"Romney-Pawlenty" sounds like something they'd serve at Lucca.

And the mud-slinging begins.

Whose your mommy?

Which in turn begs the question, "Whose your daddy?"

Please give Ruthie G. a hug for me. I'll hug Sarah for you.

Oh puh-leeeeze! Every detail of this woman's life has been looked at under a microscope before she was chosen. She was likely nearly put under hot interrogation lights and told that every detail of her past would come out in the campaign process, and asked if she has ever had a pimple that she did not admit to.

Politics are not what they used to be. Makes me want to stay off the internet.

Every detail of this woman's life has been looked at under a microscope before she was chosen.

That's turning out not to be the case, though. It's becoming pretty clear that Palin was a reckless choice by a reckless candidate who wants access to The Button. There's going to be some fantastic reading when McCain insiders start telling their stories after the election.

Wouldn't McCain's people have checked this before extending the offer?

by a reckless candidate who wants access to The Button

This is right out of the sixties. How funny.

wants access to The Button

I think it's actually the plane. That little Lear is so cramped.

If this story is true, it would be the end of the McCain campaign. We will know soon enough...

something they'd serve at Lucca

You're thinking of reni al polenta?

There's an equally credible blog that's reporting Palin's husband is a werewolf who has personally murdered hundreds of Alaskans.

Why not skip the rumors and DNA test for the FATHER of the baby. That way if Todd is the father, then it's incest, and if Todd is not the father, then one of the Palins is a whore

But the Dems aren't bitter that McCain picked a woman, and Obama didn't.

Right?

Right.

Please, oh PUHLEEZ let lefties try to run with this one!

Here, I'll even help you out. Here is Palin with pillows crammed under her pantsuit:

http://alaskareport.com/images31/palin_pregnant.jpg

Here she is without:

http://gov.state.ak.us/photos/ftwainwright_govp_05s.jpg

Wow. You managed to smear Sarah Palin AND her 16 year-old daughter in the same post. Very classy.
C'mon folks -- how common is it for a 16 year old to have a baby with Down Syndrome?

The national political scene is so over run with dishonesty and deception, it is hard to know what is true or false any more. I try to look deeper than the gossip columns. Ironically, this election may come down to who voters trust, rather than the issues they stand for.

The trouble I am having with the dem party now is the overtly disingenuous nature of the campaign during this last dem convention. I watched Hillary and Bill Clinton come to speak and completely reverse what they had been publicly saying for over a year about Obama. Then, for Obama to lay praise on the presumed killer of Mary Jo Kopechne? This did little to move those of us on fence toward the liberal choices. Honesty and character should be rule #1. So far, the dems have much work to do in order to win.

Assuming it is true:

Compare and contrast the repercussions to whether the secret were a private life as a gay and a public life as a heterosexual.

Who here would assert that the deception alleged in this case should be criminalized, or even considered immoral?

I will look upon it as an issue that defines whether she understands and will defend individual liberty, privacy and autonomy, against government intrusion; against the tyranny of the majority.

On the flip side, it would be synonymous with tyrannical government were either Obama or Biden to themselves publicly even ask about the matter; you know "don't ask don't tell."

I hope that you are not advocating that we all become jovial voyeurs. Particularly in a matter so seemingly important as selection of the second in line to become the President. Even if it is not a crime, the voyeurism that is, it certainly is on the losing side of the morality play that is unfolding; regardless of whether the allegation is true or false.

You know, this says so much about the American political process and its attendant parasites. If this story is true, it says reams about how we're so cynical about the people who want to become president that we roll our eyes and exclaim "Well, it figures". If this story is false, then it says reams about how we're so cynical about journalism and wannabe journalists that we roll our eyes and exclaim "Well, it figures." What's terrible is that in both cases, we're absolutely right, and yet we want to do so little to change the situation. We'll continue to roll our eyes at creepy, crooked politicians, and roll our eyes at creepy, crooked journalists, and continue to expect someone else to fix the problem.

This is a national election for our national government. The past few years have turned elections and politicians into celebrities, instead of political leaders with our future in their hands.
We're not talking about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt here, people. We're talking about our possible future VP!!!

I hate this krap. It comes from both sides of the aisle and makes me not want to be a part of either party.

Before I read this rather surprising observation, I remember thinking about the daughters little tummy and its different shape from adolescent weight gain. I will hold my opinion, because this could also be the characteristic weight gain from cortisone treatment of mono.

Is this a new swift boat?

If massmedia (apologists) say, "you don't know if this is true or false;" then it is True.

When massmedia say, "this sounds true, what do you think;" then it is False.

This is right out of the sixties. How funny.

How else to explain McCain's actions immediately following the Russia/Georgia incident? The guy wanted to start a shooting war with the Russians. Heck, one of his campaign advisers is a registered agent of the Georgian government who's job it is to get Georgia into NATO and get NATO to back them up. It sounds like it's right out of the sixties because it is. McCain and Palin both wish it were October 1962; McCain militarily, Palin domestically.

Butch: I second your thoughts on this. That said, though, doesn't the second picture kind of call to mind Michael Dukakis?

So to summarize all the lefty criticisms of Governor Palin:

She:

1. is a hick beauty queen
2. likes to kill and eat wildlife
3. will outlaw contraception
4. will criminalize all abortions
5. faked a pregnancy
6. has a 16 year old whore for a daughter
7. fired a civil servant who refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law
8. doesn't know what the vice president does.
9. was only chosen because she's a woman
10. is nowhere near as qualifed as the carpetbagging Senator my-husband-was-President that makes me qualified to be President from New York.
11. is a nobody from a small state, which is worse than being a career Washington insider from Delaware.
12. didn't go to Columbia or Harvard
13. is unfit for national office, unlike Obama, who was chosen based on his tremendous record of legislative achievements and expertise on all matters of policy foreign and domestic.
14. likes to club baby seals and feed them to polar bears before she allows them to become extinct
15. is in bed with big oil companies, which is why they are all pissed at her for signing a pipeline deal with a small Canadian company.

Did I miss anything?

A sitting governor parading around with a pillow around her waist, faking pregnancy? That, my friends, is beyond creepy. That is psycho.

