So, I’ve been thinking (and reading) a lot about this whole Trig situation, and while the decent person inside me (somewhere) wants to believe nobody is so self-serving that they would knowingly fake a pregnancy to protect their teenage child (not the bad part) AND use it to promote one’s own “strength” and “values”… something doesn’t add up here!  To wit (and I really do hope I’m wrong):

Pictures (part 1): There are virtually zero pictures of Sarah Palin pregnant with Trig.  The only one I’ve seen surface has had its veracity (specifically, the date it was taken) questioned by an apparent digital timestamp. When acting governor Jane Swift of Massachusetts was pregnant and in office, there was no hiding it.  There were dozens of pictures of her all over the place because, after all, a governor cannot hide for several months.  Pictures of Palin, reportedly 6-8 months into her pregnancy? No sign of the “telltale bulge.”  For someone who is a proud mother of 5 children, why did she hide her pregnancy for so long from so many people, many her closest confidantes?  I may not be woman enough to understand what its like to be pregnant (although my wife may argue that point) I HAVE been around many pregnant women in my day — my wife, family members, friends — some of whom were naturally very slender and avid runners.  NONE of them ever looked “normal” at 7-8 months.  NONE.  No matter how well you wear it (at 44? after 4 previous kids??) you can’t fit your pregnant tummy into outfits like Palin did.

The Missing Daughter: Daughter Bristol misses the last several months of her mother’s pregnancy, reportedly with a case of mono — an apparently notorious “disease” that is often used to cover up teenage pregnancy, especially in parochial or wealthy private schools.  Mono typically affects the afflicted from as little as 2 weeks to as many as 2 or 3 months, rarely but not impossibly longer than that.  She missed school for (reportedly) 5+ months with mono?

Pictures (parts 2):  Have you seen the family pictures of the Palin clan?  Notice who almost always seems to be holding baby Trig?  That’s right… Bristol.  Look closely mothers, recognize that look in her eyes, that “glow” about her face? Does Bristol look 5-6 months pregnant to you?

The Long, Strange Flight Home:  Okay, this is the one part of the story that is the hardest to explain away. Palin’s water broke, apparently, and she called her family doctor when that happened — at 4:00am while visiting Texas.  I haven’t seen or heard anything anywhere from any type of doctor that has supported the theory that any doctor, in good conscience, would approve of Palin going to her planned speech, let alone a subsequent 8-hour flight (with layover in Seattle) followed by a one-hour drive to a small-town hospital to give birth.

Consider:

“Women who are having any sort of complications associated with their pregnancy or who are considered to be ‘high risk’ should not travel [via airplane]. This includes women with poorly controlled diabetes, sickle cell disease, placental abnormalities, hypertension or those at risk for premature labor.” – http://www.pregnancy-info.net/wellbeing_flying.html

Was Palin considered “high risk?” Well, consider that “women with Down’s syndrome are also more likely than other women to have a premature baby, or to need a caesarian section.” – http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/DSA_Faqs.aspx

Palin apparently knew from early on in her pregnancy that she was having a Down syndrome baby.  Well maybe she just wore it well?  But then, wouldn’t an intelligent, 8-month pregnant woman whose water had broken hours ago at least inform the flight crew?  Or give some other indication of her condition, like:

“if your flight is longer than one hour, be certain to get up and walk around several times during your flight. Pregnancy increases the risk of blood clots in the legs, and so does sitting for a long period of time.” –  http://www.pregnancy-info.net/wellbeing_flying.html

However, none of the flight crew on that 2,200-mile flight noticed anything at all about her condition? No grimacing in pain with contractions, no frequent trips to the bathroom, no frequent walks through the aisles?  My wife has only been pregnant twice, and at 8 months she was VERY noticeable and totally incapable of sitting through an 8-hour flight.  And she’s skinnier and more athletic than Palin!

HOWEVER, if I were a mother whose pregnant daughter went into labor prematurely while I was out of state (thus prompting a call from a family doctor at 4:00am) I might — if the doctor told me that there was no rush, and my daughter was in good hands — finish my work (political) obligations then hop the next flight home.  There would be no danger to Palin in that scenario, and it certainly would explain why she would fly over thousands of miles with probably dozens if not hundreds of better-equipped hospitals to get herself to Wasilla.

Pictures (part 3): Ever seen pictures of Sarah Palin months pregnant?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Es5aIJl1g

And this one, taken in Feb. 2008 when she was 6-7 months pregnant (Palin appears just before halfway through).

Semantics:  Maybe, but read the reports of Palin’s “announcement” of her last pregnancy:

Palin stated “she was leaving work to expect a new member of the first family.”  Specifically, I believe the quote was “I will be delivering an addition to the first family.”

I haven’t been able to find a single quote attributed to Palin stating “I am pregnant.” If you explore the linguistics you find that she never actually states directly that she is with child.  She alludes to a pregnancy, but could just as well be talking about someone else.  But then, I haven’t done months of research on this… just interesting that she didn’t say “I’m pregnant.”

Coverup:  Ok, why remove all the pictures from various government and social web sites?  Why the sudden Wikipedia scrub?  Where did the MySpace pages go??  If this is nothing but a vicious internet conspiracy, why feed the frenzy by looking like you’re hiding something?

Denial:  As in, has anyone seen any?  You’d think the Republicans would know damn sure the dangers of not responding Swift-ly and firmly to these types of rumors… John Kerry was done in on far less “information” and with bodies of evidence available to contradict the rumors, but his mistake was to believe it would just go away.  Surely Karl and Co. know this won’t just subside?

I really, truly hope this is all just like Lemony Snicket’s  Series of Unfortunate Events, and that everything is just coincidence and circumstance.  However, taken as a whole, there sure is a LOT of interesting coincidence in this story — and so far, nothing to directly contradict any of it.

PS – I thought you’d all find this interesting:

“In a letter she e-mailed to relatives and close friends Friday after giving birth, Palin wrote, “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.” She wrote it in the voice of and signed it as “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.””

Interesting that she chose the second person narrative, is it not?

Or…

Apparently, the “First Dude” isn’t the father, but then, this wouldn’t be the first case of immaculate conception, would it?