this week. It is a judgment issue. It is a character issue. And it all comes back to John McCain and his judgment and character.
He hired a bunch of Rovian thugs to get elected and his reaping what he deserves. He relied on their judgment and they have become his judgment and voice.
And, his character is so flawed, that he will do anything to get elected including seeing only the prize and showing complete contempt for the voters and this poor woman and her family.
Good God, cut her loose and go home to Arizona – or California – or Washington – or (add 4-7 more ‘hometowns’ here).
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
OR...
He hired a bunch of Rovian thugs, and they planted this obvious landmine of a candidate (right... they just forgot to vet her!), so that she would distract the media right after the Obama speech, and then have to get the hell off the stage quickly.
So that...
... um, why??? THAT is the mystery, here.
Why would Rove & Co. throw up an obvious non-starter, exactly when he did, and what's the next phase of this Rovian ratfuck?
Because, you know, it is one. We rubes just haven't figured out the ending, yet.
September 1, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Will the kids get married before or after the election? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by Jakcarr
Ooh, wouldn't a VP Mansion wedding be adorable?
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
(sorry for the repeat posts)
September 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
This does get more bizarre by the minute. The McCain campaign is obviously taking advantage of Gustav and Labor Day to do a bad news dump. First the "Bristol is 5 months pregnant" and now the opportune leak to CBN's David Brody that Todd Palin has a DUI from 1986 in the record.
And putting the conspiracy hat on, the commenters above who noted that the 5 month timeframe would knock down Bristol being Trig's mom may not be coincidence on the McCain campaign's part. Very astute. That would be the height of f-ed up cynicism, but certainly not beyond the McCain camp. As old Chinese proverb says, the cover-up is often worse than the crime...
Too strange...think the McCain camp would like to call do-over right about now?
September 1, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is one helluva Punk'd episode. Ashton should get an emmyfor this. "Best WTF" award
September 1, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have a lot of Obama supporters in my classes, they get pregnant at 14 and 15. Many of them want to have Obama's child....
I've never before said this on the Internets, buck really, Dave, go fuck yourself.
Or substantiate that bit of bigotry. I'm sure you have Google, and the fact is easily established.
Otherwise, see my first suggestion.
Hell, I wouldn't want the Palins as neighbors. They need to look after their kids. O, BTW kids don't "make decisions". They can't, they do not have the same rights as adults. Of course, if their parents abdicate (or are unable, but I don't think that's the case here) their responsibility to handle their children, than yes, kids start making "decisions", and oh baby, the decisions they will make.
September 1, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is really nobodies business, unless you are part of the Karl Rove school of thought. It's nothing but a rallying cry - see how the liberal blogs were used against Obama in this instance?
McCain/Palin are drawing record crowds - Obama better start framing her before he allows the GOP to do so.
George W. Bush was a screw-up, but he was America's screw-up. I think this is going to be the case with Palin as well.
September 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
One would think when introducing the VP candidate this info would have been worked up for public information concerning the candidate and her immediate family. There's nothing wrong with having an unmarried, pregnant daughter. What's wrong is hiding the fact as if were something wrong. That tells me everyone should hold her words in suspicion ... you'll never know if she's sandbagging info that would make a difference in the outcome.
September 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can give a damn about the culture wars or how this makes democrats look. This woman needs to resign and McCain needs to make a better choice. For some reason you forget there is a chance this woman could be Vice President. Family values should mean Family before Ambition.
Palin has a special needs infant, a pregnant teenage daughter, a potenial teenage son in law. This is a full time job for any man or woman I have none. to fist make sure your family is taking care of. Is she supossed to leave all this to her husband to deal with. What would we say if this was a man leaving his special needs infant, pregnant daughter and campaigning.
On top of that Palin needs to learn everything about both domestic and foreign policy. The countries domestic policy of AK isn't nothing compare to the domestic policy of the nation. AK is a welfare state. What does Palin no about free trade and health care, taxes, and infrastructure? What about energy independence?
This is serious business and we need a serious person. Being vice president in the 21st century isn't a part time job. America has 300 million people that are counting on the leadership of the office of the president and vice president.
September 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wrote a comment to this exact end, but adamchaz really fleshes it out. The position this person is in now is completely untenable. For her family's sake, she needs to be let off the hook here.
September 1, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wrote a comment to this exact end, but adamchaz really fleshes it out. The position this person is in now is completely untenable. For her family's sake, she needs to be let off the hook here.
September 1, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wrote a comment to this exact end, but adamchaz really fleshes it out. The position this person is in now is completely untenable. For her family's sake, she needs to be let off the hook here.
September 1, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wrote a comment to this exact end, but adamchaz really fleshes it out. The position this person is in now is completely untenable. For her family's sake, she needs to be let off the hook here.
September 1, 2008 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Strange—and convenient—how the 'math' works out.
The explicit, unstated message: young Bristol could not possibly have given birth to Trig, as she had already conceived in the range of two to four weeks earlier. Therefore, Trig must be her brother and not her child.
