New tidbits leak out from Mercede Johnston's Playboy interview. Oh, the Grizzled Mama is NOT going to like this very much! Update!

Mercede and her mother Sherry. Palin victims no more.

Courtesy of TMZ:

19-year-old Mercede Johnston (above left) just WENT OFF about the entire Palin crew -- calling Sarah Palin a bad mom who's "never there for [her kids]" ... adding, "She doesn't make her kids go to school.

She'd rather parade them around and put on a show, at book signings or conventions."

As for Bristol -- "Everything is about her, her, her. She has to have her own way. She'll be supersweet and then she turns into the most evil person I've ever known ... Honestly, she is the meanest person."Mercede adds, "I didn't know someone could be so vindictive and evil ...[She's] a sociopath. She doesn't think anything she could do or does is wrong."

Mercede also claims Bristol and Levi PLANNED their pregnancy -- saying, "They were trying to conceive for months." 

And for good measure ... Mercede explains why Sarah would have been a TERRIBLE president saying, "I think she'd have had a mental breakdown if she was elected [president] ... She can't even answer Katie Couric's questions." 

Just when you think Sarah's day could NOT get any worse.

You know I waited with bated breath for this summer (and the fall) to finally arrive, but even I did not realize just how many things were coming down the pike to help put an end to Sister Sarah's career as a political hatemonger.

Numerous tell-all books, a damning documentary, Michele Bachmann stealing her thunder, a painfully poor propaganda piece that failed to ignite her political career, unexpected grandbabies, a Playboy interview that reveals unflattering truths about the Palin family, newly discovered pictures proving she was not pregnant with Trig, the list just goes on, and on, and on.

Don't the Germans have a word for this? Schadenfreude if I am not mistaken.

(I looked it up for you Palin-bots so that you would not hurt your tiny little brains. Just click this link.)

Update: It looks like Hollywood Life has a few more tidbits:

Mercede tells Playboy of Sarah’s eldest son Track, “He would do a lot drugs. He did OxyContin but mostly cocaine. He didn’t choose to go into the army; he went there because his mom made him, to get him out of the way…” Track did ship out during his mother’s campaign, though it is uncertain when exactly he enlisted. 

He may not be the only fan of the drug either as, the interviewer writes; “Someone trying to get my attention makes the incredible claim to have snorted coke with [Sarah] at the Mug Shot (a local bar) and points to the very spot on the bar where said lines were cut up.” This is, of course, to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Mercede also labels Bristol as a thief, among other things. When asked what Bristol is into, Mercede says; “stealing her parents credit cards to order clothes. Literally. And chasing after men and partying.” 

Mercede goes on to say that she could bring any number of men to meet the interviewer and have them show some of the nude pics Bristol has sent them.

Okay I knew about the stolen credit cards, the boy chasing, and partying, but the nude pics of Bristol are a new one on me.

Not that I would have been interested if I had known about their existence.

Update2: More from Hollywood Life:

She is furious about Sarah’s treatment of her brother Levi, who is the father of Sarah’s grandson, Tripp. “Not once did Sarah contact us and say, ‘Is this okay?’”, about her decision to take Levi into the spotlight, when she became John McCain‘s running mate in 2008. 

After all — Levi was only 18 at the time and hardly able to stand up to the powerful Governor of Alaska. “She literally took Levi from a hunting trip and flew him to the Republican Convention. He didn’t have a choice. I don’t blame John McCain — this is all Sarah Palin. She didn’t have to announce on stage that Bristol was pregnant. She doesn’t care, as long as she’s going to the top. But it’s screwed my whole family up. Levi was a prop, and once they didn’t need him, he was out the door.” 

No matter what your political persuasion you have to admit that Mercede’s accusations have a ring of truth when it comes to the Palin treatment of her brother. 

For good measure, Mercede also calls Bristol — “the most evil person I’ve ever known” and a “sociopath” and claims that she , Mercede, has been virtually excluded from baby Tripp’s life. 

Now, we all know that Sarah Palin can dish it out against her political opponents … and Katie Couric. She’s even been accused of inciting violence against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by placing her district in crosshairs on an “attack map” that she featured on her facebook. 

Do we really need a “Pitbull in lipstick” or a Mamma Grizzly ( Mercede calls that Sarah nickname “retarded” ) leading our country now? A woman who’s instinct is to attack even the father and aunt of her “beloved” grandchild, rather than reach out and make them a part of her family? 
  
Damn! Sarah and Bristol really screwed the pooch when they pissed Sadie off!

I actually don't know everything that Sadie talked about in the Playboy interview because she signed a non-disclosure agreement and was not supposed to talk about it. Technically I was not even supposed to know about the pictorial, but she did not want me to find out from anybody else.

P.S. I almost forgot to say that I also heard that story about the cocaine use by Sarah at the Mug-Shot. And no it was NOT from Sadie.

Right Wing gets all worked up because Department of Health and Human Services will now offer free birth control to women. Because you know that is just abortion BEFORE conception. Tricky liberals!

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

Starting in 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday, insurance companies will be compelled to cover a wide range of women’s health services, from testing for gestational diabetes to counseling about domestic violence, without requiring a copayment. But it was HHS’ inclusion of free contraception in the slate of services to be classified as preventive care that grabbed all the headlines.

The news comes shortly after the Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending what services should be offered without extra cost to female patients. Even those in the reproductive-health community who have long advocated for free birth control as common-sense policy were surprised at the haste with which HHS announced the adoption of the IOM’s recommendations. The idea of free birth control for all falls in the rarely acknowledged gray area between boring old medical regulations and the promise of unrestrained sexual ecstasies—or at least so I’m told by some of the angrier pundits on Fox News—and the department’s quick turnaround allowed it to sidestep an opposition that was just starting to heat up its arguments. Still, Bill O’Reilly did manage to squeeze in one memorable statement, claiming that free birth-control pills wouldn’t work because women who get pregnant are too drunk to use their birth control when they have sex. (No one on O’Reilly’s show bothered to correct his false assumption that you have to take the pill during sex for it to be effective.)

