Alan Colmes Responds to "Conservative Bloggers": It’s About Judgment, Stupid

Here is Alan Colmes in his own words, or his fans' own words, or other people's words... He's still digging.

It’s About Judgment, Stupid

The post about Sarah Palin’s pre-natal care was taken down because of the vile comments made by a pletehora of conservatives who decided to invade the site and show us just how decent and value-driven some of them are. Nothing like epithet-hurling if you want to make your point, or if you have strong objections to what someone says or does. Furthermore, I in no way mean to suggest that her child’s Down Syndrome was in any way related to decisions she made. In fact I never mentioned Down Syndrome in the post. However, I apologize that my post was not more clear on that point. That is my fault, and I’ll take responsibility for not being more clear on that point. That being said…

Anyway, I love how everyone keeps trying to accuse Alan of accusing Princess Mooseburger of birthing a mentally retarded child on purpose.

He asked a judgement question about a 7 month pregnant woman who just had her water break GET ON A 12 HOUR FLIGHT TO GIVE BIRTH after giving a 30 MINUTE SPEECH instead of doing the SENSIBLE THING AND STAYING PUT WITH A DOCTOR.

The idea that you can’t question Sarah Palin’s judgment because she has a Down Syndrome baby is right up there with the outrage some feel the minute you question a man who was held in a prison camp for five years. Yet, the same outraged protectors of our values have no trouble questioning Obama’s judgment: a nodding acquaintance with someone in his neighborhood, his choice of a church, his very faith, and then they blamed that on the Clintons). The question was even raised as to whether he is hiding the truth of his birth certificate. In fact, hotair.com, the the site most outraged about what I posted, was one of the prime venues of the birth certificate debate, among others concerning Obama’s “judgment”. And let’s not forget the attacks on Michelle Obama and the insinuations that she doesn’t really love her country.

For the record, I think the McCain choice of Palin was caculatingly smart, in that it guarantees that a glass ceiling be broken after the coming election. I’m sure Sarah Palin is a fine person who is just very wrong on the issues and, like all of us, hasn’t always shown perfect judgment. But don’t tell me that John McCain chose the best person for the job, or that he didn’t make this choice reactively, because Hillary Clinton is not on the Democratic ticket.

For the record, here is the link to Rogers Cadenhead’s post on the issue of judgment.

Maybe Palin’s actions can be written off as Alaskan grit, since she’s a macho hunting governor who jogs in freezing temperatures and dines on moose burgers. But as a parent myself, I think the Palins were extremely fortunate that their reckless stupidity did not end in tragedy. As middle-aged parents who already had four kids, the Palins had to be completely familiar with all the things that can go wrong in a pregnancy. One commenter on the Washington Times laid out the enormous risk she was taking:

Airlines are unequipped to handle most emergencies at 30,000 feet, particularly the kind Palin put her unborn child at markedly increased risk for. These emergencies include birthing a premature infant or uncontrolled maternal bleeding. This was her FIFTH pregnancy and delivery can happen rapidly and unexpectedly. The baby or Palin could easily have died.

The Anchorage Daily News gave the chronology of events the day Palin was in Dallas giving a speech where she began contractions, and water broke. It quotes Dr. Laurie Gregg, a Sacramnto obstetrician:

[Dr. Laurie Gregg] who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman’s water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That’s true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out…”To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak,” Gregg said.

Down Syndrome is another matter, and can sometimes be related to a mother’s age. This is a risk that older parents take, and one the Palins took consciously, and not irresponsibly.

Because of prenatal testing, most families now know beforehand, said Judy Waldron, president of the Alaska chapter of the National Down Syndrome Congress, a support and education group that delivered a parent packet to the Palins in the hospital.

“They anticipate it and they kind of relish the challenge of having a child with special needs,” said Waldron, an Anchorage teacher whose 19-year-old daughter, Lyn, has Down syndrome.

If we are going to evaluate candidates based on life decisions: what churches they attend, what religions they practice, who their preachers are, who their friends are, all of which fall under the rubrick of “judgment”, then all of this is fair game. That argument cuts many ways so, to quote my least favorite president, “Bring it on.”

This is a direct quote from a poster at Colmes web site.

Note that this blogger went so far as to do a search of police records on Pa;in's daughter.