But, Trig was reportedly born four weeks premature. Could it actually have been, say - six? Could Bristol's date of conception actually be two to four weeks later, placing her in the position of conceiving again within weeks of giving birth? This is actually a frequent post-partum development.
Is it probable? It's hard to judge, given the dearth of readily verifiable information and the past propensity for the interested parties to lie or misrepresent their claims. Is it possible? Certainly.
Governor Palin should do the right thing here: step down not only from her selection as Vice Presidential candidate, but also from her position as Governor of Alaska. Her husband has reportedly decided not to focus on child rearing and return to work, a decision they surely reached together. Maybe it's time that she return to focusing on her family, and particularly the care of young Trig. It would not hurt to focus on mentoring and mothering her minor, pregnant, still not-yet married daughter, either.
It's a pity that disqualification might turn on an issue like this, but Governor Palin MUST go for this and any number of unrelated reasons. How even the vaunted Republican spin machine can position this story to avoid withdrawal is beyond belief!
Lies upon lies. Sort of like the last eight years, but on a more personal level.
September 1, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have yet to meet a woman who was given the thumbs up to have sex again less than six weeks after giving birth (or for that matter a woman who would WANT to have sex again so soon). In addition, it would be doubtful (though not impossible) that she would even be capable of getting pregnant again so soon.
September 1, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is all a Rovian plot.
The Republican brand has gotten so toxic that McCain has decided to change from a Presidential campaign to a daily soap opera. We all know how addictive those things are, and they are daily surprises.
The beauty queen who loves the lime light is the perfect actress to bring in at the last minute to run the ten week Republican soap opera. When the ten weeks are over the toxic Rovian Republican brand will be as forgotten as yesterdays' plot line, replaced with the new title "As the White House Turns."
September 1, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
So...I hate to be so cynical, but given all of the bizarre components to the birth story, the fact that her daughter does not look pregnant, and that this is coming out now when the media are investigating the "mother or grandmother" story line, it comes off as contrived and opportunistic.
This still does not discount the other claim (no birth records?) and we will not have verification in the form of a full-term baby until well after the election. Do not be surprised if there is a "miscarriage" on the horizon.
September 1, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
As we all know, IOKIYAR, and Fogu and Exposing Myself have rushed to that line of defense with admirable speed. Good work, you two.
The Christian evangelical right has been castigating the wicked morals of liberals for over two decades over the issue of premarital sex among young people, and have helped many, many Republicans get elected by blaming it all on godless, immoral Democrats. When their own children are guilty of the same base, lustful wickedness, suddenly it's all tender forgiveness and an excuse-making that would make a ACLU-loving McGovern voter blush.
It all comes down to this: if you're a 17-year old who's knocked up while wearing an Obama button, it's proof of the profound moral failings of her liberal parents, and of the spiritual decay of the Democrat Party.
If you're a 17-year old who's put a bun in the oven while wearing a McCain button, it's proof of the saintly Christian devotion and moral rectitude of her parents, and of the spiritual superiority of the Republican Party.
September 1, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Totally agree.
September 1, 2008 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Proves the fact that the holy-rollers' teenagers have more babies out of wedlock than the non-holy rollers.
September 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Proves the fact that the holy-rollers' teenagers have more babies out of wedlock than the non-holy rollers.
September 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children.... We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents."
The Palins' official statement implies that this will be their first grandchild. It's now on the record from the veep nominee. That makes it political and governmental news, not personal news.
September 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
This woman is a lier.
September 1, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
i keep going back to barack's website, for pics and vids and comments that make sense. otherwise, i'll get a gigantic tummy-ache. there's a whole lot of "there" with palin (mr and mrs) and the alaska scenario, down the rabbit-hole i will not go. i can only focus on two websites now so thank you tpm for stability. and whatever else comes out (literally and figuratively) i'm working for barack and joe. i don't know who they'll be debating; salmon? but this year is theirs. really amazing sudden sequence of unqualified nominees. it must hurt real bad to be so desperate and scared, because all of us win with good leaders. this isn't even a contest! it's farce!
September 1, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is becoming interesting, that I look around the blogosphere this morning and everyone is blaming the "left" and democrats for this information coming out.
And I am even beginning to see individuals names being put into it(NR site blames Andrew Sullivan). Although McCain made a huge mistake(imo) of askin Palin to be his VP, I think this can also be used to hurt a huge area that supports Barack Obama.
The blogs.
I wonder when they will ask Obama to "refute" these findings, it will happen soon more than likely.
September 1, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama speaks to the issue beautifully -- bottom third of first page. No drama Obama, all right.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02PALINDAY.html?hp
September 1, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
No wonder HRC fought sooooooo hard. This McCooCoo is an imbecile. Now I notice how in all the talk from the dems that he is a "friend of mine" they never said the guy was smart. He is a complete maroon(bugs)
maybe karl rove was so pissed that mcCryptKeeper didnt go with His choice, he offered up Palin to detroy the gop, in order to retool for 8 yrs frm now.
still feel sorry for bristol, she deserves better than this.
