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September 01, 2008
Sarah Palin's lies
Posted by: Andoni
UPDATE at end of post.
It's been only 3 days since Senator John McCain introduced us to his chosen running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. During that time several public lies have come to light vis a vis Palin's political career.
The first lie relates to her words after McCain introduced her in Dayton, when she said she opposed the infamous "bridge to nowhere." She claimed that opposition as the basis to portray herself as a Republican who opposes earmarks or pork projects. The problem is that Palin strongly supported the "bridge to nowhere" when she was running for governor in 2006 and then accepted money for it. Only after the bridge got negative publicity and Congress decided not to continue funding it, did she voice opposition to the project, but in more of an expedient "you can't cut our funding, we don't want it" manner. Of note is that she gladly took the pork money already funded for the bridge and built a road to where the bridge was supposed to be. Andrew Sullivan jokingly calls this the "the road to nowhere."
The second lie relates to her attempt to get her brother in law, a state trooper going through an ugly divorce with Palin's sister, fired , using her influence as governor. She initially denied any involvement of her office in the incident, that is until tapes surfaced linking in her office to the attempt.The whole episode is under investigation and a full report is expected a few days before the November election. Of note, is that Palin fired the state police chief after he refused to summarily dismiss her brother in law. In my mind this is a real abuse of power. The circumstances of what her brother in law did are irrelevant. If what he did was wrong or bad, she should have used legal means to challenge him.
Finally, is the accusation that the Trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome) baby that Sarah Palin and her husband have publicly proclaimed as their 5th child is really the child of her daughter Bristol. (It was just announced today that Bristol is pregnant as a 17 year old unmarried teen.) See UPDATE at the end.
However the facts eventually turn out for this Trisomy 21 baby - and at the moment with the UPDATE it looks like the baby is hers, at best Sarah Palin showed utter disregard for the welfare of her "about to be born child."
You can read all the circumstantial evidence that the baby is really Bristol's, not Sarah's here. Note in UPDATE this story has been walked back.
Let's assume Sarah's story is true. According to Sarah her water broke at 4 am while she and her husband were in Dallas for a conference. As a physician, I can tell you statistically, that for a 5th pregnancy, when the water breaks the baby is coming very very soon and you should get to a hospital ASAP. Additionally, this was a high risk birth because it was a special needs baby (they knew this). To complicate matters further, the water broke early. Certainly they should have gone to a tertiary care medical center that has a neonatal intensive care unit. Dallas has many hospitals that fit this bill. But did Sarah go to a Dallas hospital? No, she decided to give her speech later that morning. After that, she got on an airplane and flew 8 hours to go to Alaska.
Ask any obstetrician if someone whose water breaks in the 8th month and is carrying a special needs baby should get on an airplane and fly 8 hours, and he will tell you that that would be reckless behavior. It could also be considered malpractice (by the mother) ........ against the baby. These are not the actions of parents who claim to love a baby so much.
The plane landed in Seattle (which also has great hospitals) and then in Anchorage. Instead of going to the closest hospital in Anchorage which is a tertiary care facility, she drove 45 minutes more to go to a rural, non tertiary care hospital that does not have the facilities that she could need due to the early term birth or the special needs a Trisomy 21 child might have.
So what's going on here? Is this "right to lifer" totally irresponsible with the life she is about to give birth to and claim they love and want so much.....or is she hell bent on rendezvousing at the rural hospital where her daughter is in labor or has already given birth so Sarah, not the daughter can be the one to emerge from the hospital with the new baby?
From a medical point of view if Sarah's story is true, she acted totally inappropriately for the welfare of her baby. Her actions do not match her professed words of love for that child. But from a logical point of view, her irrational actions give credance to the rumors that flew on the Internet.
UPDATE: Fellow blogger Kevin emailed me that the Daily Kos considers the story that the Trisomy 21 baby is really Bristol's ended with the surface of a photo of a clearly pregnant Governor Palin. So my post should be re-titled "2 Lies and one bad behavior." Also, Barack Obama has issued a statement today that he does not want the privacy of Bristol invaded after her mother Sarah Palin today announced that Bristol is pregnant. He said people's family's and people's children are off limits.
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Comments
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She claimed that opposition as the basis to portray herself as a Republican who opposes earmarks or pork projects.
As she should, given that she didn't go on to complete it with state money.
Of note, is that Palin fired the state police chief after he refused to summarily dismiss her brother in law. In my mind this is a real abuse of power.Somehow I knew Andoni would consider it an "abuse of power" to fire a commissioner of public safety who refused to dismiss a state trooper who, as said public safety commission's own investigation confirmed, among other things, that he tasered his stepson and was driving drunk.
