Let Sleeping Bears Lie
April 12, 2011
You would think that just as Slate, Salon and The Daily Beast are concluding that Sarah Palin has become yesterday’s breakfast, the last thing in the world she would want is to re-raise the question of whether she actually did give birth to Trig. Yet, with the help of ex-spokesman Bill McAllister, that’s exactly what she has done.
Sarah’s contribution was to endorse Donald Trump’s wacky foray into the question of President Obama’s natural born citizenship. Then McAllister launched a ballistic attack against a journalism professor from Northern Kentucky University who wrote an unpublished paper suggesting that mainstream media have given Sarah a free pass on the matter of Trig’s parentage. Absent McAllister’s tirade, it’s unlikely that Brad Scharlott’s paper would ever have reached a readership outside Highland Heights, Ky.
But now an issue that was dead and buried is alive again, with Andrew Sullivan posting about it at The Daily Beast today.
The revival of questions about Trig will make it difficult for Sarah to launch a presidential campaign without addressing the issue, which to this point she has steadfastly refused to do.
Sometimes it’s better to let the sleeping bear lie.
Posted in 51 Responses to “Let Sleeping Bears Lie”
She is such a fool. But I on the other hand am having a good day posting at Salon!
But really, who cares? Who cares about Trig, who cares about Donald’s hair, who cares about Sarah Palin?
Remember how obsessed the media was over Paris Hilton? How they were two weeks ago over Charlie Sheen? Remember Jon and Kate plus Eight? (Actually, where’s Jon now?) This kind of media attention is unsustainable. Although I hope it sustains itself long enough for the book to sell even if it seems like a lot of work over, well, not much.
She just isn’t that interesting, except to herself. And that kind of person – like Paris and Charlie – is fun to laugh at, not with.
Don’t forget that this woman has done a lot of damage. She has allowed racism to rear its ugly head and she also made an impact on the Health Care Bill. She is someone who needs to be discredited for ever.
Part of the problem is that Sarah surrounds herself with people like herself: thin-skinned, reactionary, dramatically critical, and twisters of truth. She and her cohorts will forever be beating their chests and crying out that they’ve been victimized to whomever will listen…and preferably pay them large sums of money to do so. One day it will all catch up with her…a day I hope will come very soon.
Perhaps Sara gave birth via a surrogate (i wonder who?). When she describes her water as having broken at 4am, perhaps her water was in someone else’s body….after all, we are living in strange times…..our oil is under someone else’s sand, etc.
palin has exposed herself to the media in ways she’ll never be able to change. For example, the way she used that baby as a prop, how she interacts with her family – pretty obvious there’s no love or warmth there, the way she behaved with toad at the airport towards the guy that was filming her, the way she mocked the woman that put up the sign “worst governor ever” and the endless ways in which she plays the victim card over and over again. Public will never forget the blood libel video nor should they. Her words and actions have exposed her – not the “lamestream” media. She’s a liar, a grifter, a fraud and a racist. Can’t wait till she’s joined paris hilton and charlie sheen in “yesterday’s news”.
I care because she has jumped on the Obama birther bandwagon. So I want to know what possesses a woman like Palin who is so power hungry that she would lie about a baby’s birth. Any woman who has had a baby knows that she is a liar. Once your water breaks the pain comes fast and hard. I don’t believe the story of her getting on a plane and people not even recognizing she is pg. People are not stupid. It tells you what kind of a president this liar would make. If she lies about her family and troopergate what else is she hiding? It’s just a matter of honor and trust something Palin does not have.
Andrew Sullivan took Justin Elliott to the woodshed. Mister Elliott did, however, post Professor Scharlott´s research paper on Salon. If that was his goal, he succeeded admirably. Trig´s biological birth story is, after all, a ¨taboo¨ topic that must be broached carefully. And cleverly.
Are you kidding me? The faked pregnancy is the biggest political hoax of our time. It will shake the Republican party to its core.
Yes, I agree with you, and of course it’s acceptable to approach a “taboo” subject through:
someone else’s reference to or comment on it;
a critique of another reporter’s analysis;
the controversy surrounding such a taboo;
the historical treatment of this particular taboo subject; and/or,
the most recent addition to its continuing thread of coverage
Just reporting what’s newsworthy…
. . . if it ever gets into the mainstream media, that is.
