Sarah Palin Claims Babygate is a Media Conspiracy Against Her

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Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:00 pm

Never one to let an opportunity to play the victim pass her by, Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page to blast the media for what she called, “A dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.” According to Palin, this is why she doesn’t talk to anyone but the friendliest right wing media, and she refuses to do serious interviews because the media is out to get her.

The Daily Caller, who Palin just happened to give a friendly interview to last week, has been selectively releasing, a.k.a. Breitbarting parts of the Journolist email exchange. Here is part of what was released about Baby Gate from August 2008:

Dylan Matthews

Aug 30, 2008, 12:21am

“Obama absolutely cannot touch this. Even if it’s true. I think the press would justify covering it on the issue of trust, but for me it’s offensive that she would refuse to allow her daughter the choice. She has no business deciding what to make of that pregnancy. If her daughter wanted an abortion, it speaks very ill of Palin’s character to deny her the option.”

Sara Mead

Aug 30, 2008, 12:24am

“A note to journolisters who may not be aware of this: “Downs child” is NOT an appropriate or sensitive way to refer to Palin’s son, who has Down Syndrome. Please use “people-first” language here. I’m not at all a fan of Palin, either, but as liberals and decent human beings, we should be respectful in how we refer to people with disabilities.”

Palin took to Facebook full of exploitation and victimization, “How ironic that on a day when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The Daily Caller released 15 pages of JournoListers’ email exchanges about a dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.”

She claimed that these media is part of the conspiracy, “It’s tough to fittingly describe these numerous members of the mainstream media who actively engaged in the debate about this conspiracy back when I was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate, and it’s impossible to legitimize any “prominent” media publication that continues to traffic in this bizarre narrative today. It wasn’t just a few fringe characters in that JournoList discussion. It included writers for major newspapers, magazines, and online news publications. Those participating in this immature exchange in attempts to plant seeds of doubt and falsely accuse even included a famous historian.”

She used this an excuse to defend her refusal to give a legitimate interview, “This JournoList exchange exposes the warped nature of today’s media, thus explaining why many of us are forced, in fairness to the public, to utilize other mediums to communicate until the mainstream media wakes up and begins respecting the public’s intelligence and desire for truth in reporting. There is a sickness and darkness in today’s liberal media. With revelations like the JournoList exchanges, may the light keep shining to expose the problem.”

What Palin leaves out is that the Journolist discussion concluded that there was not enough evidence to investigate the story. The people on the email exchanged dismissed Babygate as a rumor. Instead of pushing a conspiracy in the media, as Palin suggests, here is what the journalists really said:

Harold Pollack

Aug 30, 2008 12:44am

“Yuck on several fronts. We don’t have any evidence she did anything wrong here. If the baby was her daughter’s, what’s the problem here? Unless she actively prevented her daughter from having an abortion, we should leave this alone.”

Adam Serwer

Aug 30, 2008, 1:28am

“I also think that from that newsweek article it’s pretty clear nothing happened and that local reporter was an asshole.”

Kathleen Geier

Aug 30, 2008, 9:13am

“Now, that said, this does sound like a pretty wacky conspiracy theory. If there’s no evidence to it other than the fact that Palin allegedly did not look pregnant, and her daughter was allegedly absent from school, that’s an extremely slim reed to hang a story on.

However, if a reporter investigated this story and came up with compelling evidence that it’s true — such as documents or eyewitness testimony from medical professionals and the like — the media should have no compunctions about running with it. But it’s such a wild story I seriously doubt there’s much to it. On the other hand, I thought the idea that John Edwards would risk having an affair and a love child in the midst of a campaign for president was preposterous as well. So you never know . . .”

Oh my gosh, look at the evil liberal media refusing to report on a conspiracy theory that they don’t have evidence. Look at them being fair, and actually practicing journalism. (Note to Breitbart, Fox News, and Palin: This is what journalism looks like). If you only read Sarah’s opportunistic, movie of the week, victimization take on it, you could think that the media is out to get her, but the reality is that the reporters were debating whether or not this was a story, and they decided that it was a rumor.

Once again Sarah Palin’s paranoia knows no limits. If she is really that outraged about the Trig rumors, then why does she keep talking about it? The answer is because this the way that she garners sympathy and support from her followers. She drummed up the media’s role in the whole thing in order justify her cowardly avoidance of the media. Palin not only managed to use her disabled son, but also the Americans With Disabilities Act as tools for political exploitation. Palin is a con artist whose need for victimhood has no floor. The woman will say anything for sympathy and attention.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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