Sarah Palin's speech in Wisconsin: Trig's pregnancy story (revised version)

Sarah Palin spoke yesterday in West Allis (Milwaukee County) having been invited by "Wisconsin Right For Life". Like in Sarah's speech in Evansville, Indiana in April 2009, it was again a speech which heavily featured one of Sarah's most favourite subjects to talk about: Trig. There were some revealing details which she gave yesterday. For the first time we received an insight into Sarah Palin's "revised pregnancy story" which she undoubtedly will present in greater detail in her upcoming book - because apparently she discovered that the "first story" contains some "holes", and now, in her mega-selling book, they need to be filled.

We have not only one, but two accounts about what was said yesterday in Wisconsin - we don't have the exact wording, because in typical Palin fashion, recordings were not permitted. The "Sarah Palin Truth Squad" has an impressive list of all the items which were not permitted to take into the venue - "transparency" has never been Sarah Palin's greatest virtue. I guess she will put out a facebook version soon!

What we have so far is a "long version" of the speech in Wisconsin as reported in Mudflats. In this version, the relevant parts about "The Trig story" are described as follows:

"Two years ago I had an ultra sound. I was 12 weeks along. The technician said she saw boy parts. I was like, yes, what could be better than a little baby boy? Then she said the baby’s neck was thicker than usual. I was like yes, that’s great. Then I thought, oh oh. I recall the fear, knowing what a thick neck may mean. More tests. My baby had Down Syndrome. What is amazing is who this child is. My family’s life is so much richer because of this beautiful baby boy named Trig. He’s awesome! Groups like this affirm the value of every life.

That is what I had to hold onto – that seed of faith—when I was afraid.

We know that 80-90% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted. They’re aborted because they live in a society of some people’s idea of perfection, not God’s.

Talks about Bristol and how she’s faced challenges as well, but chose life.

Today I thank God for all of these circumstances. I never thought I’d be asked to walk the walk. It took me a while to get there through my pregnancy. I asked God and I asked Todd, “Why us?” Todd said, “Why not us?”

I want to help you help people to be less afraid and make this world more welcoming for every baby."

The second, shorter account is from the Milwaukee publication JSOnline. In there, it says:

"Palin spoke movingly of her youngest son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. She recalled that when she was pregnant, she underwent an ultrasound and the technician told her, "I see boy parts."

Later, the technician told her that the baby's neck "is a little bit thicker," an indication that there might be an extra chromosome. A few days later, Down syndrome was confirmed.

"I was scared," Palin said, adding that she asked her husband, Todd, "Why us?" He responded, "Why not?"

"My family life is much richer thanks to this beautiful baby boy Trig," Palin said. "He is awesome."

So what is the problem here?

Well, the original pregnancy story read a bit differently, and there was an obvious need to "fill some gaps". That's what Sarah Palin now attempts to do, and we will certainly see this in its full glory in her new book.

Fortunately, we have a very detailed account of the "original version" of the pregnancy story, written by Lorenzo Benet in his biography "Trailblazer". Lorenzo Benet did not "make this up" - far from it. In the description of "Trailblazer", the following is reported:

"People magazine assistant editor Lorenzo Benet met with Sarah Palin and her family just weeks before the announcement that she would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He spoke in depth with Governor Palin; with her husband, Todd, the "First Dude," as he likes to call himself; with her children; and with other members of her extended family."

In "Trailblazer", starting on page 181, Benet said:

"Sarah kept mum about the pregnancy until October.

Todd had figured it out but was discreet enough not to say a word. When Sarah finally gave him the great news, she said with a shrug, "Life is full of surprises", she told People magazine. Todd was ecstatic. He had already wanted another son, friends said, and his oldest boy had just signed up for a stint in the Army, and the country was in the middle of a war. There was no telling what might happen if Track were called to serve in the theater, which he eventually was.

For the next five months, Todd and Sarah kept the pregnancy a secret. Any thoughts of breaking the news early to their kids were scuttled when Sarah learned her baby had Down syndrome after having amniocentesis at thirteen weeks. Todd was away working when her family doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, called with the news. Sarah drove over to Johnson's office, discussed the implications, and received some reading material on the disorder. Then she headed home to ponder her fate.

