I know this is off-topic but a friend of mine emailed with a link to DailyKos that basically said Palin faked the pregnancy of her child. I thought when I read the headline that no one would do such a thing, to fake a pregnancy. DailyKos speculates that she is the grandmother, that the real mother is her daughter, Bristol, and that she was trying to arrange for an adoption but the genetic tests came back positive for trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome) which halted the adoption. The evidence is the following:

1. Alaska legislators and staff said there was no physical sign of her pregnancy. DailyKos links some video footage of TV broadcasters interviewing people who were shocked.

2. After her water broke in Dallas, she gave a 30-minute speech, then boarded an 8 hour flight to Alaska to give birth. This is incredibly stupid and reckless given the early delivery and quick labor time upon a fifth pregnancy, according to an obstetrician quoted in the article. Even my mother said days ago that it was incredibly reckless (a retired OB-GYN RN).

3. Bristol, the daughter, was pulled from school for 5 months for mononucleosis, which lasts 3-4 weeks on average at most.

4. Upon arrival in Alaska, Palin skipped the most technologically advanced hospital in Anchorage in favor to give birth at a regional hospital. One would think that with a high risk pregnancy she would have stopped there (or gone to a Dallas hospital and skipped the flight).

I don't read DailyKos. I do remember reading about her boarding the flight after her water broke and thinking "What an idiot. This woman is reckless." But I didn't think much about it at the time. At any rate, I think it's interesting that some people are looking into the story.

I don't think this story is all that interesting in and of itself; people lie all the time about sex, affairs, and other things to save the reputation of a family member. And if this story is false, I am a libertarian at heart and want to let people make choices for themselves. However, this woman is a right-wing nut-job who wants to impose her view of sex and sexuality on all of us: abstinence-only sex education; outlawing abortion for all circumstances; creationism taught in public schools; criminalization of homosexual consensual sex; all of which, I think, make these questions about her judgment an issue.

I fight to overturn these laws. Here in Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) this was a huge issue when the county wanted to build a new jail. I raise hell to my legislators and I harassed a judge running for office who came to my door asking for my vote.

I do agree with you that Sarah smoking pot is not an issue, generally, because as progressives, we want to overturn these laws. I personally find it a personal choice, the science notwithstanding.

Obama is a Muslim is racist bigotry, simply no more. What's wrong with being a Muslim anyway?

As for Palin, her views scare me, and I think that is the issue. What I find really interesting, is that she supports a "pro-family" platform that urges women to stay home and care for their babies, while she's out campaigning with her kid, having to pump her breasts in between speeches. Kind of strange, isn't it??

Thanks for posting. This woman's views on sex and sexuality should be no less examined; and that her daughter is pregnant just goes to show how stupid abstinence-only education is. This woman's judgment is seriously impaired. But will she change her views? No.

According to the principles of the VP choice and the right-wingers. My god, this family is the epitome of hypocrisy.

I feel sorry for the 17 year old daughter, and I wish her well. Perhaps she can escape the orbit of her crazy mother at some point. Her mother has shoved this girl's personal business into the media spotlight.

I think that Palin's extreme views brought all of this scrutiny, innuendo, rumor, and gossip on herself. It doesn't matter whether the rumor is true or not; the parallel with Obama would be something like: Obama wants to round up Muslims and jail them while he himself is a "secret practicing one." That would be a parallel situation, while the right-wing just wants to appeal to people's prejudice with "Obama is a Muslim" or "Hillary is a lesbian." The two situations are not congruent.

She certainly deserves the scrutiny in my opinion, because this woman wants the State to be in your crotch 100% of the time!

Yes, I agree. The media should not leave any of this alone because PALIN herself WANTS to regulate YOUR vagina. That is the issue. Unfortunately, this stupid mother, Sarah Palin, knowingly brought all of this on her poor daughter, both in the form of sex ed, and now knowingly choosing to accept a Vice Presidential nomination. Truly amazingly stupid, insensitive, and heartless. You know how the media are...