Reality, Palin style

The Palin family has a penchant for presenting their lives in a very strange fashion, as if they inhabited a parallel universe.

These paragraphs come from People Magazine, from a June 2009 spread.:

Bristol Palin, 18, has logged more of those "other things" than some people twice her age. In just the past nine months, she has weathered a partisan and personal presidential campaign that catapulted her mother, Alaska GOP governor Sarah Palin, into enduring celebrity and controversy; a failed engagement to boyfriend Levi Johnston that played out in the national media; and, most indelibly, a pregnancy that made her both mother and poster child. Five days after giving birth to Tripp Easton over her Christmas break, she returned to classes at Wasilla High and finished the year with, she says, a 3.49 grade point average.

Her mom may be governor, but there is no nanny in the Palin house. Bristol gets up—usually twice during the night—to feed Tripp, who sleeps in a hand-me-down crib in her bedroom, and she says she has tapped out at least one school paper with her son crying in the background. She pays for diapers and formula by working part-time.

CG posted a brilliant comment on the "In Touch..." thread about the Palins and their attitude regarding education. I refer to a couple of paragraphs:

To get a diploma (as opposed to a Certificate of Achievement), Alaska requires 21 credits and the HSGQE. "All students take this in the spring of their sophomore year, and continue to take portions on which they are not proficient at least once yearly while they are in school."

So this teenager, who missed school to do public appearances for her mother, changed schools in the middle of the term at least 3 times, partied the whole time, stopped attending school, got pregnant, traveled the country during her mother's vice-presidential campaign, delivered and cared for a newborn at the beginning of the last semester of her senior year, while being a primary caregiver to her special needs baby brother and working two jobs, was still able to earn 21 credits and pass a rather rigorous graduation exam, with absent parents and no one to help her. On time.

I find it difficult to accept Palin's account of events.

In the latest issue of the In Touch magazine, we learn that Bristol gets up at 4 a.m. to work in a doctor's office all day and attends college classes at night.

Again, not easy to believe.

Why do the Palins insist on exaggerating or distorting everything to the point where people start smelling a rat?

In their efforts to present a good image, they invariably over-egg the pudding then act outraged when people start doubting their stories and asking a few questions.

In "Going Rogue", in the chapter where Sarah Palin describes her thoughts after the sonogram that showed Trig had a thick neck, etc, she says:

God knew me: I was busy. Got to go-go-go. I'd always yapped about how lucky I was that my kids were all healthy over-achievers, self-sufficient. Now, I thought, I've got a tough job and other kids who need me. I just couldn't imagine how I could add a baby with special needs and make it all work.

Why did she have to say her children were all over-achievers, when we know very well that they are not? In what fields did they over-achieve? Track played hockey, Bristol played basketball. Were they out of this world this world in their endevours? No. They played games and enjoyed them, which seems good enough, but there's nothing outstanding in terms of achievement.

While Track's army service is honourable, it can hardly be described as over-achievement.

Bristol may have been a good enough student before her pregnancy adventures started, but she is no Einstein. All her children have erratic attendance records and we only have Sarah Palin's word about how well they do in school.

The Palins love to have well paid cover stories in various gossip magazines and their stories are always too contrived, full of hyperbole.

The latest spread for "In Touch" magazine is only the latest example. Bristol's appearance in the photos of what is a staged birthday party for Tripp, the images contradict the tale of a young mother struggling to juggle too many balls. Not that we would expect to see a bedraggled Bristol, covered in baby sick or anything like that. Her image is, shall we say... manicured? But the whole picture falls down when it comes to the details. Apart from Bristol and her mother, everybody else is in extremely casual clothing for a party. Not a gift to be seen, the only other small child in the picture is Trig, where are the other little guests? There are subliminal messages stencilled on the wall, Tripp is the only one enjoying some cake, somewhat isolated from the rest of the guests. It all points to a badly devised scene, not helped by a lousy photographer.

Why can't they just say Bristol is doing her best to meet Tripp's needs, that she's re-evaluating her priorities and trying to plan for the future in a different way, given the change in her circumstances? Why can't they have pictures of a true family scene?

Why can't they simply be honest?

In Time Out with Sarah Palin, she anwered questions from Fox fans and here's what she said about Trig:

I have become a more passionate and a more patient person, and more committed than ever to make sure that individuals, groups, families become empowered to assist these beautiful individuals who do need and deserve a little bit more care than others – not necessarily looking for government to provide, but empowering those who have that compassionate heart – and I do think that every American has that in them, the desire to make this world more welcoming to these individuals – I would never have had that perspective on this issue, had Trig not been gifted to our family.

She has done nothing of the sort! We have never come across any articles about Trig's therapies or what challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. Believe me, we pay a lot of attention to all things Palin. It's all about God and gifts and her humble heart. The key words here are "not necessarily looking for government to provide". They are loaded words.

The lies are too numerous to list, but we have SuperBristol, statutory-raped Willow, persecuted Piper for her lemonade stand, all the work Sarah Palin does on behalf of children with special needs... all fitting in with the message Sarah Palin wants to put out for her fans.

Between the glossed over articles in gossip magazines, irate phone calls to said mags "to put the record straight" and outraged Facebook notes, Sarah Palin comes across as a deeply dishonest person.

We can observe a pattern: Bristol is better than Levi, useful in a custody battle, the Palins are better than everybody else. They have God, they make the right choices, they can look after themselves, forever victimized by the bloggers and the media, useful to appeal to her base.

There's always an agenda behind every word. Sarah Palin is not honest about any of her children or herself . Every story is built around her personal goals.

Now Sarah Palin has some airtime on Fox News. We don't know if her contract is for a one-woman-show or if these poor children will have to make regular appearances, but even if she just talks about them, we can be sure of one thing: it will be exaggerated, distorted and will serve only to "progress" her twisted agenda, either for power or just the money.

Phil Munger of Progressive Alaska has a good post about Willow and her recent troubles.
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