Only slightly less psycho would be a 44-year-old woman, eight months pregnant with her fifth child, a Downs baby, taking an 11-hour plane flight after starting to leak amniotic fluid.

Doctors who either fake birth certificates or advise women in that condition to take such flights also ought to have their heads examined.

I hope she likes Juneau, because she's not going anywhere else.

To me, it's too bad. I wish Kos had waited with this until October. But the Enquirer was already on it.

What better way to give Palin experience then to have her take the Vice President's position. She'll gain experience, and then, be able to be president. Portland cityhall will wet its collective pants if McCain-Palin pull off victory, because federal government handouts will be slowing to a crawl for the likes of Portland. It could be good bye streetcars for up to 16 years. So, yes PDX should be going after the two of them, because its economic scheme is in jeopardy. Nobama/Biden will let bloated PDX cityhall continue on as is, maybe even worse.

To get back to the point of this post, I'll bet you a dollar that Palin is off the ticket by Tuesday noon Alaska time.

The machine may have seen problems with the brother-in-law attack. Trying to have a mean drunk, who tasers his own kid and makes death threats, fired may have appealed to most.

Now Peter Z apologizes for passing rumor after he passes it. Nice. Good luck with this.

I have no idea what you're talking about, but thanks for thinking that I might.

Now, from what I understand, this isn't some desperate democratic smear--it's a rumor that's been making the rounds in Alaska for some time. Sure seems fishy--it'll be outrageous if it's true.

I just hope that this is verified about 100 different ways before/if it breaks in msm. I am reminded of the TANG/Dan Rather incident. ...this is just too easy. If this is wrong, no other attack against McCain's insane flip flop on affirmative action will stick. Palin would become the pampered victim for the rest of the campaign.

Whether she's the mother or not, she's done. Flying 11 hours with an amniotic leak (maybe in labor, the story keeps changing) and then driving 45 minutes to an obscure podunk hospital to have a baby that you know is going to be Downs is probably worse than wearing a pillow to fake that you're pregnant. Trust me -- she is done.

I didn't say you would attack with the brother-in-law story. It's out there already. This new rumor sounds like round 2.

Can you link us to the brother-in-law story? I hadn't heard it.

The brother-in-law story's not desperate speculation. It'll come down to the left saying the law was broken by Palin's staff versus the right's contention the SOB brother in law deserved worse. As a PR story, I'd rather be on Palin's side.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5687512&page=1

And Cindy being in the beer business makes her an expert on Siberia.

The brother-in-law story's not desperate speculation.

Oh, that. I had seen that. That is soooo nothing compared to the baby. She's toast.

a summary version: The chink in Mrs. average's armor may be “troopergate.” -- She fired the supervisor of her sister's former policeman husband when the man refused to fire her brother-in-law. Seems her brother-in-law was in a nasty divorce with her sister.

This firing led to the state legislature investigating Sarah for abuse of power. She denied it, saying the man had tasered a child. But later, after it came out that a number of her friends and family had been advocating for the firing- which she rejected any knowledge of, she changed her story.

If you don't have popcorn in the cupboard, you ought to head out and get some. This is going to be some great entertainment.

She changed the story about the tasering and death threats? Link?

Here's another: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603894_pf.html

Here she is on June 13, 2008 -- 56 days after "having" the premature Downs baby, her fifth child, whom she is supposedly breastfeeding:

http://gov.state.ak.us/photos/ftwainwright_govp_05s.jpg

Thanks, "butch."

She's toast IF it's true. The linked gossip provides no reason to think it's anything other than wild speculation.

Even if it's NOT true, she flew 11 hours on a commercial airliner and drove 45 minutes after leaking amniotic fluid, with a Downs baby, in her fifth pregnancy, at age 44, bypassing several major hospitals in several cities to deliver in a rural hospital in the boonies. That is reckless, reckless, reckless. I'm tellin' ya, she's done either way.

I agree with you, Jack- any woman whose amniotic sac bursts in the 8th month has no business being anywhere except in the closest hospital bed (in a hospital facility with a proper neonatal unit, etc.) So if the baby is hers, she demonstrated "judgment" so poor, I'd have to say she's a moronic nutjob. If, on the other hand, the baby is her daughter's, then she's just Jerry Springer material. Before this story/rumor surfaced, I was very troubled by the fact that she supposedly went back to work 3 days after giving birth. That's just completely f***ed, IMO.

Doris, don't worry. By this time Tuesday, she will be off the ticket.

Again, assuming it is true:

She has only one person to answer to. Her daughter.

What would you do for your own daughter?

Would you pretend that it could never happen?

Would you become some sort of dictatorial monster in your own home so that YOU would not face the same sort of dilemma (dishonor)?

Recast the perspective to the only one that matters, from her daughter's shoes, then pose your alternative solutions. The solution chosen is not the least bit psychotic.

Supermom, facing down a world that is today filled with so much evil. Feel the love, if you can.

We could all just move along, just as when someone asked Bill: "boxers or briefs?"

If you can get the doctor to say he didn't advise her to fly, I'll say you're right. Otherwise, I'll take that bet.

Sorry, nag. If the governor of a state paraded around with a pillow around her, faking that she was pregnant -- even for beauty contest alumnae, that is 100% psycho.

Plus, she's been milking her mommy story for political advantage. If it's a lie, that's a serious breach of the public trust. And if it's a lie, there are probably also some faked documents that could send someone to jail.

the doctor to say he didn't advise her to fly

The doctor is a she, and she and Grandma Sarah are reportedly quite tight with each other. It's a very, very small town.

I'd like to see the doctor stand up and corroborate Palin's story that the doctor told her it was o.k. to fly from Dallas to Anchorage leaking amniotic fluid and with contractions starting.

Then try to defend her license to practice medicine.

Sure, she gets choices. We all do.

That's why the cover up is worse: Choosing a LIARS myth about what choices were got, and took.

Very interesting.

Not only would no doctor advise her to fly after her water broke. She would be advised against flying at ANY TIME in her third trimester. She shouldn't have been in Texas in the first place.

VERY interesting if true.