And finally:
As a physician
I quote:
It is unethical for a physician to disparage the professional competence, knowledge, qualifications, or services of another physician to a patient or a third party or to state or imply that a patient has been poorly managed or mistreated by a colleague without substantial evidence.
Bill Frist got nailed for this -- as he should have -- when he tried to diagnose Terri Schiavo remotely for political purposes.
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I strongly doubt that Trig is actually Bristol's. I mean, sure, politicians are not above a bit of lying, but think it through. Here's the scenario: Bristol is pregnant and her mother wants to protect her daughter's reputation, so she claims the baby is hers. I personally have no problem with that, and it seems utterly plausible. But then either Bristol gets pregnant AGAIN a month later, which seems pretty unlikely, or else .. this is the really crazy idea here, then Sarah orchestrates a faked pregnancy for her teen daughter, to now cover her OWN story, completely throwing out the window all the reasons she lied in the first place? Sure, maybe she is a sociopath. But occam's razor suggests maybe we should just believe the initial story, and drop all this bizarre speculation.
I do believe, if Andoni's facts about her behavior prior to the birth are indeed true, that she's clearly a bit irresponsible. I'd like to hear her reasoning behind her decision to go to a rural hospital in Alaska. And given that one way or the other, her daughter has engaged in premarital sex and gotten knocked up (whether she keeps the baby and marries the dad or not), Palin should be careful how preachy she gets on the issue of family values.
One thing I do believe about her, based purely on my own instincts, is that if one of her children turns out to be gay, that unlike our sitting VP, she would completely come on board for us. I think it would be a very different issue for her if it was her own son or daughter she wanted to deny marriage benefits to on "policy principle."
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It is unethical for a physician to disparage the professional competence, knowledge, qualifications, or services of another physician to a patient or a third party or to state or imply that a patient has been poorly managed or mistreated by a colleague without substantial evidence.
I agree, in that it's premature to say that either Palin or her advising physician(s) acted irresponsibly, but I would certainly like to hear the reasoning behind such a move. There certainly may be a very valid reason why Palin needed to return to the hospital in rural Alaska, versus all the (arguably better) facilities she passed on her trip, and I think we should know what that reason is before passing any judgment. The question for me is, has anyone asked her, and if so, what has she said?
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Charlie, women can become pregnant with two or more babies that were conceived at two different times. It's called superfoetation. Here is a story of a 20 year old women who gave birth to a girl while six months pregnant with triplets.
http://tinyurl.com/634zyu
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<<>>
This is all getting pretty bat-shit now, guys. Honestly.
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Scott said: "Charlie, women can become pregnant with two or more babies that were conceived at two different times...."
This is all getting pretty bat-shit now, guys. Honestly. Maybe we should start discussing WTC 7 now, and the missile that hit the Pentagon?
What's more, it's really rich to watch a bunch of left-wing gay guys who prattle on endlessly about fighting being told how to live their lives, sit around trading lecturing tomes for a woman about what she should do in her fifth pregnancy. Really rich.
That's all I'm going to say on all this garbage. I have no political sympathies in saying, plainly, that this is getting totally nuts and you guys might want to step back for a moment and be self-conscious...
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NDT, I wasn't disparaging her physician. I never mentioned her physician. Although I used the word malpractice, I meant the parents were doing the bad practice.
It would be nice if Sarah told us what she was thinking. Her husband said he didn't want the baby born in Texas. Hmm....I think the first consideration should be that the baby be born alive, as opposed to that it not be born in Texas.
Also, if Sarah was following doctors orders, I would like that doctor to come forward to tell us if he told her to get on that plane and why he did it.
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I'm inclined to agree with Kevin on this. We've had 4 posts already on Sarah Palin and it's getting a little screechy and nutty.
Let's wait to see what Palin says, as a V.P. candidate, about gay rights and other controversial issues before we rake her over the coals any more.
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Dallas North Thirty--You are loosing any credibility by ALWAYS personally attacking anyone who says anything that you don't like. In the post about Palin's pregnancy, the writer, a physician NO WHERE disparages the professional competence, knowledge, qualifications, or services of another physician to a patient! What she does do is criticize at the very least Palin's poor judgment in returning all the way to a rural hospital after her water broke--Palin chose this and her comment was no physician would have ever counseled her to make the return trip. And in the alternative, she wasn't using poor judgment if she wasn't pregnant, she was being completely deceptive and dishonest. I tend to think she is guilty of the lesser charge of really bad judgment.
