The Palin fake-pregnancy rumors: the latest in a long line of campaign garbage
I think Palin’s nomination has caused much of the Left to flip its collective wig, or what’s left of it (puns intended).
The rumors about Palin’s baby—that it really was conceived by her 16-year-old daughter and that Palin faked her own recent pregnancy—make National Enquirer stories look like well-researched doctoral theses.
And now the Left should be proud—and pleased as punch—that the vitriol of many of its members has managed to out a 17-year-old’s unwed pregnancy and imminent marriage, the news of which should have been allowed to emerge in its own sweet time and way. Good work, Kos Kids (and congrats to Andrew Sullivan—to whom I will not link but who actually was once an actual bona fide journalist, although that was long ago and far away).
Obama has come out and told his minions to stop slinging the garbage. I would have been more impressed if he’d done it sooner—what is up with this guy’s delayed responses?—but at least he finally opened up his mouth, even if only after the tale had reached epic proportions online.
And this is as good a time as any to say the following:
I couldn’t care less about the pregnancy itself. I’d love it if the media and the Left would leave this girl alone, but I know they won’t. And I’m not naive enough to think the “Trig wasn’t really Palin’s baby” rumors show how awful the Left is; this sort of venom is, unfortunately, an equal-opportunity human characteristic and not a trait merely of one side or another. Case in point: the accusations that Vince Foster was murdered by the Clintons. And yes, I am well aware that the details are different. But the impulse to cruelty and the level of fantasy is the same.
Nor is it a new feature of politics. Just take a look at the “Ma, Ma, where’s my pa/Gone to the White House, ha ha ha” campaign against Grover Cleveland. At least that featured a rumor that was based on a partial truth (Cleveland was paying child support). And then there’s the dirty campaign of none other than Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Despite this tradition of political mudslinging, there are modern characteristics that make it easier. The internet, of course, is chief among them; it’s now far more possible to disseminate this crapola further and quicker than ever before.
Although unwed pregnancies are hardly a modern invention, they seem more socially acceptable these days, rather than the shocking and shameful occurrences they used to be. Palin and her family seem to be taking the news in stride.
But the details of the previous wild rumor—that Sarah Palin faked her own pregnancy (a story that is now being put somewhat to rest because of the timing of her daughter’s actual pregnancy) are relatively new because they could only happen with a female candidate who is of childbearing age. To the best of my knowledge, this has never been true on a national level in this country—or even in most countries who have had high-ranking female politicians (Benazir Bhutto, who was head of Pakistan in her 30s, is the sole exception that comes to mind). It smacks of people’s mixed feelings about having a mother of very young children in such a demanding role. And for hardline feminists on the Left, such mixed feelings—and especially the spreading of the rumors they spawn—smack of hypocrisy.
[NOTE: I like The Anchoress’s take on the whole issue. And Ann Althouse hasn’t been shy about the topic, either.]
[ADDENDUM: I’m very pleased to announce that my colleague and good friend Dr. Sanity appears to have returned to blogging after a nice long summer vacation. And she’s got a lot to say.]
It tends to reinforce the “real people” angle, millions of American families have dealt with this same situation.
I for one am sick and tired of all the silver spoon types we have in Washington. We need real people there that can identify with average Americans lives, case in point Hillary hasn’t driven a car in decades. The hits keep coming, business owner, real family, worked her way up from the bottom without wealth or family coat tails etc and on and on, I think the amount of voters that will identify with and respect this background are underestimated.
News that Palin’s daughter Bristol is pregnant will not affect the religious right’s enthusiasm for Sarah Palin. McCain apparently knew about it before picking her, which for me raises my opinion of him.
While Obama himself was conceived out of wedlock and has told his side to back off, I seriously doubt his minions would do so. Thus it will be a test for him to see how low he will let his supporters go in pursuing criticism of Sarah Palin herself.
What remains at play here are the independent women, men and families with teenage girls. My first impression is that they will sympathize with the Palins and despite those who will attack them.
Palin should have known better than to attempt to campaign with this hanging over her family.
She should have done the right thing, and asked for Elizabeth Edwards’ permission.
There was a time that I would have sworn the Democrats and other self-proclaimed liberals would have been incapable of this sort of filth. Those days are long past, but I still find myself actually getting depressed at just vile and venomous some of the attacks on Palin are. If you wonder why it seems that so few normal people want to go into politics these days, maybe it’s because they don’t want to face these kinds of attacks.