If you were a DA would you hide behind your wide amorphous prosecutorial discretion to seize upon the evil of doctored records for children of minor children - - - even if it might lead directly to the encouragement of putting such children up for adoption (or abortion)? Or would you do so only when it is politically expedient, so as to limit such affects?

One sure thing about Repub commenters: when they protest the loudest, you know you hit close to the mark.

would you hide behind your wide amorphous prosecutorial discretion to seize upon the evil of doctored records for children of minor children

If it amounted to insurance fraud, I would prosecute.

The 16 year old daughter thing won't get off the blogs, where it belongs. The Texas flight thing may be enough to bring her down. If it gets off the Daily Koz and makes it's way to the mainstream, a week or 2 will have passed. Then the left's talking heads will have to scream for a week. So I'll still take the "Tuesday She's Toast" bet.

If they let her come out of the convention as the nominee, and then yank her off the ticket, the Republicans are guaranteed to lose the election. And they know that. There is some serious, serious shinola going to go down in the McCain camp and the rest of the party leadership over this in the next 36 hours. Game on.

Oh, and guess what, now there isn't really going to be a Republican convention. Uh huh.

It would be nicer if Palin were toast for being a flaming wingnut (which she is). But flaming wingnuts are what the GOP "base" wants.

Faced with a pregnant sixteen year old, they learn from amniocentesis that the child will suffer from Down Syndrome. The heart rending decision whether to take the baby to full term might well pit mother against daughter. That scenario could lead to the result suggested. Desperate people do desperate things. Sometimes quality of life for baby and mother must give way to political expediency transforming a grandmother into a mother. Another miracle of modern politics. Hard to believe she would accept the nod to be Veep under that scenario?

If she's not the mother, she should have been smart enough to say no to McCain and wait eight years or so until this thing was ancient history before making her big move. Now her political career will be forever crippled.

Shouldn't we just postpone the election now?

they learn from amniocentesis that the child will suffer from Down Syndrome. The heart rending decision whether to take the baby to full term

Just wildly speculating here, but one possibility is that there was a quiet adoption all set up in Wasilla, but when a late-term amnio confirmed Down syndrome, they had to go to Plan B. A hastily conceived, wildly improbable, and in the end poorly executed, fraud ensued. I doubt that abortion was ever even a remote option for this family.

Even the Daily Koz says the daughter child thing is BS:
http://openthread.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/204244/865/169/579531

This would doom McCain even if he gets rid of her. Any responsible person, regardless of party would have to start questioning his executive ability. He can't even run a campaign.

Don't give anybody any ideas, Allan.

I hear the series of injections for rabies is quite painful.

Let me know.

Bye.

Daughters weigh gain- cortisone treatment for mono.

Flying for Alaskans is like a trolley ride for a Portlander, or a ferry ride for someone in Seattle.

Some woman think childbirth is a natural occurrence that has happened for thousands of years and rarely has mishaps. For a typical Alaskan woman, for baby number 5 we are lucky she didn't squat out behind the satellite dish to give birth.

This will be interesting and put me down for a dollar.

I'm with you Jack, Tuesday she's done!
The latest is that McCain isn't even coming to the convention.
Joel, you are on the money.
Wingnut!

For a typical Alaskan woman, for baby number 5 we are lucky she didn't squat out behind the satellite dish to give birth.

Not buying it. The more kids you have, the faster they come, and she knows that. Sarah Palin is too decent a woman to get on a plane from Dallas to Anchorage after starting to lose amniotic fluid and starting contractions. Particularly with a Downs kid.

But that's the story she's selling! Say goodbye -- and for you tighty righties, the sooner the better.

Just for kicks:

Her water breaks at 4am.

She gives a speech, we'll assume no earlier than 8am (big assumption, it was probably later). Gets out of the room at 8:30am (another big assumption).

Drive time to airport, whole airport thing, in plane and taking off. We'll say that's two hours door to plane seat.

I've read 12 hours for flight and layover in Seattle.

45 minutes to drive to distant hospital.

That's over 19 hours after her water breaks. Most of it spent sitting on an airplane.

Just saying. I know she's toughand all.

If it is her kid that doctor shouldn't be practicing medicine.

Amen, Snards! Actually, I think the story she's telling is worse than what folks are alleging -- that she wore a pillow and faked it to cover up for her daughter.

Why couldn't she have just said in February, "My fellow Alaskans, I want to share with you some news. My daughter, Bristol, is going to have a baby. We are all very excited. Although this comes at a very early time in her life, Bristol knows that she and her baby are both great gifts from God to our family. We are all in this together, and we look forward to the new addition."

Two weeks of "daughter pregnant out of wedlock" headlines in the Alaska papers, a few snickers about her "abstinence only" insanity, but everybody else yawns, and it's over quickly.

But no.

She's nuts. And by Tuesday, she's gone.

Hurricane will take the news through Tuesday at least. The best you can hope for is Thursday. I'm sure the loosey lefties already have a game plan for the other VP candidates. This one came out of left field and the plan had to be thrown together quickly. Nice job.

We have no one to thank but McCain, who served this one up on a golden platter.

It's cold out there.

Jack,

Your hotlinked goodness of alleged details of the Governor's non-pregnancy are pure speculation.

Granted, if she engaged in a fraudulent pregnancy, she will be outed and dropped from the ticket. But I can't imagine the local media wouldn't have already figured that out if it actually happened. Clearly, she made a sufficient number of enemies along the way that would have motive to call her out. None have, based on my readings.

As for the decision to fly in the third trimester, who is qualified to play Monday morning obstetrician? McCain has battled skin cancer yet he frequently appears in the sunshine without a hat on. Obama is/was a tobacco smoker: which CERTAINLY flies in the face of medical opinion.

So what if the newborn's photo wasn't posted on the hospital's website: would you want your baby's photo published on a public site?

So what if she lost most of her pregnancy pounds in two months? Lots of Hollywood starlets have done the same thing. And breastfeeding does burn up the calories.

Put it this way: assume it is her baby, and she managed to give birth and go back to a full schedule of being the Governor just three days later. Don't you think she deserves some credit for incredible personal energy and time management skills?