Finally be sure to return to Gay Patriot comments on Palin appointment where you prove the point that you are just not thinking clearly and are way too governed by emotion. You accuse me of being a hypocrite for thinking of voting for Obama because there are some gay former employees of the DNC suing their former employer for discriminatory employment practices. Since when in the US does the mere filing of a law suit prove the case. And further these employees worked for the DNC and not for Obama and he is a member of the DNC but he is not an officer of it and he not an employer of these former employees. Through very poor illogical thinking you send off these verbal attacks that well are both plain mean spirited and untrue just because people write things you don't like hearing. But I will always defend your right to speak up and say things I don't like hearing, especially when the statements make you look like an idiot.
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The problem with this post is it can be written for any of the 4 candidates.
(Insert candidate name)'s Lies. Then work backwards.
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Funny, Andoni; had you bothered to actually do any research, you could have easily found this story.
Palin was in Texas last week for an energy conference of the National Governors Association when she experienced signs of early labor. She wasn't due for another month.
Early Thursday -- she thinks it was around 4 a.m. Texas time -- she consulted with her doctor, family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who is based in the Valley and has delivered lots of babies, including Piper, Palin's 7-year-old.
Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been having for months.
"I said I am going to stay for the day. I have a speech I was determined to give," Palin said. She gave the luncheon keynote address for the energy conference.
Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said.
"Things were already settling down when she talked to me," Baldwin-Johnson said. Palin did not ask for a medical OK to fly, the doctor said.
"I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back," Baldwin-Johnson said.
So the Palins flew on Alaska Airlines from Dallas to Anchorage, stopping in Seattle and checking with the doctor along the way.
Now, if you'll also note in that article, Palin was not due for another month. Indeed, once she got back to Alaska, the doctor ended up having to induce labor.
Now, Andoni, what was it that you were claiming?
As a physician, I can tell you
You invoked your own medical degree to diagnose and claim malpractice on hearsay, without even bothering to do even the most basic research on what happened and what medical persons were involved -- for the sole reason of smearing a political opponent.
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I think Obama set a remarkable example as a gentleman and exhibited something we haven't seen since Camelot. He refused to talk trash even when it might have scored a few votes. That is so amazing! Just remembering what the whole Rev. Wright debacle cost him, I really think Obama could have justly skewered McCain/Palin, but the fact that he did no has me now more impressed than any insult-zinger could have ever wowed me!
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Why did Sarah Palin risk her baby's health to rush home to Alaska?
She's been affiliated with the Alaskan Independence Party. They believe that Alaskans should have the right to vote on seceding from the USA. And they believe that only native-born Alaskans should be able to participate in this decision, so Sarah was trying to make sure her baby would be considered a citizen of the nation of Alaska after it secedes.
Sarah sent them a supportive video for their 2008 convention, where they endorsed the Constitution Party candidate for President, because John McCain is too left-wing.
This woman is and always has been a RINO (Republican In Name Only) who has supported fringe candidates like Pat Buchanan, but associated herself with the Republicans to win elections in Alaska. Real Republicans should be outraged at her name being placed in nomination for VP.
Here's a link to Jake Tapper's story on her affiliations, including a link to the AIP website where you can read their wacky platform, etc.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html
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Actually, since Obama's campaign started this whole thing, it's kind of odd for him to apologize now. Poor dear nearly melted down when it was pointed out that this whole meme was being spread on blogs that invariably ended up being linked to him and his supporters.
Isn't it amazing how they all ended up with this same information so quickly -- and released it in such a pleasantly-coordinated fashion?
This was a colossal misfire on Obama's part. He and his elitist advisors thought that this sort of thing would turn off conservatives and evangelicals based on their stereotypes of what Christians and conservatives believe; thus, just as he did with Jack Ryan, he had his backers start spreading things behind the scenes while he pretended to be opposed to it up front.
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You, sir, are a fucking asshole and since Chris Crain is allowing this shite to be posted here the same goes for him. You're wrong about the bridge and the stuff about her bro-in-law, but those are least legit areas to express concern. Yet you don't stop there, no you go straight in fuckig whacked-out Kossack Land with the basest, most vile bullshit in seeking a win this November by going after the infant and the daughter. Ok, fine. Free speech and that stuff. No problem. That little fuck Obama is going down this year in defeat, not really because of his own flaws anymore but because of the batshit fucks like you that he surrounds himself with. So bring it and we'll see you at the polls.
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You know, North Dallas, I have an uncle who made millions building housing projects under LBJ, and one time I mentioned to him that I thought JFKs assassination was somehow linked to LBJ and that the government had covered it up. He burst out laughing and said, "There's no way. None of them are intelligent enough to cover up something like that."
