McCain Campaign: Palin's 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant

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sinsboldly
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01 Sep 2008, 11:58 am

McCain Campaign: Palin's 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant
By Greg Sargent - September 1, 2008, 12:09PM
Stranger and stranger:

The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.
Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.


There's also this:

Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
McCain knew! Who says Palin wasn't thoroughly vetted?

Late Update: Here's the statement from the Palins:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."


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CityAsylum
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01 Sep 2008, 12:29 pm

How lucky for Bristol to have parents who can afford to help her with her baby, who was no doubt conceived in the absence of the sex education and birth control that is held to be unacceptable by most conservatives.

How did the concept of abstinence-only fail so miserably in such a solid, Republican family, in which the children are so wonderfully imbued with family values? Such hypocrisy.

Oops, this topic could be on a greased slide down into the flaming hell of PPR. :lol:



release_the_bats
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01 Sep 2008, 1:55 pm

Even if she's always been 100% sure that she wanted to keep the child and marry the father, imagine the pressure to do so! I think I would have found that situation unbearable at that age.

Although it would have been hard, I think I could have taken on the challenge of pregnancy at 17 (I'm tough), but not if my mother's political career and possibly the fate of the whole country over the next 4 or 8 years rested (in part) on my decisions!! !

I hope she has one or more kind, supportive people in her life with whom she can converse openly in confidence. If I were in her position, I'd be questioning the decisions, simply because I would feel they were made not by myself independently but by my family and (indirectly) the Republican party . . . scary!

But yes, she is lucky to have material resources. I'm not going to comment on her family because I don't know them - there's little that can be inferred from the public personalities of public figures.



Mage
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01 Sep 2008, 2:01 pm

Well, now this means one of 2 things now.

Trig was Bristol's baby too, she's actually only 4 months pregnant with this new one OR

Sarah Palin really did fly 8 hours after her water broke, drove past other hospitals with NICU units to give birth to a premature Down's baby at a backwoods hospital with no NICU unit.

Both sad situations.

There is also a theory this new pregnancy story is a lie to cover up Trig's birth mystery, and that Bristol will have a "miscarriage" pretty soon.



CityAsylum
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01 Sep 2008, 2:06 pm

^ Interesting theory!

Either way, poor Bristol has become the poster child for the failure of the abstinence-only birth control philosophy of Republican conservatives.



MADDuck
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01 Sep 2008, 2:07 pm

Mage wrote:
Well, now this means one of 2 things now.

Trig was Bristol's baby too, she's actually only 4 months pregnant with this new one OR

Sarah Palin really did fly 8 hours after her water broke, drove past other hospitals with NICU units to give birth to a premature Down's baby at a backwoods hospital with no NICU unit.

Both sad situations.

There is also a theory this new pregnancy story is a lie to cover up Trig's birth mystery, and that Bristol will have a "miscarriage" pretty soon.


See I was thinking that too. A tailor made Republican scandal. Either she'll mis-carry soon, or it'll die doing some prenatal test. I strongly doubt this baby will ever be seen!


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01 Sep 2008, 2:13 pm

Quote:
McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.


That is total BS. :?

Ever been to Alaska? It’s like Utah but without all the excitement.
This is what goes for “night life” there.
On a separate note:
Call me cynical but how will we know if the person whom they will say is the father really is the father. Personally if you give me a whole lot of money I will become anyone’s father, no problem.



Wiggles
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01 Sep 2008, 2:50 pm

If you think the 17-year-old daughter of a Republican politician getting pregnant is "a tailor made Republican scandal", obviously your entire knowledge of Republicans comes from hearing about them from Democrats. Even the most strongly conservative ones recognize that mistakes can be made, and they certainly do not expect teaching abstinence to eliminate all unwanted pregnancies ever. It's just a slightly better alternative to teaching kids to do whatever they want and not worry about it because they can just kill the child afterward. You might hear some accusations from some of the crazier Republicans (of which there are many), but they will be ignored like usual. Except, paradoxically, by Democrats.

I find it interesting that there are all these theories brewing about how they'll secretly abort the baby and say it was a miscarriage or something. Maybe you aren't paying attention, but Palin herself recently gave birth to a baby with Down's syndrome. This is a strongly pro-life family, and any attempts to argue in favor of abortion by suggesting it is the only alternative for them don't make sense based on their past decisions. It can be a very effective propaganda tactic to imply that your opponent's values are only held because they are easy to for the moment, but there is currently no evidence at all to show that this might have any truth.

It is also interesting that there seem to be so many here who favor abortion so much that they give Palin no credit at all for choosing to allow the child with Down syndrome to live. She knew what the difficulties would be, but stuck to her convictions because she believes in the child's right to live despite his disability. Surely I am not the only one who realizes there are many people on this very forum who would not be alive today if the practice of aborting any non-NT child was commonplace. Palin may have her faults, but in a way she is championing one of our causes.


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Coadunate
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01 Sep 2008, 2:59 pm

Personally, if I ever lose my intelligence to the level of a Down syndrome I would hope and pray that someone would put me out of my misery, let alone be born that way. Heck, I’m unhappy that I’m not as intelligent as Einstein. My guess is almost everyone feels the way I do.