Apparently O'Reilly does not realize that most women take their birth control pills in the morning, nor does he seem cognizant of the fact that if women did not some times drink until their judgement was impaired that he would likely have NEVER gotten laid. 
  
Personally I think this is long overdue, though I also hope that DHHS continues to stress the importance of using a condom, and to avoid the allure of wine coolers and a damp tent.


And speaking of Bristol, I don't know why the Right Wing is so upset about free contraception since it will undoubtedly only help their numbers grow while diminishing the number of liberals born in the coming years.

I mean let's face it the kind of intelligence it takes to remember to take the damn pill seems to be beyond the capabilities of certain segments of the population.

In other words this new access to birth control will certainly NOT keep any more Palins from being born into the world. As a matter of fact I understand that the newest Palin progeny should be entering the world any day now.

I imagine the Mat-Su school district shudders with anticipation.

Sarah Palin and the fastest growing baby bump in the west!

For all of you who are still clinging to the idea that somehow Palin WAS pregnant, and that the photographic evidence suggesting that she wasn't is not compelling enough, I would like you to explain this.

Image courtesy of my friend Emrysa.

It does not take a doctor, a nurse, or even just a person who has been pregnant, to recognize that a fetus simply does not develop THAT quickly in such short amount of time.

As evident from my post yesterday, Palin appeared to be no more than a few months pregnant (With, apparently, Sponge Bob Squarebaby) on March 26, 2008, and then suddenly on April 13, 2008, ballooned up to the image you see on the right.

I think what is obvious is that Palin was simply winging the fake pregnancy thing at first, and then realized that she needed a more convincing disguise to fool the lazy reporters, and constituents she might bump into further down the line, so she purchased something a little more convincing to wear toward the end of her incredibly short "pregnancy."

Does anybody disagree, or think they have a better theory?

If so, I would love to hear it.

No longer a conspiracy theory, "Babygate" is real! And the pictures of Sarah Palin from March 26, 2008 prove it! Update!

My good friend Audrey once referred to this picture as "The Nail in the Coffin." Because in her mind and the mind of many others, it proved without a doubt that Palin could simply NOT have been 32 weeks pregnant when the photo was taken.

But for some reason it never quite proved enough for some people.

Perhaps these pictures taken on the very same day, as Palin was leaving the museum, will finally convert the unbelievers.

(Click the thumbnails to see the high resolution images.)

This was written as a description below the photographs:

March 26, 2008, Juneau, Alaska, USA: In April 2011, Professor Bradford Scharlott at Northern Kentucky University wrote an academic paper stating that the "conspiracy theory" suggesting Palin is not Trig's mother is likely true and the American media is pathetic for not pursuing the story more aggressively. Scharlott walks through all of the evidence supporting the theory in the article, suggesting Trig is actually Palin's grandson. The article discusses photos of Palin in what is said to have been a late-stage pregnancy, the leisurely 20-hour trip home that Palin took after she supposedly went into labor in Texas, the refusal of the hospital where Trig was supposedly born to even confirm that he was born there (let alone who was the mother), strange statements from Palin's doctor and the McCain campaign, and so on. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin exits the Alaska State Museum with her husband Todd after a bill signing ceremony. Palin announced 3-weeks prior that she was 7-months pregnant with her fifth child.

And the photos were further authenticated during a discussion with the AP photographer Brian Wallace on July 31, 2011.

Here is a close up of Palin's supposedly seven month pregnant belly.

And as if that were not enough, let us not forget that only a little over two weeks later that THIS is what Sarah Palin managed to look like on a KTUU broadcast on April 13, 2008.

Here is the video of the interview to allow further scrutiny.



(I need to give a HUGE hat tip to Laura Novak who made the initial call to Polaris images and got the information that we needed to purchase these images.  Thank you Laura.)

Update: There are apparently a couple of visitors who are being purposefully obtuse and asking how these pictures prove anything, as if they were the sum total of the evidence available to prove that Sarah Palin did not give birth.  Of course they could not be more incorrect.

Let me provide just a few examples and the rest you can find using a tool I like to call "Google."

1) The Sarah Palin pregnancy. What are the odds?

And for thsoe who are looking for an eyewitness Palin's lack of a pregnant belly.

2) Exclusive! My interview with Shailey Tripp.

And for those brave souls who REALLY want to find out how convoluted this fraud was.

2) A Tale of Two Babies by Sarah Palin.

Bristol Palin addresses her bizarre weight gain during DWTS in her book of excuses and outright fabrications. Oh THIS ought to be good!

I actually thought I would never revisit the DWTS weight gain issue again, but Bristol's ridiculous excuse for why she gained weight on the show is too stupid to leave unaddressed. (I can't believe the Palins think they can say such outlandish bullshit and never get called on it!)

Here is the actual page from her book:

 I know it is small and hard to read, but I wanted to give you an actual screenshot in case anybody thought I might be exaggerating.  Below I have typed out the pertinent portions.

The ironic thing about this whole thing is that my critic was a self-described public advocate against bullying...as long as she agrees with the victims politics, I guess. After a prominent gay suicide, she went to the airwaves and criticized bullies...while at the same time publicly stating that a 135 pound girl like me was obese. But because I was  already active and fit, the show's schedule wasn't new to me. I did gain five pounds over the course of the show, but I was still thinner than a lot of girls my age.

Bristol continues in the next paragraph:

So let me address this issue head-on. I'm not skinny and I'm not fat. I'm a girl like everyone else who lives in this era of airbrushed photos who's trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And do you know what? I'm succeeding. Everyone talks about how strenuous the Dancing with the Stars workouts are, but they're nothing compared to any high school basketball practice. Though one contestant famously lost forty-one pounds, I have to assume it was because she was not too active beforehand. Because I was an active kid before I started, this show actually took my activity level down a notch. That meant I was not going to be seeing rapid weight loss. Which was fine with me.

Okay rather than simply pick apart what Bristol is saying I think I will let the pictures, which surely she knows are still available on the internet, do my talking for me.

