More from Andrew Sullivan Soon: UPDATE: He’s Delivered…
April 25, 2011
He writes today: “I’ve been struggling to write a long new post on this entire thing, and am almost happy with it.”
I can say this about Andrew: he recognized from the start that the combination of Sarah Palin and the bedazzled media’s failure
to expose her for the fraud she was and is represented a genuine and grave threat to democracy. At the time, the 2008 election result was far from certain. In her Christian dominionism, her ignorance, her willfulness, her petulance, her spitefulness and her unbalanced belief that God really had annointed her to impose her narrow view of Christianity on a sinful, secular nation, Palin posed a clear and present danger to our way of life.
And we are by no means out of those woods yet. I have no doubt that she is currently preparing for a Fall Offensive that she thinks will carry her into next year’s primaries on a wave of fresh momentum. Given the weakness of the GOP field (Donald Trump?!!) , she could still become the Republican candidate.
The campaign that would follow that calamity would tear this country apart as maybe nothing has done since the Civil War.
So be grateful that Andrew Sullivan is standing watch.
UPDATE
…and many won’t like what he says.
From the start, Andrew has made an effort to be scrupulously fair about the Trig question. For being willing to consider even the possibility that Sarah’s story was a hoax, he was derided. Today’s post is further evidence of his scrupulousness, and although I disagree with him about many things (he is a Republican, after all) I’ve never found him to argue from false premises.
However, I’m less persuaded than he is by the belated first-person accounts of Quinn and Loy.
Loy wrote the original ADN story that said what a shock it was to learn that Sarah was pregnant, because she never looked it.
Now, three years later, he suddenly remembers that, yeah, actually, she did look pregnant, I just didn’t notice it at the time? A good cross-examiner could have fun with that in a courtroom.
As for Quinn, it was widely rumored that he was romantically involved with Palin aide Ivy Frye while covering Sarah as governor for AP. He doesn’t work for AP any more. I don’t know why, but I’ve heard the story of his relationship with Fry often enough and from enough different people without axes to grind that, at the least, it gives me pause in regard to Quinn’s credibility.
But set aside questions about the motivation of these two, suddnly key “eyewitnesses,” who decided in unison to go public last week. As all cops, prosecutors and defense attorneys know, eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. How about eyewitness testimony three years later?
I’m a Trignostic. I don’t have a dog in this fight. But I don’t agree with Sullivan that the “recovered memories” of Loy and Quinn (neither of whom I know, by the way) should be accepted as having significant weight.
Not only is eyewitness testimony unreliable, but these were young male reporters covering the most dazzling & sexy political figure in Alaskan history. Sarah invites them to view her (veiled) belly in private? And now–contradicting what they wrote at the time–they both decide retroactively that she was obviously pregnant?
Something about that smells like fish to me: and not like fish that even Todd Palin could sell commercially.
Sullivan says the Loy and Quinn accounts “buttress–powerfully–the case that this whole thing is a tempest in a spatula.” He finds Loy and Quinn “persuasive.” I don’t.
He’s also persuaded by this conversation that Laura Novak had with a pediatric specialist, who argues that Sarah Palin is not “weird” enough to have fabricated her whole story.
Hmm. I’m not so sure. That reminds me of the argument that friends of Jeffrey MacDonald made in his defense: he couldn’t have murdered his wife and children, because he’s not the kind of man who could have done that. Turns out that he did, and he was. So a long-distance psychological evaluation of Sarah by a pediatric specialist who’s never met her doesn’t rise to the level of evidence either.
My verdict? Jury still out. But we thank Mr. Sullivan for his testimony.
Posted in Andrew Sullivan, evangelical, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue, Trig Palin | 
Tags: 2012 campaign, 2012 primaries, Andrew Sullivan, christian, dominionism, GOP, joe mcginniss, mainstream media, Sarah Palin
100 Responses to “More from Andrew Sullivan Soon: UPDATE: He’s Delivered…”
This whole Palin Thing has been fascinating – and horrifying – to watch for years now. Especially when you know The Truth about Sarah Palin.
Palin is the biggest fraud and hoax in American political history.
Hmmm. we haven’t heard the last from Levi Johnston yet:
http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/levi-johnston-writing-tell-all-book-2011254
The best part- the title:Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs
I would buy his book over Bristol’s any day.
I already pre-ordered your book, Bailey’s and Dunn’s…you can get a three-fer on Amazon. Money well spent.
First let me say, nice blog Joe!
And I too have been enjoying watching the Palin train wreck, and being utterly disgusted with the fact that so many adore her.
I cannot wait till she is exposed and I sincerely hope it is with no mercy.
I applaud all of you who have taken on the task, I hope it happens soon!
Sarah Palin 2012 bumper sticker: ‘Rill ‘Mericans Divide an Conker
I don’t think Sarah much like politics. It’s too drama filled and dirty. I think she, like most people, like asserting opinions. She has been a pawn from the beginning and I think she’s beginning to retaliate because of that. What good has come from her? Well, she’s gotten people to question things on both sides, despite the fact that lies on the left are still ignored. She inspired youth to get involved. I think things would be a lot worse if McCain had chosen anyone else. WE as a country needed the political shake up, or the government would have gotten away with some pretty shady deals in the last 2 years.
From a bumper sticker: “Palin 2012: the Mayans warned us” …
I have been waiting for the last 2 1/2 years for SOMEone to finally shut this dangerous trainwreck up, but I almost believe that we need to go after her with Voodoo, because she did get a kind of Teflon-coat by that African Witch-doctor that came and anointed her before she became Mayor (-In-Name_Only) of Wasilla, and that spell can only be undone with another spell, I guess…
She has started her latest LSM push to disgrace any and all who are willing/able to prove that she is a fraud, and she has also thrown ANOTHER young man under the bus by saying he wrote a threatening note to her daughter about wanting to rape her (see Gryphen’s blog). She has also refreshed her PAC site, to push for more of her minions to give to her and to eat only rice and maybe beans, so she can hoard her own MILLIONS of $$$.