September 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or maybe we are seeing a direct correlation between Britney Spears sister, Jamie Lynn who got pregnant at 16 and the 17 GIRLS who decided to all try and get pregnant after Jamie Lynn came out. Its all I could think about reading this:
Or maybe we are seeing... Oh, never mind, I doubt I could have any influence on a feminist like yourself.
September 1, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
The real question here is the character and judgment of Ms. Palin. Assuming she knew of her daughter's well-advanced pregnancy, she was criminally negligent in failing to tell McCain's handlers. (I don't believe for a minute they knew this, and I still believe there is more to come.) This is on top of her unbelieveable self-centeredness in accepting the nomination in the first place.
This makes every other bad thing said about her three times more likely to be true.
Mebbe God told here she was going to be VP, and under such a warrant all sorts of sins and shortcomings are nullified, and the green light to lieis given? It would be of a piece with all these other fundamentalist clowns. What a scourge of humanity.
September 1, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps I'm obsessing about this way too much, but an interesting scenario just occurred to me--one that is worthy of Dick Cheney, but I don't think McCain would shy away from it if it helped make him President.
What if McCain only intends to keep Palin on board long enough to get him elected and inaugurated? What if he then intends to ask for her resignation (citing family problems, of which there are clearly many), leaving him free to bring on somebody like Lieberman or Ridge--someone voters wouldn't have approved of, but Congress would have to--especially given that they would know Lieberman or Ridge is more qualified?
It could happen.
September 1, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't decide whether this further ascent of the Palin's toward ultimate white-trash apotheosis helps or hurts them with the mass of the electorate.
September 1, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Several people have likened Palin to Tom Eagleton, George McGovern's first running mate who was cut loose after news broke that he had been treated for mental illness. To me, this is more akin to the fiasco of Bernie Kerik, who The Chimp nominated to be the first Director of the Department of Homeland Security, upon the advice of Rudy Guiliani. Kerik's name was hastily withdrawn after his incompetence, malfeasance and possible ties to organized crime came to light. And the Bush people were shown not to have done the necessary vetting. Palin is a female Kerik, and I suspect that she will end up being jettisoned like him before this is over.
September 1, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
They sure taught their daughter good values didn't they?
Get laid as a teenager and no worries; we'll take care of the child.
September 1, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
People, I think I've figured out what's happening here. THIS IS RUSE! McCain picked Palin to make the conservatives happy, then a scandal erupts forcing him to dump her so he would have no choice and pick Lieberman. Think about it.
September 1, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is a plausible theory. It makes since to pick her to energize the conservative base then she drop out do to "family reasons." However its to early in the game for that to happen.
September 1, 2008 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks goodness for "no drama" Obama! The Obama/Biden ticket is a sea of calm competency amidst the hurricane of McCain/Palin.
There is a shadowy figure lurking in the background of all this. What about Todd Palin? What do we know about him and his involvement in his children's upbringing? I would guess that he is more involved than most fathers since his wife has a very demanding job.
My outrageous guess about Bristol's pregnancy. Her parents just found out about it this weekend. Sarah Palin's invitation to join the ticket is what brought it out.
September 1, 2008 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Call me heard-hearted, but I think the best thing we filthy Commie liberal bloggers can do for Bristol, right now, is to force the truth to come out. Whatever it is. Whatever it takes.
Know why? Because the girl's 17 years old. She still has a chance NOT to turn into the fine example of lies and corruption that her asshole mother is. Who, you've just got to know, is sanguinely dragging her daughter's entire life into the public toilet, to support her own ruthless ambition.
Yes, uncovering and exposing the truth will be traumatic. But if it's "values" she needs to have instilled in her, in order for young Bristol to have a spiritually uplifting and mentally stable life, they are NOT the "values" of that crazy right-wing bitch mom of hers (and all of you shocked and concerned citizens, listen up: if you haven't figured out what a mindblowing c-word Sarah is yet, you're easily bamboozled and I've got a bridge for ya).
It will be traumatic, yes. But if all the truth is revealed now; if Bristol ultimately confesses all, and lets her lying mom just collapse, she at least has a chance to right the ship of her own life, reject the lies, and grow up with her head screwed on straight.
That's a lot harder... read "impossible"... to do for yourself, by the time you're a grown adult.
Like SARAH Palin.
September 1, 2008 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hadn't thought of it that way, but you are right. Truth is good for the soul.
September 1, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Talk about your eskimo creampie. smh
September 1, 2008 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
This may be plan B, Alaska style. If Palin is pretending to be mother of the Down syndrome infant in order to shield Bristol, then displaying Bristol as publicly pregnant and engaged will quell the rumor, at least until Nov 2.
After the election, poor Bristol will probably have a painless "miscarriage" and remove the pillow. No marriage will follow.