First let me point out that the weight Bristol brought with her to DWTS was NOT the weight gain left over from having Tripp, as evidenced in his May, 2009 picture taken while she was promoting the Candies Foundation.

Bristol May 6, 2009

And as for her so-called athletic lifestyle before DWTS, Bristol did not attend regular school after the beginning of 2008, and was certainly not on any basketball teams since then. She went back for a short time and graduated from Wasilla High, on May 15, 2009. (Once again NOT participating in any organized sports during that time.)

And as evidence of her rather sedentary lifestyle (Or perhaps something else) here is Bristol in May of 2010.

Bristol May 5, 2010

So I think it is pretty well established that Bristol was NOT engaged in any rigorous sports activities directly before starting with DWTS.

Here is a picture of Bristol's very first rehearsal with Marka Ballas on September 2, 2010.

DWTS first rehearsal September 2, 2010.

I am not going to make any disparaging comments about her weight, other than to say that for a nineteen year old she is NOT in what I would consider athletic condition. Anyone disagree?

So taking this rather out of shape nineteen year old and having her compete on what has been called "more of a weight loss competition, than a dancing show," one would logically expect Ms. Palin to start toning up and dropping some lbs.

But instead this is what she looked like a twenty six days after she started working with Mark Ballas on the dance routines.

Bristol September 28, 2010.

And here she is in October.

Bristol in October, 2010.

And again in November, at the end of the show.

Bristol November 23, 2010.

Now I am not going to claim I am an expert on female weight loss, but I WAS a personal trainer and I can tell you that what these pictures demonstrate is physiologically impossible. Unless Bristol has some very dangerous thyroid gland problem, there is simply NO reasonable explanation for this weight gain while practicing dance steps for up to eight hours a day. None.

And by the way, just to spike the ball a little here, DWTS also had as contestants gymnast Shawn Johnson, football player Emmet Smith, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, basketball star Rick Fox, speed skater Apolo Ohno, just to name a few of the athletes that appeared in past seasons, and they ALL demonstrated an increase in their overall conditioning and a decrease in their weight. Are we to believe that THEY led sedentary lives before they started rehearsals?

In fact as far as anybody can tell, EVERY constestant on DWTS lost weight and got into much better shape due to the strenuous rehearsals involved, with ONE notable exception.

Bristol on the View November 24, 2010.

So Bristol perhaps you should have just left this topic alone, because bringing it up in this book is only going to have people talking about what they believe was the REAL cause of your bizarre weight gain on DWTS.

Bristol at 32 weeks pregnant with Tripp

The latest Palin family pregnancy makes it to Real Time.

Courtesy of Medaite:

“Sarah Palin in the news this week– became a grandmother again, or for the first time, who knows?” he joked, likely a reference to the conspiracy theories surrounding the birth of her fifth son Trig, though if alluding to that, this would be Palin’s “third” grandchild, so the joke didn’t exactly make sense. He clarified that the child was not Bristol’s, and then added exasperatedly, “do they not have condoms up there? When they say ‘don’t retreat, reload,’ they are not fucking around.” And, as no Palin bashing is complete without an intellect joke, he concluded, “If Bristol Palin really wanted to teach her family about abstinence, maybe the place to put that information wasn’t a book.”

By the way it is has been a week since I first reported that Britta was pregnant, and so far NOTHING from the Palin camp. It kind of makes you wonder if they really thought NOBODY was ever going to figure this out or not?

Wow, it looks like Track Palin's wife made out like a bandit at her baby shower!

For any of those who are STILL not convinced that Britta is pregnant.

It looks like Sarah's next grandchild is going to be extremely cute, if his parents are any indication.

Once again I wish them nothing but good luck.

Remember how everybody just assumed that Track Palin married his girlfriend because she was pregnant? As it turns out everybody is pretty damn smart.

So to bring you up to speed on May 19, I wrote a post about Track and long time girlfriend Britta Hanson tying the knot up at Hatcher Pass.

My assumption at the time (and the assumption of every other rational person with at least two brain cells they can rub together), was that based on the history the Palins have with marriage and pregnancies, Britta was undoubtedly "in the family way."  However nobody was absolutely positive such was the case.

About two weeks later I received a tip that Britta was indeed pregnant and that fellow students in her nursing classes were all talking about it, and the family was afraid it would soon come out. Then not much later I received yet ANOTHER tip saying that Britta was definitely with child and was avoiding certain casual friends so that the word would not get around and embarrass the families.

Yet it was still all hearsay and I did not feel it was enough to say definitively that the quickie marriage was due to the impending birth of yet another baby into the Palin family.

That is it WAS all hearsay until I received this picture in my email inbox of Britta opening up gifts at her.....wait for it.....baby shower. (Apparently the shower took place just a couple of days ago at the Palin compound in Wasilla.)

So based on the tips mentioned above, and this photographic evidence, I think we can safely move this story out of the rumor category, and into the "no shit" category.

So what have we learned here today kiddies?

Number One: That there is a 90% probability that any rumor you hear about the Palin clan will turn out to be true. (Even the crazy ones.)

Number Two: That Bristol is the world's WORST abstinence spokesperson since she could not even convince her own brother's girlfriend not to have premarital sex. ("Stop! Stop it right now, Track! Dammit I'm telling Mom!")

Number Three: That the Palins simply DO NOT get married unless there is a fetus and a loaded shotgun involved. Sarah's mother, Sally Heath, was pregnant when SHE got married, so was Sarah, and then Bristol (Who did not even bother to get married.), and now Britta.  Apparently it's a family tradition.

Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. Well that is unless your future mother-in-law is constantly pimping herself out as a family values fundamentalist Christian savior of America, and your husband's sister is a famous abstinence spokesperson. But whose crazy ass family does that descr....oh yeah, almost forgot!

Well anyhow I wish both Track and Britta nothing but good luck with the new addition to their family.

Based on what we know of the rest of the family, you're going to need it.

The National Examiner tackles Babygate. Finally!

