Andrew Sullivan is devoting a large amount of kb's to babygate.

[ourbluenation]

He's urging the McCain campaign to put the rumors to rest because there must be an explanation to the oddities.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

[seemslikeadream]

1. YES

and the rumors buzzing across the Internets and the press corps are unfounded and unseemly. There must be plenty of medical records and obstetricians and medical eye-witnesses prepared to testify to Sarah Palin's giving birth to Trig. There must be a record of Bristol's high school attendance for the past year. And surely, surely, the McCain camp did due diligence on this. But the noise around this story is now deafening, and the weirdness of the chronology sufficient to rise to the level of good faith questions. So please give us these answers - and provide medical records for Sarah Palin's pregnancy - and put this to rest

[SoCalDem]

4. Yep.. more and more "msm" sources are questioning it too

Just ask Dan Rather & John Edwards about this "stuff"

and a story like this is easily understood by everyone.. most people cannot get excited about "corruption" or "abuse of power" stuff,,but faking a pregnancy, ans possibly taking away a 17 yr old's choice in the matter.. well it's all so 1950's

[seabeyond]

7. ha... and how many said no no no not the issue. focus people. the real stuff

that will matter.... bah hahahah

wanted to get back to with something. but gotta go

[malaise]

9. Well if it's the daughter's child, somewhere out there is

a baby father unless...I won't go there.

[SoCalDem]

10. There's a teenaged boy who has found religion

as in THANK YOU GOD , for getting me off the hook here

[malaise]

11. LOL

:rofl:

[KharmaTrain]

12. Ya Better Not...

You may find out it's an 8th grader...

Ooops... :rofl:

Sadly politics has become a bloodsport. I'm certain you never wanted to see this and neither did I, but they started this crap, we're only here to finish it.

:toast:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. I hate it, I really, really hate it -

but, you're right. They started it, and if we don't finish it, we're incredibly stupid.

Heartbreaking as it might be, it's our fucking right to know if the VP candidate is a stone liar.

"They bring a knife, we bring a gun."

[malaise]

15. Yep this is not really my cup of tea

but Rethugs have taught me that sometimes we have to go the the trenches to expose hypocrisy. :toast:

[Ghost Dog]

23. Dominionism starts at home, you know, malaise. n/t

[seemslikeadream]

24. I know what you mean

[Ghost Dog]

32. I doubt that guy's going to keep his cool

for much longer...

[seabeyond]

28. supposedly someone from hometown said she has a very dysfunctional family

i live in amarillo texas. i know dominion. my immediate response was

it is about a guarentee having dominion in their life makes for a dysfunctional family. it so goes against the very spirit of who we are.

[seabeyond]

27. i dont remember exactly cause a couple days ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6851334&mesg_id=6851334

but that family picture came up and people were trying to figure out the date on it. about that time you are finding that her sites were scrubbed? and you were showing evidence of it. and then people started saying this picture was 2006. that it couldnt be the time. when that was happening i was thinking that is shit cause the girl looks preg to me, preg boob and belly button, and i thought soemone did something to make this not be during that time

not long ago today this poster shows this adn the thread didnt make it anywhere

what do you think

[SoCalDem]

33. the one that seals the deal for me is this pic from Feb 08

[DarthDem]

2. I'm Sure

That this is all part of ROVE'S massive conspiracy. Game, set, match! :sarcasm:

[ourbluenation]

3. I must confess I have mixed feelings about this. If it's not true this is a horrible smear...

but if it is true...well. I still don't know. I worry about her daughters privacy but it does speak to palin's decision making. i don't know. i just don't know.

[Merlot]

6. Don't worry about the daughter. Her mom is the one on a national ticket

The daughter lost her privacy when that happened. But this is about the mother and her decision making and deceptions. If true, it says much about her character.

I doubt that anyone will go after the daughter. Nowadays being 17 and pregers isn't a big deal. It's what her mother may have done that is the issue.

[misanthrope]

19. That's sad...

..."Nowadays being 17 and pregers isn't a big deal."

That is not a good way to get started out in life.

[seabeyond]

31. then the gal should have been educated in birthcontrols..... n/t

[barbtries]

29. it also speaks to her integrity

if she is lying.

