Now There's a Twist
Apparently Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter Bristol is pregnant now. That's a remarkably bizarre twist given that, behind the scenes, all anyone has been talking about over the last few days are the rumors that Sarah Palin's youngest child, Trig, is actually Bristol's child. Like Josh, I've so far refrained from writing about these rumors. Like any good rumor, there was enough information available to make it plausibly true, but not enough information to either confirm or dispel it definitively. And given the despicable trafficking in rumors that we've seen from right-wingers during this election cycle, I didn't want to lower myself--or be perceived to be lowering myself--to their level.
Now that the rumor has, by all appearances, been proven false, I do feel one thing needs to be said. Conservative bloggers and commentators have been screaming that this baby rumor was a vile lie invented by liberal bloggers or even the Obama campaign in order to smear Palin. I know for a fact that is not true. The reason I know that is because I first heard the rumor within minutes of the media reporting that Palin had been tapped to be McCain's VP. And I heard from friends from Alaska, not liberal bloggers. This rumor was already widespread in Alaska (and widely believed) and it had everything to do with the strange circumstances surrounding Trig's birth, not partisan politics. In particular, the rumor was fostered by the exceptionally bizarre story of how Palin--a 44 year old woman with a high-risk pregnancy--boarded an eight hour commercial flight from Dallas to Anchorage after her water broke and she started having contractions. That's a strange story, and if you doubt that, go ask any obstetrician or nurse midwife.
That story--along with some of the other odd facts that have been reported--were enough to raise eyebrows and get the major news outlets asking questions behind the scenes. And now, in one of the bizarre twists of all time, it turns out that Bristol is currently pregnant (and therefore, presumably, could not have given birth to Trig). That's one way to knock down a rumor I guess.
I don't even know what to make of that, but I find it very hard to believe that the McCain campaign knew about it before hand as they now claim. If they did, why didn't they ask Palin to go public with the story before she was chosen as VP, when the media spotlight was far less intense? The rollout of this story just days after the announcement of the pick could not have been what they planned. There are only two reasonable explanations: 1) they knew about the pregnancy but hoped they could keep the story under wraps until after the election, or 2) they didn't know about it and are only claiming they knew because they don't want people to know what an awful vetting job they did. I suspect the latter.
But either way, it doesn't reflect very well on McCain's judgment. Or Palin's.
On a final note, while I don't recommend the Obama campaign make this argument explicitly (because it will be seen as being in poor taste), it's worth noting that Palin is a strong proponent of abstinence-only education and a strong opponent of teaching anything about contraception in schools. Well, as should be obvious to everyone, that kind of approach accomplishes very little other than increasing the number of pregnant 17 year olds.
Now that the rumor has, by all appearances, been proven false, I do feel one thing needs to be said. Conservative bloggers and commentators have been screaming that this baby rumor was a vile lie invented by liberal bloggers or even the Obama campaign in order to smear Palin. I know for a fact that is not true. The reason I know that is because I first heard the rumor within minutes of the media reporting that Palin had been tapped to be McCain's VP. And I heard from friends from Alaska, not liberal bloggers. This rumor was already widespread in Alaska (and widely believed) and it had everything to do with the strange circumstances surrounding Trig's birth, not partisan politics. In particular, the rumor was fostered by the exceptionally bizarre story of how Palin--a 44 year old woman with a high-risk pregnancy--boarded an eight hour commercial flight from Dallas to Anchorage after her water broke and she started having contractions. That's a strange story, and if you doubt that, go ask any obstetrician or nurse midwife.
That story--along with some of the other odd facts that have been reported--were enough to raise eyebrows and get the major news outlets asking questions behind the scenes. And now, in one of the bizarre twists of all time, it turns out that Bristol is currently pregnant (and therefore, presumably, could not have given birth to Trig). That's one way to knock down a rumor I guess.