I feel the same way about your conspiracy theory of Obama's machine. If it backfired then that makes them as dumb as McCain for choosing Palin and dumber than her daughter for not using protection.
You have to presume an awful lot of stupidity to come up with these complex, elaborate schemes. So, your only real point would be, they're all idiots and so are we for buying into it. And on that you just may have something.
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I have grown to expect more from my reading at Citizen Crain than this posting offers.
I grew up in the right, and my family, I'm sure finds me pissy when they go on and on about whatever stupid thing they've heard to be true about Clinton (either one), Obama, Biden. Why use our minds to think when we can use bias to gather crap and believe that it's true.
Now I live in the left, where I'm disappointed to find a parallel universe of political, and non-policy, crap. Feh! I'll crawl under a rock until it's over. Let me know how it turns out.
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Let's see, revtj.
I assert that the Obama campaign had its backers emailing media sources about salacious material on Palin -- as it did before in Obama's campaign against Jack Ryan in 2004.
Meanwhile, we have people here asserting that a) Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy, b) Sarah Palin still belongs to a party that, by its own admittance, she left over a decade ago, c) Sarah Palin flew against the advice of her doctor when the facts clearly state otherwise, and d) Sarah Palin's daughter is a medical miracle who is having simultaneous pregnancies with different children, and it's being taken as perfectly rational.
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Well, NDT, to be fair, you have asserted repeatedly, as fact, that Obama's campaign is behind the spreading of this rumor without providing anything to back it up. That is no better or worse than anyone else asserting anything without reference, regardless how absurd, although you have the distinction of having repeated your assertion about five times now, on this blog alone.
By the way, I read somewhere, just a comment an Alaskan made on a related story, with no reference cited either, that this story actually was first reported by a conservative news group in Alaska. Is this true? I have no idea, but it's certainly possible. Was it spread around by Obama supporters? Well, yes, but the first person to alert me to the presence of the story was... you. So we can't say everyone spreading it is an Obama supporter. Were some of the people spreading it instructed to do so by Obama's campaign? I have yet to see proof of that. As always, my mind is open until the moment that proof is presented, but I'm equally willing to believe it's been spread around by people regardless of political leaning simply because it's dramatic and over-the-top. Like a Desperate Housewives story arc without the unfunny slapstick or unnecessary voice-over.
(Thanks, by the way for the link to the ADN article. It puts to rest the whole debate about her potential impropriety during her labor.)
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By the way, I read somewhere, just a comment an Alaskan made on a related story, with no reference cited either, that this story actually was first reported by a conservative news group in Alaska. Is this true?
If you mean the fact that Bristol's pregnancy was fully known around town, then yes.
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Oh, and Charlie.....if unreferenced sources are all that are needed to prove the Obama campaign's involvement, here you go. :)
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Kevin, the story of Sarah Palin covering up her daughter's pregnancy is more credible than her own story that she actually had the child herself. Sarah Palin announced she was pregnant in Febuary supposedly seven months into the pregnancy. No one knew she was pregnant before that. She continued to work even after her water broke according to her.
Sarah Palin is getting a dose of her own medicine. She has sat in judgement of gay people (and others) for a long time and would like if gay people had no rights at all.
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If you mean the fact that Bristol's pregnancy was fully known around town
No, I meant the OTHER story, the one suggesting that Trig might actually have been Bristol's. I wouldn't know where to begin to verify this, but it certainly isn't impossible. (I say it's not impossible because I'm sure there are conservatives in Alaska who don't love her, even though her approval rating was extremely high, or conservatives who'd take exception to her covering for her teenage daughter having a child out of wedlock.)
My point is that your assertion that this now-annoying story was an Obama-camp invention remains entirely speculative.
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I tried to do a little research into this myself. It's hard to find the original story, or where it came from, but I've seen repeated assertions by Alaskans that this story existed there (though no one else has said it was started by a conservative group) well before it was picked up by Daily KOS.
I've said before: I defend Obama on this simply because I don't think he (or even his people) would be dumb enough to get mixed up in something as ridiculous as this. I think the Daily KOS did this on their own, blinded by their quest to discredit all Republicans as hypocrites, they end up looking like crackpots.
The comments to this entry are closed.
Jerri Ann Alex on Sep 1, 2008 2:26:00 PM:
Lies covering lies?
I say, show us the birth certificate for Trig. I smell a "still birth" or "miscarriage" within a few weeks on this "new pregnancy".... This is getting serious. Americans need full disclosure and the truth.
Americans are not stupid. If Republicans wanted to show honesty, they would have announced this from the beggining.