This rumor doesn't strike me as a liberal action but more Rove-ian-like. Democrats don't engage in smears against people, but repugnicans SURE DO.

Who cares whether she is pregnant or not, what has that got to do with the issues facing our country?

That's why I think it is another right-wing distraction to keep us from focusing on the issues.

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Although it's true that if McCain and the Repblicans had their way, Bristol Palin would have no choice at all, no one should be discussing the sex lives of anyone, not the daughters of prospective vice presidential candidates or Bill Clinton or John Edwards. If you're soliciting or involved with underage youth, that's different, but let's leave Bristol out of this. Let's ask Mrs. Palin some meaningful questions, like does she think the Geneva Conventions are the law of the land, and if so, why would she let her son go to Iraq?

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she let her daughter make a choice that she would DENY to you and me!!!!!
She only supports abstinence sex ed.
She opposes contraception.
Her daughter's condition is a strong argument against her positions on reproductive issues.

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No I didn't miss it. I was saying I think it smacks of a Rove "plant" and then trying to pin it on Obama--typical repugnican smear tactic.

I agree the only relevant issue here is that she had a "choice" to have the baby, something which Palin wants to deny to other women.

But otherwise, this should not be being discussed, it is basically none of our business what Palin's family does in a personal "crisis" or "event."

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First, the controversy is about a baby that Governor Palin claims as her own.

If the official story is true, Governor Palin isolated herself and her premature special needs baby from any possibility of medical care for extended periods, knowing she was in the process of giving birth.

If the official story is not true, and the baby is her daughter's, then Governor Palen has engaged in an intricate chain of public deception. It is hard to see a rationale that would justify this, particularly from someone who is billed as an ethics reformer.

Whichever story is true, this speaks volumes about Governor Palin's judgment, and that of John McCain as well.

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There's still unanswered questions about why Palin wasn't "showing" when she was allegedly carrying Trig like she did with her other pregnancies.

It's not like a fetus with Down's Syndrome can be folded in half while in the womb.

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BBC News : Palin's teenage daughter pregnant
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, newly picked as Republican John McCain's running mate, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

Mrs Palin, a social conservative who is opposed to abortion, said in a statement her daughter Bristol would keep the child and marry its father.

The Alaska governor, a mother-of-five, was presented three days ago as her party's vice-presidential candidate.

The news comes as the Republicans' national convention is about to begin.

The McCain campaign and Palins asked for respect for the couple's privacy.

And here is the MySpace page of the father of that child

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about Palin's supposedly 5th pregnancy. And if she's lying about it, I think it says a whole lot about her character.

Just look at this photo:
http://tinyurl.com/5wqkbx

And this one:
http://tinyurl.com/5hawuw

And this one:
http://tinyurl.com/6ev9ld

Something is odd.

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This MySpace pic - from a girl in Wasilla whose brother is named Levi - would seem to say YES:

http://tinyurl.com/6axn7g

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I have a feeling Bristol made her "choice" based on what her mother told her to do. What if she had wanted an abortion? What if she doesn't want to be married at 17? It seems that her "choice" was the one that would least damage her mother's credibility among the far-right Republicans.

I feel so sorry for that girl, with her controlling, wacko Stepford Mom and no privacy to speak of.

We should continue to loudly and relentlessy question Palin's honesty, qualifications, experience, and character -- but we, and the media should leave that poor child alone.

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Trying to pawn her off as an ordinary working mother to the women of the country is an insult. She is a self absorbed brat and doesn't worry about anyone but herself. After many years of seeing what's involved in work & children even with help from husbands is obviously something Sarah has never bothered to notice. Not to mention most of us have never killed a moose before breakfast. Too busy feeding children & making lunches. Thanks, ANNA Still with Obama/Biden

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This is just creepy!

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My first thought about Governor Palin was that I couldn't imagine a parent who, having responsibility for a tiny, 4 month old infant with Down Syndrome, would indulge an unwarranted ambition for a post she or he was clearly not qualified for. (I mean, it is not like Palin has some great gift or ability or experience that is vital for the future of the country. Please, Governor, don't sacrifice your sweet child for us! It really isn't necessary!) If this convenient teen pregnancy story is true, it compounds my concerns about Gov Palin and her judgement.