What’s a little sad is, all Levi has to go by to write a (maybe 100 page book) is thing Bristol confided to him. Why are Alaskans so backstabbing? I hope he realizes he will never have a decent relationship with his son. What’s Tripp going to think when he reads his father’s book that trashes the only grandma he’s ever known? Sad. I hope he thinks hard about what to write.
All due respect, Kimberly, but take your head out of the sand. The woman’s made a bloody fortune as a so-called politician and she is the personification of drama. Try another argument.
What I’m enjoying are the Apologist / Explainer Trolls, who speak a distinct dialect comprised of odd verb tenses and not a little subject-verb confusion.
Andrew Sullivan is a national treasure. If our journalists finally come to and smell the coffee, it will be due, in large measure, to his refusal to back down.
I don’t agree with him on everything, but I certainly trust him. Sullivan is that rare combination of passion and integrity, and I’m a little bit in love with him even though he’s gay.
I was surprised as any as a political wonk in Alaska that Sarah beat out Tony Knowles, Andrew Halcro and John Binkley (a dried out moose poop pebble would have beat out Frank Murkowski in the Republican Primary.)
I knew this Josie-Six-Pack was out of her league and cringed at her folksy commonsense approach to governing above her pay-grade, one of the first glaring examples was her first trip out to Washington, D.C. in meeting with her Washington staff and slighting the Alaska Delegation, not thinking that that sort of sojourn to the Capitol required such protocol. Statesmanship was not inherent in this Wasillabilly.
Andrew is asking pertinent questions, since all of us were in disbelief she was ‘carrying.’ I was three months pregnant with my third child and measuring her 7 month girth to mine was confounding.
The out of state speaking engagements spoke volumes of her driven ambition over her concern for her late stage, high-risk pregnancy. Wild Ride or no, Trig Truthing or no, there is something fishy, as is all things, in the Palin Frontier Woman narrative.
Firstly, thank you Joe McGinniss!
Another heartfelt thanks to all the bloggers and Andrew Sullivan who are working tirelessly to expose this charlatan, grifter, etc…
I was very happy to read Andrew’s post today where he is asking for “medical records” and not just simply a Birth Certificate as I’m quite sure she’s already procured one made to her specifications. Remember she appointed all her BFFs to many government positions to continue to do her bidding … and they have!
Perhaps her medical records have also been doctored to remove her TUBAL LIGATION, which would put all of this to rest but I remain hopeful that these are a bit more difficult to forge/alter than a simple BC.
Avidly awaiting your book, Joe!
Actually, the Kenyan witch doctor annointed her and protected her against “devils” forevermore only after Sarah was already done with Wasilla
and just as she was preparing to announce she was running for governor.
–Joe
It is amusing. ‘She’ is making ‘her’ rounds. Completely transparent. ‘She’ may be a herder from a C4P type site.
I think by then he’ll probably understand why his dad wrote a book about Grandma.
Man, I was having a perfectly lovely day, and then you say you have no doubts she’s planning a fall offensive. Considering all the research you’ve done, I have no doubt you have a better understanding of her behavior. She’s not done yet.
The question becomes, then, will all the journalists who took pity on her during the 2008 campaign insist on access this time? Like a real press conference? With pre-screened questions?
Kimberly, why pick on Levi about this? Why is it okay for Bristol to write a book and not Levi? Levi’s life experience is just as valuable as Bristol’s. Have you cautioned her about what to write in her forthcoming book? Tripp will have a chance to read both of them and make up his own mind, when he’s older.
Dominionism is alive and growing in “rill ‘Merka”. $palin is the face of that movement. If we can put an end the $palin, we can slow the progress of dominionism, though not stamp it out.
We can hope that Joe’s and other author’s books will finally shut her up. Levi is a way too late with his “revelations”. He has already lied, so who would believe a word he says? Either his allegations were lies or his statement that the allegations were untrue was a lie.
Ha! Me too! I’m a bit in love with Andrew too, and I’m old enough to be his mother. It’s so refreshing to read suc intelligent, honest and thought provoking writing. Even when I don’t agree with what he says, I love the way he says it.
That’s “such”
Her opinions are ignorant, without basic intellectual gravitas, designed to be hurtful, designed to attract maximum attention to herself for the purpose of making money and have had no impact on the actions of our current administration.
She has not had a positive impact on bringing the youth into the equation, as most under 30 think racism is an antiquated idea and that she appears to be the Church Lady from Hell- not very appealing to the average youth. Young people tend to be more open-minded and progressive and generally loathe hypocrisy, as they are fresh and unjaded.
I also might point out that I can’t think of any politician, psuedo or otherwise, who comes across as dirty and messy as this hot mess of a lying huckster.
You probably work for her/idolize her/believe she reflects your values.
I’m sure you are a far better person than she is, as you want so desperately to see the good in such a scary and marginal character, so I won’t harp on you anymore.
I have known Wesley Loy professionally for years and wrote in an earlier post that he is a good journalist.
But after reading that he admits to asking $arah “don’t be mad at me” regarding her (fake) pregnancy, I take it back.
Loy now writes for the Petroleum Journal in Alaska – I wonder if he dares ask the oil industry tough questions or prefaces his questions with the same ridiculous comment.
Joe, your book is so well named — in Alaska we know that $arah Pay-lin has told so many lies even she can’t keep ’em straight. I, for one, am looking forward to Levi’s ‘up close and personal’ revealings. He was inside the Palin house for years.
God Bless Andrew Sullivan. He was the only national blogger willing to ask the questions that the media would not ask.
With all the books coming out and now Levi’s book, Sarah is going to have to do a bit more than field softball questions from FOX News for a ‘fall offensive’ to work. She may have to submit to an interview by a real journalist (although the way the MSM failed in its reporting on Palin, I have doubts as to whether there are any real journalists out there).
