And I Thought Preggo was a Spaghetti Sauce
The National Enquirer (I know, I know) was apparently the agent that drove Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin to release the news that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant. Once the Enquirer had the scoop, they notified the Palin camp and Gov. Palin decided to preempt the Enquirer and release the news herself.
Now, one might think that this whole story would be a nightmare for a hyper-conservative family values proponent of ignorance-only sex education in public schools who suddenly found herself a finalist in the contest for the second highest office in America. At least publicly, and to their credit, the Palins have embraced daughter Bristol and her new family in progress. Gov. Palin did her best to turn a negative into a positive – she spun a narrative describing Bristol not as a wayward teenager, but as a morally sound young woman who chose to have the baby as opposed to having an abortion.
But, just as the eye of a hurricane brings calm and maybe even a few rays of sunshine, it soon moves on and the winds howl again from the other direction. Per the Enquirer article, "The ENQUIRER has also learned that Palin's family is embroiled in a vicious war that is now exposing her darkest secrets, threatening to destroy her political career. Palin's ongoing war with her ex brother-in-law Mike Wooten, a state trooper, has caused multiple sources to come forward with shocking allegations about the governor. Details of those allegations, the family feud, and Palin's attempt to cover up her teen daughter's pregnancy are in the new issue of The ENQUIRER." Apparently, that new issue will appear next week.
Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign has threatened to sue the Enquirer. (Wouldn't the Palins themselves have to sue?)
So why lend any credence whatsoever to the Enquirer? As it turns out, the Enquirer first introduced us to Rielle Hunter – the chick that one-time Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards was doing while his wife was fighting cancer. As a result of this story, Edwards's political career has been severely damaged, if it isn't over entirely.
What revelations can we expect in next week's Enquirer? A spokesman for the Enquirer offered this to the Huffington Post: "The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy."
And why should we believe that? Perhaps conservative commentator Jonah Golberg has the answer. Referring to the Edwards affair, Golberg offered these thoughts in a post at The Corner back in July, "Also, it's worth pointing out that while the Enquirer may or may not be scrupulous in its choice of stories — that's in the eye of the beholder — it is pretty scrupulous about its facts. They win lawsuits. They've broken a host of stories the MSM guys couldn't." Brilliant! Goldberg commends the Enquirer for getting its facts straight and he bashes the Main Stream Media. I wonder if Goldberg still holds the Enquirer's reporting in such high esteem now that it has moved on from Edwards and is focusing on Palin, the Republican VP nominee.
Now, I bet that the Enquirer is one magazine Palin would ban from the library if she could.