If true, she has a teenaged, pregnant daughter, whom she is willing to thrust into the heat of a national campaign, as her condition, literally, grows. Especially in light of all the rumors that have been circulating in Alaska for MONTHS about this daughter and the baby the Palin parents say is their own.

If, as the Palin statement reads, this new announcement was made to stop bloggers from speculating about this goofy pregnancy and Texas flight story, and the talk about Bristol's possible involvement, all the Palins had to do was show a birth certificate. The Palins could have stopped the speculation with a simple release of medical records; typically, every candidate for national office releases both medical and financial records. It's a national political campaign, and candidates really do have to expect and cooperate with all manner of intrusive questions. What's the big deal, anyway?

So instead of just showing a birth certificate, or explaining why there is nothing in the published record of the hospital about the birth of Baby Trig, they prefer to make a statement to the world NOW that their young, unmarried daughter is pregnant! Does anyone else find this absolutely outrageous?? It's intrusive to be asked for a birth certificate, but not a problem to expose your daughter's private, sad situation in a public announcement? When there is an alternative?

This is NOT about the Palin's daughter; it is about the candidate herself--her hypocrisy, her judgement, her veracity. I am sorry for the Palin's daughter, and sorry that her parents chose to expose her personal situation to the world. But her mother wants to lead the world, wants to reverse Roe vs Wade, wants to be our president, ultimately, and if she can't rise above this very modest bar of personal conduct, she should not be allowed even close.

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A 17 year old high school girl has made the "choice" to bring the child to term. She has also made the "choice" to marry the father (who may or may not be 17 - no details yet). What does this say about the religious right? We make our underage children get married over unplanned pregnancies?

Further, pictures of her daughter in Dayton look like a girl who is anything but pregnant. Was this child already born? What about the pictures of her mother - supposedly two months from delivery? What about the decision to have the child (Mrs. Palin) in a remote location - when perfectly qualified medical help was available in Texas when she showed signs of a premature delivery?

Wow, there are so many open questions here it makes your head spin. I'm starting to think that this girl will have a "mis-carriage"...

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and if so, why didn't it work?

This is a very relevant question in terms of Palin's presumed public policy stance on sex ed and birth control. She should have to answer it.

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It is relevant because this election has come down to the idea of policies having consequences. For a long time, Americans could not see the differences between Dems and Reps because their policies were so similar. There was a centrist balance.

Since 2000, we have seen right-wing extremes dominate the policy decisions and it has lead us to the failed, and deceitful war, a collapsing economy, ginormous gas and oil prices, credit and debt issues, and a HUGE increase in unwanted pregnancies.

McCain has come to embody the failures in policy on economics and foreign relations, and conveniently (and sadly) Sarah Palin has now embodied the failures in social issues! How can sane, conscious people agree with abstinence only programs when it doesn't even work for her family?!

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NEXT!

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I saw a photo on Huffington, which was attested to be early this year. She was definitely pregnant in the photo. So, let's let this line of rumor pass. But, the questions about sex ed, birth control, etc. should definitely continue!

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Rove or not, my hunch is that Trig is the younger daughter's, what's her name, Piper. Of course I have no evidence, but she does seem attentive holding Trig's bottle at the acceptance speech while Bristol holds him.

BTW, I have no value judgement about this.

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I'd say hands-off the kids when it comes to mocking them or delving into their private affairs, but this story is relevant for two reasons:

1) We are being introduced to the candidate and her family - it's usual to discuss what the candidate's kids' status is (age, married, career, kids). It matters that Dick Cheney's daughter is gay & out about it, it matters that a candidate has a son or daughter in the military, etc.

2) The real story here is about Palin's lack of integrity if she did indeed lie about her daughter's child and pregnancy. It illustrates the hypocrisy of the anti-choice movement and the shame still attached to unexpected pregnancies.

It matters. It's valid.

