Rick Santorum tries to grab the special needs spotlight away from Sarah Palin. You know that's not going to happen without a fight!

"Back off Santorum! Don't make me cut you!"

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:

Last week, Rick Santorum and his family offered us a reminder of what really matters. When his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, born with Trisomy 18, was hospitalized with pneumonia, Rick left the campaign trail to be by her bedside. In the middle of this very heated campaign season, many of us prayed through tears for Bella’s health and added prayers of thankfulness for a public example of someone’s sacrifice made with the right priorities. 

(Translation: Last week Santorum decided to invade my turf and try to steal MY special needs credibility for himself. Bitch does NOT know who he is fucking with!)


It’s a sacrifice every parent and caregiver of a child with special needs sympathizes with. Families of children with special needs are bonded by a shared experience of the joys, challenges, fears, and blessings of raising these beautiful children whom we see as perfect in this imperfect world. 

(Translation: The people I pay to keep that kid away from me and make sure he is healthy and well behaved in case I need him for future political appearances, apparently share a special bond with him and, though they are paid do deal with the challenges, I guess they probably get some joy out of it as well. If such a thing is possible.)

During the 2008 presidential campaign, on rope lines at rallies across the country, my husband, Todd, and I met so many of these families and caretakers, and I’ll never forget them. There was an instant connection—a kind of mutual acknowledgment that said, “Yes, these children are precious and loved. Yes, we face extra fears and challenges, but our children are a blessing, and the rest of the world is missing out in not knowing this. 

(Translation: That kid was GOLD on the campaign trail!)

"Do your job and look cute kid."

Every parent struggles with juggling the commitments of work and family. Women, especially, know this well. Over the years, I’ve learned that women can “have it all,” just not all at once. For me, it was a lesson learned through the school of hard knocks, but it was one my own mother made me aware of when she calmly told me that as a working mom in the rough-and-tumble political arena, I would have to make tough choices. We all do. In making decisions about my career, I’ve put my family first, and I’ve never regretted it, although it has meant periodically putting particular pursuits on the back burner. 

(Translation: When my mother told me that trying to "have it all" would be hard work, I knew right then that I would focus on making money and getting others to do the hard shit for me.)

When I discovered early in my pregnancy that my baby would be born with an extra chromosome, the diagnosis of Down syndrome frightened me so much that I dared not discuss my pregnancy for many months. All I could seem to muster was a calling out to God to prepare my heart for what was ahead. My prayers were answered beyond my shallow understanding of what true joy could be. Yes, raising a child with special needs is a unique challenge, and there’s still fear about my son Trig’s future because of health and social challenges; and certainly some days are much more difficult than if I had a “normal” child. 

(Translation: When I decided to fake a pregnancy, and chose to adopt a child with Down syndrome to stand in for the imaginary baby because nobody would ever be able to say he did not look like his parents, I knew that it could be challenging in the future. But hell I thought I was headed to the White House so I figured it would be somebody else's problem.)


Many everyday activities like doctor’s appointments and social gatherings and travel accommodations and even mealtimes and a solid night of sleep are that much more difficult, but at the end of the day I wouldn’t trade the relative difficulties for any convenience or absence of fear. God knew what he was doing when he blessed us with Trig. We went from fear of the unknown to proudly displaying a bumper sticker sent to us that reads: “My kid has more chromosomes than your kid!” He may not be the next Wayne Gretzky, but our hearts are filled with so much pride watching Trig giggle with his sisters’ puppies, or sway to the rhythm of his Little Angels DVDs, it’s as if he were hoisting the Stanley Cup. 

(Translation: The kid can be a real handful, and he keeps fucking hitting me!  But I at least I got the opportunity to drive around with a smug bumper sticker on the Escalade. So there's always that.)


Granted, I know I may be more fortunate than others to have loving friends and a big, supportive family I call on to help, including a husband who spends many sleepless nights with this restless little one. (And Todd actually makes Trig’s puréed baby food!) Others aren’t so fortunate, and in our thankfulness I am made more compassionate toward others who have less. 

(Translation: Thank God I have stupid people who send me money for doing nothing and make it so I can afford to hire somebody to deal with Trig. And after this article hits the newsstands I expect you people to dig a little deeper too!)

I often think now, what would we do without Trig? He’s our “everything that really matters.”

(Translation: I often think how much easier my life would be if I had not impulsively decided to fake that pregnancy, but hell I'm stuck with him now so I might as well use him to get attention and make money.)

In all seriousness this is BEYOND pathetic.  I really do believe she is doing this to compete with Santorum and that she was royally pissed to see him getting attention because of Bella. Who, I believe, is actually his real daughter.

A couple of things really bothered me about this article.

First she did NOT include a recent picture of Trig. (Though I guess it might show up in the Newsweek magazine itself.  I will reserve judgement, but I still have to wonder how much she actually sees Trig these days.)

The Palin's at the Reagan Ranch. Was this the last time Trig and Sarah were photographed together?,

And second why is this sentence included?  "Todd actually makes Trig’s puréed baby food!"


Trig is almost FOUR years old! And even though children with Down's often take longer to get onto solid foods, it does not take this long.

So is Palin describing something that used to happen the last time she had Todd were actually caring for the child, or is he really this delayed?