I care, because Sarah Palin has based much of her political identity on her “mama grizzly” image, and she’s made some unbelievable claims about the circumstances regarding the birth of her son.
Sarah Palin is an unprecedented figure in American politics, and the lines between public and private are very confusing when it comes to her.
But let me ask you this: Do you remember, back in the 2000 election, Al Gore’s story about his son’s car accident – how he sat at the hospital bedside and looked into his child’s lifeless eyes and everything changed that day? Gore told that story at the DNC and many, many times in front of a national audience – as a sympathy generator, as a metaphor for the direction the United States was headed, as a reason to vote for him.
If that fundamental, life-altering story turned out to be a fabrication, his career would be over, as it should be. The same is true for Sarah Palin, who has placed her child with Down Syndrome at the core of her political identity. She may run for president again, but even if she doesn’t she continues to have a significant impact on the national discourse. I believe she has gotten a pass that no other modern political figure has received, and that’s wrong.
I care because it’s the height of sexism to fail to hold a female politician to the same standards as a male politician. I care because if the rumor is true, John McCain chose a crazy person as his running mate and the national press actively avoided looking into it.
This is not about her celebrity. It’s not like Paris Hilton. It’s about what we expect in a democracy.
The Young Turks will talk about Trig’s birth on tomorrow’s show.
I care. Palin & Trump are incredibly negative & dangerous forces in this country. If we are not vigilant their “contributions” will affect each & every one of us in a devastating way. Apathy is not an option.
The media is always cowardly, because it is controlled media.
They do what they are told to do..
Only the bloggers have been on this for years. And THEY won’t let it go.
I don’t know Mrs. Palin; but I do know people. Mrs. Palin has been lying for her entire life. And of course, when you lie, you have to remember the ‘truth’. Not so easy after so many lies. According to her first book, her fifth child was born in Palmer. According to a speech she gave not long ago, the baby was born in Anchorage. Who doesn’t know where their baby was born?
But of course a snap is worth a thousand words. I saw photos of Mrs. Palin when she was suppose to be seven months pregnant. I myself have five children. Mrs. Palin was not seven months pregnant in March, 2008. Not a chance.
But the best thing about your blog Mr. McGinniss is that I am absolutely sure it is driving Mrs. Palin crazy. Many of us are very tired of hearing about Sarah Palin and with books such as yours and now the media doing its job, perhaps she will finally go away.
I can’t wait for your book; I ordered it yesterday.
Evidently she admitted to several people after Piper was born that she had a tubal (pronounced by her as TWO BULL) and was complaining about the after effects (I had a tubal – I was up and around 3 hours later, and it was the day after delivery of a 8 1/2 pound baby with no epidural). There is no way that that baby is hers. What interests me however is that no one has seen a picture of Bristol since DWTS ended – remember her tummy then? Who gains weight in their middle like that with that kind of exercise routine? Someone who has gone through a few pregnancies thats who.
I’ve followed the Trig story for years now and I’m convinced that Sarah Palin faked the pregnancy. The photos don’t lie and the “wild ride” story is just that, a story. I’ve always thought one reason the media avoided the subject is that male reporters would have a hard time even mentioning the amniotic fluid and the contractions. Men get very nervous about such subjects! I’ve never convinced my husband; if I could get him to look at the photos on Palingates or the “perfidy” videos on Politicalgates, I’m sure he would understand. But I can’t get him near any of it. Women, on the other hand, once they’re told Sarah Palin’s version (or the most frequently told version) all seem to conclude that she faked it. I’m happy that Prof. Schlarlott wrote his paper; the media does need to 1) look at the evidence, 2) ask some probing questions, and 3) report the truth.
Palin has been given a number of passes by the press – perhaps it has to do with living in Alaska.
It’s just too far for anyone to hop on a plane & do the necessary research. Troopergate, Housegate, the Sports Complex “boundary issue”, not paying property taxes on rural cabins, Dairygate, the Wasilla Debt she left behind as Mayor, Trig and the 3 older ones with their legal problems. Much of this was “casually mentioned” in the press – but not researched or reported on. Without the work and dedication of Alaska bloggers, and you, Joe, 90% of America wouldn’t have a clue about how Sarah Palin really operates.
