I feel for her, she didn’t sign up for this.

McCane says he knew all about it!

Now a baby brother or sister for Trig?

This entire iteration is becoming more bizarre by the moment.

Palin confirms daughter’s pregnancy:

http://www.independent.co.uk/n.....15378.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2.....4184.shtml

Putting forth a strawman prior to your actual choice is strategically brilliant. It takes all the steam out of the pressure cooker before removing the lid. You gain the benefit of hearing the entire political debate on both sides of the issue, such that when you put forth your ACTUAL choice (who looks sooooo much better by comparison), you already have the message framed to appease your own constituents and answer your critics.

Bernard Kerick for Homeland Security Director?

Harriet Miers for Supreme Court Justice?

Sarah Palin for Vice President of the United States?

Who? What??? Get real.

Behold a pattern

This entire Palin selection is a Rovian head fake. It was designed by Rove to accomplish two goals. First and foremost, to take ALL of the air out of the media that the Obama camp was destined to carry into the GOP convention. It did that, in spades. The echo just simply stopped. The news cycle yesterday was absent of any analysis or follow-through on Obama’s speech…itself a major coup for Rove. It’s as though the entire media machine stopped speaking of anything “Democratic,” in unison.

Secondly, the (apparent) selection of Palin throws a bone to the Puma’s and to women generally…one that McCain doesn’t have to necessarily follow through with, but made for a nice (disingenuous) photo-op.

Third; they’re just not that stupid not to have known about the controversy - and her familial requirements and responsibilities (Downs Syndrome newborn to care for). In short, their unbelievable choice is in fact, unbelievable…”a straw-woman.”

By the time the convention occurs, news will come out that the GOP’s own investigators have determined that, while no proof of wrong doing exists, the mere investigation of it is a distraction that the GOP simply cannot afford so close to the election. As such, the announcement that either Lieberman or Romney have become McCain’s choice will come as a massive relief to the GOP base, and capture the entire news cycle for weeks to come. If Rove thought it would be impossible for a McCain/Lieberman ticket to succeed without some form of trickery, he would have dreamed this up, making Lieberman look good by comparison. All of the push-back will already be out of the system.

He’s pulled these same stunts in the past – like putting Bernie Kerik’s name into nomination only to pull him and install Chertoff as Homeland Security Dictator. Remember when the name of Harriet Miers was put forward for a Supreme Court position? Remember? A fire storm of push back erupted, only to be followed by the swift and easy confirmation of Roberts, who looked like a breath of fresh air BY COMPARISON. THEY ARE GAMING YOU!

If I’m wrong, you’ll let me know. If I’m right, you heard it here first. Learn about all the Rovian Stunts and how the evil genius operates here:

http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com

What a great poster family for abstinence-only education!!

How could her parents agree to a national campaign and all the media scrutiny for their entire family, knowing that their daughter faced this challenge?

McCain/Palin: Ambition First!

How’s the abstinence thing working out for the GOP?

The article I read said McCrazy knew.

Won’t get any argument from me, plunger@7.

So if she’s 5 months preggers, the teen daughter, then the baby must be mama’s…unless he wasn’t born in April as claimed…unless he’s Willow’s kid….

oh, my. Soap Opera Express.

Poster child for what “abstinence only” will beget (pun intended.) Who amongst us couldn’t have written this script! They’ve got to be kidding me!

Personal ambition?

Please stop, you are offending Cindy McCain.

-G

Mary Hartman Mary Hartman.

This new pregnancy story is likely the second lie. I doubt she’s pregnant right now at all. They are coming out with this in order to get her married, and bury the story. Trig IS very likely Bristol’s baby.

Cathy Baldwin-Johnson is the doctor who is said to have delivered Trig.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people.....12389.aspx

Nine years into her career as a family physician, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, M.D., recognized her growing Alaska community needed someone with the skills to perform sexual and physical abuse exams. So in 1994, she voluntarily headed to the “Lower 48″ for extra training “with the idea that I’d just be doing a little of this,” she says. When she returned home to Wasilla, “the floodgates opened.”

Word spread about her training, and Baldwin-Johnson says she quickly was labeled as the region’s “expert” in child and adult sexual abuse testing.

When requests for her help in such cases mounted, Baldwin-Johnson helped form a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) for the Matanuska Susitna Borough. Mostly, the team dealt with adult victims and soon realized that approach did not work well in cases of child sexual abuse. That’s because, she says, a trip to the emergency room, law enforcement center and a counseling center creates enormous stress for children.

Then she learned about the Children’s Advocacy Center model in which cases are processed using a child-focused approach.