One thing is for sure; the media made Sarah Palin. They did it for ratings no doubt. And they failed the American People. Who in the MSM ever did any reporting on Mrs. Palin? Katie Couric asked the woman what newspapers she read; not a tough question (although to Sarah it apparently was). They (MSM) did not do any reporting; instead they repeated word for word whatever nonsense the woman wrote on her Facebook page.
I certainly have grave concerns about putting a woman who knows absolutely nothing in any position of power. I am hoping the upcoming books will ensure that I don’t have to live the rest of my life hearing about Sarah Palin.
The most fascinating thing about the Palin Saga is watching her critics literally and figuratively wet their pants and go into cartoonish rage and dementia.
The people who try to say her kid isn’t hers missed their calling working for Julius Streicher with his hotheaded rants in 1930s Germany.
The only difference is the “Trig Troofers” and Palin bashing malcontents are just impotent little worms, which makes them so fun to laugh at.
Let’s be honest. Levi isn’t “writing” anything just as Bristol isn’t. In fact, I doubt either of them have much input into what will be written in their name. They are both hamstringed by their relationship to Sarah Palin as well at at the mercy of whichever ghost writer was chosen to tell their stories.
Which is too bad, because I’m sure both of their real stories are fascinating (but only as they pertain to Sarah, since neither of them are outstanding in any other way).
Not true Kimberly. Levi & Bristol were more or less raising the Palin children because neither Sarah or Todd were ever home. (Todd in the lounger & Levi on the sofa.) Palin herself has admitted their relationship was not like other couples…”we never talk”. Although the Palin book market seems to be getting crowded. I would believe Levi over any Palin in a NY minute.
Please show me ANY proof that she got youth involved. She couldn’t even get her own daughter involved. Bristol didn’t vote in the midterm elections.
There is nobody as down and dirty as Sarah Palin, who nastily questioned the Christianity and marital status of her opponent in the Wasilla mayoral contest.
And, give me a break with this so-called “shake up.” Conservatives were completely tight lipped about George Bush and Dick Cheney for eight years. It wasn’t until a black democrat was voted into office that they suddenly became “concerned” about government’s dirty dealings.
What Sarah Palin did for this country was to open the floodgates on the thinly-veiled (and often not veiled at all), bigotry aimed at our president.
To his great credit, Levi hasn’t said one bad thing about Bristol. Meanwhile, Bristol has badmouthed the father of her child all over the place (and allowed her mother to do the same). Sure, Levi spilled some things about Sarah Palin, but I personally think it was largely in self-defense (and, let’s face it, Levi is trying to capitalize on his 15 minutes the same as Bristol…what’s good for the goose and all that).
Oh. Ok…
Thanks for your concern.
I am kind of surprised that sullivan didn’t pick up on the over-the-top cheesiness of loy’s piece. her eyes twinkled with anticipation at the thought of the question he was going to ask her? really? it reads like cheesy romance novels. I cannot read these “recently found memories” from o’malley, loy, & quinn without being reminded of what bailey says in his book – sarah and staff used to write letters to the editor in praise of sarah and sign the names of supporters to the letters. these “recently discovered memories” sound like they were written by the quitters flunkie-failed-screenwriter rebecca mansour. these people are cheaters and manipulators of the worst kind.
Jersey Dave, go back to the Jersey Shore, Snooki misses ya’ and it’s time for your favorite new show, “Mob Wives.”
Yes, Loy writes, “I asked her not to be mad at me for what I was about to ask, and her eyes seemed to twinkle with anticipation.”
If he was dazzled by her twinkling eyes, how much attention could he pay to her belly?
Also, in more than forty years of journalism, I’ve never asked a subject “not to be mad at me for what I was about to ask.”
And even then he wrote that she didn’t look pregnant. And only now, when trying to make a living from a commercial fishing blog in Alaska, does he suddenly remember what he actually saw, which utterly contradicts what he wrote at the time. A cross-examiner might ask: “Mr. Loy, were you lying then or are you lying now?”
I wonder if Loy is counting on help from commercial fisherman Todd with his blog.
And do you suppose Salon would have printed his account, if he’d said, “Nope. She didn’t look pregnant at seven months. Period.” No, only by recanting could he make his first national splash.
–Joe
Did you notice in that “E! Sarah Palin” broadcast last Thursday (re-broadcast yesterday, Sunday) that one of Sarah Palin’s very very close friends, Judy Patrick, claimed several times that Sarah Palin NEVER showed her pregnancy until very late in the 9 month gestations?
Gosh, I wonder what controversy prompted one of Sarah Palin’s dear friends to bring that weird fact into the conversation?
Andrew, so Sarah should have no problem producing real proof that she is the biological mother? But she hasn’t. And she lied when she said she did. Why would she do that? And she just lets this all continue on. What is she waiting for? Is she just toying with us? So a pediatric specialist who has never met Sarah but doesn’t think she is ‘weird enough’ to perpetuate a hoax and the ‘recollections’ of a couple of reporters years later are powerful evidence? I have looked at the evidence that has been collected. Many of us have. I trust my own abilities to discern what is probable. Something doesn’t compute here.
Ask your Queen why she doesn’t defend her family with the truth about Trig and just produce some definitive evidence already?
Then again, you may not like what you hear.
My first child was Trig’s weight. I was 5’8″ and very thin. I wore regular jeans for 4 1/2 months, swam a mile a day, and biked. I was undeniably pregnant at month 6 1/2, and there was no hiding it with my real abs of steel.
I truly think she faked it, but that really is secondary to the real issue. Either Palin pulled off a horrible hoax for terribly selfish reasons, or she tried to KILL THE FETUS with her “wild ride.” Frankly, I think there should be more focus on her apparent attempt to murder the special needs baby she was carrying.
Pediatric specialist?
Gimme a break. A Neonatologist OB/GYN specializing in Down Syndrome has the real answers.
Palin was not pregnant so there was no negligence.