The reporters from the National Examiner are only the latest to finally get fed up enough with this obvious fraud to finally decide to put it out there in print so that Americans can see for themselves how stupid Sarah Palin considers all of them to be. 

Interestingly enough NE is somewhat late in boarding this particular bandwagon, on which Andrew Sullivan is the senior member, though he is now somewhat less lonely having recently been joined by the likes of Laura Novak, Sarah Jones of Politicususa, Henry Blodget of the Business Insider, and even author Joe McGinniss.

And let's not forget the soon to be completed book dedicated to babygate which I have learned is right on schedule, and which, after some tidying up of loose ends and a careful vetting by the lawyers, will soon be delivered to the publishers.

Personally I am just glad that the bloggers are not the only ones doing the heavy lifting these days. After all of these years of ridicule and ostracizing from the so-called "mainstream media," it certainly feels good to blog about the research and discoveries being made on this topic by ACTUAL journalists.

Because I don't know about all of you, but I could use a nap!

Michele Bachmann solidifies pro-life credibility by speaking out about miscarriage. That sound you hear is Sarah Palin banging her head against the wall.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

So this is what an “evangelical feminist” looks like.

During a week of speculation in the religion blogosphere about how Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann embodies the term, the GOP presidential candidate hinted at why that worldview may inform her politics and connect her to constituents.

At a South Carolina campaign event Wednesday night, she shared that she became certain of her antiabortion beliefs after having a miscarriage.

“Part of our faith is standing for the area of life. and we are completely committed,” Bachmann said of herself and her husband. “After our second child was born, we became pregnant with a third baby, and it was an unexpected baby, but of course we were delighted to have this child. And the child was coming along, and we ended up losing that child. And it was devastating for both of us, as you can imagine if any of you have lost a child.”

“At that moment we didn’t think of ourselves as overly career-minded or overly materialistic. When we lost that child, it changed us. And it changed us forever.”

“And so we made a commitment that no matter how many children were brought into our life we would receive them, because we’re committed to life. And we didn’t know it at that time that we’d be foster parents and that one day we’d be parents of 28 children, but we are extremely grateful for that opportunity because you can get money wrong, but you can’t get life wrong. And I am committed to life.”

You just know that somewhere Sarah is screaming, "A miscarriage?  That's all it takes? Dammit I actually HAD one of those!"

But instead of taking the simple route, Palin faked a Readers Digest version of a pregnancy, and is now saddled with raising a special needs child as a result of her desperate gamble to get the kind of pro-life status that Bachmann just received by talking about a child to whom she DIDN'T give birth.

The irony is just too rich!

Now I am certainly NOT a Michele Bachmann fan, but this is yet another illustration of just how much more intelligent she is than the Grizzled Mama from the north.

(P.S. How much would you NOT like to be the Palin family refrigerator today?)

Like mother, like daughter. Only not! Updated!

Here is a composite showing Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol both at 32 weeks pregnant.

As you can see Bristol is glowing with pride and seemingly bursting with the joy of impending childbirth.

As for Sarah...well...um..well...wait, is she really supposed to be 32 weeks pregnant there?

Yep, she sure is! (As a matter of fact eighteen days from the day that picture was taken she would "give birth," albeit a month or so early, to her fifth child.

Hmmm, well something is just not right here. Perhaps I am wrong about how far along Bristol is in that picture.  Let''s check. (Just hit the "click to look inside" icon at the top of Bristol's book to investigate for yourself.)

Nope, according to Bristol's very own book, that is definitely her at 32 weeks.

So here we have a teen mom, pregnant with her very first baby (Actually the jury is still out on that one.), looking at least twice as pregnant as her mother, who is supposedly just as far along with her FIFTH child.

Now I am just a guy, which renders me biologically predisposed to be completely ignorant about "girl stuff," but from what I understand women simply do NOT get smaller with each pregnancy.  In fact they tend to get much larger, much faster.

So seeing this comparison shot of Bristol and her mother side by side, certainly adds even more evidence to support the premise that Sarah Palin faked her last pregnancy, and is NOT the biological mother of Trig Paxson Van Palin.

Anybody care to disagree? And if so, please elaborate on your reasoning, because I am DYING to hear what you have left in your arsenal that could be used to defend this woman's version of events.

Update: Since so many people are asking for it, here is the picture of an obviously pregnant Sarah Palin during either her first or second pregnancy.

There is no date on this picture so there is no telling how far along Palin is, but I would venture to guess she is in her eighth or ninth month of pregnancy.
However she certainly did not get that big in just a handful of weeks like she claims she did in her last "pregnancy." And her belly in this photo looks VERY similar to the one that Bristol is sporting in the composite up above.

Don'tcha think?

Laura Novak continues to educate MSM reporters about REAL journalism. This week she attempts to do that with the ADN. Yeah good luck with that, Laura!

From Laura's blog:

In the past month, I have attempted eight times to talk to the reporters, writers and editors at the Anchorage Daily News about the paper’s coverage of Trig Palin’s maternity.

I was shut down or refused 7 times. The other effort resulted in an off-the-record phone call. In all cases, the party-line was toed: The editors and reporters are “intelligent” and they thoroughly investigated claims that the then-governor did not give birth to Trig Palin. And they came away satisfied that she, in fact, did so.

What was it specifically that allowed them to arrive at that conclusion?

No one said, other than the fact that reporter Lisa Demer talked to Mrs. Palin’s doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson and it was “clear” that it was Mrs. Palin’s baby. And that to suggest otherwise is “ridiculous.”

Collectively, the answer was that to pursue this matter was akin to the Obama birth certificate conspiracy theories and that people are simply going to believe what they are going to believe.

All right, then tell me what Dr. Baldwin-Johnson said and I’ll believe you.

But by then, the answers to my inquiry were getting shorter and decidedly snippier.

So I searched – again - for a story that the Daily News might have written that I might have missed that might have made it all “clear.” And I couldn’t find one.

Laura Novak does the best she can with what essentially makes little, or no, sense.