I don't even know what to make of that, but I find it very hard to believe that the McCain campaign knew about it before hand as they now claim. If they did, why didn't they ask Palin to go public with the story before she was chosen as VP, when the media spotlight was far less intense? The rollout of this story just days after the announcement of the pick could not have been what they planned. There are only two reasonable explanations: 1) they knew about the pregnancy but hoped they could keep the story under wraps until after the election, or 2) they didn't know about it and are only claiming they knew because they don't want people to know what an awful vetting job they did. I suspect the latter.
But either way, it doesn't reflect very well on McCain's judgment. Or Palin's.
On a final note, while I don't recommend the Obama campaign make this argument explicitly (because it will be seen as being in poor taste), it's worth noting that Palin is a strong proponent of abstinence-only education and a strong opponent of teaching anything about contraception in schools. Well, as should be obvious to everyone, that kind of approach accomplishes very little other than increasing the number of pregnant 17 year olds.
posted by A.L. at 12:36 PM
22 Comments:
As I understand it, they pulled Bristol out of school for several months because of infectious mononucleosis. If that's true, the timeline says she had the mono when she got pregnant. Wow. What an irresponsible icky hypocritical tangled web they got going there.
I'm just going to say I think pointing out Palin's daughter as an example of the failures of abstinence only education is pretty low, rather distasteful. To make that argument one goes with the overwhelming statistics, one does not attack her family. I think that would be lowering ourselves to conservative standards.
Other than that, as you point out: yeah this really is a weird story. In a perfect world we wouldn't be discussing this, but indeed it is not a perfect world, and everywhere is abuzz with the news.
If she had been vetted properly in the first place a lot of this could have been avoided. You reap what you sow. If nothing else let this whole mess be a lesson for future campaigns. A little time spent now can save a whole lot of headaches later.
All these smears will do is rally the base.
This really could become another Rathergate.
Why is pointing out the obvious, i.e. abstinence only ed. doesn't work, "distasteful?"
If you are a political figure and actively promote "abstinence only" with no alternative, then are unable to show that "abstinence only" doesn't work in YOUR family, how on earth can one continue to support that stance, let alone insist that everyone do the same? Abstinence doesn't work.
Additionally, considering one is second in line for the presidency one should expect to have their private affairs exposed and discussed, which is why they vet candidates (at least, in most cases).
VC,
What smears? Are you referring to the original rumors, or what I wrote in this post? Either way, it's somewhat misguided. As I said, the rumors are not liberal or Democratic rumors. They were pre-existing Alaskan rumors. And I said nothing in this post that wasn't reported by Reuters.
Jason Williams,
I'm not trying to single out Palin's daughter as an example of the failure of abstinence-only education. For all I know, she was very familiar with all forms of contraception. Even with good sex education and access to contraception, teen pregnancies happen.
But failure of abstinence-only education has been documented by study after study. So I think it's fair to point out the irony that Sarah Palin is a big proponent of this failed policy.
I'm talking about "The baby isn't hers, its her daughters!" smear that turned a private matter over to the press and humiliated 17 year old on the national stage to begin with.
Had lefty loons not been pushing those rumors there never would have been any need to nationally broadcast the pregnancy of a minor.
Virginia,
A "smear" is a story that is either untrue or questionable. In the current case, the only questionable story was the rumor, extant in Alaska for quite some time, about the child. The insanely dangerous action of the mother and the pregnancy of the daughter are simple facts, not smears.
For myself, these stories do not matter at all. Two unplanned pregnancies in the same immediate family in close succession may be bad luck -- or it may indicate a certain carelessness -- but I don't care.
The issue is the vetting, or lack of it, that took place, requiring them to throw the daughter to the wolves in order to quash the rumor. This indicates a profound lack of planning on the part of the McCain campaign.
Please remember: us godless liberals don't really care about other people's sex lives, except where they might interfere with public affairs.
How's that buyer's remorse going now?
You guys are turning it into a bigger deal than it is. This is nothing, the MSM is barely touching it.
AL, I re-read and realized that indeed you weren't suggesting singling out Bristol. Apologies.
The Obama campaign should be making an issue out of Palin's depressingly naive views on contraception/sex education. It shouldn't be connected to Bristol. Though I don't think that's what you were suggesting anyway.