Same goes for malpractice allegations against her physician CBJ. Since Palin wasn’t pregnant there’s no malpractice.
Joe – the twinkling eye thing made me feel dirty….like, uhmmm…..ew.
Does this mean you won’t have any new evidence one way or another in your upcoming book? Darnit! I was hoping you had a source or two to either confirm or deny the Trig Hoax.
You just keep chuckling, Jersey Dave. So glad we can amuse you. But Palin’s popularity and poll numbers tell us there are a whole lot more of us than yous guys.
Ok, we’ve all beat this subject to death. Not to suggest I want to stop talking about it but here’s my thought – If a huge segment of the population is STILL talking about the pregnancy and whether or not it was faked 3 years AFTER the fact…..my intuition tells me – if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…..
chances are it’s a duck. That’s my world, simple and easy to understand. Palin is a duck that is quacked up.
Ok, I’m sorry for that silly line. I’m a little tired tonight so please don’t be mad at me. 🙂
I finally got around to reading all of Andrew Sullivan’s UPDATE, and I believe he is a lot more non-committal and a lot less swayed by what he read in Salon, especially what Loy and Quinn had belatedly offered as “eye witnesses”.
To wit:
———————
“I don’t see why Quinn or Loy would lie about this; and their accounts seem persuasive – although it is maddening they didn’t report this before, and weird that they didn’t. They get to an empirical nub: what did you see with your own eyes? It’s almost the best empirical test we have. Almost.”
And
“A video still from an Israeli documentary film – lightened to show detail below – has also long told us what both Wesley Loy and Steve Quinn have now personally testified to:”
[video still shot, lightened, of rectangular shape of Palin's belly]
“Is this what Loy and Quinn also saw firsthand? Whatever the answer, I remain grateful for Salon for doing more than most news organizations have seen fit to do, in putting this on the table and presenting new facts to rebut it.”
—————————–
Sullivan also keeps the door open for more questions regarding Laura Novak’s pediatric specialist’s opinion — although I’m not sure why Novak didn’t seek the opinion of an OB specialist, with more attention to the story of the MOTHER, which IS “that weird”.
I agree. The ending circles back around and I believe takes it back to the stand Sullivan has maintained all along. Show me the proof, Sarah Palin.
Joe – my sense of Andrew Sullivan is that he pursues the Trig story with about the same amount of joy that George VI pursued the Crown. It’s his fundamental sense of civic duty that keeps him going. Unlike the folks at Palingates, I don’t think he’s being sarcastic at all when he begs Palin to prove the rumors wrong.
That’s what so priceless about him, and the U.S. is the richer for his presence here.
Joe, I know you probably blocked my rant on jerseydave and I should keep my comments appropriate and adult but I’ve found myself becoming like the flying monkeys sometimes. I think I have palin fatigue and sometimes I want to say really insulting things and be juvenile and nasty. But that doesn’t change a thing and in light of recent events I don’t want to say or do anything to distract from the real issues. (sigh) But thanks for doing a great job. I’ll behave. 😀
I will have new information. To me, “evidence” means information that could withstand scrutiny in a court of law. I don’t guarantee that. Thus far, there’s been almost no “evidence” presented by either side. But it’s Sarah and Sarah alone who has kept the question alive for three years. I have to wonder why.
This, from the wayback machine, speaks more to the first part of your post than the update about Andrew. Why did excellent reporters do only occasional pieces on the Palin juggernaut? Because it would have taken over the entirety of one’s reporting life. Timothy Egan, a native Westerner who recognized her for what she was early on, had books he wanted to write. Matt Taibbi seems to have his topics almost choose him. So I very much object to this new characterization by the liberal media insiders, dismissing a bunch of amateur bloggers, as running with just so much rumor-mongering and nonsense–“case closed”. Her rise to fame and fortune was abetted by these same folks who had had so much fun toying with Al Gore in the 2000 election run-up. However, the Trig part of the story was but one/maybe two chapters in her whole sorry, pathetic and sordid tale, which has seriously endangered/s our country. Self-made Frontier/Hockey Mom, yes indeedy–what a narrative.
Joe, thanks (in advance) for getting it all out in the open, on the record, and staying with it. Unraveling the birth tale may never be complete to anyone’s satisfaction. That’s not the whole story though. The whole story has been exhausting to many of us–so my admiration for your diligence and persistence.
I did block that one, and I think it’s only the second or third time I’ve done that. I’m glad you understand why. It’s not like I’ve never been intemperate.
–Joe
How profound.
If your writing skills are reflective of your intellect, it’s no wonder you support $arah.
My husband had severe pain in his knee. He went to his primary care physician, who then referred him to an orthopedist.
Turns out, he has a degenerative problem with his knee. I told my neighbor, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, about hubs’ knee. She had some generic advise, but also emphasized that she was a PEDIATRIC orthopedist – and that can be a world’s apart difference from adult orthopedic medicine. Hubs wasn’t happy she couldn’t give more information, but that was THE LIMIT of her scope of practice.
Same with Laura Novaks’ “Pediatric Specialist” (Pediatrician?). It’s my belief that he could no more advise on an OB / GYN matter than my neighbor the pediatric orthopedist could.
Thank you, Nancy. (And, no, this isn’t Nancy, my wife.) THE ROGUE is about the rise of Sarah and how it happened (which involves media, both Alaskan and national); about who she is, as opposed to who she pretends to be; and about whether, in her single-minded, heedless pursuit of power and money and fame, she’s actually run herself off the edge of a cliff. The Trig question is, in my mind, an important part of her story, and I address it in considerable detail. But this is a book about Sarah, not Trig.
–Joe
Much less offer an informed psychological assessment (i.e. “she’s not that weird.”)
–Joe
Because Palin simply cannot prove something that never happened.
Look, it’s the law to have proper documentation for your own child. Yet Palin has produced absolutely nothing. There are no records anywhere on the planet that says she is the birth mother. Nothing. Remember, it’s the law to have proper documentation.
