DailyKos Embraces The Palin 'Fake Pregnancy' Rumor But Rejects The Edwards Story

Its the wackiest rumor about Sarah Palin or any other politician so far this election. It's making it's way all through the internet. And of course it came from DailyKos.

Let's hear from noted reporter ArcXIX, following up on story by the widely respected Inky99...

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better.

Daily Kos: Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother [Photos+Video]

The whole story is based on an insulting view of fundamentalist Christians; that they'd be so freaked out by a teenage pregnancy that they'd have the Governor -- the most highly visible and public women in the small fishbowl of Alaska -- fake a pregnancy to cover up the sins her of daughter Bristol.

That diary got 'rec'd' -- voted as one of the 'Best Of' on DailyKos. The diary is uncited, breathless, and spins a story that's totally far-fetched. Without going through the whole hot mess point by point, I'll mention that no doctors, nurses, hospital workers or other patients have come forward to say anything was amiss. Plus, there's this picture.

The irony for me, of course, is that despite making over fifty short political videos with a clear progressive point of view, I was banned on DailyKos for saying that it seemed reasonable that John Edwards was seen at the Beverly Hilton late at night.

To be sure, some on DailyKos pointed up the numerous problems with the Palin story. But 'the community' in large part embraced it and it's part of a trend...

The election hasn't even been won yet and there's already a liberal hubris developing. Progressive standard bearers such as DailyKos and Keith Olbermann have been showing signs lately of a nasty tendency towards stifling dissenting opinions and promoting the sort of crazy rumors usually associated with the right then the reality based community.

It's not effective, it's not progressive, and it's not a good or accurate reflection on Barack Obama or the Democratic party.

Update 1: There's a weird pivot on this story. What started as 'she wasn't pregnant!' is morphing into Palin getting attacked for her choice (after talking to her doctor) to go back home to Alaska after her amniotic fluid began a small leak.

Two points. First, nothing bad happened - her judgment in this case worked out just fine. In fact, the baby had to be induced. Second, people LOVE to spout off about other women's birth choices.

Update 2: I have two other pieces ; one about the Bristol pregnancy announcement and another first hand statement that says Sarah Palin was definitely pregnant with Trig.

Comments

[Arbicuswoo]

I don't know about any of you women out there, but if I decided to fake a pregnancy for my daughter, I'd damn well better pile on a couple of pounds and pad my body. The really interesting thing here is the pregnancy was met with shock when she announced it because she didn't look pregnant. And, after the bizarre tale of labor and delivery, it seemed some reporters believed something was rotten in the state of Alaska. Here are two articles from The Anchorage Daily News:

http://www.adn.com/front/story/336402.html

http://www.adn.com/politics/story/380560.html

I've never seen a pregnancy/delivery reported in such a way.

[PalinBabyQuestion]

Here are two websites that are trying to collect all the information (from both sides) on this question:
www.geocities.com/palinbabyquestion
www.palindeception.com

[LightningJoe]

This meme is strangely attractive to me.

One of the intriguing aspects of Sarah's last pregnancy, was that no one seemed to have a clue she was pregnant, until she suddenly dropped a kid out. How could a preggers-belly have escaped the press's notice until the bundle was ripe? Even in Alaska, the press wakes up on odd days, so how did they miss it?

That off my chest, there's still no way the timing would work out; since we now know that the only daughter who's a candidate for having borne Trig "instead" of Sarah, is the same daughter who's now five months along with the newest addition to the family. Trig is only two months old. Even in the Palin family, I think it might be difficult to overlap two pregnancies that way.

No, a better lesson to take from this, is just that these folks by-god know how to reproduce, and do it with gusto.

[nwriko]

and where exactly do you get your info on how far along bristol is with her pregnancy? if your source is the palin family, i'm afraid that at the moment they are having a bit of a credibility issue.

[Ramirez]

Good story, Lee. Facts, logic, and critical thinking.

You are just begging to get kicked off HuffPo...

[Lee Stranahan - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks but I'll tell you that the editors of HuffPost -- including Roy Sekoff and Arianna -- have been nothing but supportive of my writing here.

[LAB10]

This might reasonate a bit better if the original baby rumor had not forced the truth on the real teen pregnancy story. W/O the first we were guaranteed not to get the second. Rumors work---the Republicans proved that long ago.

[Atlas Scruggs]

Daily Kos is a place where such things are hashed out, as in discussed, to determine if they have any merit, not "reported," halfwit. I'm sure you've noticed, without bothering to say, that the story pretty much disappeared with that one diary. If only we could say the same about Lee Stranahan. Poor widdow Lee got his feelings hurt because nobody gave a crap about his National Enquirer Edwards scandalmongering. And guess what, nobody still does.

[Outofnowhere]

Sorry Mr. Stranahan, I'm not sold on this. There's too many coincidences like her daughter being out of school, her conduct once she started leaking, not announcing the pregnancy until really late, the hospital not having records and her non pregnant-looking appearance.
Why is it important? If she's covering for her daughter, it means she's not allowing her to take responsiblity for her actions. Aren't Republicans supposed to be big on taking responsibility. If she's raising her daughter's child, she's being a hypocrite.
What I'd also like to know is, if the hospital isn't giving information, how do we know WHEN the baby was born. Could it be that the baby only made it's public appearance in April? If that's the case the daughter could indeed be pregnant with her second child.
I'll go further than that. If she's got a down syndrome child she's raising as her own and a pregnant daughter, she's got way too much going on on the homefront to even consider being vp.