Go ahead and read the rest of the article, and then come back and tell us what you think is the reason that the ADN did such an incredibly poor job of following up on a story that could have meant a Pulitzer Prize for the journalsit who broke it on the national stage.

Is "Babygate" about to burst onto the national stage? Could be.

The above is a flyer that Professor Scharlott made and sent to me yesterday. Of course the information that Brad is referring to came from this post I put up on Monday.

I have to say I am still fairly stunned, though quite pleased, by how much attention this post received. From Andrew Sullivan, to Henry Blodget, to my friend Joe McGinniss, it certainly seems to have reinvigorated the issue of babygate, and brought a whole new level of scrutiny to this most egregious hoax.

Which of course has been the goal all along.

Many of you have begged me to drop some sort of information bomb, that would blow Palin's political future out of the water and ultimately reveal, irrefutably, that Palin did NOT give birth to Trig Paxson Van Palin on April 18, 2008. 

However I came to the understanding long ago that such an explosive post was unlikely to ever happen, and that instead I needed to keep working around the edges of this story in the hope that ultimately there would simply be too much cumulative evidence for even the MSM to ignore.

Personally I think I have done fairly well at this. As evidenced by my Two Babies post, my Shailey Tripp interview, and numerous others, I think I have helped to move the ball forward significantly since my friend Audrey was forced off of the field almost two years ago now.

And no I am not discounting the contributions from the many other dedicated bloggers either. This has been a community effort, and it is very gratifying to see even more bloggers, journalists, and even book authors joining in to help finally get to the bottom of this intriguing, bizarre, and very troubling deception.

In my opinion we are very, very close to blowing this thing wide open, and finally getting the story the attention it has always deserved from those who have been, thus far, resistant to covering it.

After all, if Anthony Weiner's wiener can be the central story for almost two weeks now, then SURELY Sarah Palin faking a pregnancy for political gain should be front page news for at least a month, if not longer!  Don't you agree?

A comment from a visitor that really deserves its own post. A timeline that describes what Sarah Palin's birth experience would have been like if it had REALLY happened.

This comment came in response to my "Andrew Sullivan thinks it odd that a woman in the middle of labor has the presence of mind to send e-mails to her staff. You know what? I have to agree" post.

It was so well written, factually based, and passionate, that some of you suggested that I post it.

What can I say, when you're right, you're right.  I now present to you Anonymous 6:57.

I myself have given birth four times- once to twins. So I feel I can be fairly accurate with the following estimations. I've had one homebirth, two vaginal deliveries- one with epidural and one without, and one c-section. So I am taking all my experience into account, along with many secondhand experiences as a doula and birth coach.

They say Trig was born at 6:30am, so...

Immediately after the baby was delivered, the cord would be clamped and he would be taken over to the warmer. The would suction his airways, do his first APGAR, put a security bracelet on his ankle or wrist, clean him up, do a closer umbilical clip, put his first diaper on, and swaddle him up. Now due to Trig's medical issues there certainly would have been an exam done by a pediatrician as well as a pediatric cardiologist. I estimate these measures would have taken approximately 18 to 25 minutes. It seems quick because it is- they do these things bam-bam-bam.

So the time is now approximately 6:50.

Now, while they are clearing the baby's airways and cleaning them up, etc, they are watching mom to make sure the placenta is delivering properly, they'll sometimes press on mom's tummy to jumpstart things is they are stalled...one thing that plays a very large part of this scenario is the fact that Palin claimed to have had to be "induced". Pitocin is a nasty, nasty thing...it forces the body into the most wretched, soul-consuming contractions possible.

The pitocin has to be pulled back for the afterbirth because of the risk concerning uterine prolapse. So we can safely estimate that Palin was starting to expel the afterbirth just as Trig would have been swaddled up and possibly held by dad.

Assuming Palin took the least amount of time possible to expel her afterbirth and that she did not have any tearing (which she likely would have as such a petite woman having a pitocin induced labor) then we can add another 15-20 minutes.

The time is now approximately 7:10.

Palin's own narrative says the children came in "minutes after" the birth. Assuming she didn't make the children watch her afterbirthing...the children come in around 7:15. Supposedly Bristol, Willow, Piper, and of course Levi were there. And Track was on the phone. Even if we allot only 5-7 minutes per child to meet, hold, coo over, etc the new baby, that takes up around 25 minutes.

At some point, Trig will have had his second APGAR scoring. His glucose will be checked and his footprints will be taken. These things will add around 15-20 minutes.

So with kids visiting and holding/meeting the baby (and remember we know from Sarah's own telling to People magazine that each child held Trig right after birth- this is when Willow supposedly says he looks like he has DS- preposterous) and the additional tests and procedures Trig went through...we add about 40 minutes.

The time is now approximately 7:45.

DS babies are notorious for difficult feeding. Sarah herself has mentioned she breastfed Trig. With a DS baby there would have been a nurse or lactation consultant to help with Trig's first feed. In a healthy baby without DS, the first feed averages 40 minutes. It likely took closer to an hour but in the name of playing devil's advocate, we'll say 40 minutes.

The time is now approximately 8:25.

So allowing absolutely NO TIME whatsoever for Sarah to hold and cuddle her new baby nor change her blood and amniotic soaked bed linens...yes, she COULD have been sending emails at 8:30.

But truly- who among us believes that Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, lay in a bed soaked with blood, feces, fluid, mucous...and chose to send nondescript, unimportant emails...before changing her bed linens, using the restroom carefully, with a wash bottle and then putting on a chux pad...and again, not taking any time to just BE with her new baby...?

I can't believe I took the time to type all this out just so I could say once MORE...WHAT AN IDIOT.

Who would believe this??!

6:57 PM

Well I would like to thank you Anonymous 6:57 for being somebody who would take "the time type all this out" because you certainly made a very informative and helpful contribution to this discussion. 

In fact I really have nothing more to add.  You essentially said it all, and said it beautifully.

Thank you.

The Voice of God, the Artifice of Sarah Palin. Update!

