# The Palin Baby Rumor - Proven False? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766 "2008-09-02T23:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/141 "2008-09-06T00:59:49Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, according to this theory, Bristol gave birth to this kid in April and now is pregnant again? That was VERY convenient for Sarah Palin because had Bristol not gotten pregnant again, then she couldn’t use this excuse. Her coverup would have been found out by the hordes of reporters outside of Alaska courthouses looking for documents in a week or two. > > Pregnant TWICE by age 17? I don’t buy it. I don’t care how fundy you are, If your 17 year old daughter had a kid, and you went to great lengths to cover it up, she would have been eating birth control pills for lunch, dinner, and dessert every day. > > And if you think about it, the risk v. reward didn’t make sense then when it was on a smaller scale: > > 1. Gov’s 17 year old daughter has a child out of wedlock. Yawn. > 2. Gov tries to pretend that 17 year old’s daughter is really hers. Political career over and probably criminal charges and impeachment from falsifying government records. If Bristol didn’t get pregnant again, Sarah Palin might be forced to release the birth certificate. If she falsified the birth certificate, she might face criminal charges. If the birth certificate is true, she would just be guilty of lying, not a crime. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/142 "2008-09-06T01:12:02Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > If the birth certificate is true, she would just be guilty of lying, not a crime. But her political career would be over for something when the truth would have amounted to nothing. Why take the risk? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/143 "2008-09-06T01:32:47Z")
And something else: since when is it up to the accusee to prove an accusation false? If someone here says that I like to let small to medium sized dogs sodomize me on Friday night for my own pleasure, is it not up to them to submit hard (laugh it up) facts to prove that? Or is it up to me to try to convince interest parties that I don’t do that? And there is never a way to prove a negative. Even if Sarah Palin produced a birth certificate showing her as the mother, that would be followed up with accusations that the documents were falsified, she bribed the recording clerk, she blew the doctor to sign off on the certificate, etc. etc. etc. In these types of theories, all evidence in support of the status quo is always suspect… ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/144 "2008-09-06T04:13:59Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > And something else: since when is it up to the accusee to prove an accusation false? And yet it was up to Obama to release his birth certificate, when the (silly) accusations that he wasn’t born in the US were being flung about. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/145 "2008-09-08T00:01:26Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > And yet it was up to Obama to release his birth certificate, when the (silly) accusations that he wasn’t born in the US were being flung about. That is a bit different since not being born in the U.S. is a constitutional disqualifier. He could have refused and waited until some type of lawsuit compelled the production of his birth certificate, but the political realities would suggest that he should show it anyways. Besides, I don’t know about HI, but in every state I know a birth certificate is a public record. Go to the county courthouse, ask to see it, pay 5 bucks for a certified copy, and off you go.. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/146 "2008-09-08T02:39:52Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, according to this theory, Bristol gave birth to this kid in April and now is pregnant again? Yes, why not? By the time my older sister was as old as Trig is now, my mother was three months pregnant with me. > [@](#): > > That was VERY convenient for Sarah Palin because had Bristol not gotten pregnant again, then she couldn’t use this excuse. True; she’d had to just ignore the rumor and see if it died on its own. Seemed to be a good chance of that. > [@](#): > > Her coverup would have been found out by the hordes of reporters outside of Alaska courthouses looking for documents in a week or two. Howzat? Nobody’s found any documents yet. > [@](#): > > Pregnant TWICE by age 17? I don’t buy it. I don’t care how fundy you are, If your 17 year old daughter had a kid, and you went to great lengths to cover it up, she would have been eating birth control pills for lunch, dinner, and dessert every day. You kidding? All sorts of kids get pregnant twice by 17. And oral contraceptives prevent implantation. Which, to these people, is the same as an abortion. They don’t think the same as we do. > [@](#): > > And if you think about it, the risk v. reward didn’t make sense then when it was on a smaller scale: > > 1. Gov’s 17 year old daughter has a child out of wedlock. Yawn. > 2. (a) Gov tries to pretend that 17 year old’s daughter is really hers. (b) Political career over and probably criminal charges and impeachment from falsifying government records. I hope you don’t mind the insertion of the (a) and (b) in there. Just wanted an easy way of saying (b) doesn’t follow from (a). Besides, remember what we’re arguing here. We’re not debating whether this story is more likely than not (I don’t think it is) but whether or not it’s possible. Is it possible that Palin, in such a situation, would have seen the risk/reward tradeoff differently than you? It’s extremely possible. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766/147 "2008-09-08T04:54:00Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > **Moderator’s Warning:** **Begbert2** , [accusations of lying are not permitted in Great Debates](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448632). Per your link, they [are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9344930&postcount=6) (or at least, accusations of having made a false statement(s) are, which is what I actually did). Accusations of _being a liar_ or lying with deliberate malicious intent are not allowed. I can see how accusing a person of being careless in their reading before having made demonstrably false, slanderously insulting statements could be confused with an accusation of being a deliberate liar - and apologize for treading close to the line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-palin-baby-rumor-proven-false/461766.md?page=7)