Over the next couple of days, she read everything she could on the disorder. (...) Some children cannot speak until age four, and half of the infants are born with a hole in the heart, as was the case with Trig. If the holes don't close, surgery is often required (Trig, fortunately, avoided surgery).

(...) There was never any question about keeping the baby, and Sarah explained later that the one reason she did amnio was simply to be prepared for any eventuality. It was time, she said, to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

When Todd returned from his trip, she broke the news to him gently during a quiet moment at home. Tears welling in her eyes, she said: "The good news is we have a boy. But we have a challenge." Unwavering in his support, Todd said: "Awesome! I am getting another boy."

It may not have been part of their plan, the couple believed, but certainly it was part of a greater plan. "Why not us?", Todd said. Sarah continued keeping her secret from the public and her children. Not discussing the pregnancy with her daughters, she felt, would shorten the process for them and spare them from unwanted attention. "I didn't want Alaskans to fear I would not be able to fulfil my duties", she told People."

Therefore, the "ultrasound story" which Sarah presented in Wisconsin is brand new. Doesn't it sound sooo much better now? Conveniently, we don't know the "exact" wording of what Sarah has said in Wisconsin.

Clearly, the account of Lorenzo Benet that "Sarah explained later that the one reason she did the amnio was simply to be prepared for any eventuality" doesn't go along at all with the version that Sarah presented in Wisconsin, because there she gave the impression that indications for Down syndrome had been discovered during an ultrasound and that further testing was basically a necessity back then.

But we have another "problem", and this doesn't directly result from her speech in Wisconsin, but from the speech that Sarah Palin gave in Indiana on April 16, 2009. Sarah said back then:

"I had found out that I was pregnant while out of state first, at an oil and gas conference. While out of state, there just for a fleeting moment, wow, I knew, nobody knows me here, nobody would ever know. I thought, wow, it is easy, could be easy to think, maybe, of trying to change the circumstances. No one would know. No one would ever know.

"Then when my amniocentesis results came back, showing what they called abnormalities. Oh, dear God, I knew, I had instantly an understanding for that fleeting moment why someone would believe it could seem possible to change those circumstances. Just make it all go away and get some normalcy back in life. Just take care of it. Because at the time only my doctor knew the results, Todd didn't even know. No one would know. But I would know. First, I thought how in the world could we manage a change of this magnitude. I was a very busy governor with four busy kids and a husband with a job hundreds of miles away up on the North Slope oil fields. And, oh, the criticism that I knew was coming. Plus, I was old . . .

"So we went through some things a year ago that now lets me understand a woman's, a girl's temptation to maybe try to make it all go away if she has been influenced by society to believe that she's not strong enough or smart enough or equipped enough or convenienced enough to make the choice to let the child live. I do understand what these women, what these girls go through in that thought process."

Wait a second!

In the "Trailblazer" book it was reported in great detail that Todd already knew about the pregnancy before the testing was done, However, in the speech in Indiana, Sarah gives the impression that "Todd didn't even know" - but what didn't he know about? The result of the amniocentesis or the fact that Sarah was pregnant? Well, her remark wouldn't make much sense if she was just talking about the fact that Down syndrome had been discovered, because when she first said in the speech "No one would know. No one would ever know" she clearly refers to the fact alone that she was pregnant. Therefore, when she said a few sentences later "Todd didn't even now. No one would know. No one would ever know" connects to her previous remark, and the only possible interpretation in my view is that she wanted to express there that Todd didn't know about the pregnancy when the amniocentesis was done.

Therefore one of the two versions has to be false. Which is fascinating, because it appears that Lorenzo Benet's account is based on what Sarah had told him herself in his capacity as journalist for People magazine.

I am curious to see what the full version in her book will be.

As usual, Sarah's advice "quit making things up" doesn't apply to herself. Sarah's pregnancy didn't happen. None of this did happen. It is made up. Sarah Palin is a liar, and not a very good one, either.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan wrote a post about the same topic on his blog on Sunday, and I am very happy to say that Andrew not only picked up on the same points that I had mentioned here, but that he also linked to my post on Palingates.

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