Many bloggers, and news organizations, have written about a certain letter found in the Sarah Palin e-mails which she composed eleven days before the "birth" of her son, and then sent out immediately after Trig's birth to friends and family.  Most have characterized the letter as demonstrating Palin's true love and commitment to her as yet unborn son, Trig Paxson Van Palin. 

But for me it told an entirely different story.

Here is the letter.

From: Sarah Palin
Date: Mon, 7 Apr zoos 14:17:11
To gov . sarah@yahoo . com
Cc gov . palinoyahoo . com

Subject Baby

To the Sisters, Brother. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends of Trig Paxson Van Palin (or whatever you end up naming him!):

I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I've heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I've answered them because I only want the best for you!

I heard your heart when you hinted that another boy would fit best in the Palin family, to round it out and complete that starting five line-up. Though another girl would be so nice, you didn't think you could ask for what you REALLY wanted, but I knew, so I gave you a boy because I only want the best for you!

Then, I put the idea in your hearts that his name should be "Trig", because it's so fitting, with two Norse meanings: *True' and "Brave Victory'. You also have a Bristol Bay relative with that name, so I knew it would be best for you!

Then, I let Trig's mom have an exceptionally comfortable pregnancy so she could enjoy every minute of it, and I even seemed to rush it along so she could wait until near the end to surprise you with the news - that way Piper wouldn't have so long to wait and count down so many days - just like Christmastime when you have to wait, impatiently, for that special day to finally open your gift? (Or the way the Palins look forward to birthday celebrations that go on for three, four day.. you all really like cake.) I know you, I knew you'd be better off with just a short time to wait!

Then, finally, I let Trig's mom and dad find out before he was born that this little boy will truly be a GIFT. They were told in early tests that Trig may provide more challenges, and more joy, than what they ever may have imagined or ever asked for. At first the news seemed unreal and sad and confusing. But I gave Trig's mom and dad lots of time to think about it because they needed lots of time to understand that everything will be OK, in fact, everything will be great, because I only want the best for you!

I've given Trig's mom and dad peace and joy as they wait to meet their new son. I gave them a happy anticipation because they asked me for that. I'll give all of you the same happy anticipation and strength to deal with Trig's challenges, but I won't impose on you.. I just need to know you want to receive my offer to be with all of you and help you everyday to make Trig's life a great one.

This new person in your life can help everyone put things in perspective and bind us together and get everyone focused on what really matters. The baby will expand your world and let you see and feel things you haven't experienced yet. He'll show you what 'true, brave victory" really means as those who love him will think less about self and focus less on what the world tells you is 'normal' or "perfect'. You will grow and be blessed with greater understanding that will be born along with Trig.

Trig will be his dad's little buddy and he'll wear Carhartts while he learns to tinker in the garage. He'll love to be read to, he'll want to play goalie, and he'll steal his mom's heart just like Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper did, And Trig will be the cuddly, innocent, mischievous, dependent little brother that his siblings have been waiting for..in fact Trig will - in some diagnostic ways - always be a mischievous, dependent little brother, because I created him a bit different than a lot of babies born into this world today .

Every child is created special, with awesome purpose and amazing potential. Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed up world you live in down there on earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome. Doctors call it "Down's and Downs kids have challenges, but can bring you much delight and more love than you can ever imaginel Just wait and see, let me prove this, because I only want the best for you!

Some of the rest of the world may not want him, but take comfort in that because the world will not compete for him. Take care of him and he will always be yours! Trig's mom and dad don't want people to focus on the baby's extra chromosome. They're human, so they haven't known how to explain this to people who are so caring and are interested in this new little Alaskan. Sarah and Todd want people to share in the joy of this gift I'm giving to the Palin family, and the greater Alaska family. Many people won't understand..and I understand that. Some will think Trig should not he allowed to be born because they fear a Downs child won't be considered "perfect" in your world. (But tell me, what do you earthlings consider "perfect" or even "normal" anyway? Have you peeked down any grocery store isle, or school hallway, or into your office lunchroom lately? Or considered the odd celebrities you celebrate as "perfect" on Have you noticed I make 'em all shapes and sizes? Believe me, there is no 'perfect"!)

Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this. I know it will take time to grasp this and come to accept that I only Want the best for you, and I only give my best. Remember though: "My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your for as the heavens are higher than the earth, my ways are higher than yours!"

I wrote that all down for you in the Good Book! Look it up! You claim that you believe me - now it's time to live out that belief!

Please look to me as this new challenge and chapter of life unfolds in front of you. I promise to equip you. I won't give you anything you can't handle. I am answering your prayers. Trig can't wait to meet you. I'm giving you ONLY THE BEST!

Love,
Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father

Through the more than two and a half years we've been writing about and thinking about the baby story, the phrases "Smoking Gun" and "Nail in the Coffin" have been used more than once. Each time, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to clinch it. In spite of evidence that I (and others) have considered irrefutable, somehow it's ignored, minimized, or explained away with absurd arguments.

I'm not going to use either phrase now because I've learned not to take anything for granted. But I believe we've now seen an email that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sarah Palin's pregnancy was not as reported.

On Monday, April 7th, Sarah Palin sent this letter from her official government account to her yahoo accounts. It was the draft of the letter she eventually sent to friends and family after Trig was "born" on April 18th, eleven days later. We've known about this letter for years, as quotes from it were released to the press within three days after Trig's delivery. It had gained considerable notice because Sarah Palin wrote the letter in the name of Trig's Creator (i.e, God) But, of course, no one knew that she'd actually written it more than a week earlier.

This letter has already appeared in a number of media reports since the emails were released. Most of them take the position of the U.K Daily Mail, that this is a "touching" and "extraordinary" letter which should prove once and for all that Trig is really Sarah's.

Not so fast.

This letter was written when Sarah Palin was supposedly thirty-four weeks pregnant. Six weeks away from her announced delivery date of May 18th.