Palin lies so often, it makes one wonder if she has ever told the truth!
To be honest, I am a Trig Truther. The only reason it is important, to me at least, is in her character. I have no idea if she gave birth to Trig (on the day she said). It is a big can of squirming worms. “IF” the wild ride is true – in my opinion – it was an attempt to have a late term fundie abortion/termination. Which means she is not a true believer that every life is a gift. No one should have a choice, even if raped. “IF” Trig was adopted – hey why not just say “it was a private adoption” why bother with the “wild ride tales” – Which means she cannot be honest about herself and her own life, yet wants to dictate how I live MY life.
Your book (and Geoffrey Dunn’s) have been on order for almost a year now. Am looking forward to reading your well researched facts and views about Sarah Palin. I’ve been a big fan since Fatal Vision a couple decades ago.
Isn’t it interesting that on any blog dealing with material about Palin that the mainstream
has ‘overlooked,’ there is always one commenter saying how boring it all is, & why bother
getting to the truth, & comparing Palin’s behavior with Paris Hilton & lately to Charlie Sheen’s
antics. Neither of which has much impact on world peace or the price of oil. Makes you suspect
that the said commenter’s aim is to derail any dialogue about Palin – who incidentally is a loose
& rather deadly cannon on the political scene – that might contribute to the total collapse
of the myth known as Palin. You must be on the right track, Mr. McGinniss, as you’ve
‘earned the attention of a ‘bot.’ 😉
Palin’s lie about giving birth to Trig bothers me because it’s using one of the most sacred experiences in a woman’s life for political and financial gain. Her act has historical precedence, if you think of the importance of women’s offspring as heirs to thrones and kingdoms. Women have always wielded power through their wombs, and they probably have — I’d wager– lied as baldfacedly as Palin has done to trick a husband or a country. But you’d think that now, with tabloids and blogs out the wazoo, that it’d be impossible to carry off something that audacious today. As far as I’m concerned her sin is larger than any man’s
Nice article Joe…Sarah has lied so much she can’t keep her stories straight…Her own mother (Sally) said she wouldn’t put anything past Sarah…Her father (Chuck) said she was really good at getting away with *stuff*
I don’t want her anywhere near the WH..She’s nuts jmo..
There’s supposed to be a True Hollywood special on Palin with much supposedly taken from John Zieglers’s interview with Palin. I saw a clip of that interview and she talks about people not believing the Trig birth story. I am wondering if this will be included in the special and she will try to claim victim status once again.–and get another pass, of course.
The “who is the mother” part of this story is bad, but, to me, the worst part is the TX to AK flight. I can’t believe anyone would consider her for Pres when she used such dangerous, negligent, ignorant judgement. If she doesn’t know, or care, how dangerous it is to fly for hours, water leaking, with contractions, people should imagine what else she doesn’t know or care about. Palin can’t argue with the wild ride story because it is backed up by her own words.We wouldn’t even have heard such a stupid story if she hadn’t told it. She has gotten a pass on the “I birthed Trig” and we may never know. But we do know she took that flight and she shouldn’t get a pass on that part of the story.
Palin lies profusely and she is a “pot stirrer” and seems to thrive on chaos. I don’t believe she cares/knows much about issues and I don’t think she thinks of political office as anything other than winning a game(like in her basketball days.) It isn’t about the job–it’s just about winning. She is abusive & hateful as well–with her name calling.
Funny, but this is one area where I give Palin a pass. Someone used the term “fundie abortion” and I think that’s pretty crude. I think the baby is hers. She was a pro-life, middle-aged woman with a large family confronted with a special needs child. Maybe she convinced herself she could handle it; maybe she went into denial, I don’t know, but when she went into labor in Texas she saw a risky trip home as a way out. I can sympathize with any woman in this situation. Where she loses me and where she always loses me, is that she compulsively turns her very human weaknesses into heroic fairy tales. No one would ever have questioned the fact that a 43 year old woman gave birth to a Downes Syndrome child. It truly is a private matter. But she couldn’t leave it be. She buries her guilt by creating fantastic tales with herself at center stage as the heroine.