If the RNC cancels most of the activities for the convention for 2 or 3 days, and the media consentrate on Gustav and all that human interest stuff; then the candidates can be replaced without a lot of hoopla. Then the RNC can try and convince all of us that the former ticket was just a figmant of our collective imaginations.
Why not?; given all the other stuff we are supposed to beleive, presented to us by the co called media and the government.

As for the decision to fly in the third trimester

Nice try. The decision in question here is to fly from Dallas to Anchorage, and then take another 45-minute country drive, after her water broke. No OB in her right mind would have allowed that -- especially based on a phone call.

assume it is her baby, and she managed to give birth and go back to a full schedule of being the Governor just three days later.

No, I'll tell you what: You assume that. I have a brain.

Then the RNC can try and convince all of us that the former ticket was just a figment of our collective imaginations.

And the sooner they start the revisionism, the less difficult it is going to be for them.

So what if the newborn's photo wasn't posted on the hospital's website: would you want your baby's photo published on a public site?

If I were the governor, I would expect it to be splashed all over the media, much less published routinely on the hospital website.

Actually, though, the hospital should stop doing that.

"As for the decision to fly in the third trimester." So much for the right to choose.,

" ... would you want your baby's photo published on a public site?"

Probably not. But Palin put her (baby) daughter Briget's photo (X 3) on the public website of the Governor of Alaska ... and in the last 24 hours, 2 of those photos disappeared from the website -- the 2 pix where Briget is 'showing.' (According to Jack's link to the 'dailyKos' entry, which presents the 'disappeared' photos out of cached archive. It is left to the reader to see if they are still on the Alaska Governor's website ... or NOT.)

Oh, and Mister Tee -- asking what charges against Ms. Failin' your list is missing, this: 1) She's a LIARS. (Or wait until she wags her finger at the camera and and says, "I DID have sex with my husband" ... right before the baby's DNA tests come back.)

2) She posed topless, at age 20 in 1984. Here. (Safe For Work).

And if all this is just lies why isn't Mrs. palin standing up right now! and showing us the DNA test?
You would think that her teenage daughter's honor and reputation would matter to her.

85 comments..is this the most comments you have had?
Is this a true " Baked Alaskan"?

Well, I've been poking around all day on this story, and while a couple of things look fishy, I've decided that Sarah is the mom--which means a 17-year-old kid has been made a victim of a pretty vicious rumor. Alaska papers have checked it out and found nothing amiss. Even Kos has backed off of it. My instinct--never, ever believe any conspiracy theory--holds true here. I should have listened to myself. I could have saved myself a couple of hours.

However, your point--that Sarah Palin's decision to fly to Alaska while leaking amniotic fluid--was reckless and potentially harmful to both herself and Trig--is on the money. It doesn't say much about her judgment. If she'd risk her baby that way, who's to say what she'd do with our troops, etc.?

It won't be enough to drive her off the ticket, though. People will say "no harm, no foul."

I'll take your dollar bet, Jack, and I'll extend your deadline all the way from Tuesday to Election Day. She'll be around.

Tenskwatawa - Where's the topless picture? You make this stuff up?

Why would a woman who is militantly ant-abortion - NO EXCEPTIONS - have amniocentesis?

On the other hand, what percentage of 16 year-olds mothers give birth to Down's Syndrome children?

The odds of Down Syndrome over 40 are 1 in 40. The odds of Down Syndrome at 20 are 1 in 1600. The odds of the governor successfully slipping this past the vetters I would venture to be at best 1 in 10. So it appears that the odds are 1 in 16,000 that what you state is true. You are now officially a member of the looney left. Put me down for $10.

85 comments..is this the most comments you have had?

85 comments, yeah. But 25 or so are from the man himself.

I'll take your dollar bet, Jack, and I'll extend your deadline all the way from Tuesday to Election Day. She'll be around.

We'll see. If she does last two months, we're going to have some real fun. Her doctor is about to get persecuted. Her daughter is about to get hounded. The hospital will be under a microscope. Someone will be grabbing DNA off the baby's dirty diapers and her husband's toothbrush. The kids from Bristol's high school will be talking about seeing the daughter swell up. The whole "five months off for mono" angle will be played and replayed. Why her "mono" caused her to be sent away from home to Grandma's will be a fun discussion. The truth is going to be revealed, whatever it is.

Right now, McCain is asking her point blank. If she says she's the grandmother, she's out. If she still maintains she isn't, McCain's people, who never wanted her anyway, will be looking for the bullet that gets rid of her. The minute they have anything solid, she's out.

However, your point--that Sarah Palin's decision to fly to Alaska while leaking amniotic fluid--was reckless and potentially harmful to both herself and Trig--is on the money.

Maybe she WANTED to risk the life of her baby so she wouldn't have to raise a child with Downs Syndrome.

I'm not saying I believe it's true, but it's about as plausible that any of this other speculation is true.

I'll take the bet.

Jack, looking for "the first mainstream journalist in the United States to dig into this?"

My man, Wayne Madsen Reports, is right on it, seeing it your way exactly -- daughter's cover-up LIAR? OR medical diligence LIAR?

August 31 - September 1, 2008 UPDATED 1X-- Palin flew on Alaska Airlines flight after going into labor. Or not. Aug 31, 2008
-- Is potential President of the United States protecting daughter's honor or engaged in a crass political cover-up to win points with Religious Right?

The only thing left to see is that Wayne Madsen being card-carrying credentialled Press, and presidential-standing in the National Press Club, and writing news and editorial items in major daily newspapers, qualifies him as a "mainstream journalist." Although, we might expect Madsen shuns and rejects ANY association with so-called "mainstream" today.

This is all wishful thinking. There was no foul. The Dem machine has to calculate if they want Gladys-Kravitz-As-Pursecutor as their public image. For every lefty wanting to rip into this, there's a valuable independent who finds it distasteful.

Tensk, I don't see anything about it on the page you link to. But then again, I can't scroll through all of that craziness.

For every lefty wanting to rip into this, there's a valuable independent who finds it distasteful.

So far, the mothers I've talked to are unanimous: She is lying. But even if she isn't, she's nuts to have gotten on that plane.