How can you possibly explain her writing a letter which thanks God for giving her an exceptionally easy pregnancy ("Then, I let Trig's mom have an exceptionally comfortable pregnancy so she could enjoy every minute of it,") when she should have been six LONG weeks away from the end? Still facing the weeks that any woman will tell you are going to be the most uncomfortable, weeks where, my female friends who have been pregnant tell me, you can't hardly find a comfortable position to sleep, your back hurts constantly, you have to run to the bathroom hourly, and sometimes the baby kicks so hard you cry.

How could Sarah know for sure that her birth would be easy and free of complications or that her baby would be, except for the Down Syndrome, healthy? I asked a friend who has had multiple home births if she could imagine writing a letter like this six weeks before her babies were born, when she still could not know the outcome, and she said, "No. You always worry. Even when you know you've had healthy babies before and you know your body and your midwife, you always worry."

And what about this sentence? "and I even seemed to rush it along..." I believe this is a clear reference to the fact that Trig came early. But how could Sarah possibly have known, on April 7th, that that was going to happen?

This letter, like so much of Sarah's life, is a chaos. Some parts reference how they are still waiting for the baby, but most of it reads 100% down the line like it's being written by someone who already knows the outcome, and knows that that outcome is a whole lot closer than six weeks away.

I see two explanations for this.

Maybe God did really write it and just put it in Sarah's head.

Or

Maybe Trig was already born when Sarah wrote this. She could speak in the voice of a god who knew what was going to happen - because she did.

Update: It looks like Andrew Sullivan, also finds this very suspicious.

Update 2: It looks like the Business Insider has taken notice of this post as well.

Laura Novak revisits my "Tale of Two Babies" post.

Laura bravely wades into perhaps the most controversial story I have ever posted on IM, and discusses the strange "Trig Palin" ear malformation with her friend the neonatologist.

From Laura's blog:

LN: You mentioned the “ear.” Perhaps nothing rocked the Palin-watching blogosphere quite like Gryphen’s Tale of Two Babies post in February of last year.

His discovery of Trig as a newborn with a deformed ear was stunning. I believe this is a tight shot from this photo at the baby shower (same occasion as the right hand photo above.)

And as Gryphen pointed out, the deformed ear is also visible close-up on the Sadie-in-the-kitchen photo.

But the discovery but it led to further speculation that the infant with a cauliflower ear could not possibly be the same baby presented to the world at the Republican National Convention and then later at the presidential debate.

In fact, following that amazing post, the Internet began collectively calling the baby, Ruffles. What’s your initial response?

DOC: I'm not sure what I can add to that excellent Gryphen post other than agree with the general principle that the “ruffled ear” is unlikely to ever look normal.

At first glance, I thought the hole in front of the ear was a preauricular pit which occurs in up to 1% of newborns. It's not particularly associated with Down syndrome and usually doesn't cause any serious problems, besides getting infected.

But then I looked at a close-up of the ear and thought that the hole in front of the ear may actually be the ear canal itself, because it's way too big to be a preauricular pit, which are tiny. What I don’t see is any evidence of a “tragus”. That’s the piece of cartilage that sits in front of the ear canal opening, partially covering it.

LN: I know that you and I both want to delve further into this, but for now, you agree with the assessment of the doctors Gryphen interviewed?

DOC: Yes. There's no way that these small, low set, posteriorly rotated and deformed ears in picture #1 could look relatively normal several months later. But I’m not an ENT and I’d really like to hear what one would say before I’d definitively call these different babies.

My first response to this VERY complimentary article is, "Aww shucks, tweren't nothing."

However my second response is to say thank you Laura, and thank your doctor friend too, for being courageous enough to give this bizarre twist in Sarah Palin's crazy pregnancy and birth story another look.

I have to say that it took me over ten months to determine that I had done enough preparation, and had enough evidence, to present this story.  And EVEN THEN I had to be convinced that it could withstand the scrutiny which we all knew would come once it was posted.

I had hoped that once it was out it would catch fire and have a real impact on the pregnancy story.

But other than the duo "coincidences" of Todd Palin dropping out of the Iron Dog the day the story broke, and Meg Stapleton SUDDENLY quitting as Palin's spokesperson two days later, there really wasn't that much of a response.    But hey, those two incidences don't MEAN anything, now do they?

I had high hopes that Andrew Sullivan might take the ball and run with it, but he was just never sure enough about the subject to take that risk.  I have to say I really could not blame him, it really IS one of the craziest aspects to the whole babygate mess.

So once again I want to thank Laura Novak for looking at this story again with fresh eyes, because even thought I have every confidence that whoever looks at this evidence will reach essentially the same conclusion that I reached, it is nice to have that validated by other people trained to look at evidence with a skeptic's eye.

And before I end this post I should add that we had tried repeatedly to find NEW pictures of "ruffled ear" baby in order to do follow up posts, and were unable to do so.

That is until today.

THIS picture is from Frank Bailey's book, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin.

Notice anything?

Now the only thing new that we can learn from these pictures is that, since they were taken sometime in May, Palin continued to present THIS baby as Trig at least few more times in public.

It is also my opinion that, since the baby in this picture appears plumper than in the previous photographs, that this was probably a few weeks after the pictures taken at the baby shower and in Palin's kitchen. 

So then the million dollar question remains.  Just when DID Sarah swap the baby pictured above....

....for THIS baby?

Henry Blodgett over at the Business Insider requests your help.

From the Business Insider:

Last week, an anonymous commenter on a blog called The Immoral Minority claimed to know beyond any doubt that Sarah Palin faked the pregnancy of her son Trig and lied to the country about it (see comment from "Anonymous" posted at 4:32pm).

The commenter said that s/he is a medical worker in the state of Alaska and knows for a fact that Sarah Palin did not give birth to her son Trig, as Palin has always claimed.

This posting followed a resurgence of interest in the Sarah Palin-Trig "baby-hoax" question spawned by the publication in mid-April of a paper by Professor Bradford Scharlott of Northern Kentucky University, which argued that the Palin pregnancy was a fraud.

The comment on Immoral Minority could obviously be a complete fabrication. But it is a good reminder that there are at least a handful of people in this country who can provide an answer to this question once and for all (and who aren't members of the Palin family).