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Any obgyn that has not been stripped of license, would have DEMANDED that Sarah Palin go immediately to a Texas hospital and get an assessment...a fetal monitor, an analysis of the fluid, (meuconium levels in the fluid are a measure of stress on the fetus), checking for prolapse, etc.

Only after such an assessment, would the Governor be cleared to fly.

Governors, typically, receive OUTSTANDING health care. there's no question whatsoever that she would have, for the safety of her yet-unborn child, taken the extra two hours to get an advanced medical opinion on her status.

The ONLY REASON I CAN POSSIBLY COME UP WITH NOT TO....is that the fetal heart monitor would have shown something radically different than expected....like.....nothing.


lexicon

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You should all go to Jim Kunstler's web site and look at the photo he found of Gov. Palin posing with an assault rifle while wearing a U. S. flag motif bikini (www.kunstler.com). Truly F-ing sad and hilarious at the same time. Former small-town beauty queen, religious fundamentalist, gun-toting, moo-cow breeder with a pregnant, soon-to-be shotgun wed teenage daughter. Sounds like white trash to me. And yes I'm being judgmental. This is the F-ing future of our country at stake here! If you're not judgmental about who might run our country, then when should you be?

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If the kid turns out to be Bristol's, well, I don't see that as being about Bristol. The girl is not the focus of this issue. She WILL be the key to unravelling it, to be sure, but I honestly doubt anyone is "going after the kid".

I think that, given the same exact situation, a 16 year old child of mine carrying a downs baby...I would give my daughter the option of letting me adopt that baby, so that she could build her life without such a profound burden on her every waking moment.

I would walk in Sarah's shoes, and do the same thing.....ALMOST.

I would adopt the child. I would not be embarrassed that my little girl had gotten knocked up at age 15. I would take the responsibility so that she could go into those crucial young adult years able to explore the full range of her dreams and goals.

I already know, through my years of fathering 8 children, that the world is a crushing slog, and that your chances of rising into the upper echelon is scant...so raising a downs baby would not bother me in the slightest. And let's be honest now...they're precious gifts, but they're a non-stop tractor-trailer-load of logistical nightmare. No CHILD should be burdened with that.

That's my thinking anyway.

So, I commend her in her ideal of giving Bristol a "clean slate" (which she's apparently squandered, preferring instead to practice some more of that abstinence that got her into the soup in the first place)...but I am REALLY CONCERNED about the "temporary insanity" part...where she declared herself to be pregnant, and pulled a little theater to take the child as her own, instead of just standing tall and taking the heat.

IT is insanity. These things will "out".

This story is about hypocrisy, it's about lying, it's about using executive office to pull the levers of the law in your favor. It's about thinking that "little white crimes" are ok if there's a higher purpose.

JUST GIVE ME HONESTY. I don't care about her uterus, I don't care about her kids(I wish them well), I don't care about the fact that she's a conservasaurus freak....I just want her to tell the F***ING truth! STRAIGHT, NO CHASER!!!!!!!

Quarks have spin, the truth is a knuckleball. There's been no truth in government in 20 years.

GIVE ME A GODDAMN KNUCKLEBALL and I'll take the pitch.

thanks

lexicon

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I read (in last few days) and responded to (on another story) an article on Alternet raising questions about who the mother of "Trig" was- Sarah or her daughter. I cannot find that article today and went to dailykos where it was reported to have originated and could not find it there either. Now, I did not do an exhaustive search but it seems to have gone beneath the radar. What gives...???

I had cautioned about jumping to conclusions without all the facts lest we be "Dan Rather"ed again. (To the poster who stated no similarities as the Dan Rather story on Bush was true... Yes-it is a widely held belief that Bush Jr. used his dad's influence to get into the National Guard- but,all that was forgotten when they couldn't authenticate one little typed piece of paper. That was my point.)

With the news today that Sarah Palin announced said daughter was 5 months pregnant AND that McCain's group knew prior to announcing her as VP choice... it does appear that their was an effort to muddy the waters in anticipation of this new announcement (