Rudy 911 was on Face the Nation today and while he was conditionally supporting Palin, he was looking awfully eager and hungry...
Bob Sheefer just smirked during the entire interview.
I'm still betting that "the demands of my family and especially my new baby" will be the last line we hear from Palin.
Especially since she is just now finding out what the responsibilities of the Veep will be.

Is it possible that McCain picked Palin to pressure the R's into giving him the VP he really wants -- Lieberman?

Or to score points with the folks in the party who don't like him before the R's nominate Pawlenty?

None of this makes any sense. If she wasn't really pregnant, why make up the story about her water breaking? And if she was trying to fake having a baby, is it likely she'd rush back to work after just 3 days?

Are you sure this all isn't just a trick to distract attention from the fact that she was in on the Bush Administration's planning behind the 9/11 attacks? Maybe she was the one in charge of calling all the Jewish workers in the Twin Towers and warning them not to go to work that day.

Glad you're on top of this, Jac,

Jack Roberts, so nice to see you. But this might be a good time for you to hide. This is the worst your party has looked in my lifetime -- and I lived through Nixon. Come on all partisan now, and you'll lose whatever moderate support you have in our fair state.

If you're asking "Was she stupid enough to bungle a cover-up this badly?" my answer is, "Well, let's see, she was Miss Congeniality in the Miss Alaska pageant, a TV sports reporter in a small market, and the mayor of Wasilla... why, yes!"

Why did she show up at the White House all skinny one day, pose for a photo there, and then try to look pregnant while giving a speech while still in Washington the very next day? Why is someone manipulating photos on the State of Alaska website over a holiday weekend? There are many questions, and you can laugh all you want, but she's either a poor liar or a truly wicked woman. I go with the former.

So far, the mothers I've talked to are unanimous: She is lying. But even if she isn't, she's nuts to have gotten on that plane.

I'm guessing the mothers you talk to aren't the independents I'm referring to. Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Think about that all the way to November, Bob old buddy.

But I doubt it.

Wow, that was pretty clever, for a Republican.

Dems are just as clever. They just think they're so much more.

The topless photo is there and the link works (for me). And the photo came from somewhere that had it earlier, but I didn't trace back to where that is. It'll come out.

She's not wearing anything visible in the photo, which is strategically cropped a millimeter above the 'interesting' points, reflected as pride (left) and glory (right) in her eyes.

For the 'full disclosure' -- soon, to be sure, stay tuned to YouTube.

Tenskwatawa - Does that mean there is a topless photo out there? Or are we just speculating again about what's below the crop?

Meanwhile, YouTube has this much of her, with coat unbuttoned, at least.

There's no "topless photo." There's a photo showing bare shoulders. The young woman was in a beauty pageant at the time. Perfectly harmless.

Tensk, just stop that, o.k.?

Good Ferguson clip, though.

C'mon Tenskey, you might surmise she wearing a strapless dress, but topless?That would require actual boobage, at least in my book.

Here's an alternate explanation: women in beauty contests (and models), frequently pose for "head/shoulder" photos (aka "head shots") without any visible clothing.

This is getting to be as bad at WTC #5, and the rigged explosives "evidence".

Why not just stick to the "hates polar bears" and would "outlaw abortion" schtick? Try to color within the lines established (at least) by DailyKos and Indymedia and maintain a shred of dignity in the process.

How bitter the taste of defeat.

The Ferguson clip was added to YouTube in June of 2007, about a month before Trig would have been conceived. Who knows when the footage was actually filmed.

This debate is beginning to make the "Bigfoot costume in the Freezer" coverage look mainstream by comparison.

The YouTube clip proves nothing, other than the fact that Craig Ferguson is a funny guy.

There is plenty of other evidence here that Governor Palin is lying.

And even if she isn't, she risked her own life and that of her unborn Downs syndrome child by flying from Dallas to Anchorage and then driving to Wasilla after her water had broken and before seeing a doctor.

You are now officially a member of the looney left.

And you have now used up your one and only Mulligan on this site.

Jack, I'm afraid your bet could get 'fixed' by the house. That is, I expect that by Tuesday everyone knows and believes the baby is Failin's granddaughter, but it is NOT reported in any corporate-controlled media, and she is NOT off the ticket. ... even if they have to cancel the 100,000 'Berlin crowds' in Minneapolis/St. Paul, to avoid reporters and questions there.

I am not so sure that "The truth is going to be revealed" in the massmind media, ever. I am sure everyone is going to know -- my two favorite Republican koolade drinkers, (both being mothers), who I asked for reaction, already, out-and-out acknowledge and can believe it's her grandchild, AND both think it doesn't matter, doesn't change a thing of what they think (blindly supportive) of her.

When massmind media aborts this story, Jack, maybe that final straw can bring you one step closer to my posture, beyond ineffectively merely ignoring media in its propaganda complicity, and into proactive harm against media properties by personal BOYCOTT of massmedia, particularly Pay TV, cable or dish. Strike massmedia with closed money-holding fists, purses, and wallets.

But furthermore, IF everyone knows, and IF (after that) massmedia reports the story, it is unlikely to change a single Republican cultist's thinking or actions. That's the REAL ruin of America we must repair -- that TRUTH is immaterial to despotic diehards, martyrs against social democracy and our country rather than for it.

If she paraded around with a pillow on her stomach, and falsely declared herself pregnant and a mother up to and through her designation as the running mate, is she going to be the Republican candidate for vice president of the U.S. in November? Come on. The answer is no.

The corporate media will all come around to this story. They're just all waiting to see who goes first.

I apologize. I can wait to see.

Speaking as someone who loathes the entire tired old, left/right, Democretin/Republicrat false paradigm that we seem to be eternally yoked to by the Banksters who really run the show...

...I'm gonna stock up on some popcorn. I love a trainwreck, and I really really love watching lying politicians crash and burn.

Jack -

I will take your bet. We can settle up next Sunday at KXL.

I find this pretty amusing. Quite the conspiracy theory - imagine the number of people who would have to be in on this to actually pull it off.

But heck, if they could pull off 9-11, this would be a cinch.

Why wait for the MSM?

How about a special Edwards/Palins broadcast of Jerry Springer:

"Who's your Birth Parent? - 2008 Presidential Edition" ...Sponsored by Huggies and the Mesothelioma Public Resource Center.