Importantly, establishing the truth about this question is more important than Sarah Palin and "politics." If Alaska governor and Vice-President candidate Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy, she defrauded the entire country. If she didn't, she (and we) deserve to not have any more time wasted discussing the question. Whether or not Palin runs for president in 2012, therefore, Americans deserve to know the truth here, and we will be grateful to anyone who can help us establish it.

Henry Blodgett has posted a number of ways to contact him anonymously, and my advice to you if you are one of the people who have been saying they have information that can finally put this whole thing to rest is to go for it.

I have said all along that it is NOT important that I be the one to break this story, only THAT it be broken in a way that the MSM simply cannot ignore any longer.

I have some hope that Fred's upcoming babygate book might accomplish that, but it would be just as sweet in my mind if that happened over at the Business Insider. Fred's book will still have other very interesting  things to reveal that should make it a fascinating book to read.

So head on over to Business Insider and take a look.  If you have some REAL information that might finally reveal this most treacherous of lies, then perhaps this is the day that you demonstrate YOUR patriotism and shut this woman down for good!

I am no expert on pregnancy, but is it common for women to get pregnant in their shoulders like Sarah Palin apparently did?

(H/T to Brad Scharlott for the image.)

Laura Novak conducts yet another very interesting interview with Professor Scharlott over on her blog.

This link will take you the most interesting clip, where Mrs. Palin talks about “huntin’ and fishin’” and her big family. The interviewer at one point interjects: “And you have four?” meaning, children. And Palin replies, “I have a bunch of kids” before rapidly changing the subject. Was this because she wasn’t sure how many she would have in the following days, or because she wasn’t yet prepared to tell the world about a fifth? “A bunch of kids.” How maternal.

It’s not just that Palin was supposedly 7 months pregnant during this interview. It’s her behavior, posture, and her stunning announcement the next day that still mystify, dumbfound and disturb so many followers of this fairy tale.

Throughout her entire Newsweek interview, which was at least 10 minutes (judging from several YouTube clips), she remained in that forward-leaning position with her legs crossed.

LN: What an amazing woman.

BS: Amazing indeed. How late into your own pregnancy, Laura, could you comfortably assume that position and hold it several minutes?

LN: Are you kidding? I still can’t, and my baby’s now 16 and rides a BMX bike.

Now for many of us THIS is well covered ground, that we are now seeing revisited by new eyes. However the last part of Laura's answer directed my focus to something that I have not given a great deal of thought to in the past.

As many of you know I have interviewed a number of people who worked with, or around, Palin before, during, and after her "pregnancy." In one of those interviews the person mentioned that not only did Palin not appear pregnant DURING her month and a half long pregnancy, she also did not appear to have just given birth AFTER Trig was born.

Now here you will have to forgive me because I am JUST a man, so until I read Laura's somewhat tongue in cheek answer above I did not give that as much thought as I should have.

So I went back through my notes to check, and was reminded that not only did Sarah Palin not have any of the pain or discomfort you would expect during her pregnancy, she also did not seem to have ANY sign of having just given birth in the days and weeks afterward. 

Now granted these people would have been interacting with Palin in a professional setting where she might not have felt comfortable talking about her soreness, or appearing weak or needy in front of staff, so I wondered how she might have acted in the privacy of her home, when she was just letting it all hang out.

But WHO would have seen her in her home only a few weeks or days after giving birth?

Oh yeah, that's right!

So I gave my friend Mercede a call.

As it turned out Sadie and her mother were stuck in traffic here in Anchorage, and so I was able to ask both of them whether or not Sarah demonstrated ANY signs of having given birth on May 3 2008, only twenty days after Trig arrived, and the day that they both went over to Palin's house to see the new baby and to celebrate Levi's birthday.

To the question of whether she appeared sore, or had trouble moving around or sitting, they both said "No, she appeared fine."

To the question of whether or not they could have discerned that she had just given birth by her appearance, they both replied "No." "In fact," added Sherry, "she did not look like she had given birth at all!"

I then started trying to think like a woman, and asked if Palin complained about any soreness in her breasts, or whether or not they appeared milk laden or uncomfortable. Again the response was "No, not at all."

Sadie did point out that she was in a sweatshirt, so it would have been hard to see if she was swollen, but that she certainly "did not act as if she were uncomfortable."

I thanked them for their time and hung up the phone. (By the way you should be hearing more from Mercede herself later on today.)

You know the difference between pretending to be pregnant on a television show, and doing the same thing in real life, is that in a movie or television show when the director yells cut you can take off the fake baby bump and have a cigarette. But in real life you have to be prepared to play your scene 24 hours a day, for as long as the "pregnancy" (And the appropriate amount of time after the pregnancy), lasts.  Clearly Palin was just not that good of an actress.

Which is WHY we see her bending forward when she should have been seven months pregnant, and WHY her belly changed size and shape so often in that month and a half span of time, and WHY she acted afterward as if it simply did not happen.  Because, and stay with me on this part, it DID NOT HAPPEN!

Now look, one of the arguments against the idea that Palin pulled off this fake pregnancy has always been, "that's crazy NOBODY would do such a thing! Especially while in the public eye!" Which on the face of it seems like a reasonable argument, but not when it comes to Sarah Palin.

Just ask yourself about all of the crazy Palin lies that you know about.  This is a woman who has lied and said that NONE of the ethics complaints filed against her ever had merit, that the U.S. federal debt had grown more under Obama than “all those other presidents combined," repeatedly lied that she quit her job as Governor because under the laws of the state, her family was going to be bankrupt by litigation and public records requests, and apparently supported her daughter's lie that her very obvious facial surgery was really due to a dental procedure to align her teeth. (And those are only the tip of the iceberg.)

So you see what WE all might consider a lie too outlandish to tell by ANYONE, is really just business as usual for Sarah Palin and her family.  And until somebody REALLY calls them out on their lies, there is NO reason for Sister Sarah to change her tactics. None.

(By the way if you want to get an idea of just how often Palin lies, all you need to do is buy "The Lies of Sarah Palin" by Geoffrey Dunn.)