Satanosphere

There are rumors–and at this point they’re still just rumors–that Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s youngest child, named Trig, is really her grandchild, with her teenage daughter–who’s currently pregnant via her boyfriend–the real mother. Obama says that we should keep families out of politics, which I happen to agree with. Going after the kids isn’t fair, and if Palin’s daughter Bristol wants to have kids out of wedlock that’s totally fine. But on the other hand this means that the person the Republicans want to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office is lying to everyone to uphold her pro-family image. I’m sorry, but that’s on the table.

At some point the truth will come out, but a DailyKos posting has pretty damning evidence, including photos of both Palin and her daughter Bristol taken when the Veep nominee was supposedly seven months pregnant. There’s no fetus in that woman, though her daughter at the same time appears to have one.

I’m not saying one way or another that she is or isn’t the grandma, but apparently in Palin’s hometown it’s widely known–though discussed in hushed tones–that Bristol is really Trig’s mother. The sentiment is that it’s nobody’s business but theirs. And while I’m a pro-privacy advocate and agree on the surface that it’s not our business, there’s something wrong with a person seeking the second highest office in America lying about how many children she has.

Of course we could be cheap and go after the fact that the Republican stance on birth control and sex education leads to more teen pregnancies than it prevents, but that would be a cheap shot so we won’t really mention that.

But this is one of the problems with the conservative movement. Having a daughter who’s pregnant yet unmarried is against everything the right wing aims for–traditional families, morals from the Bible, two straight parents for every child–but instead of saying, “Yes, OK, we made a mistake but I stand by my daughter,” the response is, “What sin? What pregnancy? Oh, that one? No, no, it’s mine, see, we’re a model conservative family!”

No, Palin, you’re not. You’re a modern American family. You need to come clean about this one way or another. If it is your baby, hey, cool. Trig’s kind of a rad name, we hope the child grows up to be as cool as it can. But if it’s not–and this will come out when you file your medical records as you must–then it really puts your poor judgement in the spotlight. No voter likes politicians who lie, especially about the values you’re supposed to share with them.

So play it straight as soon as you can. It can only help your chances.

Last 5 posts by Matt Hickey

• It's gay rights day. What are you doing to help? - November 15th, 2008
• Yes we did - November 5th, 2008
• Satanosphere is getting a special video player - October 30th, 2008
• The Whassup Guys Endorse Obama - October 25th, 2008
• GOP Dreams: Palin For Prez, 2012 - October 24th, 2008

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