I’m also very, very tired of people who think they somehow have the right to judge other people’s maternal choices from their cozy little keyboards thousands of miles away (re: questions such as “can she be vice-president with a Downs baby.”) It does smack of the rankest hypocrisy especially coming from the self-proclaimed feminist party. The whole thing is just terribly depressing to me. I just hope this sort of ugliness backfires on them come November.
I just hope this sort of ugliness backfires on them come November.
It certainly doesn’t play in Peoria.
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I am no longer surprised at anything the liberals do.
On Saturday anABC news anchor on the morning show asked a McCain spokesperson how Palin’s down’s syndrome child would help the McCain campaign. Not getting an answer (it didn’t deserve one) he asked it again a couple of minutes later.
On August 29th on MSNBC Michael Moore was on with Keith Olbermann (hey there’s a bight pair) and Moore said while laughing, “I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven. To have it planned at the same time — that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities — at the top of the Mississippi River.”
On a plane a couple of days ago on a flight back to Charlotte from the Dem convention in Denver a former head of the DNC (from 1995 to 1997), Donald Fowler chuckled when talking to a Dem congressman from SC (John Spratt) about the timing of Gustav’s landfall. He apparently said, “Plus they think the hurricane’s going to hit (starts laughing) New Orleans about the time they start. The timing, at least it appears now, that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates God’s on our side.”
That’s just plain EVIL. Especially from a party the purports to really “care” about all the “forgotten” people.
I might not even think about it too much if after the storm was over they had said, “I’m glad no one was hurt, but I think it was pretty ironic, etc.”
No I take that back – it would still be EVIL.
My own son, Jake, was conceived unexpectedly and out of wedlock. He is now in his Junior year as a Music Composition major at his university. He is a blessing for which I am very grateful. And he plays beautiful music (1,2).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We shall soon enough know the truth about Evangelical reaction to Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. This is a fascinating sociological and political experiment. The results will reveal more truth than any Gallop Poll.
I’m fascinated with how this is going to play out. Since I’ve been in the blogosphere – aka in comment sections of other blogs – I’ve defended Evangelical groups as being largely characterized by compassion and love.
I have wondered: what might be out there in Evangelical world that I don’t know about? I’ve asserted there is essentially no secret about what is out there: Evangelicals nationwide are essentially compassionate and loving. There are exceptions, yet they are small in number and even smaller in influence. Therefore, I’m now fascinated with how Bristol Palin’s pregnancy will play in the November election. This is a test of my thesis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reading neo’s links in her post, I saw this from The Anchoress:
I concur.
This is an excellent opportunity for Sarah Palin to speak out on issues that are important to women. Will her new grandbaby have health insurance? Will her special needs son have health insurance when his mother is no longer governor of Alaska? Will her daughter receive her pre-natal care from Medicaid clinics in Washington DC? Or will they have these benefits because their mother and grandmother are on the US payroll? There are real issues to be considered here. Are good medical care and insurance only the privilege of the wealthy?
“what is up with this guy’s delayed responses?” Say, does anybody think his responses are delayed because it lets him look like he’s above mud-slinging once it’s actually… you know… been slung?
Gosh, I love the Palin family.
They are real people who sometimes make real mistakes. But they also show real love for each other.
Sorry Kathleen, but you are barking up the wrong tree. First of all her daughter is marrying the coming child’s father. Do you know he does not have health insurance? Do you know anything about him at all? Do you know what has been discussed in the Palin family about this? If you do please enlighten me.
You speak about pre-natal care in the clinics of DC. Well at least they have access to care. Sorry, but there are a lot of responsible people who put off having children until they can afford to have them and care for them without burdening anyone else. Am I saying Bristol Palin was irresponsible – you bet. But at least she apparently has a solid relationship with the father. Personally I am somewhat tired of myself and other American taxpayers paying for the costs of birth and continuing support for multitudes of children which we had no part in creating and have no say in raising. But the thing that angers me most is that the irresponsibility of those having those children when they have no means to support them and no skills to raise them are condemning those children to little or no chance of attaining success.
