We have been given no actual records of the last pregnancy, or any reccords at all, although we are told by the elusive Dr. Catherine Baldwin-Johnson that labor was at 35 weeks - not as premature as previously believed (if you research the average weight of full term DS babies, you find, by the way, that Trig was not underweight). There is no time for any reporters to ask any questions, of course, or any time for the questions raised by the pregnancy to be aired in the press. I doubt Baldwin-Johnson will respond to further queries. Obama gave Palin a precedent for this kind of letter as a replacement for records with his equally secretive and brief doctor's note. But at least he did so well ahead of time, and has no serious questions pending about his own health history.
The timing of the release should also surely be interpreted as a giant finger to the press. Releasing this letter one hour before polling day begins and refusing to provide any actual documentation is not an answer. We need documentation to verify the last pregnancy: the amniocentesis results with Sarah Palin's name on them, for example, would be readily available and easy to disseminate, and would help raise awareness of Down Syndrome. So why not give us something? All we have in this literally last minute letter is Baldwin-Johnson's name. We had that already.
The more I read, the more I am convinced that this two page note from Cathy Baldwin-Johnson does NOTHING to put this controversy to rest.
If Sarah Palin believes she has quashed a fire I would have to argue that all she has done is fanned the flames.
SP may not think she has to answer these questions at the bottom of the ticket, but if she wants to try for the top of the ticket, she will have to answer a whole host of difficult and personal questions.
ReplyDeleteThe secessionist thing is going to really be the hole in her boat. More than any question about parentage, ethics, or housegate, the patriotism will bite her on the butt like big black Alaskan fly on bear dung.
"Routine prenatal testing early in the second trimester of Palin's pregnancy determined that the fetus had the chromosomal condition known as Down Syndrome," the article notes. "The Alaska governor and her husband, Todd, decided to go ahead with the pregnancy."
ReplyDeletehttp://rawstory.com/news/2008/Palins_doctor_issues_twopage_letter_applauding_1104.html
NOTE THAT "PALIN" COULD REFER TO BRISTOL OR WILLOW. IF THERE IS A PARENTAL CONSENT FOR AN ABORTION LAW IN ALASKA, THE LAST SENTENCE MEANS THAT THEY DID NOT CONSENT TO THEIR CHILD'S ABORTION.
THIS IS TYPICAL REPUBLICAN TRUTHINESS. IT AIN'T A LIE, BUT IT IS A DECEPTION.