However, the "Bristol is mother of Trig" rumor doesn't explain why Sarah Palin wouldn't have made Bristol face the music herself, no matter what her age. Tough love and wrath of god, much more in character.
The important point is the McCain's lack of clarity. He never had very good judgment, but used to be more clever about lying. He's getting foggy.
September 1, 2008 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, this story just keeps giving doesn't it?
Let's recall, no one has found a certificate of birth for Trig ..YET!!
Maybe, TRIG wasn't premature?
Maybe TRIG was born in March?
And maybe just maybe Bristol, never wanted to have Trig...so she turned around and got preganant right away again because she did want to be a mother.
Maybe, Bristol is trying to run away from the Palin family. For all we know she is a victim of familial sex abuse and just like that Austrian girl who was kept in a cellar for 30 years by her own father.
These Palins are some real social conservatives with a teen daughter bound and determined to get out from under her parent's roof.
Pregnancy is her way out!!
September 1, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
The idea that they came out with this to tamp down rumors of Trig's parentage isn't credible. How does that work? Were they planning to keep it a secret then? How does this improve the situation? No one would have believed the Trig rumors anyway, but now they get national play. This makes no sense.
September 1, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I the only person here who doesn't give a shit about whatever this means about moral hypocrisy or whatever, and can only think, this lady has more important things to do for the next four years than cram to be ready to become Commander in Chief at a moment's notice? I mean an infant special needs child, PLUS a 17 y-o daughter with a newborn infant of her own? And John McCain knew this? This is beyond nuts!
For the her family's sake, Gov. Palin must decline to accept the nomination. This is enough.
September 1, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well it would seem that the right to lifers and social conservatives would be up in arms about how negligent of a mother Sarah is to her teen daughter!
Seems like this is evidence of Sarah not being able to hold down the Governorship AND mother her children.
The social conservatives beleive in family first and Sarah Palin obviously has her hands tied with ambition rather than the family.
Sarah Palin is looking more like harriet Miers when it comes to the right wings socially conservative families.
I wonder what their creed is for unmarried teen daughters who fornicate and refuse to abort?
Ummm, looks like Palin already took the first route with Trig...wonder what they will do this time.
That so called ring, Bristol was wearing. was probably from a video arcade game.
No boy in his right mind would marry into this family at this time. Not if his parents can help it.
Then again, maybe the father is the grandfather or the dad and can't marry her.
Maybe Sarah had to teach Bristol how to trap a daddy when you are carrying a brother, like she had to do, herself.
September 1, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, so Bristol is pregnant now. How does this address the rumor when the claim is that she's really Trig's grandmother? I feel like I'm on a message board for Soap Opera's Digest, this insane. I'm not sure if it's because I like scandal or watch too many Lifetime movies, but this definitely doesn't squelch the previous story, because all those questions are still left unanswered...
September 1, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
KRissa, to answer your question succinctly:
The same way Outrage [tm] at the inappropriateness of The New York Times' invoking of the name "Vicki Iseman", and the mere suggestion that McCain staffers were concerned because he was porking her, managed to negate all investigation into whether McCain took bribes for giving sweetheart deals to Comcast.
The same way Outrage [tm] over finding a bug in Bill Clements' campaign office managed to negate any critique of Clements' abysmal performance in the subsequent debate with Governor Mark White.
The same way Outrage [tm] over kerning (??) managed a one-two punch: no more questions about W's TANG service AND the end of right-wing uber-villain Dan Rather's career at CBS.
And the MSM just never gets any hipper. Ever.
September 1, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why wasn’t Palin becoming a grandmother in a few months not part of the initial story on Friday when she was rolled out?
September 1, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
this is just another example of why the radical religious right is full of shit. I hope with all my energy that people will see this, wake up, and behav accoringly. "as long as people continue to believe in absurdities, they'll continue to commit atrocities."
September 1, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why wasn’t Palin becoming a grandmother in a few months not part of the initial story on Friday when she was rolled out?
September 1, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why wasn’t Palin becoming a grandmother in a few months not part of the initial story on Friday when she was rolled out?
September 1, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin has stated that if a rapist violently forced her own daughter to become pregnant against her will, then the government should violently force her daughter to give birth to the rapist's offspring against her will.
Was "Bristol’s decision to have her baby" influenced by Sarah Palin telling her that if she decided NOT to have the baby, her mother would regard her as a cold-blooded murderer who should be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned -- or even sentenced to death for first degree murder?
According to Sarah Palin's own views, this is not a "private family matter." According to Sarah Palin, it should be the law of the land that any family in which a teenage daughter becomes pregnant -- even as a result of violent rape -- should be subjected to forcible government intervention to compel that teenage girl to give birth whether she wants to or not.
September 1, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
JUST KEEP IN MIND.
THIS IS ABOUT JUDGEMENT AND CHARACTER.
BOTH McCain's and Palin's and the people that surround them.
Compare their judgement and character to Obama/Bidden and the people that surround them.
