Monday, April 19, 2011
I have rarely gone on the Conservatives4Palin website and never read their posts, but I have seen lots of comments about what is posted there and what is censored. So I share the question that Kilob raises in this guest post: Why did C4P recently ban discussion of President Obama’s birth and the legitimacy of the birth certificate that he produced? There is a growing schism in the Republican Party about this question, among those who are loud “birthers” and those who are trying to douse this issue. Interestingly, C4P claims Palin is among the latter group, but the reality is that she is playing both sides of the issue, as she has done with many other issues over the years. But their censorship on this issue is still curious; could it be that they do not want to draw attention to birth certificates? Kilob suggests that perhaps they have figured out that Palin is being less than honest about the birth of Trig.
Geoffrey Dunn weighs in on “Babygate”
Professor Brad Scharlott’s paper has opened up the long-suppressed discussion of Sarah Palin’s implausible tale of her last “pregnancy” and the birth of Trig. Dunn makes the point that Palin’s tale of labor and childbirth reveals such irresponsible behavior that it is damning in its own right. His piece brings up numerous aspects of the story that range from highly questionable to downright unbelievable. Equally important as Dunn’s article itself is the fact that his article was originally to be published by the Huffington Post, but they censored it as a “conspiracy theory.” As pointed out by several readers, the double standard is alive and well at HuffPo, which has published and continues to publish numerous stories of far more dubious validity than the well-documented story of Palin’s hoax. For those who ascribe to the Reckless Ride story, I simply say: there would be no need for all the lies and cover-up and failure to produce documentation, if Sarah’s story were true. If she could make this story go away, she would have done so long ago. But she can’t.
Palin’s Approval Ratings Tanking in Alaska
Kathleen has a good antidote to all the craziness about possible Republican candidates: news that Palin’s approval ratings in
Leadfoot and her 8-year old daughter, Bella, have a gift for reporting on Sarah Palin’s made-for-TV escapades in the most witty and insightful way. How wonderful to hear from them again, on the august occasion of E!
Leadfoot’s Questions about Babygate: A Challenge to Real Journalists
Leadfoot has had it with the casual relationship of self-proclaimed investigative journalists with the facts about Palin’s “story of Trig.” So, she drafted a list of very probing questions that a reporter worth his/her salt should ask the principal players in this long-running soap opera. With some helpful additions from our readers, this list would make an excellent guide to any real journalist who wanted to win a Pulitzer Prize for breaking open the hoax of the millennium (and I include Bernie Madoff’s). Ironically, there are quite a few “progressive journo-lists” who are now coming to Palin’s defense; I suspect this is a further stage of the “spiral of silence” theory, where those who have failed to investigate and report the truth now feel obliged to “prove” that the story has no merit (better known as CYA).
Justin Elliott has now proclaimed himself an expert on “Trig Trutherism,” which he self-importantly deems to be a lot of bunk, based on his own woefully inadequate “investigation.” His meme has been picked up by other “liberal” media, including Salon, HuffPo, the Village Voice and The New Republic. Patrick painstakingly demonstrates that censorship on this subject began with the “journo-lists” led by Ezra Klein, and continues today. The so-called “liberal media” didn’t want to investigate it in 2008 for purely political reasons, and the same is apparently true of many of them (but thankfully not all) in 2011. Patrick then examines Elliott’s “evidence” and “witnesses.” First up: eyewitness report by Steve Quinn, Palin aide Ivy Frye’s lover who, as we know from Frank Bailey’s manuscript, was regularly used as a stooge by the Palin administration. Next up: Wesley Loy, ADN reporter who reveals that he (like Quinn) got a private viewing of Palin’s enlarged abdomen. (How weird is that, on its face?) Despite reporting in March 2008 that she “simply doesn’t look pregnant,” he now says he “missed some clues.” If he knew she was pregnant in 2008, why did he research the “Grandma Governor Fakes Birth” question during the summer legislative session, which took place from June-August 2008? Oops. Another “eyewitness” claimed Palin “definitely looked pregnant” in late February – yet the photos from that time and later in March show exactly the opposite. Interesting how these reporters ignore the evidence that does not support their claim. Instead, Patrick’s post very persuasively proves that the self-proclaimed “definitive debunking” in fact does no such thing.