Is it more likely that this was Sarah’s choice of doctor (not an OBGYN), or Bristol’s, as a result of an awful event that led to this result?

Who in the world chooses to put their daughter’s dilemma on such public display (by accepting rather than rejecting the VP offer)?

The article I read said McCrazy knew.

about the newest, or both, of young Ms. Palin’s pregnancies?

Geez, I didn’t know artificial insemination could start off a 5 months preggers.

ain’t that the truth, this is as absurd as that soap was

plunger @ 7 -

+1

Americans love their soaps, though. But I don’t think this revelation will do much for McCain with the former Clinton supporters.

About the latest… but i’d put money on both.

Well, isn’t this timing impeccable? Bristol is not due until after the election.

My guess is this baby will be very overdue…because she’s not really five months.

Does it seem like this may be some payback to mommy and daddy for the charade/exposure she’s having to endure?

That must be one weird household in the AK governor’s mansion.

wasn’t there an episode of Northern Exposure where Maurice had second thoughts about bringing an investigative reporter to WasillaCicely ??

Next up:

VICE PRESIDENT LIEBERMAN.

These bastard intentionally threw this entire family under the bus on purpose to using a straw man to make the Lieberman selection more acceptable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman

Has everyone had it with Karl Rove’s evil act yet?

from last thread:

Raven September 1st, 2008 at 9:23 am
37

senior McCain campaign official said the McCain camp was appalled that these rumors had not only been spread around liberal blog sites and partisan Democrats, but also were the subject of heightened interest from mainstream news media.

”The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama’s name in them, is a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their ’campaign of change,”’ a senior aide said.

So let me get this straight - all we liberals are evil for speculating about the possibility of an earlier pregnancy of the younger, unmarried Ms. Palin.

Are we now even more evil for talking about the *confirmed* pregnancy of the younger, unmarried Ms. Palin?

I’m just tryin’ to get a firm grip of all the ways in which I’m “evil”, ya know….

Look at the picture of Sarah with “her” newborn - shortly after having “given birth.”

copy/paste this into a google search:
Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2008m8d29-Sarah-Palin-family-photos

Earrings? Check
Makeup? Check
Perfect hair? Check

“To any critics who say a woman can’t think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I’d just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave,” Palin said.

Does the girl on the right look pregnant to you?
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska.....83-t3.html

Why does it matter?

1. Sarah Palin is pro- life. Great to see she sticks to her guns. Too bad she had to lie about her own daughter being pregnant because of the fact that:
2. Sarah Palin is an avid proponent to abstinence only education.
3. Maybe this needs repeating. Sarah Palin is an avid proponent to abstinence only education.
4. One more time! Sarah Palin is an avid proponent to abstinence only education.

http://www.bristolpalinpregnant.com/

evidence of an attempted coverup:

original page with caption:

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska.....83-t3.html

Same page with newly-altered caption – backdated to 2006:

http://www.adn.com/photos/v-ga.....87-t3.html

Bristol before pregnancy:
http://i430.photobucket.com/al.....ct0210.jpg

Bristol about 3-4 months pregnant:
http://i430.photobucket.com/al.....iliate.jpg

Side by side comparison – first pregnancy vs. 5th
http://i33.tinypic.com/mt70d4.jpg

March 14, 2008 photo of Palin (one month prior to birth of baby):
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska.....19-t3.html

Bristol at VP announcement holding baby:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....family.jpg

That is possible, but in doing so only demonstrates his ability to fuck over his own crowd. We already know what Liarman is about. IMO the Palins should know better. She thinks she is ready for the big time… we’ll see.

Talking Points Memo Overview:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsme.....new-an.php

The baby was born on April 18, 2008.

A month earlier, this photo of the Governor is taken at the airport. Is that the face of a woman who is expecting a baby? Note that her neck and face show NO signs of water retention or weight gain. NONE. Rut Roh!

http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944

TPM election central says McCain staff says he knew from the “vetting”. Yeah right.

I still can’t decide whether this is a Rovian head fake ,or just a really stupid choice by McSame.
Would the Repug powers that be allow him to make that choice on his own?

Trig was allegedly born on March 18th. I thought the Tot Mom story (Casey Anthony) was bizarre. This tops that.

So Bristol is “about” five months pregnant. So she could really be, say, four months pregnant, which means that the conception date was May 1.

Now the Palins are demanding “privacy” which means no release of medical records. BTW we don’t even know if Trig really was born on March 18.

Whatever the backstory, the dangerously inexperienced and underqualified Palin, with enormous family reponsibilities, is obviously a pawn between the Rove/Bush and McCain forces within the republican party.