It is clear the McCain camp has neither. And, they have until Wednesday to decide what to do with Palin.
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
September 1, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the whole purpose of these announcments from the mcCain campaign and the Palin family were intended to squelch the rumors about Trig (by saying that bristol is 5 months pregnant), then it failed. There are now more questions than answers.
If they really want to put the rumors to rest, how about showing the media Trig's actual birth certificate (the Mat-Su Hospital doesn't have a "Trig Palin" listed on the purported birth date of April 18th). And how about bringing out Palin's OB/GYN to speak to the media? Or how about a nurse or two from the hospital staff? Or what about the family doctor speaking to the issue of Bristol's alleged mononucleosis and why she was pulled from school for several months -- and where was she during that time?
And who exactly is Levi? Why no last name for Bristol's bridegroom? Something to hide here?
September 1, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even after the supposedly baby's birth, Bristol reportedly did not return to school. Her fist public sighting was at the VP announcement this week, 8 months later. What is with this family!
September 1, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the whole purpose of these announcments from the McCain campaign and the Palin family was intended to squelch rumors about Trig by saying that Bristol is 5 months pregnant, then it failed. There are now more questions than answers. They've only succeeded in making a scapegoat of poor Bristol.
If McCain and Palin really want to put the rumors to rest, how about presenting Trig's actual birth certificate (the Mat-Su Hospital doesn't have a "Trig Palin" listed on the purported birth date of April 18th). And how about bringing out Palin's OB/GYN to speak to the media? Or how about a nurse or two from the hospital staff? Or what about the family doctor speaking to the issue of Bristol's alleged mononucleosis and why she was pulled from school for several months -- and where was she during that time?
And who exactly is Levi? Why no last name for Bristol's bridegroom? Something to hide here?
September 1, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also, notice in the statement there's is no denial or outrage at what would be considered 'outlandish'/'ludicrous' claims to suggest that she's not the actual parent of Trig.
September 1, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
This whole thing is Bullsh**, it's lies to cover up lies. How conveinent is it to announce that the daughter is pregnant just as a potential damaging rumor is circulating on the internet. Here's how this whole Republican cover up will play out: Sarah's daughter will go into hiding and in the near future they will report that she has lost the baby with the hopes killing this story. Sarah will go on living a lie by raising her daughter"s baby (that was actually born in April) as her own. This is the Republican Way ...lie....cheat and
steal. Win by any means necessary
John Mccain's political future and legacy is riding on a LIE
September 1, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think I've seen this possibility mentioned yet: Trig could be the son of Gov. Palin's son Track.
September 1, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant becomes not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenager in America from getting birth control information and devices. It is clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
If it was Track's son it wouldn't affect the family as much since he wouldn't have to physically carry the child. It's more likely, that if true, it's Bristol's due to the whole 'mono' incident and the bizarre water leak flight situation. Mind you I've had mono and it doesn't last 5+months and you actually lose weight, so technically wouldn't she be dramatically slimmer?
September 1, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant becomes not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenager in America from getting birth control information and devices. It is clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the governor is happy that her daughter has chosen to keep the baby. But at the same time is working to make sure other women do not have the choice.
September 1, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant becomes not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenager in America from getting birth control information and devices. It is clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant becomes not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenager in America from getting birth control information and devices. It is clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic since Palin is a staunch supporter of abstinence only sex education...
Plus I'm pleased Bristol is keeping her baby but it was her decision. She wouldn't have that chance if McCain and Palin got their way and Roe/Wade was overturned.
I'm not so happy at the way the customary 'they will be getting married' is somehow a necessity? So a youthful indiscretion means you are automatically rail-roaded into getting married?
If Palin takes office in January of 2009 she will have a 17 year old daughter with a new-born baby and an 8 month old boy with Downs Syndrome to cope with. Palin's husband is there, and if they say they can cope then i'll take them at their word, but that is a lot to take care of!
In any case, Bristol should be left alone. Her personal business is her business. It isn't her fault she's in the spotlight.
September 1, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic since Palin is a staunch supporter of abstinence only sex education...
Plus I'm pleased Bristol is keeping her baby but it was her decision. She wouldn't have that chance if McCain and Palin got their way and Roe/Wade was overturned.
I'm not so happy at the way the customary 'they will be getting married' is somehow a necessity? So a youthful indiscretion means you are automatically rail-roaded into getting married?
If Palin takes office in January of 2009 she will have a 17 year old daughter with a new-born baby and an 8 month old boy with Downs Syndrome to cope with. Palin's husband is there, and if they say they can cope then i'll take them at their word, but that is a lot to take care of!
In any case, Bristol should be left alone. Her personal business is her business. It isn't her fault she's in the spotlight.
September 1, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
What with the RNC rained out and all, I'd love to know how many conservatives put "Juno" (or is that "Juneau"?) in their Netflix queue today.
September 1, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic since Palin is a staunch supporter of abstinence only sex education...