I'm sure Virginia Conservative is equally outraged over the whisper campaing against Obama. You know, the e-mails that go around that he's a Muslim, that we was born in Kenya, etc.
Or do you just forward those e-maisl to everyone you know? Right-wingers complaining about "smears" is laughable.
They are the masters of the smear. It is their stock in trade.
I'm on record (I believe) saying that the Palin "babygate" is "Obama is a muslim and birth certificate-gate level retarded".
VC,
I can't underscore how widespread the baby rumor was even before Palin was picked. It had been the subject of stories and blog posts in Alaska for months now. Indeed, the rumor was so widespread that my friends (who aren't Democrats) were shocked that McCain would pick Palin as his VP.
News outlets were all over this and asking questions well before any liberal blog posted anything about it. So it's crazy to suggest that somehow liberal bloggers forced the Palins to come forward with the news of Bristol's pregnancy. That would have come out anyway. The questions would have been asked anyway.
The pregnancy is a private matter for the Palin family. They are in my prayers as they face this challenge. I sincerely wish them well. It is not a political matter. Barack Obama is exactly right that it is a subject that should be off-limits in political discussion. Not only is it the right thing for those of us who support Obama to keep quiet on this subject, it is the wise thing politically. Almost anything we say can be interpreted as taking political advantage of a family crisis.
Sarah Palin is very wrong about her views on sex ed, abortion, the climate crisis, energy policy, foreign policy, etc. etc. etc ... We can talk all day about those things. We should be resolute in avoiding even the appearance of meddling in her family. That seventeen year old has a tough time ahead of her and deserves to be let alone by the press and the public.
""I'm on record (I believe) saying that the Palin "babygate" is "Obama is a muslim and birth certificate-gate level retarded".""...that is wishful thinking and a reflection of what you want this thing to be, not what it is.
First of all no one is 'attacking' ( can we all stop using that idiotic phrase) Palin's daughter. This is about the choice of Palin for Veep and the clash all this crap has with the Values she claims to posses. In the last few days she has been caught lying about the Bridge to Nowhere, had to lawyer up for an abuse of power scandal, has been mentioned as a prior member of the AIP, a secessionist political party, found to have ran a 527 for Stevens, had old news of her abuse of power as Mayor rekindled (yup, a second abuse scandal), had past quotes or her claiming the Iraq War was about oil uncovered...and now the pregnancy thing. That list I just went through is not all "my friend" as the guy she fired in the Trooper gate mess now has come forward with E-mails....
NONE of this was immunized by the McCain folks and there is NO reason to believe this woman was properly vetted, if she was vetted at all (note: MSNBC and ABC both reporting a team of 10 GOP'ers and lawyers JUST NOW went to Alaska to do what I guess you would call Retro-vetting?). All this plays right into the developing narrative on Big Mac as being impulsive and rash. Good luck with the wishful thinking...McCain is a seriously flawed candidate not Palin, she is just the icing on the cake!
Two weeks from now, maybe less... she's off the ticket. Gone. (I hope not; much more fun to have her around.)
Two weeks from now, maybe less... she's off the ticket. Gone.
Whether this happens or not, the overriding issue is that this VP pick is yet more evidence that McCain often lacks good judgment.
The term “smear” has been used indiscriminately to refer to any information that one doesn’t want to hear, whether because the information is false or unproven (Obama is a Muslim, Obama was born in Kenya), true but thought likely to stoke improper passions (references to Obama’s middle name), true but suggestive of things that are false (references to Obama’s Muslim roots), true but deemed irrelevant (Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers) or true but simply hard to explain (Rezko). Now that Palin rather than Obama is the target, the sides will simply switch, with Rs calling everything reported, whether true or false, a smear, and Ds saying that there is nothing wrong with bringing up information that is, or might turn out to be, true. And both will indignantly deny that they are doing the same thing that they previously decried (AL will be especially outraged that anyone could suggest some sort of moral equivalence here). Each will respond that (1) they certainly are not doing the same thing that the other side did and (2) even if they are, the other side started it.
If it turns out that Palin has an association with someone who is known to have bombed abortion clinics in the distant past, or attends a church where the pastor regularly makes disparaging remarks about minorities, how many bloggers on either side will take a position consistent with the one they took before?