It would be more interesting than watching Dave Griffin, Anderson Cooper, and Sheppard the Alien getting blown by hurricane force winds as the audio goes out.

Now if we could just figure out a way to incentivize Rielle Hunter to consent to a paternity test...I wonder if there's anything an unemployed single mom could use that would benefit her child's future?

In the alarmed scurrying comments crescendo, it is obvious that the feigned Republican dismissiveness of civil concerns about power corruption, and worse, 'not any concern' to them, is giving way to wary measure penetrating the media imagery, ("... how many does it take to plot dictatorship ...?"), with thoughts of the possibility something's going on that's not being talking-pointed, or is talking-silenced ... checking the mirror for cluelessness.

What's running up the flagpole to salute?

imagine the number of people who would have to be in on this to actually pull it off.

In Juneau and Wasilla? About 12.

In Juneau and Wasilla? About 12.

Spoken like an east coast elitist.

Spin Spin Spin...

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/off-to-the-land-of-palin/#comments

During this period is when Bristol, Sarah’s sixteen year old daughter, turns up pregnant. So, it’s kind of interesting to note that the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee and her sixteen year old junior in high school unwed daughter were carrying babies at the same time. Once Bristol’s condition became more obvious this summer, she was whisked out of sight and hasn’t been seen in public until yesterday in Ohio. This is why Trig’s blanket was strung across her entire abdomen and torso, but, when she walked down the stairs from the stage, in a profile shot, it was very clear to see she is well into her third trimester of her pregnancy.

It has come out in the past couple of days that she and her high school boyfriend had a quickie wedding and that she is home schooling her senior year.

The Anchorage Daily News has known about this for months - and haven’t touched the story. But I can’t imagine the national press or the Democratic Party will be as willing to turn a blind eye.

I am truly glad you had the opportunity to eat pie this weekend; I suspicion that next weekend you may be eating crow....

Spoken like an east coast elitist.

You think I'm taking that bait? Sorry to disappoint.

Let's get back to Grandma Sarah instead of me. The fact is that she could get this far covering up the truth with: Her parents and in-laws, two doctors and about four sympathetic others at the hospital. Throw in a cop or a gubernatorial staff member and you've got 12 (outside of her husband and her other kids).

Det. Sgt. Joe Friday, "Just the facts ma'am."

Having minored in genetics may I comment on Down's syndrome? The precursor cells for all of the eggs that will be formed by a woman's ovaries are formed when she is in-utero, as a fetus. Over the course of her life the nuclear material of these cells will be subjected to mutagens carried in the fluids of her body. Also this nuclear material will be subject to ionizing radiation from terrestrial and cosmic sources. This radiation can also be a mutagen.

The incidence of Down's syndrome begins to rise from a low level at age 35 and continues to rise until menopause.

A 16 year old has a very, very small chance of having a Down's child. A 42 year old has a much larger chance of having a Down's child.

VP candidate Palin took a risk by having a pregnancy so late in life. She and her child are on the unfortunate side of statistics.

No pillow was involved in the making of this commercial.

Thanks for that wonderful load of hot air. You are going to prove she was pregnant by statistics? Too funny.

I gotta say, Jack, I don't anticipate this going as far as you do. The it's-not-her-baby thing seems unlikely to me, and while I totally agree with you that getting on the plane after the water breaks is utterly insane, I don't think it's the kind of thing they throw you off the ticket for. I think they can successfully sell it as "how dare anyone tell her how to care for her disabled baby blah blah blah," and anybody who brings it up will find it bounces back mostly on them. Not that this is right -- I just don't see the legs on this issue that you do, politically speaking. Dumping her from the ticket is such a sign of disarray and panic, I just don't think they'll do it.

Remember when Bubba was having bimbo eruptions during his first campaign for the Democratic Nomination?

How did the Clintons respond? First they denied it, then they lied and obfuscated, and the "vast right wing conspiracy" was born (blame the messenger). But many of the allegations were true, and it certainly impacted his ability to govern, thanks to Ms. Lewinsky.

If Palin gave birth at age 44 (to a downs syndrome baby) does that impact her fitness for office? Let's assume her daughter, Bristol, is now pregnant: does that impact Governor Palin's ability to serve as the Vice President of the United States? Having a "baby mama" in residence at the Naval Observatory, living with "Grandma and Grandpa Palin", wouldn't be so awful. Just think of it as coming full circle in the Springer Nation. Will it cost her some otherwise enthusiastic conservative votes? Probably. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't be a very capable Vice President if she is elected.

The Plot Thickens as the Stew comes to a Boil!

http://townhall.com/blog/g/9b3375c7-6a27-4b5e-9204-b267282a1ce1

DailyKos is is wrong on when the photo was taken. It was taken, and published, by the Anchorage Daily News in 2006. Baby Trig, a Down's Syndrome child, was born on April 18, 2008. That's a long time for a teen girl to be carrying a "bump" which looks nothing more than the curve of a tight sweater.

Pillow pictures?
http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/2008/08/30/dailykos-rumors-debunked-here-is-sarah-palin-pregnancy-photo-on-feb-10th-2008/

I just don't think they'll do it.

"They" aren't going to get to call this. If she stays on the ticket, she is going to be hounded off by the National Enquirer and many, many others.

Most likely, she'll be proven to be lying.

She is not a pregnant woman in this official White House photo taken 53 days before she delivered a 6-pound-plus boy:

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8573/govsportraitnga2008largad8.jpg

She is not recovering from childbirth in this picture taken 56 days after the birth:

http://gov.state.ak.us/photos/ftwainwright_govp_05s.jpg

This is what she looks like when she is actually pregnant:

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4896/1220225455135vp4.jpg

If no one will believe the obvious visual proof, it will probably be shown that she and her husband are lying about contacting a physician before flying from Dallas to Anchorage. No doctor is going to give the o.k. for her to fly under the circumstances described.

this conversation has been amusing and at the same time very degrading to a woman with no proof of guilt. It is party lines without looking at the substance of the person.Where is the hope and the change you call for?

Pillow pictures?

Quite possibly.

