Why women should care very much whether the baby is Palin's:

[marylanddem]

Because this is a woman who would force all other women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. So her own behaviors and attitudes toward unwanted pregnancy are critical. And we have a right to know how she deals with this crisis in her own life if, indeed, her daughter became pregnant outside of marriage.

[phillysuse]

1. Medical records - we haven't seen McCain's or Biden's

either for that matter. And now we need to see Sarah's as well. Obama-Biden should release ALL their medical records including hospitalizations in the last ten years and push McCain and Palin to release their records of hospitalizations and ultrasound tests and lab tests and doctor's visits.

My bet is that not all the records were changed and that Bristol was hospitalized, not Sarah.
And that while her doctor might fudge the name on the records, not all the tests would have the wrong name.

[shey1218]

5. obama released his medical records along time ago

he's in excellent health

do a search

[TexasObserver]

2. Yes. When you want to be VP, there isn't anything that isn't our business.

Particularly when personal conduct may be illegal or unethical.

[anigbrowl]

3. Weird irony of the day

when I clicke don this thread DU decided to give me an ad of a lady looking happily at her huge pregnancy bump.

[vaberella]

4. Huh. I get a link for an "addiction cure care center" ---I wonder for what?! n/t

[NJmaverick]

6. If this isn't her baby (and there is very good reason to believe it's not)

there are questions of ethics and honesty. Beyond that, there are questions of hypocrisy, since she wants to force other teenage women to go through what she wouldn't put her own daughter through.

[Sidney J Mussburger]

18. Exactly

There is so much wrong with this story. I don't see how anyone can deny the importance of this. I've seen too many 'Stick to policy, not pregnancy' posts around here. This is a major story and can be easily debunked with just a picture of her clearly pregnant. I've yet to see said picture and doubt I ever will.

[Hepburn]

27. That is the EXACT issue.

It's the lying and the hypocrisy...not the underlying issue.]

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. attitudes that make it necessary to for a teenager to hide her pregnancy are harmful!

Those are the same attitudes that lead to teenagers giving birth to babies, alone in bathrooms and tossing the baby away. Hiding the pregnancy is like saying the pregnancy is shameful.

[Quixote1818]

9. I agree. nt

[marylanddem]

12. Absolutely true.

[Quixote1818]

8. I think it's worth looking into for someone who wants to spend the time

that person isn't me though. It would be a real shocker if true and certainly an end to any chances McCain had.

[Peacetrain]

10. I am just going to throw this out to think about

The baby's medical problems have more to do with having parents who are older, rather than a younger parent.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. True but also...what are the odds daughter pulled from school for 5 months during mom's last 5 month

of pregnancy? It's the combination of factors that makes me suspicious:

1. Mom hides pregnancy
2. Mom doesn't look pregnant AT ANY TIME in the pregnancy
3. Daughter pulled from school for 5 months
4. Picture of daughter with tummy protruding.

[FatDave]

17. Yup.

However....

If I see good confirmation that the daughter was out of school for mono leading up to the birth, that combined with the other circumstantial evidence would have me leaning towards the rumors being true.

[AnnieBW]

11. CHILD CARE

She supposedly had the baby and came back to work within three days. Talk about "back in the fields before sundown!" Most women are out 6-8 weeks after a vaginal birth, even with no complications. Does she think that ALL women who have babies should go back to work that early? Also, who is taking care of the bundle of joy? It must be nice to be able to afford child care for a Down's Syndrome infant. It isn't going to play well with parents who are struggling to pay for child care.

Typical out-of-touch Republicans.

[shimmergal]

31. Good points. Except...

I don't think the "back at work 4 days after childbirth" is so unlikely. What with hospitals discharging maternity patients within 24 hours, lots of women go home to domestic duties. These are usually _more_ physically demanding than a few hours of desk work would be. Not that this situation is ideal.. you need help with other kids and/or housework for a few weeks anyway, but not all women can get it. (Another reason we need more social services---which ONLY Democrats would think about the need for.)