If she could produce it, she would. She a has a confirmed track record of going after those who question things about her children but she has never gone after anyone about the Trig birth mother issue. Because she can’t.
You are right. She could easily end all of this very quickly but she is consciously choosing not to.
Either Trig is not hers by birth and she lied, or she did give birth to Trig and in her mind, all this speculation helps her in some way.
Wouldn’t most loving mothers simply provide the evidence and stop all this talk. Isn’t she worried about how all of this conversation will effect Trig and her other children? Or does she not give a damn about that. If Trig is hers by birth, she should put a stop to all these articles for the sake of her family. Yet she refuses!! That is why I personally think she is lying! And unlike the ” pediatric specialist,” I do think Sarah might be ” weird” enough to do something like this. We have seen her tell outrageous lies that have effected the entire country! And there are certainly many other cases of people doing far more manipulative things involving their families.
Sarah, end this for the sake of your family!!!
Uh-oh. Reading comments above, too many “nancy” confusions. Fixed I hope.
“But this is a book about Sarah, not Trig.”
As it should be.
We shouldn’t let the Palinistas (or Palinbots, if you prefer) knock the “debunk Sarah Palin’s entire career” train off its tracks by their insisting we’re intent on attacking Trig through his mother.
We don’t want to go down the rabbit hole into their Mad Hatter world where nonsense is the language.
As it should be. Trig is an innocent bystander who did not ask to be involved. The real Wild Ride players are Sarah Palin, John McCain and the media. The story Palin told herself exhibited either the worst judgement ever or actions in direct conflict with her values. The media should have questioned what the tale demonstrated about her fitness for high office, and the type of risks McCain was willing to take in his quest for power. It is wise to take a calculated risk when one has done one’s research, and wholly another to make an uncontrolled swing. Our country dodged a bullet.
A long distance psychiatric evaluation is about as useful as a heart surgeon U.S. Senator evaluating the quality of life of a vegetative Florida woman reliant on a feeding tube via video tape.
Wesley is a single man as far as I know. No children as far as I know. McAllister and Bailey were married and witnessed pregnancies with their wives but they still didn’t notice anything evident or amiss. Palin measured up the situation and realized she could pull it off as long as she said it. None of the men around her were going to question her, even a reputable tough-as-nails journalist. She’s pathological, and she got “high” when tested by Loy by lifting up her shift. . .it’s nauseating. This is sick.
Hi Mr. McGinnis,
I just wanted to thank you for a great blog.
And to thank you for your words, fair and direct, for Andrew Sullivan.
I also want to tell you how much I was glad to see this comment, re a Palin presidential run (that phrase – it must be in a nightmare I can’t wake up from that we’re still having to dread that after all we’ve seen from her): :
“The campaign that would follow that calamity would tear this country apart as maybe nothing has done since the Civil War.”
Yes. It would. I have heard so many Democrats (I’m an Independent) cackle with glee over the idea of a Palin ticket. I always tell them “do not wish it”. Because she isn’t a politician – she’s a demagogue. Because she’s a singularly ignorant and paranoid one. Because with her comes the well funded sordid greed and extremism of everybody from big oil to the Christian Dominionists. Tack that on to her idea that just being loud and mean is a qualification for leadership, and tie on how deranged her cultish base largely comprised of the Gun Toters for Jesus congregation is and …..Oh. I chill.That’s a toxic mix.
Thank you for bluntly stating that, for showing some support to Andrew , and mostly for your book.
The beauty of the imaginary threat that Sarah Palin represents is that it allows one to avoid acknowledging the threat that our President is. We’re now involved in 3 wars and the most deafening sound is the silence of Cindy Sheehan and the media that covered her.
My doctor in the interview is not a pediatrician. Perhaps it was a mistake in using the word specialist, but he is more than a pediatrician. Years more training and specificity. To protect his identity from any nut jobs, we left it at that. I don’t use weak sources or generalists to ponder specific questions.
Also too, Levi was privy to a lot of private time behind closed doors with the Palin family, he lived in their home and had personal interaction with all of them, he’ll have his own observations, not just what Bristol has told him, although there should be truth in what she’s shared with him.
I think that’s the very reason Sarah and Bristol have been so harsh towards Levi, to discredit him, because he knows personal family things. They’re fortunate he hasn’t said more before now.
That reuniting BS was an attempt to shut him up, I’m 100% sure Sarah was after a signed confidentiality contract to keep him quiet. Ha, it now probably gave him more fodder for his book. Woot!
I’ll buy Levi’s book and believe what he says.
I share in everyone’s skepticism with regard to the “pediatric specialist”. First, I have three sons, all of whom have had various issues over the years, and I’ve never heard of–let alone taken them to–a “pediatric specialist”. A pediatric opthalmologist; a pediatric ear, nose, and throat doctor; a pediatric neurologiet, yes.
To my mind, opinions about a high-risk pregnancy and delivery would be most trustworthy coming from an obstetrician, preferably a high-risk obstetrics specialist like the one I saw during my third pregnancy, at age 38.
Second, as I blogged last July, I asked my own regular OB/Gyn for his thoughts on Mrs. Palin’s strange, ever-morphing birth story (the Wild Ride). He’s not a man given to following politics, and I did not use any names; rather, I used the “a friend of mine” construct. In a nutshell, my doctor stopped me several times during the recounting of the Wild Ride tale, saying that this was highly irregular behavior on the parts of both doctor (CBJ) and patient. He said Mrs. Palin was not only reckless with the safety of the other airline passengers, but in effect was courting disaster by risking giving birth to an eight-months-along fetus–an attempted murder-suicide is what he called it. Even if there was a doctor on board the aircraft, if labor was precipitous and things turned ugly (pre-eclampsia, bleeding out, cord strangulation, etc.), there would not be any sterile equipment, stored O- blood, or other lifesaving equipment on board, save perhaps some bandaids and a defibrillator if one is lucky. My doctor actually wanted to report this “friend’s” doctor, as he felt she was guilty of gross malpractice by advising–over the telephone– a high risk 44-year-old multipara with ruptured membranes at 8 months to do anything other than immediately get herself to the nearest hospital to be checked out. So there’s that.