Anyway, I think Palin does plenty of lying that is attackable in terms of her character. Choosing to focus on this one, which is not a lie about her public record, just plays into her hand and furthers her narrative of personal persecution. Her personal life is none of my business, her public life is. Stick to the public stuff, there’s more than enough there.
The MSM needs to reveal all of what she’s said about her “wild ride”, her alleged pregnancy and her “forgetting where and at what stage of her pregnancy” Trig was born. It will cause a lot of people who still are considering her worthy of the presidency, to realize just how unworthy she truly is, or at least get them to think twice about. I know there’s a small portion of her fans that will believe anything she says even if given photographic proof of the opposite. The majority of the population knows she is a liar but need to be reminded repeatedly.
I care because it is the height of sexism to fail to hold a female politician to the same standards as a male male politician. Exactly.
The comments at Salon have been excellent. I have never seen so many truly excellent comments within the mainstream. Thanks for all you do!
shannynmoore Sheesh, why did @SarahPalinUSA have to get stuck in the Birther Canal? Now, I have to write about her birthers. #ugh! #fok #p2
Joe……….above is a copy/paste from your twitter from Shannyn Moore. I know she’s ” Just a Girl from Homer”. Joe, do you think anyone would take you seriously as an author if you referred to yourself as “Just a Boy from ?”
.Can someone please fill me in on what the deal is with Ms. Moore? Yet another wanna be taken seriously blogger/radio host or a well informed Alaskan with direct knowledge of this topic to be this dismissive in a twitter post? Joe I think ya should ask her, I mean she’s been on TeeVee, on Maddow no less.
Indeed, Alex. In the past, when Queens gave birth, official attendants were there, IN THE ROOM, to make sure there was no switcheroo going on and that the royal baby was indeed born of the royal Queen.
Thank you! Sarah Palin has been the beneficiary of sexist since she ran for Governor, maybe before that. She uses her sexuality when it suits her and cried “Sexism!” when anybody criticizes her.
Exactly. It’s not about Trig. It’s not about who Trig’s bio-parents might be. It’s not about SP’s family.
It’s about SP, her well-documented lying, her perpetrating a giant hoax upon us all, and the media saying nothing about it in spite of 2+ years of clear proof in the blogs — like photos of a flat profile in the weeks and days before the alleged delivery of a 6+ pound baby (at 7.5 months! give me a break). And the SP photo in the middle — of a suddenly watermelon-sized pregnancy that flattens dramatically in the few days before “delivery.”
Joe: if you conclude (as Bailey seems to have done, as McAllister claims) that she was in fact pregnant with Trig, please do explain how that flat profile on well-documented photos can coexist with that story line? And in that case how SP’s “wild ride” story ( a “wild ride” only in retrospect, because of course she was not pregnant at the time!) was never covered by MSM in spite of being supremely ridiculous??
I hope your book discusses Scharlott’s “spiral of silence” — MSM’s abandoning its duty to cover this giant travesty that has remained undiscussed in MSM for 3 yrs now!
Given that all of the heavy lifting has already been done by bloggers and writers, once the green light is shown, there will be unseemly (but welcome!) pushing and shoving to “break” the “Wild Ride” story in the MSM. I could write that front-page story off the top of my head at this point! (Pity I am no longer a paid member of the MSM…)
I’ve never been convinced Sarah is not Trig’s mother. I’ve seen the photos, heard the arguments, etc., but also realize that every pregnancy is different and people sometimes do carry in a way that makes a pregnancy less obvious. Good grief, there’s a whole show about it on one of the pretend educational channels right now (‘I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant’ or something). Sarah is a fabricator, so her entire story of the ‘wild ride’ could well be fiction, with dates and times fudged to create more drama. If she is not his mother, there is simply no hope for a woman who would think this is an acceptable solution to dealing with an unwanted pregnancy in a family member or who would ‘borrow’ a special needs child for political purposes. Mostly, I don’t particularly care whether she gave birth to him or not. Just the fact that people can legitimately wonder if this woman is capable of perpetrating such a hoax using a needy child tells me everything I need to know about her. If her moral core can be so easily questioned by so many she is not fit to serve as a parent and even less so as an elected official.