Who do you feel sorry for? Bristol? She’ll be OK. Presumably, she’s had kooky parents her whole life.

I feel sorry for the rest of us if a Republican and the Religious Right get elected again. Anything that exposes the hypocrisy of Republicans and the American Taliban is a good thing. The kids will be alright.

So why should we whine about the Rethugs having their own little “Juno” right in the VP candidate’s own family! Shouldn’t we be oohing and ahhing? Maybe a few goo-goos?

Uh, oh. How’d he know? Is the maverick a stud?

It’s like the Far Side cartoon with the guy in Hell, looking at two doors labeled “Damned if you do” and “Damned if you don’t.”

Is it just me, or does a woman who preaches abstinence only make herself a complete public hypocrite when her unmarried teenage daughter gets pregnant?

Bullshit. They would’ve managed it better if that were the case.

there’s a picture out there where the Palin family is standing at a railing with water and mountains in the background, with Bristol standing at the right, wearing a black print dress. When it is blown up, the shape of her stomach is more easily seen, and left me with no doubt that she was pregnant.

I’ve got it, but I can’t get it to copy here - and don’t know how to properly enlarge it anyway.

Help?

They’ve really got you shell-shocked. America is getting a good view of Waco north and the fundie freak show. At this point the question isn’t whether Palin withdraws from the race, it’s whether McCain does. They’re still counting, but it looks like Obama and the Democratic Party scored a knockout Thursday night.

Re jayt @ 27

”The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama’s name in them,….

So any blog where some commenter even mentions the name of Barack Obama is now a strawman for the craven Republicans?

Oh yes definitely because if that were Obama’s daughter the pukes would be so supportive. McCrazy would be on the phone offering whatever the Obama’s should need. /s

Plunger…
Loved your analysis about the Rovian head-fake, and wanted to add a couple of points on the new pregnancy…

So, she’s five months pregnant now, and that is supposed to convince the public that Palin gave birth in May to her own child, not her daughter’s?! What about the 3 month case of Mono that the daughter had, presumably from February to May…was she just hanging out having sex while sick? As I recall, Mono is very contagious…had Levi already been exposed to the virus?

What I want to know is, the daughter is the one who seems to always be carrying the baby around. So if she now marries and starts her own family, who will raise Sarah’s baby? Does the VP get a house to live in? Under optimal conditions, could that house accomodate a grown daughter with a husband and a baby on the way as well as two other adults and 4 other children?

I prefer “McManiac”.

Just paste the entire URL here and we can copy it.

Bristol is NOT pregnant right now. She delivered Trig on April 18th. This story is yet another attempt to twist the truth.

The scary part is it could be either. Thankfully, Obama and Biden will just focus on what America needs and not this soap opera.

The difference is that McCain has to get elected, not just get his choice appointed. A VP makes almost no difference to people’s voting patterns, but a disastrous pick who shows how bad your judgment is by resigning under scandal will definitely do damage.

So any blog where some commenter even mentions the name of Barack Obama is now a strawman for the craven Republicans?

Oh, don’t narrow down the reasons so much as to ways, or reasons, why we’re despicable. *g*

Palin should’ve just said “No.”

Yeah, that’s the ticket…Bristol had Mono - yet she and her boyfriend had unprotected sex - but there was obviously no kissing at the time, just unprotected sex, as he never contracted mono, just impregnated Bristol.

Can you say “MOVIE OF THE WEEK?”

These are all valid curiosities, but they are irrelevant compared to Palin being completely unprepared and unqualified for the task at hand. Additionally, I say again: someone who preaches abstinence only for teens and then has an unmarried teen daughter get knocked up is a hypocrite of the highest order, in addition to her other irrational beliefs.

Is it just me, or does a woman who preaches abstinence only make herself a complete public hypocrite when her unmarried teenage daughter gets pregnant?

I think it’s just you. I would say that a woman who preaches abstinence only makes herself a complete public laughingstock when her unmarried teenage daughter gets pregnant. Of course, you could also use the word misguided, or wrong, or stupid, or any number of other definitives, but my favorite is laughingstock!

Where are Obama and Biden = seems like all attention now is on the rethugs and Gustav

That was my first thought as well. My second thought is that Gov. Palin has five kids, the newest a baby with Downs, a 19 year old son on his way to Iraq and now a pregnant child (yes, at 17, she is still a child in an emotional turmoil). This woman ought to be devoting her time to her family and not on any campaign trail. Her plate would be too full even if she was qualified, which she is not.

If Bristol was trying to hide a pregnancy, she would never wear a dress like that. Or a tight shirt like in the other family photo that’s been floating around.

The most disturbing part of the story is the water breaking/leaking followed by a speech and a cross country flight.