Plus I'm pleased Bristol is keeping her baby but it was her decision. She wouldn't have that chance if McCain and Palin got their way and Roe/Wade was overturned.
I'm not so happy at the way the customary 'they will be getting married' is somehow a necessity? So a youthful indiscretion means you are automatically rail-roaded into getting married?
If Palin takes office in January of 2009 she will have a 17 year old daughter with a new-born baby and an 8 month old boy with Downs Syndrome to cope with. Palin's husband is there, and if they say they can cope then i'll take them at their word, but that is a lot to take care of!
In any case, Bristol should be left alone. Her personal business is her business. It isn't her fault she's in the spotlight.
September 1, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant because not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenagers in America from getting birth control information and devices. Her daughter's pregnancy makes it clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
What with the RNC rained out and all, I'd love to know how many conservatives put "Juno" (or is that "Juneau"?) in their Netflix queue today.
September 1, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic since Palin is a staunch supporter of abstinence only sex education...
Plus I'm pleased Bristol is keeping her baby but it was her decision. She wouldn't have that chance if McCain and Palin got their way and Roe/Wade was overturned.
I'm not so happy at the way the customary 'they will be getting married' is somehow a necessity? So a youthful indiscretion means you are automatically rail-roaded into getting married?
If Palin takes office in January of 2009 she will have a 17 year old daughter with a new-born baby and an 8 month old boy with Downs Syndrome to cope with. Palin's husband is there, and if they say they can cope then i'll take them at their word, but that is a lot to take care of!
In any case, Bristol should be left alone. Her personal business is her business. It isn't her fault she's in the spotlight.
September 1, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant because not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenagers in America from getting birth control information and devices. Her daughter's pregnancy makes it clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
What with the RNC rained out and all, wouldn't you love to know how many conservatives put "Juno" (or is that "Juneau"?) in their Netflix queue today?
September 1, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin’s teenage daughter accidentally becoming pregnant is significant because not only is Plain anti-abortion but anti-birth-control, and anti-sex-education for teens aside from abstinence-only. Palin wants to keep other teenagers in America from getting birth control information and devices. Her daughter's pregnancy makes it clear that the abstinence-only doesn’t work for preventing teen pregnancies.
September 1, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not true. The feminist group that Palin belongs to is anit-abortion but not anti sex-ed. Do more research.
September 1, 2008 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta love this hilariously weird story--Juneau: The Sequel!!! And when all the deep reporting is done: Northern Exposure!!!
September 1, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta love this hilariously weird story--Juneau: The Sequel!!! And when all the deep reporting is done: Northern Exposure!!!
September 1, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Surprise that Palin accepted the nomination with all this baggage she clearly knew she had (i.e. pregnant teenage daughter and investigation into whether she had her brother-in-law's boss fired). That's not judgement we can believe in.
That's what I'm really wondering here. This whole "family circus" makes me question both Palin's, and more importantly, McCain's judgment when making his first presidential decision.
No way in hell would anyone who had these personal issues(a special needs infant and a pregnant teenage daughter) accept this job. She cares more about her political advancement than she does about her family. And McCain obviously didn't vet this person, which scares the shit out of me when considering all the other decisions he would have to make as president.
Andrew Sullivan, no great friend to liberals IMO, has been asking fair questions about all this. If the baby is really Sarah Palin's, then it would be VERY easy for her to produce the hospital records and put all this to rest. Another issue re Palin's judgment--what high-risk mother(over 40 yrs. old) knowing she's carrying a special need baby gets on an airplane for an 8+ hour flight to Alaska and then travels to a small village to give birth? That's not just poor judgment, it's completely insane.
But I suppose we really don't need to push this story, because the tabloids are going to have a field day with this no matter what we do. Jerry Springer on steroids.
September 1, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
This stinks to high heaven.
No doubt in my mind that there is more to this story.
September 1, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Much as there seemed to be good innuendo a few days back, I think we have to use Occam's Razor here: The most obvious answer is the right one.
To believe that Palin covered up her daughter's pregnancy, we now have to believe:
1) that she either carrier a pillow under her suit or otherwise faked pregnancy for at least two months.
2) that her 16-or-17-year-old daughter gave birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome.
3) that within weeks, Bristol again became pregnant.
4) (And most damning) that in the small Alaska town that seems to know all about the Palins and don't mind telling the world, nobody caught wind of this and spilled the beans.
That's just too much for even a conspiracy theorist to believe. No, it was her baby, and while mom was in Texas, Bristol and her boyfriend were "exploring new frontiers".
Yes, I believe Gov Palin took insane chances in flying back to Alaska after a fluid leak, (and was probably nuts to fly down there that late into her pregnancy in the first place), and yes I believe that showed poor judgement. I doubt that will fly with most voters.
But what has to be asked of Gov Palin is what she would have done if her daughter decided to have an abortion. Would she have tried to prevent it? (If so, she loses the pro-choice vote and a lot of middle grounders.) Would she have supported her daughter's decision? (In which case she is a hypocrite of the highest order.)