So Sara’s capacity to engage in this sort of hoax, if it is one, rather than the hoax itself is the real reason this matters–that and Trig’s politic significance to Sarah and to Republicans. She has built her brand around being a ‘Mama Grizzly,’ but she is actually the antithesis of the model. I have a special needs daughter who has a rare genetic disorder. For nearly 30 years I have been a ‘Mama Grizzly’ and have worked daily with the type. Let me tell you what they don’t do: They don’t drag their children around publicly as objects of curiosity just to garner more attention for themselves. They don’t publicly condemn desperately needed research that they clearly do not understand in order to make political points (http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/07/a-real-mama-grizzly-vs-a-fake-one/185018/#more). They don’t back policies that have already proven to be disastrous for families of special needs children. They don’t believe, because they know from first-hand experience, that the’market’ will provide for the needs of their kids. They don’t think specials needs should be viewed as a opportunity for corporate profit. And because they are often powerless and voiceless in modern America (especially those with rare diseases) they would never take a powerful public platform like Sarah Palin has had and use it to make things worse for their children.
This is why Sarah’s real relationship to Trig matters. She is using this relationship and her supposed devotion to her special needs child to make things worse for real Mama Grizzlies and their innocent children and her hypocrisy needs to revealed–whether or not she actually gave birth to Trig. It’s important to remember that when she first burst onto the public stage she did not call herself a Mama Grizzly. In fact, she was publicly advocating policies that would harm special needs children even on the campaign trail back in 2008 (here is an open letter I wrote to her regarding her policy speech on fruit fly research: http://priorbadacts.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/dear-governor-palin/). The Mama Grizzly meme is an evolution of her self-mythologizing that has grown from feedback supporting her decision to raise a special needs child. It’s not hard to imagine what a public backlash there will be if the whole thing turns out to be a hoax.
Assuming Trig has been adopted from somewhere, how different this might have turned out if she had simply announced that her family decided to take him because the birth mother couldn’t handle his problems and they wanted to give him a supportive, loving home because he was such a precious gift from God, etc. She really screwed up with this one. Even if it was Bristol who was the birth mother, Sarah could have come off as a supportive…well, she wouldn’t even have had to say who the birth mother was…but that would still have added to her creds if she supported her own daughter’s “choice”.
So in addition to being in the employ of Rupert/Murdoch Sarah Palin and Shannyn Moore have something else in common. Apparently they both got there kicks from being ogled by horny old men. They were both beauty queens, at least according to the Michael Gross Vanity Fair story.
From Vanity Fair:
” Moore, a green-eyed blonde who, like Palin, was once an Alaska beauty queen, albeit a few stripes more self-aware, drives her Subaru through downtown Anchorage, steering with one hand, holding a cigarette and her smartphone in the other.”
Look, I wish you all the best, yet remember “Age and Treachery……”. and in this case you’re up against a wrinkled old billionaire who likes to hire former beauty queens, blondes in particular, of which there are many on Fox (Foxettes). Now he’s got him a forty year old former beauty queen up thar in Alaska workin’ at the local Fox affiliate who refers to herself as “Just a Girl”.
And that girl thinks your are wearin’ to much tinfoil to go with that dress.
Below is a copy/paste from Joe Mcginniss’ twitter feed:
“shannynmoore Sheesh, why did @SarahPalinUSA have to get stuck in the Birther Canal? Now, I have to write
Well Joe I checked “Just a Girl from Homer”, no updates as of yet. Hell just pick up the phone and ask her what’s going on up there with this Trig biz. I mean after all, your both legit pro journos right? She’s not some crackpot blogger, she’s a major media player up there in AK.
Far East Loon is over at politicalgates spreading joy.
From his or her lips to George Soros, he or she implies politicalgates could get a million from Soros, like Media Matters? Media Matters got a million from Soros?
LOL. I’m sure Patrick and Kathleen would be most grateful.
So Far East Loon is from Ohio. But now is an Alaskan?
Joe was on Ms. Moores show if I recall correctly when he first moved to Wasilla.