For example, this one that you cite was taken in Washington on Feb. 26:

http://community.adn.com/sites/community.adn.com/files/images/govp_washingtondc2008_large.preview.jpg

Here's the official White House photo taken the day before, Feb. 25:

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8573/govsportraitnga2008largad8.jpg

You can take the pillow off and put it back on. You can't do the same with a baby.

Black is great color for hiding bodily imperfections, in the absence of a good profile photo for pregnancy number 5, I remain unconvinced.

I have known women who gained far less weight in 2nd or 3rd pregnancies than they did on the first one. Her taste in hair and clothing certainly improved with time, why wouldn't her prenatal nutrition and exercise?

The photo taken two months post delivery offers little insight into how she looked when she was still pregnant. And a flight suit doesn't provide much insight into loose tummy flab or cellulite on the butt and thighs.

I've got an idea: how about naked mud wrestling between Biden and Palin, and the winner gets to be Veep no matter who wins the top job. I've got five bucks that says she can take him.

I don't argue with a**hats, and now you are being one. Good night.

I suspicion that next weekend you may be eating crow....

How? She either faked a pregnancy and delivery in a very public way or endangered herself and her unborn child to an almost criminal degree. There are no other possibilities floating around, and either way, she's unfit.

Hey, go ahead and run her for VP, and watch what happens.

What was reported in the local paper:

http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html

It was taken, and published, by the Anchorage Daily News in 2006.

See, that's what I love about the Right. Just throw out a "fact" and hope it's true. Neither the Townhall blogger nor the commenter has a link to the original photo or the original story from 2006. They just say it's from 2006 and leave it be. The Anchorage Daily News will no doubt set us straight on the date of the photo. If it is from 2006, that would make Bristol, the daughter in question, 15. More importantly, it would make Piper, the youngest Palin, 5-years-old. Show me the 5-year-old in this picture.

This is too bizzare. I'm going to go read a Dr Bronner's soap label for some clear thinking.

More here.

Here's an interesting thread from last April -- many Alaskans were aghast at the recklessness of the governor, endangering herself and her child. According to the official story, of course...

Some extremely interesting additional facts about the doctor who delivered the baby are here.

A pundit's sober assessment of the situation here.

Okay, I finally figured out what's going on here. In an attempt to demonstrate why we still have a glass ceiling in politics, all you Democrats are harping on the most personal decisions a woman in politics can possibly make, i.e., should a woman with minor children run for office, should a woman with a special needs child run for office, what decisions should a pregnant woman make about the delivery of her child, and (Jack Bogdanski's favorite) how do you know a woman politician isn't just faking a pregnancy and childbirth in order to win sympathy?

You guys really had me going for awhile there. Spreading this over several blogs and enlisting so many different people in the scam almost convinced me that we really were back in the 1950s.

Ah, the sexism card. I hope McCain finds a much better female candidate to replace Grandma Sarah on the ticket, Jack. She was a comically bad choice. The replacement can be eight and a half months pregnant with sextuplets, for all I care.

As for your conspiracy theory, in fact, I wish this were not happening now. It would be perfect six weeks from now. But given the timing, McCain still has a way out.

If you're ever elected governor, I hope you will have better judgment than to try the insane stunts that Miss Congeniality has attempted here -- either lying your butt off repeatedly and rubbing the public's nose in it, or risking your unborn child's life.

And if you are getting away with such things at first, don't run for vice president.

Wow Jack, just Wow.

You know that this was just a plot by Rove right?

I doubt it. This is just McCain being McCain.

I am stunned and troubled by this discussion, and the seemingly hysterical, wild-eyed, and reckless conclusions expressed here that are based on...no facts, just highly biased bloggers' suspicions and innuendo. I recently started reading your blog because I heard that it was about waste and corruption in the City of Portland. Now I am disillusioned and left to wonder about the veracity of all your posts. :( I guess time will tell (Tuesday, right?) who is being taken for a ride, you or me.

There are only two possible truths here: She faked the pregnancy or she recklessly endangered the life of the baby. Which of those is it, in your mind? There is no other choice on this question. And the facts are actually quite clear.

This blog is about my beliefs. I believe that this person is not fit to the be the vice president of the United States. I also believe that George W. Bush is the worst president we have had in my lifetime. I'm sure you have your own views as well.

One of the rules I have is that I don't want to read reviews of my blog in the comments. If that's what you're here for, please take them elsewhere.

Let's astrologize, shan't we? Yes, we shall.

The following analysis is read from these data, (so that other astrologer 'peers' might offer 2nd opinions, etc.)
G.Mom - Feb.11,1964 - Indiana time
with progression 1 to Oct. 18, 1990 birth of child, female; establishes baseline typical for native in child birth.
with progression 2 to Apr. 18, 2008
question of maternity
Mom - Oct. 18, 1990 - Alaska time
with progression 1 to Apr. 18, 2008 birth of child, male; question of fertility
G.Child - April 18, 2008 - Alaska time
birth, male; question of mother's age

Analysis and reading:
Perfect certainty. Male is child of 10/18/90, and highly probable the G.child of 2/11/64 (some tiny uncertainty that 10/18/90 is the child of 2/11/64).

Congruence -- you don't need to be an astrologer to see the most obvious aspect of all: Mother Oct. 18, Child Apr. 18 -- exact 6 month (calendar diametric) opposites. Period. You can stop here and be certain of the maternity.

G.Mom seems 2 deg. Scorpio Ascendant. ~ 11:10 pm local Indiana time
Mom seems 2 deg. Taurus Asc. ~ 5:30 pm local Alaska time
G.Child seems 5 deg. Aries Asc. ~ 4:00 am local Alaska time (disputes 6:30 am 'reported')
Birth times for G.Mom and Mom are publicly unknown (to me), and included here for (alerting) the persons who really know the birthtimes (i.e., G.Mom) to realize the veracity of astrology's Art, and Truth.