And after this incident, does she still oppose detailed sex education in school?
Ye
September 1, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Much as there seemed to be good innuendo a few days back, I think we have to use Occam's Razor here: The most obvious answer is the right one.
To believe that Palin covered up her daughter's pregnancy, we now have to believe:
1) that she either carrier a pillow under her suit or otherwise faked pregnancy for at least two months.
2) that her 16-or-17-year-old daughter gave birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome.
3) that within weeks, Bristol again became pregnant.
4) (And most damning) that in the small Alaska town that seems to know all about the Palins and don't mind telling the world, nobody caught wind of this and spilled the beans.
That's just too much for even a conspiracy theorist to believe. No, it was her baby, and while mom was in Texas, Bristol and her boyfriend were "exploring new frontiers".
Yes, I believe Gov Palin took insane chances in flying back to Alaska after a fluid leak, (and was probably nuts to fly down there that late into her pregnancy in the first place), and yes I believe that showed poor judgement. I doubt that will fly with most voters.
But what has to be asked of Gov Palin is what she would have done if her daughter decided to have an abortion. Would she have tried to prevent it? (If so, she loses the pro-choice vote and a lot of middle grounders.) Would she have supported her daughter's decision? (In which case she is a hypocrite of the highest order.)
And after this incident, does she still oppose detailed sex education in school?
Ye
September 1, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gustav is a 'below the fold story' by late Tuesday and then watch what happens.
Everyone just shut up and sit back, because the tabloids are going to be ALL OVER this no matter what. Of course the McLame campaign will dismiss it as tabloid trash, but it won't go away, it'll just make the tabloids more agressive. Ask John Edwards.
Andrew Sullivan has been asking legitimate questions about this--if it's all just vicious rumors, why doesn't Palin produce legitimate hospital records and put this to rest? The fact that her daughter is now supposedly pregnant is going to be bad enough for them.
I repeat--nothing that any liberal blogger does will compare to the tabloid media frenzy, which will quickly spill over to the MSM.
September 1, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
So how old was this Levi? Are we talking statutory rape here?
September 1, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think there's anything to be gained by commenting on this, or by pushing for it to be investigated. The most damaging facts are already out there - that maybe Palin (or somebody) should have been minding the store a little more closely, instead of being otherwise occupied; and that maybe McCain's judgment isn't so good after all. Just let the voters decide the rest.
September 1, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
And why? all of the sudden is this alright? What will they tell the children that have been practicing abstinence and not using condums per BUSH and his wigged out Christain nuts? Never mind it is OK for the VP daughter to have sex out of wed-lock.
September 1, 2008 8:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
So how old was this Levi? Are we talking statutory rape here?
September 1, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby"
Yes. That's right. She had a *choice*. Hence the oppportunity to make a decision. Yes, *she* got to make the decision.
Something that you would remove if you, Ms Palin, got the power to appoint Supreme Court Justices.
Thanks, but no thanks.
September 1, 2008 7:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a lot of talk about the candidates' kids being off-limits. And well they should be.
But.............................
The candidates are fair, fair, fair game. And Palin surely knows the meaning of "game." She's handy with a rifle and apparently some moose families are the less for it.
When a candidate sets herself up -- and her new boss, e.g. McCain's campaign, plays on it big time -- as a family values candidate who wouldn't abort even if the kid was progeny of a space-alien who raped -- certain areas become open, necessarily, for question.
Here's what comes to mind: A terrorist who shields himself with a child and everyone knows that if we get to the moment of moments, the kid dies. Well, are McCain and Palin are holding this girl now -- who apparently got impregnated at age 16, which is something that doesn't sit well with many of us, including those of who thump Bibles as if they were tympany -- in front of themselves to hold off the inevitable:
How could McCain and his vetters possibly have let this happen? He and they trashed this girl.
Period.
September 1, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure if this makes it even more complicated. New pictures up of Levi, Bristol, Mommy Palin and Trig. This either proves that Bristol wasn't Trig's mother or in doing so makes things even more complicated.
http://www.tucsonscene.com/?q=bristolpalinbabyphotos
September 1, 2008 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure if this makes it even more complicated. New pictures up of Levi, Bristol, Mommy Palin and Trig. This either proves that Bristol wasn't Trig's mother or in doing so makes things even more complicated.
http://www.tucsonscene.com/bristolpalinbabyphotos
September 1, 2008 9:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
This whole thing is Bullsh**, it's lies to cover up lies. How conveinent is it to announce that the daughter is pregnant just as a potential damaging rumor is circulating on the internet. Here's how this whole Republican cover up will play out: Sarah's daughter will go into hiding and in the near future they will report that she has lost the baby with the hopes of killing this story. Sarah will go on living a lie by raising her daughter"s baby (that was actually born in April) as her own. This is the Republican Way ...lie....cheat and
steal. Win by any means necessary
John Mccain's political future and legacy is riding on a LIE
September 1, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This whole thing is Bullsh**, it's lies to cover up lies. How conveinent is it to announce that the daughter is pregnant just as a potential damaging rumor is circulating on the internet. Here's how this whole Republican cover up will play out: Sarah's daughter will go into hiding and in the near future they will report that she has lost the baby with the hopes of killing this story. Sarah will go on living a lie by raising her daughter"s baby (that was actually born in April) as her own. This is the Republican Way ...lie....cheat and
steal. Win by any means necessary
John Mccain's political future and legacy is riding on a LIE
September 1, 2008 9:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a lot of talk about the candidates' kids being off-limits. And well they should be.