A note from BBT: I have no problem with honest disagreements about this subject, and especially whether, strategically, it is better to let Palin stew in the juice of her own tall tale or to hold her accountable for the many, many gaping holes in her story. But I do have problems with writers who, on the basis of a few conversations and a few days reading, appoint themselves as experts and demean the work of those who, on the basis of several years work, conclude otherwise. I question what these "journolists" hope to accomplish by being so insultingly divisive and alienating some of their own natural allies and constituency. It seems rather self-defeating. If some folks want to disagree, fine, but I would hope they would do so respectfully and quit the insinuations about "tin foil hat wearers." Otherwise, they may find few to help them when they are choking on humble pie.
Comments and Links:
The formerly named “wild ride” has now been aptly renamed the “Reckless Ride.” H/T to drpatois!
Cheeriogirl: Pat Dougherty: “As you suggest, these are tough times for newspapers. Having a bunch of conspiracy nuts denouncing the Daily News for hiding your secret just adds to the overall happy ambience.” Am I reading this wrong, or Dougherty just admit to the coverup and hiding of SARAH's SECRET? (BBT added emphasis)
B: Yes, Prof. Scharlott's thesis should have two theories: Spiral of Silence and Cover Your Ass.
Riverfever51: …typically, preemies are all "wired up" with oxygen tubes and iv until their lungs are ready to work unassisted. Normal preemies are kept in the NICU [isolation unit] to reduce the possibility of infection, to which they are very susceptible because of immature immune systems. Their handling is usually limited to neonatal nurses and parents--sometimes grandparents will be admitted to the NICU after a few days, again to reduce the incidence of infection. Mothers of preemies tend to go home days or weeks before their babies do...
I have to include these tweets that Sunnyjane found on Twitter Tracker:
“The
THIS JUST IN! God told me he is NOT talking to Michele Bachmann, and that she is making things up. All you
gay Minnesotans can rest easy.
Sarah Palin was paid twice as much as a teacher makes in a year to say teachers make too much money.
Pres. Obama is celebrating Passover with a Passover Seder. After hearing this, Sarah Palin said, 'Ah, ha! He is a Muslim!'"
Older_Wiser2 had an excellent comment; here is part: I think many "independents" and others who were initially drawn into the rhetoric of of the TP have realized that no, you can't go back; you cannot unring the bell of liberty for all because those who do try to restore "yesterday" will be crushed and defeated in the end. And yes, we still must continue to be able to identify the politics of division, of fascism, and separate the sentimentality of "patriotism" from real duty and allegiance to one another, to each and every one of us, and to correct ourselves when we are wrong.
Azure Ghost: It sounds like the hoax's waters have broken and Truth will be delivered soon! [And later] Bwahahaha!!!! That's great! She's the Governor formerly known as "PriMadonna."
MrsTarquinBiscuitbarrel: Imagine if the Anchorage Daily News had covered Watergate:
"The President said, 'I am not a crook.' So he's clean as a hound's tooth!"
Leadfoot_LA: (referring to this sentence from O’Malley: “The professor apparently missed reporter Lisa Demer's 2008 interview with the obstetrician who delivered Trig and confirmed her maternity.”) Who could think there could be SO MUCH wrong with just one sentence!
There was no "interview" that ran in the paper.
There was no obstetrician.
There was no confirmation of delivery.
there was no confirmation of maternity.
Once sentence -- 4 lies.
Nin1963: Next time the quitter responds to the Trig issue, making it all about "they don't believe I'm his Mom" crap, the response to her should be this: "There is no way you ARE his mom because a REAL mom would never endanger her child the way you apparently did with the wild ride. If you ARE his mom, then you put your baby's life in jeopardy as well as every single person on your 2 flights, all so you could claim 'fish picker' rights."
Game of Life: I won’t even add her name to my spell check dictionary. It does the heart good to press ignore when her name comes up during spell check. ;)
JCos: E! True
I don’t want any of you to miss this comment from Brad S: Loy is faking now with what he just wrote at Salon. I have a fall 2008 email from
Anothersally: Isn't Justin's whole article debunked by Sarah's own words that she had such tight abs that she didn't show? He lies.
HopeforAmerica linked to “Is Sarah Palin Becoming Irrelevant?”
TruGal posted this from Wonkette; the “bobblehead” video is brilliant!
Andrew Sullivan posted Rationalist’s excellent comment here.
Joey found this on the politics behind S&P’s “negative outlook” for
Scorpie linked to The Nation on Palin and her “tepid tea party” reception in WI.
Kathleen had the link to Geoffrey Dunn’s new article on the wild ride/hoax and this on how to make a fake pregnancy belly.