In our constitutionally protected system, people who lack substance must resort to manipulation, manufactured sleaze, dishonesty, and eventually violence because it’s the only way for them to stay in the game…
On a personal note this reminds me of my niece, pregnant at 17, decided to keep the baby (now a very fine young gentleman at 10, and in every sense of the word a blessing), though she chose not to marry the “father”. Not too long after she did get married, had another child, recently completed her Bachelors degree. The Palin’s are real, fine people, and I loved your commentary noting Teddy Roosevelt and the similarities…
I don’t understand why voting Americans are so gullible to left vs right “divide and conquer” politics? Liberal this, right winger that..such a shame that the voting public is so blind. How is this any different from Rove leaking the McCain ‘black baby’ rumors in 04′..it’s not any different except hes running McCain’s campaign now. The joke is on the American public and it is oh so obvious now. Both of these candidates are basically the same. They represent the same interests…I think it’s about time for Americans to wake up smell the state of your country…you’re now the laughing stock of the world. That is sad because you were once the beacon of light on the planet….
The attacks are mounting and they are vile – to those who say this should rule McCain/Palin out – and whether it changes my opinion of either, I’d say this – as a Pro-Choice person with four kids, I have to say Sarah Palin has more courage than I do. I don’t know what I would have done had one of mine turned out to be Downs, and I was 40 when I had my last one.
As for a teenage daughter who gets pregnant, it happens. It could happen to me and mine. How would I handle it? I honestly do not know.
But I do know that the only way to end abortion is to put value on the kids, stop the mentality that having a kid means your life is over, stop girls from being hated and ostracized from their families for making a mistake, and for families to stick together when something like this happens. I don’t think this child will be unwanted, nor will Palin’s daughter end up a drain on the system.
Does it change my opinion of McCain? No. Does it change my opinion of Sarah Palin? Having just begun to find out what she is about – I would say again, she’s braver than me. I have to say it adds to my instant respect for her – and her family.
Barack oughtta be careful about this whole family thing. His own upbringing should give him some compassion for this kind of thing.
This is thanks to the non-fundies that did everything they could to oppose the evangelical fundies like the Palins.
I am no fan of Obama, but I don’t think it’s quite fair to accuse him of a delayed response on this particular matter. He spoke up fairly promptly after today’s announcement of the young woman’s pregnancy. Before the announcement, I do not believe he could have said anything to quell the rumors regarding the youngest child. If he had, he would have immediately been accused of trying to spread the rumors while appearing to denounce them — and whether he really was trying to do so or not, speaking out about them from his bully pulpit certainly would have helped to spread them.
He did the right thing by asking everybody to leave the candidates’ children alone and stating he’d fire any staffer who had helped to spread the rumors. Now, let’s see if anybody tries to do what he asked. Based on what I’ve seen on TV so far this evening, nobody’s willing to back off at all.
jpe:
You might be surprised to know that many in small town America, fundy or not, have dealt with out-of-wedlock pregnancies compassionately for a long, long time. Kids grow up differently in a small town; they are not so segregated by age and often know the entire families of schoolmates. The young couple may have known one another and been friends since first grade. When they marry they are accepted into the world of adults and given lots of support and very practical wedding gifts. Even when the couple doesn’t marry, people don’t throw out the daughter of lifelong friends or relatives.
The culture war has more to do with differences between this world and the more anonymous, age-segregated world where young teens seem to have sex before they learn to build friendships. A seventeen year old who gets pregnant by a boyfriend is very different from a fourten year old who has sex with someone she barely knows because she wants to be in the cool set at her new school. The first situation will always be with us; the second means we aren’t taking care of our kids.
@mrs whatsit –
Agreed. Timing can be a sticky issue on something like this. And absent the “what did they know and when did they know it” standard, it’s too easy to jump to your own assertions about what is and isn’t proper.
Now… how about helping me start the rumor that Rove picked Palin, knowing Bristol was pregnant, because raising embarrassing family issues would reveal an even worse skeleton in Obama’s closet?
(speculation is so much fun. all you have to do is invoke Karl Rove’s name, and knee-jerk liberals will run with it because they won’t put anything past him.)
@expat –
What is more important is what Liberal Coastal Elites THINK about how those of us in Flyover Country ought behave.
Then they can moralize about how our morals are immoral, without actually getting their hands dirty visiting tawdry places like where you live.
Case in point: the accusations that Vince Foster was murdered by the Clintons.