But.............................
The candidates are fair, fair, fair game. And Palin surely knows the meaning of "game." She's handy with a rifle and apparently some moose families are the less for it.
When a candidate sets herself up as a family values type who wouldn't abort even after rape, and her boss the MCcain campaign plays that card big-time, certain areas become open, necessarily, for question.
Here's what comes to mind: A terrorist who shields himself with a child, and everyone knows that if we get to the moment of moments, the kid dies.
Well, are McCain and Palin holding this girl up in front of themselves now that the obviously newsworthy news is out? (How could McCain and his vetters possibly have let this happen? He and they, as well as her complicit mom, trashed this girl."
Period.
Anyone who blames the media supports terrorists.
September 1, 2008 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was just watching Larry King and it seems the response to Palin's daughter pregnancy issue is that its a issue that affects many Americans and the Palin family is courageous to support in a pro-life manner. Well the hypocrisy seems extra syrupy because there seemed to be outrage when Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy revelation broke. Oh how quickly the Republicans can forget.
September 1, 2008 9:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
If John McCain can't spot trouble coming from Alaska, then how in god's name can he protect America?
September 1, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, so based on this post by 'Tetter'
Not sure if this makes it even more complicated. New pictures up of Levi, Bristol, Mommy Palin and Trig. This either proves that Bristol wasn't Trig's mother or in doing so makes things even more complicated.
http://www.tucsonscene.com/bristolpalinbabyphotos
Making the assumption that Trig is not the Governor's child, but the child of Levi's (the father of Bristol's child) sister Mercid, then who is the father?
I'm guessing the oldest of the Governor's children, the son who is going off to Iraq.
It makes the most sense to me. Time for a a DNA test, somebody tells the truth, or this screwy family goes back to the wilds of Alaska and we can forget this ever happened.
Nice judgement here Mr. McCain. I guess the lawyers should have vetted her last week, not this week.
September 2, 2008 12:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Assuming Trig is her daughter's baby, why would Sarah Palin falsely claim that he is her baby? If the answer is to save Bristol's reputation, I have a problem with that excuse because it condemns, marginalizes, and denies Bristol's true relationship with her child which I regard as an unpardonable sin of hubris and selfishness by her mother.
Assuming Trig is Sarah Palin's baby, I have to question her decisions to remain thin -- no matter the cost to the baby -- and to risk the baby's life by returning to Alaska instead of checking into a hospital in Dallas - Fort Worth after her water broke.
Pick your scenario. Either of them cause me to reach the same conclusion: Sarah Palin is consumed by her own ambition and only cares about herself. I suspect most people already have reached that conclusion or they soon will unless they feel like they have to defend her honor and religious beliefs from attacks by us.
I can think of one important exception, however. If Trig's father is Bristol's father and Sarah Palin is protecting him at Bristol's expense, then Sarah Palin is covering up for her husband's crime and that, my friends, is way out of bounds and a subject worthy of national discussion.
Since we have no evidence to support this last alternative, I think we should let the Republicans stew in their own hypocritical rhetoric and not provide them with an excuse to blame us for picking on "sweet" Sarah Palin.
Now let's assume a third scenario, for the sake of argument
September 2, 2008 2:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, strike that last sentence that I forgot to delete before posting my comment.
September 2, 2008 2:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
New baby. Upcoming wedding and a new grandchild. That should leave plenty of time to learn how to handle the Iranians, Russians, take over the federal government in a time of crisis, and meet everybody who runs all the other countries.
September 2, 2008 2:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I do think this is an important issue, but not for the reasons I have seen cited. According to McCain's camp, they discussed the pregnancy issue with Palin extensively one week before the announcement. That means Palin believes it is acceptable for her 17-year-old daughter to be the main subject of every news network, the butt of late night jokes, the cover girl for gossip magazines and discussed at length on every political website in the world. She had a choice. Throw her child to the wolves or not accept the VP slot.
I live in LA and have seen more than one friend endure media scrutiny. I do not think highly of anyone who would put their child through that kind of hell for their own self interest. It goes to the heart of who this woman is and I find it reprehensible.
Contrast this with Obama allowing an enterainment show to interview his children. He appeared to be upset about it for days and greatly regretted his choice.
Values? In this case it's not even close.
September 2, 2008 2:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
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February 3, 2010 7:11 AM | Reply | Permalink