I hope your right ,I”ve lived my entire adult life under conservative rule I sure could use a change!!

My take is that she’s a selfish, self-deluded and ultimately, callous and incompetent parent, worse than a mere laughingstock.

Wait a minute - McCain says he knew about it and still picked her over Romney or Lieberman? Suuuuure

oh what a tangled web we weave when first we conspire to deceive.

That would be amazing and too wonderful for words, but alas, since he only met Mama once, it would also be as unlikely as lighting a match in a blizzard.

Pawned Ambition

although in re-reading the Eagle Forum questionnaire, Gov Palin’s answers are all but verbatim fundie talking points - she studied all night for that quiz - IOW, she purposefully hitched her wagon to their star - go through the stuff we’ve all been reading since friday am, fundie talking points are the only thing she isn’t squishy on -

You wonder why?

I think there’s room to argue that Governor Palin isn’t a hypocrite. Perhaps her abstinence stance is just wrong.

:-)

Okay, laughingstock… but hypocrite also, because she is preaching against all forms of contraception, saying that abstinence is the only way.

“Desperate Housewives” goes to Washington!! We’re being played, or should that be “screenplayed”!?

That is correct. Bristol is not pregnant now. You can see the post delivery loss of water retention in her face and body in the recent VP acceptance photos.

Conversely, you can see Bristols’ swollen face and body in the earlier family group fotos.

Rove is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. It’s all Obama’s fault. /s

I love a good flame-out on Labor Day!

No way no how did McCain folks know about this.
And Palin, like all true fundies, do not let facts interfere with their ideology.
Pregnant teenager? God’s gift, as long as they are white Repugs and Christian. Everyone else, damned to hell.

What the “low information”-nice words for what are really just sheeple-voter will get in the way of information will depend totally on what the networks do. Their man love affair with McCain will determine the spin made on everything. Dispite the 17 year old daughter being 5 months preggers-isn’t it funny how so many evangelical church fanatics have duaghters who go out and get preggers, is it because they all just preach abstinence? Is it because they don’t get any information about sex?-I am not just talking about palin here, my wife knows quite a few of these “church fanatics” 5 of whom have teenage daughters who got preggers in their early teens,I am quite sure that this is not isolated, with only teaching teen agers abstinence what else can be expected. Human nature will out every time. Just what we need, another right wing religious nutcase in power. All hail the return of the culture wars. War on xmas. War on Easter next? What about the easter bunny? Do these culture war fanatics think in any other terms, or is everything crouched in terms relating to WAR.

I read that Obama said he was staying away from the hurricane area to allow the relief workers to do their jobs, because if he was there, the increased security (Secret Service, etc.) as well as news cameras, could get in the way of helping those who need it.

So who’s baby will they have to come up with when the blessed event happens in a few months?

What are the chances that Palin and her childhood sweetheart Todd were virgins when they got married?

The VP gets to live in the house at the Naval Observatory in WaDc. Same house that cheney is now living at.

Why should Obama and Biden make any noise right now? The Republicans are doing a fine job of making the case for Obama/Biden without the two of them having to say a word.

All the while Gustav reminds everyone of who was in charge during Katrina.

Let the Republicans destroy their own chances.

Uh. Maybe this is saying something about my smarts… but i think their THAT stupid.

They want to keep their power. It’s that simple. They see and they fully realize that McCain is derailing, but as long as they have a shot at the WH they don’t care. The dems = no more free rides. No more munching (or at least a lot less munching) on the public largess and the Republicans know this and the ones calling the shots are just in denial.

Rove knows this and wants nothing to do with it. That’s why it’s surrogates and proteges in the McCain camp and not his turdy self.

thats my opinion anyway

Soon there will be a report that Bristol has sadly suffered a miscarriage, and Sarah will graciously offer Trig for Bristol’s “adoption.”

None of which will have any bearing on the VP selection issue, because in the next two days, it will be announced that Sarah Palin has withdrawn her name from consideration, and that McCain’s new choice for VP is Lieberman.

I read Karl’s playbook.

He’s Sooooo transparent.

Don’t worry — the announcement that “I realize that I need to be with my family at this challenging time and I have asked Sen. McCain to allow me to step down” is coming. Trust me. It’s coming - and possibly was planned right from the beginning. Whether or not Trig is the governor’s baby..or her daughter’s baby…whether or not Miss Palin is pregnant at this time or is merely doing the ‘post-partum baby fat’ thing is irrelevant. The announcement is coming.

Exactly. TeamObama goes quiet.

Someone’s nose just keeps getting longer and longer.

If you believe Palin was completely vetted, I have a bridge in Alaska you might want to buy.