I just love the first line, "I am a conservative"

I will bet you can find this exact quote at one of the lib sites, I would guess Huffington Post, DU or DK

Alan,

I’m a conservative. Several years ago I had a brief ongoing email disagreement with you the topic of which had something to do with human suffering and who suffers the most. We disagreed to say the least.

Having said that, I now find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with you about Sarah Palin. I have been scouring the web researching this matter regarding Trig as well as her conduct in the ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Wooten matter for the last two days. I have read reputable news sites, newspapers, and blogs. I have read less than reputable sites such as DK and DU. I have read many defenses of Palin — all of them overly emotional and short on reason and logic.

I am also a mother and know enough about pregnancy and childbirth from experience to understand what is reasonable to believe and what taxes credibility. I have formed my opinion based on not only my personal experience but also from what seems to be the most universally agreed upon and reported facts involved.

My opinion is that those known facts do not logically or reasonably support Palin’s story about the birth of Trig. First of all, it is known that for the majority of women each successive birth will require *fewer* hours of labor. An average first birth will take 12 to 24 or more hours of labor. Successive births generally take less and less time.

Also, the smaller the baby, the smaller the baby’s head which requires less time to dilate the cervix of the mother before she gives birth. Trig was only 6 pounds and 2 ounces at birth and he is said to be Sarah’s 5th child. These facts lean towards a shorter rather than a longer labor.

The trip from Texas to Alaska (with a stop in Seattle) takes about 12 hours. According to an Anchorage Daily News (ADN) article Sarah leaked amniotic fluid but stayed in Texas to give her speech. I don’t know how long that waiting and speech giving took but I’m guessing at least another hour if not longer.

Every pregnant woman knows or should know that any leakage or breaking of water means there is now the possibility of infection to the baby. That means calling one’s doctor or seeking medical attention at once is in order. Certainly a mother of four should know that much but Sarah did nothing except to prolong the time before she got medical attention.

Supposedly Trig was 1 month premature and supposedly the Palins already knew Trig had Downs Syndrome which puts him at a higher risk than other babies at birth because of possible heart problems, etc. Still Sarah did not immediately contact a doctor when she felt her water breaking in Texas. This makes no sense.

Also, commercial airlines do not like to have late trimester pregnant women fly because of the risk of such women going into labor in flight. Perhaps the airlines waived their concerns in her case because Palin is the Gov. of Alaska or maybe she didn’t look pregnant so no questions were asked.

According to the ADN, Palin did not jump off the plane in Anchorage and rush to a hospital but instead drove yet another hour to Mat-Su hospital in Wasilla, Alaska (her small hometown) where supposedly labor was induced. (Most commonly labor begins when the bag of water breaks but not always.) Then some 6 or 7 hours later Trig was born.

So from the time when Sarah felt fluid leaking in Texas to the time the baby was born was roughly 20 to 24 hours. That is the average time it takes for a woman’s first baby to be born; that is, from the first contraction to delivery. Palin’s story of her labor and delivery of Trig just doesn’t seem credible on its face.

There are reports that Sarah’s daughter, Bristol, was kept out of high school for 4 or 5 months when her mother was pregnant. Allegedly Bristol had a prolonged case of mono which is very contagious.

I’m guessing Bristol attends high school in Juneau where the Governor’s mansion is located. I have located a police report relative to a car accident Bristol had in February of 2008 in Wasilla, Alaska. Wasilla is where Sarah’s family still lives. I’m wondering why a girl too sick to go to school was out and about driving into what was referred to as a business parking lot. Maybe mono is only catching to other high school students but that is not the way I recall it working when my husband had mono. He was told to avoid public places…basically to stay at home.

Palin’s staff and colleagues, a three person crew doing a video of her, and a Newsweek reporter couldn’t tell in March of 2008 that Sarah was 7 months pregnant and I can’t find a single picture of her from January to April of 2008 that clearly shows she was pregnant. The Alaska.org website has scrubbed all pictures of Sarah from January to April from the website. Older and newer pictures of her remain there.

According to local Alaskan blogs this has been a topic of speculation long before Palin was selected at McCain’s VP. Those who think it only stemmed from that event are mistaken.

Posted by Joyce M.

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