[obamaisdukakis]

Thank you! An honest, fair, broker of information.

[MaryscottOConnor]

You make me proud, Lee.

[Lee Stranahan - Huffpost Blogger]

You too, MSOC!

[FirstShirt]

Tell me it isn't true. Liberal bias in the media? Why, it's an outrage. Who would have thought it possible?

[shaunmarie]

Oh give me a break with the liberal bias crap. For nearly 8 years the "liberal press" ate the clintons alive.

The press is in it for the money, and prints whatever sell papers. A drinking teenage pregnant daughter sells ads... a politician who cant keep his zipper closed is every day news.

[baudrillard]

No joke. It's all about money. Rupert Murdoch said you should vote for Obama, "Because it would sell more papers."

[Spinsterina]

Uh...are we talking about DailyKos as the "media" -- it's an avowedly liberal blog with posts from anonymous members. Not exactly CNN's "Situation Room" we're talking about here.

Lee's critique is valid. But you can't equate DailyKos with "the mainstream media" and pretend to be surprised at finding a liberal bias there. I think Lee's hoping for more fairness -- I'm sure the conservatives at Townhall do the same thing when they find bias at FreeRepublic.com.

[Cypress919]

Lee why don't you turn your attention to something more...I don't know IMPORTANT. How about you dig up info on the where abouts of OSAMA BIN LADEN Instead of wasting everyone's time with this pathetic grudge you got against Dkos. The only one who cares is you. It's as dead as the fifteen minutes you got from that Edwards Story

[FirstShirt]

Right. We certainly don't want to expose bias in a liberal blog, now do we?

[Cypress919]

Exposing bias in a blog?...it's a BLOG. Of course there is going to be bias. That's like saying OP EDs are opinion based..pfft..That is the idea!

[Mactastic]

On a side note. You cannot argue that medical staff have not stepped forward to support refute the birth. It is a HIPPA violation and the ramifications are a fine and jail time.

[LeeCalif]

It's simple. The reason Edwards was ignored WAS BECAUSE Edwards was nottttt pregnant.

See !!!

[staticnoise]

I really don't care who's kid is knocked up or who's kid knock someone up. I have no problem what candidate may be homosexual or what candidate may gave cheated on their spouse or is divorced. I don't care if a candidate inhale weed or was a draft dodger. I do regret the day the radical religious right started making this an issue, thinking they where above it all, when they are as moraly ambigious that the next person. My question is; why in the hell did Palin accept the VP offer knowing her daughter is pregnant? Can we trust the judgement of a person, who as a mother, put her daughter in a position of paying a high price for the mother's political ambitions?

[tralfas]

I was leaning toward Obama because I think, despite the differences in our views, he can be a good leader like Reagan was, based primarily on his communication skills. But I cannot vote alongside the disrespectful loons who believe that Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy.

[Mum]

Oh, tralfas, you don't really expect us to believe you are or were thinking of being an Obama supporter. If you were, you wouldn't believe that, despite anything Stranahan might say to contrary, there is anything more than a smattering of Obama supporters who are promulgating and taking delight in the rumors about Palin's last child. You have heard of trolls, haven't you?

Reasonable people have questions about Palin's judgment about many, many, many things. The reckless behavior she engaged in from the time her water broke until the time she delivered her fifth child can certainly be put on the list of reasons to question both her judgment and McCain's.

[NTO08]

A MAJOR EDIT here--:

Stranahan, nice that you are calling out the absurd Daily Kos BS and other liberal bloggers who ARE NOT behaving as good progressives or as Democrats...slinging mud and resorting to tabloid inaccuracies is the province of Karl Rove's minions...if we want to go down that road, it will be a never-ending cycle of bilge being slung from both sides.

The operative and essential change, NOT in line 2...

[martinchill]

i hear you.

hope there are no disrespectful loons wherever you end up.

[NTO08]

Stranahan, nice that you are calling out the absurd Daily Kos BS and other liberal bloggers who ARE behaving as good progressives or as Democrats...slinging mud and resorting to tabloid inaccuracies is the province of Karl Rove's minions...if we want to go down that road, it will be a never-ending cycle of bilge being slung from both sides.

[Ndw]

May I suggest that you may find a few 'loons' on both sides? Unless you believe that everyone who disagrees with you is doomed to eternal damnation, and that the world is 4000 yrs old (or whatever) - and that God is running the war in Iraq...

Vote for the leader you think best able to run the country. By your logic, had the Germans under Hitl3r been nice people, a vote for Hitl3r would be the way to go. No, a leader should be blamed for their grievous errors (I blame Bush - ok, Cheney - for the mess in Iraq - but I blame the fundamentalist Islamic terr0rists for 9/11 - not the people who trusted Bush to lead us, nor the Muslim population.

(3's to avoid the dreaded Pending)

[BillCarson]

>I was leaning toward O bama

Nice try. (When in doubt, check the profile.)

[eahce]

You might want to check out the council on foreign relationsof which obama is a member.

[CNBCSucks]

What goes around comes around. As a former Republican, I say, no mercy...the converts are always the most militant. Just a break this election, Lord, get our President and Senators in November, and we will bring this nation into the progressive 21st century with the rest of the world.