Personally, I find the relevance of Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy to any question of public interest to be limited at best. If it were in my power to do so, I would spare the girl the pain of the exposure and scrutiny she is going to receive. But the fact is that nothing can stop the internet from transmitting whatever information enough people find interesting, and it does not appear that the media can or will stop reporting on any such information that is likely to boost ratings (even if it does so under the guise of squelching rumors or otherwise tut-tutting). The internet has radically altered, if not entirely destroyed, the concept of privacy (far more so than warrantless wiretapping). So while it was wise and appropriate for Obama to say that this subject is off limits, it will have little or no effect.
Politicians who have sensitive family situations that they do not want publicized generally decline to accept nominations to high office. I agree with Obama that Palin's daughter should be off-limits, but the Governor could have ensured that by "abstaining" from the nomination. Now that the McCain campaign is pregnant with the scandal it will be interesting to see if they "abort" Palin or carry her misguided selection to term. The real story here is the exceptionally poor judgment of both McCain and Palin.
MLS,
Are you suggesting there's some sort of "moral equivalence" between what I wrote here and the stuff the Right has been saying about Obama? If so, please be more specific. What did I write that you think I shouldn't have.
For the record, I agree with Obama's take on this one, and barring unforeseen developments, I don't plan on writing about Bristol Palin any further.
But my point in this post was to rebut a specific charge made by the McCain campaign--i.e. that the rumors that have been going around were concocted by McCain's opponents or liberal bloggers. They weren't, and I knew that for a fact. The rumors at issue were widespread in Alaska before Palin was picked.
AL- I think the best way to answer your question is to imagine that we are talking about one of Obama’s daughters (hypothetically a teenager for these purposes) rather than Palin’s. As Jack Balkin notes on his blog, “One can only assume that if Barack Obama's teenage daughter were discovered to be pregnant out of wedlock, right wing tongues would wag about the permissive culture of liberalism, the bad influences that Barack and Michelle Obama undoubtedly exposed her to, the fact that Barack Obama himself was born to an 18 year old mother, Charles Murray's discussions of the pathologies of African-American culture, and, well, you get the picture.”
And I assume that you, among others, would point to this as an example of the horrible “stuff” that right wing bloggers have been writing about Obama. But how is that any different from writing about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy and connecting it to her mother’s political views on sex education (as you did)?
My point is not that there was anything terrible in what you wrote. After all, the information about the pregnancy was already public, and I cannot imagine that your commenting on it causes any incremental harm to Bristol. (I am guessing that she and her friends don’t read your blog.) But the same would be true in the hypothetical Balkin posed.
My overall point is that it is silly to pretend that there is some higher standard of ethics among bloggers of one particular political stripe. I am sure that you sincerely believe that left wing bloggers are more ethical and honorable than right wing bloggers. I am sure that you are also sincere in believing that the media unfairly subjects left wing candidates to a more stringent standard on all kinds of things. And I am sure that many conservative bloggers are sincere in holding the exact opposite opinion on both these points.
But it is silly nonetheless.
MLS,
First, I wasn't claiming that Bristol's pregnancy was a result of her mother's misguided belief in abstinence-only education, so what I said was not the same thing as a right wing blogger blaming a (hypothetical) Obama daughter pregnancy on their permissive liberal values, etc.
Second, it's probably worth noting that the vast majority of liberal blogs said absolutely nothing about the pregnancy rumor until after the Palin press release was issued yesterday. Only a handful did and they were minor ones, the most notable being a diarist on Daily Kos. And if you look at the comments to that post, the vast majority were critical of the author for raising the issue at all.
If this had been reversed, every major right wing blog would have mentioned the rumor and demanded answers.
I know your worlview requires you believe that that the Right and Left in this country are exact mirror images of each other, but that's just not true. Look at how totally uncomfortable most liberal bloggers and pundits are talking about this story, and how quick they were to condemn their own side for even bringing up the rumors. There's just not a similar reticence on the right. If you refuse to see that, fine. But it's true.
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