Third, I posed the question to a family friend who is an OB/gyn, this time telling him who we were discussing. He’d nevere heard these details, and he said the same thing–ridiculously risky, possibly suicidal, definitely madness. He called over one of his partners who happened to be at the same function. Identical take on the matter.
It’s not just those who dislike Mrs. Palin who are aghast and disbelieving; it’s not just other mothers. Real doctors find the Wild Ride to be an utterly incredible story, no matter which angle it is viewed from, most saliently that of the allegedly laboring mother herself, but also that of the doctor, the husband, and the airline that allowed her to board.
These reasons, when coupled with the store of photographic evidence (especially the ones that strongly suggest a couple of methods of padding in use, the later version being more convincing than the earlier ones), have always made me lean toward a faked pregnancy rather than “an attempted murder-suicide” on the part of Mrs. Palin.
Sully did not want to call Loy & Quinn liars. By accepting Elliott’s article as honest reporting, he was in a position to suggest Elliot now ask Sarah for proof. Since Elliott is sure Sarah birthed Trig, he shouldn’t be afraid to ask her.
Funny. I find it infinitely more interesting to see the bots go thru their linguistic and emotional gymnastics at the slightest mention of anything they perceive as a criticism of her. You could get “banned” at a couple of pro-palin sites for nothing more than pointing out she had a run in her hose. For God’s sake–they send out religious messages claiming the Holy Spirit has determined she’s to be coronated, er–inaugurated to save the planet. It’s cult-like. I guess you’ve missed the poems??? The short stories where the dear quitting governor strokes their hair and tells them it’s all going to be alright? Need I go on???
So if you think the opposition is fun, as Ralphie’s dad says in “A Christmas Story,” “You should see it from out here!” She’s always been a freak show, but the carnies are the where the action is!
Oh, and I am really looking forward to your using the google to try to find some Obama poems & short stories. That will make it all better. “Look! There are other freaks, too!” lol!
I’m no pediatric specialist, just a psychologist. I wonder if your doctor has seen the video of Ms. Palin on stage in India trashing President Obama. I defy anyone to watch that and continue to attest to her lack of “weirdness.”
you are exactly right–i thought i was gonna hurl. “her eyes twinkled….” sounded to me like one of those crazy palinbot gromance stories. (that’s gross romance = gromance) Wait–you don’t think? Nah–he wouldn’t–would he???
I’m not taking that bet.
I’ve seen “Kimberly’s” same ” gently supporting” posts all over the internet, same points same old. Pathetic and obvious.
What is the “age group” of the “youth” you refer to Kimberly? (I’m withholding snark) Some back up info would be appreciated, also too. Because this is news to most all of us, we have inquiring minds and would love to know, please enlighten us.
So Joe, you say have new info, and also you have surely read and seen everything us die-hard “Palin-hoaxed-us” tin-foil-hat-wearing folks have read. Just a simple question, and I’m hoping for a yes/no answer: Do you think you know whether SP hoaxed her pregnancy?
Just yes or no. And then I’ll wait patiently for Sept. (Yes, it’s pre-ordered, and by my library, too.)
So it’s like… nobody can see how sick this man is, right…? Or is it that you CAN see it, but it’s not that important as long as you all agree…? Or….?
OMG……what a pathetic argument, lol.
You bitch if he doesn’t act or bitch after he does. STFU. TWO of these wars he did NOT start, thank you very much Republican party and lying President Bush, and technically we are not in a 3rd war. He’s damned if he tries and damned if he doesn’t. You people s*ck.
And also too, which party was the party of NO to anything we voted for ever since he took office? Where was the RESPECT for our voter mandate? EH?
I’ve got no patience for people like you.
reminded me of:
I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, “Hey, I think she just winked at me.” And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. ~ Rich Lowry
which also made me feel like I needed to then drive my living room thru a car wash. blech.
seriously, how insulting to women, to present yourself as evidence that all intellectual content need not apply. And to men–that you think that’s all it takes to get a vote, to flash a little & wink a little–who cares that I barely speak English?
Deborah, et al., perhaps this will help you:
http://www.lauranovakauthor.com/blog.html
My son has undergone 15 surgeries, the longest one lasting 7 hours. (see my first interview with Brad Scharlott for info about my high risk delivery etc.) I am familiar with specialists. Of all sorts. I am also comfortable protecting a doctor’s identity, having spent 25 years seeing what can happen to people when they speak on the record.
His message might have unsettled people. But his credentials are beyond compare. I stand by them.
I respectfully disagree. The Trig birth story, true or fiction, is all drama to the hilt. Her many plays for victimhood are all drama. The woman is a drama queen. As for dirty, this woman was called Sarah Barracuda in High School. She can play just as down and dirty as the rest. Someone long ago commented that Sarah doesn’t want to do something; she wants to be someone. She didn’t like doing the work of governor; she likes being “someone”, and the bigger “someone” the better.
Listening to $arah for two years doing her damn best to tear this country in two is not something for anyone to be proud of or to look up to and admire. She has done nothing but criticize and has NEVER offered any alternative ideas because she simply has no idea what she’s talking about. Her op-eds and Facebook posts are written by her hired lackeys. It’s quite obvious to be able to discern the difference between what she has written, as in her word-salad filled resignation speech and a detailed post on quantitative easing. When it came to the latter, she could not discuss it in detail if her childrens’ lives depended on it.