To keep the record accurate here: Shannyn Moore does not work for Rupert Murdoch or Fox News. Her Alaska radio show is broadcast on a local Fox station because its signal is stronger than that of the station where she used to be. She receives no salary from Fox. She is not beholden to Rupert Murdoch in any way.
–Joe McGinniss
She is a pretty racist nutjob who pointed the way to Gabby Giffords head and she knows it – to start with.
Personally she isn’t worth a second glance – she’s chosen to insert her feeble little self into national politics. Since we kicked her ass in 2008, I’m guessing she hasn’t learned her lesson yet (although according to Steve Schmidt she is incapable of learning the alphabet with note cards).
She is vile – giving her more of a voice would destroy our country. She is NOT a Christian (I don’t care), she is a Dominionist and I am hoping she raptures the hell off of our planet so it can heal. She also is for succession and apparently now has “birther” disease.
Sociopath? Narcissist? Manic/Depressive?
Yup / all of the above.
Sociopaths tend to “twin up”. When you are truly paranoid, you recognize fellow “sickos”. They will be attracted to her brand of mental illness.
IF the dates matched up = there would be more doubt. Palin is a pathological liar. She showed that when in September 2010 she announced “the baby was born in Anchorage” at a speech live. This idiot cannot even remember what CITY she gave birth in.
The problem with constantly lying is having to remember what you said. NO MOTHER ever FORGETS the date or hospital or city you have your children!!!
Her personal life, while you say is none of your business, has a profound impact on her public life which is everyone’s business. If she is a pathological liar and shameless self -promoter privately, she is the same in public as well. Unless she’s schizophrenic which is a distinct possibility. After all, she is a grand master narcissist with uncontrolable self-destructive impulses.
Thanks for the clarification Joe. So she is broadcast over a Fox station but not employed by Rupert Murdoch. Is her show paying the Rupert/Fox station for use of their signal and in effect helping to fill the coffers of Rupert’s media empire? Do you know what the financial arrangement is? Have you responded to her Twitter post?
If you have a question for Shannyn then go to her site and ask her yourself. No one likes to see Alaskan bloggers trashed on these sites and you have been at it all day. Frankly, it is getting tiresome.
Spot on brother,this slag is no more a Christian then Mr.Magoo.Hopefully she will take her millions and fade to black soon.
Spot-on!
When I read your response, I had to think about an old saying:” Speak the truth. There is less to remember!”
I guess you haven’t seen all the pictures of her… :
With her (first?) child, Track, she was big like a balloon (no snark intended).
Then, with her (supposedly) FIFTH child, she does NOT SHOW at all in her supposedly 7th month, and then, all of a sudden, two weeks later, she is posing as highly pregnant – and then, a few days after THAT picture was taken, she flies back from Texas to Alaska via Seattle, and the airline attendants could not “judge on the state of her pregnancy”, even though – supposedly – she was leaking amniotic fluid since 1am that morning, and had heavy contractions during her speech???
Yeah, right! And *I* have a bridge in the desert that I want to sell you!
One more thing: Palin claims that ‘giving birth to Trig was the easiest birth she has had’ – even though, supposedly, she was induced. Believe you me, that if you are ‘induced’, that birth is NOT easy – it is a very painful birth, because the contractions are being augmented/multiplied by the drug, and thus they are coming fast and furious!
Been there, done that. Didn’t get the T-Shirt (but a beautiful baby daughter 😉 )
You forgot to mention that they also don’t NOT give their special needs children all the support they can get – special classes to help improve whatever skills they have, glasses for their child if he/she needs them (there are very few pics around with Trig wearing glasses, and he seems to need them desperately), hearing aids (again, he does not seem to have them on, even though he seems to be profoundly hearing impaired (not flinching at loud applause as seen in many video clips).
That child (Trig) is totally a prop, and she shamelessly used him when he was smaller and easier to handle (see also the pictures on her first book tour, where she drags him out of her bus in the middle of a cold night (I believe it was below 40*F), only wearing a sweater, and a diaper – NO pants, no socks (and, of course, never shoes).
As far as I can see, that F.E.L. is also invading Gryphen’s blog, but is posting there as Anonymous.