[seabeyond]

30. firstly we HAVE to remember who the responsible person is for this. the mom did it to daughter

we did not. media did not. the woman knew she had a secret to hide and she said fuck it. her daughter was not worth protecting. that is on the moms shoulders. IF it is true

IF it is true then she needs to answer to water breaking at 4 a.m. and not getting medical attention until 10:30 at night, 12:30 her time with time change. that is a long day to put in for a body that is already stressing in preg. in my book it is even worse then the selfish gratification overriding her daughters interest

[noamnety]

34. The people who want to reverse Roe v. Wade

are opposed to a woman's right to privacy.

[eshfemme]

5. I think it's legitimate that he's just asking for questions.

It presents an opportunity for the McCain campaign to just set the rumor to rest. Otherwise, it seems to just add to the whole hypocrisy angle that will not be a pretty picture for people... It's better to shine a light into the dark and it looks like he's really doing it for the sake of journalistic integrity rather for smearing purposes. I do worry about the teenage daughter though-- it's kinda awful that it basically sucks for her either way the rumors turn out...

[Not Me]

8. I hadn't made much of it (the pictures and all) but...

Andrew Sullivan's recant of the chronology of her travels from Texas "when her water broke" to Seattle (8hours) then on to Anchorage, then on to a small regional hospital for the delivery make absolutely no sense. Knowing that birth is imminent, would seek out the closest and best hospital around. That, in and of itself, is enough to further question her judgement.

[Fuzz]

16. Especially for someone so pro baby.

I have two children and never been involved in any way in any abortion and would never risk that with a woman carrying my child. But that's just me.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

17. All that, knowing

her child was a Downs Syndrome baby?

Yeah, right. There's not an obstetrician in the world who would have counseled her to get on a plane. No way. And if her response is that she didn't call her OB, then she's a total idiot, not even competent to be a small-town mayor.

[seabeyond]

21. but see, we knew this friday and for two days we have had many on this site

say it wasnt a big deal.

any mom is gonna say, that is a pretty big deal.

and why all the way to the little town. her doctor apts would have been in juneau? where she lives and works.

[crickets]

38. "and why all the way to the little town" Good question.

The super-duper drama backstory to all of this is the height of irresponsibility if true, and the height of ego-boo idiocy if false. Neither scenario is appealing. I've stayed out of this up to now, but I've read along and seen that "why did she go all the way home?" question asked over and over - it finally clicked. You can juggle names on a birth certificate, up to a point, or you can get a quick private adoption lined up and seal the original. There's only so far that medical professionals are willing to legally juggle or omit names, but it can be done.

You might be able to fudge the time factor a bit, but you can't juggle the location. It's literally a fixed point that will not change. No one is going to fudge that data point, no way. Sarah Palin took that plane all the way home because that was where the birth occurred, and if she was going to be that baby's mother, that was where she had to be.

[rug]

14. I prefer an explanation to the odd transformation of Sullivan from conservative hack to Ida Tarbell.

[depakid]

37. LOL

Some things (like the prospect of VP Palin) are too creepy even for him to stomach.

[Junkdrawer]

18. If a doctor was willing to lie about the mother, how do we know it's Downs Syndrome...

and not, say, some other type of developmental disability associated with a premie delivered by a teenage mother? :shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

20. (shrug) Seems like it should be easy enough to show the paperwork.

[Ghost Dog]

25. What paperwork?

[BlooInBloo]

26. The paperwork Sully refers to, which you know because you read.

[Ghost Dog]

36. Yes, the so-far non-existant papers (no online record at that clinic).

A photo has now appeared (see Sullivan link above, and Kos here: http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/31/234157/516/1017/581734 ). Funny thing though, everyone so far has said there was no sign Sarah was pregnant (her staff and colleagues just four weeks previously; the airline staff on that flight - we have not very clear photos of that day), now here she is with a bump in a photo with "incorrect exif data, and ... basically posted anonymously and... not posted until AUGUST 31 (on freeper site)".

[KoKo]

22. There are SO MANY QUESTIONS...that it would seem Palin's Press Secretary

needs to get out there and have a "Press Conference" about it. And, she needs to release her records to the rest of us...since the reports are that McCain Committee already VETTED HER...months ago and not that she was an "instant" choice by Lame McSame like his Repub Ops are claiming...that McSame vetted her months ago.

Give us some TRUTH, HERE!

[MindMatter]

35. A simple paternity test would put this to rest.

[Matariki]

39. Not neccesarily.

which is *too* creepy to insinuate.

[MindMatter]

40. Let's not

I know this sort of thing can happen in crazy fundie families, but without any evidence ...