If Sarah should happen to be the only grandmother that Tripp has ever known, it is nobody’s fault but Bristol’s for moving her child away from his father’s family, who happen to love him just as much as the Palin family does. She had no right to take him to Arizona and she is very fortunate that Levi hasn’t fought her on that move because it would not be hard to find a judge to agree with him. However, I’m looking forward to finding out if Bristol lied in court when she claimed how difficult it was to make ends meet in January 2010 on her paycheck from the Doctor’s office she was working in at the time of the custody hearing. Lo and behold, we come to find out she also had a “little” extra money in 2009 to the tune of $262k. If she did not report that, and I tend to think that she wasn’t planning to or she wouldn’t be claiming in court that she was having financial troubles, she will be in serious trouble with the IRS. That money was a salary, not for expenses. It should have been declared on her taxes. Was it? We’ll find out soon enough.
The next few months should be fairly interesting for the Palin family with the release of three books, emails from the state, and considering one book is based on emails, we can be certain he’s got the info to back up what he’s writing. $arah won’t have much time to cause trouble, she’ll be too busy doing damage control, IF POSSIBLE, to do much else.
I wish I could be Trignostic, as someone here described him/herself. But I can’t.
I cannot explain away Palin’s flat belly two months and one month away from delivering a six pound baby. Palin did not give birth to Trig. The Reckless Ride never happened.
Generally the media present facts about candidates for office and let the voters decide whether or not those facts matter to them. That’s all I ask: investigate to find the truth about Babygate, present that truth, and let the voters and donors decide for themselves whether the truth matters.
If Palin still wins elections and receives donations after her fake pregnancy is revealed, so be it. But I doubt it.
Bingo. Obama gets blamed for everything.
or “konkor” that’s more red neck, lol.
As a former journalist, what bothers me most about this saga–and about Sarah Palin’s rise to power in general–is the nearly uniform lack of serious reporting, which is why I think Professor Scharlott’s paper was a valuable breach in the wall of silence. What’s strange now is the degree to which the few journalists who are commenting on her pregnancy story are basically using each other to reassure themselves that they’ve now done their jobs, case closed, and everyone else is a whacko.
These retrospective comments from Alaska reporters are not convincing in the slightest. The issue is not whether she looked pregnant. If she WERE engaged in a hoax (and I still don’t know if she was or wasn’t), then looking pregnant simply means she succeeded. The real issue is that there are many conflicting reports and photographs that seem to present a miraculously fluctuating state of pregnancy.
Justin Elliott started with a pre-determined premise and collected anecdotal support not to resolve the questions, but to prove that he was right. The fact that he didn’t even bother to seek a comment from Palin or her doctor says everything. If he were a real reporter, he would have included some of the conflicting evidence, such as the statement by the trooper who told Geoffrey Dunn that he saw her in jeans two weeks before her announcement and never suspected anything. (I know other people who say the same thing.) Coupled with her unbelievable account and her pattern of chronic lying, it’s obvious that official medical records are the only way of resolving these reports. I’m with Mr. McGinniss: She could stop all of this in an instant, but she won’t, so what’s in it for her?
All of this reminds me of what happened after McCain nominated her. The over-stretched, perhaps too complacent Alaska reporters were suddenly overshadowed by national reporters who dug up all kinds of stuff about her that most Alaskans had never heard. Unfortunately, since then almost all reporters have failed to do their jobs. I’m awfully glad that Andrew Sullivan and Joe McGinniss are hanging in there and asking questions not only about Palin, but about the sad state of journalism in general.
Thank you for responding to my earlier comment. I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was happy to meet you last summer at the home of our mutual acquaintance. You signed my book Going To Extremes. (The mutual acquaintance still has my first edition of Fatal Vision that I need to get back from her! I’m not sure if she got you to autograph that one, too, but she promised she would!) I have a lot of ties to the Palmer courthouse. I think if the Palins adopted Trig, someone would have leaked some news – a court clerk, a law clerk, a judge, etc. I just don’t think they adopted him. He looks just like Piper. I think Sarah Palin did give birth to him, althought the Trig Hoax is sort of fun to speculate about. I think the wild ride is concerning, though. I am really looking forward to your book.
Thank you, Joe, for all your excellent reporting on this. Real reporting is what the story needs.
Meantime, an update:
http://www.lauranovakauthor.com/blog.html
Keep the conversation going. It’s the only way to the bottom. Or the top, as it may be.
You made me smile, sharon. Thanks, I needed that.
Since I have never given birth, I shall tactfully stand outside the endless discussion of the procedural details. However, most of you know me as the author of a book in which all the obfuscations and ramifications of Babygate have been detailed in what I would call a fearless manner. Although I have spent most of my life in Southern States full of self-righteous Palin supporters letting me know what they believe, I find it quite difficult to accept the concept that all these many non-investigative journalists are operating from a base of fear or shame. Their fear of losing highly lucrative careers because their bosses are corporate shills and many of them have been complicit in the cover-up since late ’08 is a theory I can get behind, and I have done so in The Palin Matrix. Thank you for your support.
I think Sullivan is to be commended for going Rogue and least be willing to keep an open mind regarding BabyGate. For another take on Sullivan checkout what DriftGlass, the 2008 Web Blog Award winner for Best Individual Blog, has to say regarding Sullivan. Drift Glass features a photo of Sullivan, cocktail in hand, arm in arm with Arianna Huffington.
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/ From DriftGlass:
And yet blogger Andrew Sullivan — one of my fellow 2008 Weblog Award winners — does not allow comments on his site, under any circumstance, for any reason.
Now of course any blogger is free to do with his/her site whatever the Hell he/she wants and this very, um, Tory approach to dealing with the problem of loud groundlings with dirty feet who may want to scribble mean things on Mr. Sullivan’s drawing-room walls has certainly worked out well for him.
Mr. Sullivan explained this decision via one of his readers’ emails here:
The site [HuffPo] handled all comment moderation on my posts – a task I find about as appealing as panning for fool’s gold in an open sewer.
Which is why the Dish doesn’t have a comments section.
