Here we go again: Another diary dealing with the question of the actual mother of Sarah Palin's son was removed either by the writer as a result of pressure from critics, or by some other force.
I was in the midst of adding my own comment to a diary written by a woman with an apparent medical background that had the title, "Babygate 2: Why Did Gov. Palin Risk Trig's Health?", and when I clicked to publish my comment, the woman's diary had already vanished. Instead, I got a message that said:
Sorry. I can't seem to find that story. j 1 k 1 l
The critics whose comments prompted my attempt to post my own raised the now familiar grounds for not addressing any aspect of the strange events surrounding the birth of Trigg, and the tone of the critics seemed like SNL’s Church Lady; and some critics had obviously not read the full diary, but instead just piled on like sycophantic followers of those they view as the "leaders".
If the writer deleted her diary "voluntarily", it can be assumed from the nature of those comments that she was stampeded by those who think their version of what is the best strategy for Obama is unassaiable. But let's look at the results achieved by those who think a different strategy is at least worth testing.
I am sure a number of the critics are very happy that McCain has been thrown off-message by the need to defend and explain his judgment in picking Palin. He was distracted during the first day of the Republican Convention with a negative story about Palin that has persisted now for at least 3 news cycles during this 60 day sprint to the election. Instead of singing the priases of Palin, the Amen chorus that McCain lined up had to endure pugilistic exercises with television reporters, and to come up with lame excuses. All of their talking points about how Palin had more "executive experience" than our ticket were drowned out by the dramatic, factual story that Palin's daughter was unmarried. and unabstaining.
But would that admission about the pregnancy of Palin's unwed daughter have been made voluntarily by the McCain camp before the election?
After all, there are only 60 days to go until voting begins, and if they kept Palin's daughter out of sight, questions about whether she is pregnant, coming out of the blue, would be both rude, and would require far more curiosity than our MSM has demonstrated in the last eight years.
So what forced the McCain camp to be so forthright, and to make the admission on this auspicious day?
I submit that those who fought to keep the inquiry alive, while damned by so many DK critics, allowed enough time, and called enough attention to the controversy that the MSM got off their collective butts and their inquiries threw McCain off message. Believe me, I was both surprised and had a Zelig moment when I heard what the discussion on DK had yielded. For example, CNN has reportedall day that the McCain camp admitted that until it was bombarded with questions raised in the "liberal blogs" about the real mother of Trigg, the campaign had no intention of revealing the fact that the fundie rock star McCain selected as his VP, who preaches abstinence only, has an unwed, teenage daughter who is carrying a baby.
Moreover, the media has sent an army of investigators to Alaska to find out if the "rumors" of Palin actually being Trigg’s grandmother are true, and the discussion has lead to the mathematical conclusion that Palin herself was a pregnant bride (as is reported in the New York Times today.
Does Palin's or her daughter's pregnancy matter to thinking voters? Of course not. But most thinking voters have studied the issues, and have already made up their minds. (Indeed, unless you are related by blood to McCain, it is hard to imagine any thinking voter selecting another Republican, especially one who is so ambitious that gaining the presidency justifies any means.)
Those who are called "independents" get their politics, not from blogs or even cable news shows, but from places like the Daily Show, the National Enquire, People Magazine, and entertainment TV. For them, the questions surrounding Palin's pregnancy, and her daughter's rejection of the "abstinance only" message lead to doubt's about Palin's integrity and suspicions of a cover-up. Just think about the Rev. White’s influence on Obama story, and the implications the "independents" are said to have drawn from it.
At the very least, despite how much the "Babygate" issue, or the daughter's pregnancy may be beneath Obama's inspirational campaigning standards, those who write these diaries on DK are not affiliated with his campaign (except by seeking the common goal of his election), and they can be diswoned by him just as Bush I disowned the Willie Horton ads, and Bush II disowned the Swiftboating. Meanwhile, Babygate casts doubt on McCain's judgment, and makes the independents wonder if he would be as impulsive in making critical decisions if he were elected. In my mind, I think of a gardener with filthy hands, pushing a man in a clean white suit away from the path of a speeding car veering toward him. The man in the suit may object to the stains on his suit, but nonetheless, the gardener did him a favor.
Before critics demand that a diary writer delete a diary, perhaps they might want to hold their fire. There should be no fear of a DK endorsement of what is said in any diary since unless you write a comment saying so, nobody endorses a diary, nor does the DK. Similarly, because Obama is not consulted before a diary is written, he can easily disassociate himself from a diary, just as he did today. (And he scored big even with right wingers like Bill Bennett who saw Obama's comments as oxygen to a suffocating McCain campaign.) On the other hand, if the right wing issues statements that amount to a group libel against DK and its participants, the fact that it is a "libel" means it is false. The truth usually is stronger than lies; and the appropriate response to such a group libel is to demonstrate that every diary writer is independent.
So let those who want to intrigue the MSM with issues and oddities in the McCain explanations write a diary here on DK without harassment. It may do some good, and has little chance of causing harm.