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01 Sep 2008, 3:02 pm

Wiggles wrote:

I find it interesting that there are all these theories brewing about how they'll secretly abort the baby and say it was a miscarriage or something. Maybe you aren't paying attention, but Palin herself recently gave birth to a baby with Down's syndrome. This is a strongly pro-life family, and any attempts to argue in favor of abortion by suggesting it is the only alternative for them don't make sense based on their past decisions. It can be a very effective propaganda tactic to imply that your opponent's values are only held because they are easy to for the moment, but there is currently no evidence at all to show that this might have any truth.


Ok, but if you look at the evidence as Palin describes it, it's pretty damning. The irresponsible way she handled the birth of Trig, a baby with Down's Syndrome, and 1 month premature, makes me believe even though she wouldn't go through with an abortion, she was trying to make sure he didn't survive. Either that or she's just really, really dumb.



Wiggles
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01 Sep 2008, 3:04 pm

Coadunate wrote:
Personally, if I ever lose my intelligence to the level of a Down syndrome I would hope and pray that someone would put me out of my misery, let alone be born that way. Heck, I’m unhappy that I’m not as intelligent as Einstein. My guess is almost everyone feels the way I do.


I'm sorry that you place such high standards on yourself; to an extent that's a problem I share. I just don't think that means anyone who society deems to have a below-par intelligence should be killed. At least give them a chance first.


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Last edited by Wiggles on 01 Sep 2008, 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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01 Sep 2008, 3:04 pm

I...just...cant care...about...other peaples....reproductive activities!



Wiggles
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01 Sep 2008, 3:08 pm

Mage wrote:

Ok, but if you look at the evidence as Palin describes it, it's pretty damning. The irresponsible way she handled the birth of Trig, a baby with Down's Syndrome, and 1 month premature, makes me believe even though she wouldn't go through with an abortion, she was trying to make sure he didn't survive. Either that or she's just really, really dumb.


I don't know the details myself, but there are sides to every story. They should be listened to, especially when the accusation is that she purposely tried to end her child's life. If she or someone representing her answered these accusations and the answer did not seem valid, it does look pretty damning for them. But I tend to not trust information I find on a message board that is at least 3 levels removed from anyone who would have any idea what actually happened. I have seen such stories get twisted beyond recognition many times.

Eggman wrote:
I...just...cant care...about...other peaples....reproductive activities!


The world would probably be a better place if more people listened to this wisdom. :wink:


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01 Sep 2008, 3:18 pm

And all of this personal information about someone who is NOT a public person (i.e., the daughter) is news why? This is a family matter, not grist for the tabloids.

Though I'm sure it will be.



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01 Sep 2008, 3:32 pm

Because part of Palin's policy is very pro-life, even in cases of rape or incest, and she is a firm believer in abstinence-only sex ed, the way she handles her own family is very important when she intends to instill the same policies on the rest of the US.

As for third-hand information, this site: http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=8194634 is an Alaskan news site that reported Trig's birth before all this came news. Yes, she did deliver a speech in Texas after her water broke. Yes, she did decide to fly back to Alaska afterwards, instead of rushing to an NICU hospital in Texas despite that her baby was 1 month premature. Yes, she did deliver at a regional hospital in Alaska with no NICU unit, despite the fact that other hospitals WITH NICU units would be closer to the airport she was flying into. (mapquest it).

So it's pretty hard for me to believe that she really wanted to see Trig live through the delivery.



Wiggles
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01 Sep 2008, 4:16 pm

Mage wrote:
As for third-hand information, this site: http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=8194634 is an Alaskan news site that reported Trig's birth before all this came news. Yes, she did deliver a speech in Texas after her water broke. Yes, she did decide to fly back to Alaska afterwards, instead of rushing to an NICU hospital in Texas despite that her baby was 1 month premature. Yes, she did deliver at a regional hospital in Alaska with no NICU unit, despite the fact that other hospitals WITH NICU units would be closer to the airport she was flying into. (mapquest it).

So it's pretty hard for me to believe that she really wanted to see Trig live through the delivery.


So you find the possibility that Palin had it in for her unborn child and tried to kill him in a way that would seem accidental to be more likely than if she just wanted to give birth in familiar surroundings? Or was not aware of the risk that a few more hours of waiting may have posed? I'm all for cynicism - if Palin really wanted to get rid of the child, the odds are pretty good that she would indeed set something like that up rather than have her reputation tarnished by an abortion. But why would she wait that long? If she did indeed plan on killing the child and making it look like an accident, it would have been much easier to do earlier in the pregnancy. And how could she have known that the baby would be premature? It seems a little far-fetched to me to accuse her of setting this plan up to kill her child which is based on variables she could not have foreseen to even work.

You may have noticed the phenomenon of hugely complex conspiracy theories emerging about a person almost immediately after they enter public view. Which seems more likely: being a public figure is somehow correlated to having a shady past, or that people are desperately looking for anything they can find to make the person look bad and will resort to anything to find it?


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