Both Palin and Sullivan (and Brooks, and all the rest) rode to financial success and cultural prominence on the back of Fake Reagan and Fantasy Conservatism doing battle with Imaginary Liberals, and now neither Palin nor Sullivan (nor Brooks, nor all the rest) can afford to have people tugging at the bright, clear, awkward loose ends of the fictions on which they have built a living.
I don’t think the “folks at Palingates” have been at all sarcastic.
Can’t see Sarah as Trigs biological mother no matter what some reporters suddenly recall. I can see a faked square pillow baby in utero saying “NO, NO not red bull and diet pepsie coke again.” She was malnourished but photographs with a fat back. You don’t get a fat back and linebacker shoulders if you are as skinny as Sarah. You do when you wear layers and put on an empathy belly.
Her story of her famous tight abs are ridiculous. The wild ride was ridiculous. Did she or did she not have a “tooobal ligation” as she put it years before?
The press can print headlines about theories that Kate Middleton is pregnant before the wedding. But they can’t discuss the lack of a belly in a supposedly 7 month pregnant governor. Or a faked pregnancy. SAD.
If one can take Trig’s resemblance to Piper as some sort of definitive proof that she was indeed pregnant, do we then negate any role the other parent had in their genetics? It’s possible that Piper and Trig look like their father. There have been rumors of straying on his part and that could open the door to other possibilities. An unwed pregnant pregnant teenage daughter is easier for her supporters to accept than a child conceived outside of the marriage bond. Additionally, any ‘leaks’ about a sealed adoption could be easily traced back to the few involved in the court house. Why would any of them risk their career and/or pension for someone they likely count as a close friend?
lol, you are calling Joe McGinniss a sick man? really……wow, you are one smitten Palin bot who fell for the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Joe’s no perv. Have you read any of his books? Get your head out of the sand!
He’s an award winning author, VERY legit and respected, who is writing an in depth book about a VERY strange and whacked out woman who came dangerously close to our White House and who has done terrible damage to our country, this crazy woman has led the charge!
See Palingates today for the response of another doctor.
Her reaction is exactly how I felt about the wild ride story when I first read it. If you block everything else out, and read Sarahs OWN WORDS, how can any intelligent person not think there is something very very wrong there.
I respect that Laura stands by her doctors credentials, but his credentials don’t really matter to me.
He isn’t trained or qualified to give a psychiatric opinion. I accept his medical opinion but that is all.
Even the best psychiatrist in the world wouldn’t be qualified to truly assess Sarah at a distance. It would take personal interviews and just as important, taking a thorough case history.
Laura if you see this, I challenge you to ask two or three female ob-gyns about Sarahs wild ride story.
If they just listened to her words and saw the photos, I wonder what they would say?
I am not criticizing your doctor but getting a few opinions from doctors who have delivered many babies and who are female might be enlightening. I also understand if you don’t want to do this and I thank you for your hard work on this story.
Finally, even if we had statements from 10 doctors, the only way we will ever know the real truth is if Sarah released her complete medical records including psychiatric ones.
Shouldn’t all candidates for national office be required to do this??
And yes the President should have done this and McCain should to.
Maybe we should demand that congress pass legislation requiring the release of 10 years prior medical history ?
Don’t we deserve to have the assurance that our leaders are physically and psychologically healthy to handle the demands of higher office? It should be standard in my opinion. I am a retired Psychologist.
Mr. McGinnis, Andrew has written a new blog entry that I think you, especially as a journalist, will find very interesting and more satisfying than yesterday’s.
How about “conk her”?
Dr. Who,
I don’t disagree with you. My job as a reporter is to report what the person I am interviewing says. It’s not my job to judge or edit his words. His credentials are impeccable. His opinion is not mine. And yes, listening to him, I see that he is not condoning flying with a leaking sac. To the contrary.
That said, another specialist (and yes, they all are specialists; this first doc declined to delineate his subspecialty) offered an opposing view. So, I invited him to answer the same questions. He has and we are finalizing the story.
That is coming soon! And I outlined my own high risk pregnancy and my female OB’s care of it in the first interview with Brad Scharlott.
Speaking of! Part 4 of our dialogue is now up:
http://www.lauranovakauthor.com/blog.html
Join us for some fun dissecting the media, and mentioning Rush Limbaugh.
What I mean is, y’all are sarcastic with Palin because you know she can’t prove you wrong.
Andrew’s new post: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/04/which-birth-certificate.html
Thanks for the heads-up. Please see my new post.
–Joe
I just read it. Well done. And isn’t it odd how these “witnesses” like the alleged nurse’s friend you sparred with or the or newly discovered newspaper men, either slap their foreheads with “Oh I saw her on a treadmill” or “Oh she twinkled her eyes and pulled up her shirt” but they forget to mention it. Til just now. And I’d be highly suspect of anything received by twitter. It’s the Palin’s communication of choice, and her supporters as well. It could be anybody. (Speaking of which that twinkling eye statement sounds so much like Rebecca Mansour. She always has to dress up things which is how she got in her “blood libel” debacle.)
You know what I think has happened Mr. McGinnis? I think a professor from a small school in Kentucky wrote a paper making a valid point about the press falling asleep at their keyboards and they decided to teach that schoolmarm from Hillbilly U. a lesson and anybody else that had asked the same questions.
Can I prove it? No. But if it’s the case then I hope someone does. Because it took them 3 years to do any investigating at all and when they did not only did they make a mess of it they also went out of their way to be utter snarks to Andrew Sullivan who did not deserve that.
.
Just my opinion.
And the party of “NO” continues to do nothing in the way of helping those in need. However, when it comes to the corporations that line their pockets, there’s unlimited welfare for the greedy CEO’s and other executives. They would rather have Americans continue to suffer than have President Obama be given credit for anything. They assign blame to him for mistakes that were made decades ago and the ignorant members of the GOP believe whatever they are told by the Fox propaganda machine. For the GOP, power and control is all that matters, not the people of this country. They want to control a woman’s right to bear children, but they refuse to offer any assistance to those same children once they are out of the womb. What a disgusting bunch of hypocrites.