In their defense I’ll point out it was one of the most damned peculiar suicides in history, beginning with the location: for a non-Washingtonian Ft. Marcy Park is kind of hard to find, especially that back way into the park. Most sucided are committed at home or at work and if they do drive around looking for someplace to kill themselves it’s usually a little more scenic. Secondly despite 40-50 officers and metal detectors they never did find the bullet. Along with all the other little inconsistencies – the position of the gun, lack of blood, carpet fibers in Mr. Foster’s suit, etc., etc., there was good reason to believe not everything was kosher.
My alternate Kook Konspiracy theory is that he shot himself somewhere else, inconvenient to the owners/residents, and they rolled the body up in a carpet and dumped it in Ft. Marcy Park, re-staging the scene to make it look like he had killed himself there instead. The Clintons are ruthless but killing one of their best friends seems a *lot* cold to me.
Back to our story, the power of the Internet is the shear number of people using it and how easy it is to be heard on the Internet. Pre-internet the loons on KOS and DU would have been isolated nutcases separated by hundreds of miles and with no ability whatsoever to publish their rantings. Today a kook says, “Y’know, that Palin girl sure looks preggers in this photo – OMYGOD, SHE HAD THE BABY AND HER MOTHER’S COVERING FOR HER!!!” and all the other kooks are trumpeting it as well. It’s like a yard full of dogs: One barks, then the rest start barking, and before you know it every dog in the neighborhood is barking its fool head off for no reason whatsoever. Thanks to the Internet the loons’ voices carry now and there’s just no getting away from the noise.
The Palins have already come to terms with the daughter’s pregnancy, they knew it would come up and dealt with it when it did. They’re tough and I hope they hang in there because they have a lot to offer the country. The nutroots are going to congratulate themselves for “getting” to Sarah Palin through her daughter. That’s their fantasy and nothing we say will get through to them. Just remember if Obama wins the election these people, or at least some only slightly less nuts, will be swept into power with him. That would not be a good thing for this country.
I agree, the Left has lost their F’in minds.
Does it occur to them that their Man Obama’s mom got pregnant before she married his Dad?
And neither fact has anything to do with the price of tea in China.
At least Obama himself put out a statement to lay off, I’ll grant him that. Wish the rest of his nutty followers showed as much class.
The weird rumors only served to call attention to the integrity of what Palin actually did. The daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy and her parents’ reaction to it go hand in hand with Palin’s decision to have the child afflicted with Down’s Syndrome. It indicates she and her family hew to their beliefs – a refreshing lack of hypocrisy. Obama scored points with his gracious reaction. He’s learning.
My initial impression of Palin is extremely positive. She seems to be a fighter from what I’ve read of her. I viewed her acceptance speech. She was marvelous. Her public speaking is much better than McCain’s, who read from notes only occasionally glancing up at the audience, certainly better than Biden’s and may even rival Obama himself. His style is a smooth adaptation of urban sermonizing, while she projects a classic tone of sincere conviction. If she was using a teleprompter it sure wasn’t evident to me. Her voice has a pleasant piping quality that is laced with what I suppose is an Alaskan accent. The words flow with ease.
I believe one of the reasons Obama is successful is because a portion of the public yearns for eloquence from Presidential figures. She may siphon off some of that hankering from Obama – who has had the field to himself up until now. I saw an interview of her on YouTube on energy issues(CNN, I believe) and she completely outclassed the interviewer.
But I’ll have to see how she handles herself in the ring for awhile before I will be completely convinced she’s a solid pick. There’s a big speech coming up at the RNC, the debate with Biden, speeches, interviews with folks who have journalistic switchblades in their pockets and the daily grind of the campaign trail – all of which offer ample opportunity for pitfalls.
> –make National Enquirer stories look like well-researched doctoral theses.
And here we all thought it was the trailer trash that was reading The Weekly World News….
I thought this was an interesting highlight of the difference between the pro-life and the liberal view:
This is the pro-life choice. The fact that people will criticize her for this shows the astounding extent to which the secular critics of the pro-life movement just don’t get it. Those who criticize the Palin family don’t understand that we don’t see babies as a punishment but as a blessing. Barack Obama said that if one of his daughters made a mistake and got pregnant out of wedlock he wouldn’t want her to be punished with a child. Pro lifers don’t see a child as punishment.