I do not see how Palin’s daughter being with child is going to help McCain get a convention bounce.
I don’t see how McCain and Palin playing Stormchasers if thats really what they will end up doing will help.
But I’m sure the MSM will find a way to spin it. I’m also sure a small bump in the polls will be manufactured.

As a kid growing up going to catholic school we used to have a blast reviewing the nuns sex-ed with the girls. They were told to pour milk in their bathwater so they couldn’t see themselves and to not wear shiny shoes because the boys would look at the reflections. We used to joke that catholic birth control was for the girls to take an aspirin

and hold it between her knees

I am sooooooooooo confused. My gut tells me that Bristol is not really pregnant and next we will hear she had a miscarriage.

At this point, I can only feel sympathy for the young lady.

This rumor has been floating around since April. WHy hasn’t Palin quashed it by releasing her medical records?

Originally, Palin thought that’s all she’d be doing there as VP, observing her navel

I have a bridge in Alaska you might want to buy.

Really, where’s it go to?

Gustav Hits Land, But The Human Element Is Hard To Measure
new thread

nowhere

Yup, CNN reported that Cindy and Laura will be speaking tonight and the speeches will not be political, citing they will ask people to help the victims of Gustav.

doing what every good democrat does on Labor Day - enjoying a union sponsored picnic in Michigan :D

yeah, I teed that one up for you. Nice shot!

OK, I’ve been sitting here mulling over this piece of information………

If she is “about” five months pregnant and there are two more months to election, the campaign planned on “breaking” the news to the American public when? Same statement, second question: this proposed marriage is gonna take place when?

not a hypocrite but imo it illustrates how zealous faith can make people inhuman.

Q: Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

Plunger,
I too have read KKKarl’s playbook. You make an excellent case for your predictions. Just remember us obsessed persons are DFH’s and merit no attention./s
Keep up the great work on the “Great Distraction”.

Laura Bush warns Dems away from anti-Palin sexism

“The other side will have to be particularly careful,” Bush said in an interview on Fox News from St. Paul, “because that’s something we all looked at.”
[ ]
Questioned about whether Palin may face sexism from the media in the way Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters claim she did, Bush said: “I think that’s a possibility.”
“I’m going to get what I wanted, which is to be able to vote for a Republican woman,” Bush said. “People, as they get to know her, are going to be so impressed with her grit and her sensible judgment.”
“She has shown how terrific women can be, and how strong women can be, in office.”

it is too funny to even comment on…..

I’m picturing the mullet king - Joe Dirt.

any time after November 4th

It seems Palin is a fan of abstinence-only education

abstinenceobstinence-only education

props, Elliott, on your 88

I know. Spectacularly bad.

How long does it take to cook one grit? That’s something I want to look at.

Have you ventured all the way down the KKKarl Rabbit Hole to learn the entire truth about this TERRORIST?

http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com

what got me was her statement about the “situation”.
She’s and they and hubby and family and community and just EVERYONE is SOOOO PROUUUUD!!!
SO VERY DEEPLY VERY PROUUUUD!!!!!

right
a fly on the wall the day of the conversation between 17yo high school student and the “p’s”!!!

I just bet the pride was a flyin!!!! eh?

When during a pregnancy do they test for Downs Syndrome? If the daughter’s baby also has it then pollution becomes a major issue this election.

CNN just reported the on the Bristol pregnancy but no mention of the rest of the story. Does CNN need to hire Paul Harvey?

Under God was added to the pledge of allegiance during Eisenhower’s Presidency in the mid to late 1950’s.

Palin is ignorant.

Sumgayit had one of the highest morbidity rates during the Soviet Era and the legacy of illness and death persist. A study jointly conducted by the UNDP, WHO, Azerbaijan Republic Ministry of Health and the University of Alberta demonstrated that residents of Sumgayit experience intensely high levels of both cancer morbidity and mortality. Cancer rates in Sumgayit are 22-51% higher than average incidence rates in the rest of Azerbaijan. Mortality rates from cancer are 8% higher. Evidence suggests that lower reported cancer rates are flawed as a result of underreporting.

A high percentage of babies are born premature, stillborn, and with genetic defects like Mongolism, anencephaly, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, bone disease, and mutations such as club feet, cleft palate, and four or six fingers or toes.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007.....llute.html

My bold Mongolism is the old term for Downs Syndrome Alaska as an oil producing state I’m sure has some oil related pollution problems.

What about the family of the young man? Were they told about the VP business and prepared for the media pile on?

oh what a tangled web we weave when first we conspire to deceive conceive.

Small rephrase, no charge ;-)

I told