2/11/64 chart shows Mars severely debilitated. 10/18/90 chart also shows Mars compromised, as stationary turning retrograde (14 deg. Gemini), and particularly inimical to 2/11/64 (prog.1 Mercury square, 14 deg. Pisces). Read: This mother - daughter relation an angry mental conflict; mother is 'faith'-imposing, daughter is vindictive rebellious.
4/18/08 chart shows Mars in depletion, yet viable (19 deg. Cancer). Particular debilitated in aspect opposing Mom's Saturn (19 deg. Capricorn) denoting Down's inheritance, and social derogatory in aspect G.Mom's Moon (19 deg. Capricorn). Also, Mars (4/18) reiterates harsh square to G.Mom's Mercury (prog.2, 19 deg. Aries), conflicted in vigors, (not mentality).

And there are dozens more aspects in full accounting. One seems especially key: G.Mom's Neptune in First House (17 deg. Scorpio) shows deceit, falsified identity (lifelong); and on 4/18/08, Neptune (once in lifetime) transit G.Mom's predominating (hyleg) Mars. The G.Mom makes false claim of maternity of 4/18/08.

---
So, Jack, know that your version is true. Set that (G.Mom deceives), as the anchor point from which to reference, and gauge the relative merit of truth in other versions you hear said.

---
Conclusion and ruling: Split the baby, giving half to the G.Mom for her purposes, and half to the Mom for her maternal bond and fealty.

Back here on earth, this report said that Sarah Palin gave the "keynote luncheon address" to the other governors in Texas on April 17. If lunch was at noon, that was eight hours after she said her water had broken.

March 14.

The March 14 associated press photo is most damning.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fcQ5EM7gafd9

One month before birth and no sign of pregnancy.

"There are only two possible truths here: She faked the pregnancy or she recklessly endangered the life of the baby."

"Recklessly" endangered or "deliberately" endangered?

I can't think of any reason for a pro-life expectant mother to have amniocentesis other than to plan ahead for a child with disabilities. Perhaps the plan included inadequate prenatal nutrition, which would have increased the likelihood of a miscarriage above carrying a genetically imperfect child and also explain why Palin didn't look pregnant. When that failed, she then took (or created) advantage of the early labor by delaying medical care and traveling from Texas to Alaska.

Personally I hope that she is just a loving mother trying to protect a wayward daughter's future and not a cold, calculating monster.

Jack, I have no plans to run for governor or anything else. Why are you trying to become the Ward Churchill of [reference to my workplace deleted -- JB]?

Jack Roberts: Why are you grasping to hold yourself having equal smear power as that of those who persecuted Ward Churchill unjustly and indecently?

To show everyone your dangerously misguided lust for power?

Be reasonable: Produce evidence Grandma was pregnant, besides 'she said' and you fall for it. Jack has produced and exhibits photo and character evidence which substantiates his view she was pregnant-lite and brazenly a LIAR in her political ambition.

Match the pot of evidence. Or fold your invisible 'Big Tent' which common sense can see right through -- "hey, Jack holds no evident cards, the mad-for-power holds no rationality."

One minor correction, Jack ... you keep saying her water broke, but I understand her story to be that she was leaking fluids. I have no personal experience as a pregnant woman, but my wife tells me there is more than a slight difference.

No need for a bet on Tuesday if you are wrong, just an acknowledgment that some of the Left will stoop to any levels to win (and justify it to themselves) would be fine. I'd rather lose on the merits than win in the gutter or reward those who try.

Not Bristol's baby, maybe? Could be someone else's, though.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/01/palins-17-year-old-daughter-pregnant/

Be reasonable: Produce evidence Grandma was pregnant, besides 'she said' and you fall for it. Jack has produced and exhibits photo and character evidence which substantiates his view she was pregnant-lite and brazenly a LIAR in her political ambition.

As links posted by others above have already shown, there are ample photos on the internet, particularly from the local papers, showing Governor Palin pregnant. And the much cited picture of her daughter supposedly pregnant in the family photo is from 2006, which even the mathematically challenged should recognize as too early for an April 2008 delivery.

Now the news about her daughter's actual pregnancy should put this rumor-mongering to rest. I don't expect to read your public apology, but you could at least give everyone a break and slither back to your cave for awhile.

hilarious...Jack you have sunk to a new low...when is the apology coming???

My mistake, in "astrologizing", Posted by Tenskwatawa | September 1, 2008 2:59 AM

---
Erratum: Stating "G.Mom's Moon (19 deg. Capricorn)" is a miscalculation. G.Mom's natal Moon is 6 or 7 deg. Aquarius, (as rectified).
At 10/18/90 birth of daughter, G.Mom's prog.1 Moon is (say) 25 deg. Capricorn, (rect.), strong aspect to the birth.
At 4/18/08 birth, G.Mom's prog.2 Moon is (say) 28 deg. Virgo, (rect.), which position makes NO maternal-strength aspect to the birth.

I don't expect anyone will get their dollar on Tuesday. Jack, I think you may get your wish that she sticks around, win or lose.

I have yet to make up my mind about this VP choice, but you know something, one of the things Obama is greatly admired for is his attitude in the face of adversity. Let's face it, Harvard or not, he is a black man in the U.S. and entered national politics, so credit to him for getting this far. So depending on how Palin reacts to the attacks on her and her family could very well dictate how people vote for her. If she can withstand the pressure of a vicious campaign, I'm less worried about whether she can handle herself in other capacities.

So you've all seen the news that Bristol is preggers right now, which makes the Trig rumor hard to square unless they are covering lies with more lies.

But the real message here is the lack of vetting and showing the undecideds that "Ready-fire-aim" McCain is not ready for the Oval Office.

He would make a great celebrity judge of a beauty pageant though.

Jack,

amazing that you would buy into this. I expected more of you based on past topics.

This would be a cover up of proportions similar to the 9-11 theory that the US bombed the tower.

So, for any of this to be true, the following people must be in on the cover-up:

Sarah, her husband, the daughter, all of the other siblings, most of the staff at the hospital (including some very liberal types that work at the hospital that would love to ruin her run for VP), all friends and family that are close to them, just to name the obvious circle of co-conspirators.

Rumors such as these tend to hurt those who spread them much more that those who are the target.

I made the exact same comment about Harriet Miers in a local paper.

You should feel fortunate that you don't have to worry about Tim Pawlenty as VP. I have had to suffer through the last six years with him as governor of our state. All we have to show for it is a slumping economy, a growing budget deficit, and a bridge that is just now being completed (13 dead and 144 injured later).