— Dr. Richard Land
I guess you haven’t seen Levi’s sister’s recently made private myspace page. It comes complete with pictures of the baby with his aunt and mother in law. You are in for a real treat! Remember this repugs, when you dig a grave dig two!
I dig graves.
But for who?
Why, for Obama
and Biden too.
Cher Gillian, Please try, try to be articulate and at least bring a smidgen of sense to the party.
You write: “I guess you haven’t seen Levi’s sister’s recently made private myspace page. ”
Well, since it lingers somewhere in myspace and has been “recently made private” it isn’t likely that we will, is it? I guess that is one treat we will have to miss.
In fact, all we have is your word on it and your words are, to say the least, not that good at all. But you know that.
For those who would like to see some pics of the Palins and McCains on the campaign trail click over to this site:
http://www.mccainblogette.com/postings/
Who knew campaigning was so much fun? Those people are just enjoying themselves way too much.
I am an outsider to US. I keep encountering the abbreviation DNC – probably referring to the Democratic party – on pages related to US elections.
But why DNC? Does it refer to their policy on abortion? DnC = Dilatation and Curettage?
Phillip, you are correct that it refers to the Democratic Party: Democratic National Committee. For help in deciphering the many acronyms around, feel free to use this as a source.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
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One thing I don’t get – Why did the rumor of Gov Palin faking a pregnancy cause he daughters current pregnancy to be “outed”. A 44 year old with a complicated pregnancy should have plenty of medical info, appointment records, specialist involved. Seems odd that she would drag her daughter in deeper instead of releasing her own medical records or other facts.
Sarah Palin supports Abstinence Only teaching, which has proven to be a complete and utter failure. The proof is in her own house. If this program doesn’t work in the Palin family, why would she think it would work on a large scale.
Just one item in a list of failed policies supported by Palin and McCain.
Wrong for America.
Sorry Con-J, but my understanding is that Palin supports abstinence as being taught first, not as an “only.”
@ttl – it wasn’t a matter of trotting out Bristol to “prove” a disgusting rumor as false. It was the matter of hundreds of reporters combing the Alaskan countryside looking for any amount of dirt whatsoever to confirm it.
Since the pregnancy was common knowledge with other teens there and the Palin family, this ugly conjecture forced them to announce it sooner than they might have been comfortable with.
In matters such as these, the burden of proof is NOT on the Palins to prove anything. For that matter, why not accuse them of worshipping Xenu and then demand they prove it untrue?
I thought Sen. Obama was classy in declaring this off-limits. But hey – this is modern politics and every American has the right to smear anyone they want, because we can’t afford what’s “Wrong for America.” Ends justify the means, right?
It is correct for the Left to go after Bristol’s pregnancy, for the Republican party and its rightwinger supporters claim the moral high ground, and they ought to be held to a higher standard.
@bo –
Which Bristol pregnancy should they be congratulated upon?
The bogus one they trumpeted that never was, or the real one?
Read these two new articles from Alaskan newspapers and if you can accept human nature, it is pretty much a slam dumK that Salin is a LIAR and committed a huge HOAX on the Alaskan people and made a huge error in judgement by trying to do the same on the american public.
Secret’s out: Palin pregnant (03/06/08)
http://www.adn.com/front/story/336402.html
Palin says she felt safe flying to Alaska to have baby
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/apr/22/palins-flight-labor-falls-under-scrutiny/
SLAM DUNK CHECKMATE > Leave town Sara
Glenn
How can you say those two storie prove anything about her lying.
It proves she was pregnant and that it was a surprise, but the reporter even called it a “barely perceptable bulge”, not the same thing as not being able to tell.
The second article merely says she noticed amniotic fluid, not the same thing as her water breaking and after consulting her physician decided it was safe to fly home.
These prove nothing and yet you have posted this exact statement on several websites in a lame attempt to get your ridiculous theory some exsposure. Try it somewhere else.
@tom
I think the burden of proof is clearly on Bristol Palin. She needs to submit to an immediate medical exam at her own expense, to prove that she does not in fact have two uteri.
As Glenn so rightly hints, it is entirely possible that Bristol was impregnated in the second uterus about six weeks before her first one pushed out Trig.
I will forever fail to understand how you conservative nutjobs can ignore simple science.