[mitchum]

13. She may have very well forced her own daughter to carry the baby to term...

against the daughter's wishes.
Look at the family portrait where the daughter is wearing green and is obviously pregnant. The expression on her face seems to reflect a combination of sadness and resignation.

[Straight Shooter]

15. This is the pic you're referring to. There is something disturbing about it, yes.

Look at how Bristol appears to be an outsider. The other four are almost enclosed in a circle. See Sarah's arm holding her other daughter's elbow? No one is touching Bristol, and she touches no one. She stands alone. Even the little girl in orange is leaning in towards the others.

Maybe it's not unusual for an adolescent girl to feel distant from her family, but the photo just disturbs me somewhat because the intent of the photo is to make them look like a close-knit family. I would almost guarandamn-tee you, they aren't.

Incidentally, Bristol is beautiful.

[Jim Lane]

20. I'd like to see the pic....

All I see in your post is a "Bandwidth Exceeded" message from photobucket. Instead of trying to embed it, would you provide a link? Thanks for any help you can give!

[Jim Lane]

22. Is this the photo?

After posting my #20 asking for a link, I found what I think is the photo, on imageshack:

Is that the one you mean?

I can see your point about the postures, but it's also quite possible that it was more convenient for Palin to hold one daughter's elbow, as opposed to trying to throw her arm over the other daughter's shoulder. If they were concealing a pregnancy, you'd think she'd have gone out of her way to include Bristol in the one-big-happy-family imagery. For that matter, wouldn't they just have stood Piper (the youngest) in front of Bristol, to conceal her stomach?

The slight bulge is consistent with early-stage pregnancy but also with a bit of teenage chubbiness, at least to my untutored eye. It would be informative to know when this picture was taken.

Couldn't this all be resolved by a photo of the Governor taken shortly before the birth? There must have been enough official functions that she couldn't have dodged photographers forever. On the theory that she wasn't really the mother, did she go around wearing caftans concealing a taped-on pillow?

I can see how there's some circumstantial evidence for the charge of deception, but my gut tells me it's just too improbable. Some families have surely pulled this off but it would just be too hard for the Governor. Somebody at the hospital would've blabbed.

[Straight Shooter]

26. Sorry about the bandwidth; I cut and pasted someone else's "Properties."

I don't know when the "green sweater" pic was taken, so, cannot add to the narrative about possible pregnancy here.

Why didn't Sarah just slip her arm through the crook of her daughter's arm? That would be a natural thing to do. Something about this photo just bugs me, you can almost draw a circle around the outlines of the others.

People will definitely be looking for photos of Palin pre-birth of the baby, but you can bet no full-body pics of Bristol will surface. It's a crying shame that her life has been caught in America's moral woodchopper.

[whistler162]

29. I saw one report and I forget where that that photo is from

a year or so earlier than the time frame.

[intheozone]

14. There is also a the issue of insurance fraud if she is passing the

child off as her son rather than admitting he is her grandson.

[marshall]

25. Pregnant minors are covered by insurance!

If Bristol Palin had given birth her maternity expenses would have been fully covered by her parents' insurance.

[Phredicles]

19. Plus, as I've said, if she'll lie and stage cover-ups about giving birth,

what else will she lie and cover up for? We've had more than enough of lies and cover-ups these last 8 years.

[underpants]

21. Let this go

please

[Jade Fox]

30. You know, if Palin were a man....

whose political/religious beliefs granted him the right (in his own mind) to tell men which reproductive/sexual choices you may make, you might feel differently.

[1Hippiechick]

23. OK. I'm confused. Her daughter has a baby, and Palin introduced both from the platform in PA

yesterday. So Palin is a new mother AND a new grandmother? No mention of her daughter's husband?

Or was I in the Twilight Zone yesterday?

[No Elephants]

24. Excellent, excellent point.

[Jade Fox]

28. I agree.....

This is a woman who would tell the rest of us how to live our reproductive/sexual lives. That gives us the right to question her.