'Trig Truther' Andrew Sullivan Disappointed Advertisers Dumped Palin-Bashing Wonkette
As NewsBusters reported Thursday, the liberal website Wonkette has lost a significant number of advertisers following its disgraceful article about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's handicapped son Trig.
The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan, who for years has claimed like so many Trig Truthers that Bristol Palin is the child's real mother, expressed disappointment Saturday that companies pulled their ads as a result of this piece:
I feel as queasy about this flexing of Palinite muscle as I do about the original, disgusting, asinine story. In some ways, I see a legitimate come-uppance for a tacky site that published a simply inexcusable piece of mean-spirited dreck using a child who cannot defend himself, treating him as if he were subhuman, which he most definitely isn't. But I also recoil from mob action like this, for the impact it has on fearless free speech and the chilling effect it will have on an already cowed and defensive MSM when covering the truly tough stuff about Palin.
It appears Sullivan has recently changed his opinion on free speech, for almost exactly a year ago, he was on "The Chris Matthews Show" claiming Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck were guilty of sedition for expressing views in opposition to President Obama.
A year before that, Sullivan blamed Fox News for the shooting deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers:
Many of us have worried that the heated, apocalyptic rhetoric of the anti-Obama forces might spill over at some point into violence in the hands of individuals prone to lashing out. We now have what seems to be a clear instance of that and three dead police officers. One wonders whether Fox News or the Second Amendment fanatics will chill it out a little. And then one realizes who we're talking about.
Now, twelve and 24 months later, he's worried about "the chilling effect" an advertising boycott of Wonkette "will have on an already cowed and defensive MSM when covering the truly tough stuff about Palin."
One quite imagine this includes exposing "the truth" about who really is Trig's mother, something near and dear to Sullivan's heart despite it being a matter of little consequence to anyone other than the Palins. As he wrote Friday:
In my view, a journalist doesn't have to engage in any consipracy theories in order to ask a public figure to verify a story that they tell as a core plank of their political candidacy - especially when verifying it should be easy. When the figure has publicly said she has already released the birth certificate - and she hasn't - and when she demands further digging into the Obama birth certificate after it has been produced, and when she once demanded that her opponent for the mayoralty of Wasilla provide his actual marriage license to prove his wife was his wife (and he did), I see no reason whatever to apologize or regret asking her to put her medical records where her mouth is. She still hasn't.
This was in response to Salon's "Trig Trutherism: The Definitive Debunker" published earlier that day:
Trig Trutherism, the surprisingly resilient conspiracy theory that Sarah Palin is not actually the mother of 3-year-old Trig Palin, is experiencing a boomlet thanks to a new academic paper that endorses the concept. Long pursued by the blogger Andrew Sullivan and a significant segment of the Palin-hating left, Trig Trutherism holds that Trig's real mother is either Bristol Palin or some third party, and that Sarah Palin herself faked the pregnancy to avoid embarrassment for her daughter or for political gain or some combination of reasons.
In light of the recent attention this subject has received and the considerable passion it has stirred, Salon embarked last week on an investigation of the circumstances surrounding Trig's birth. The exhaustive review of available evidence that we conducted, along with new interviews with multiple eyewitnesses who interacted with a pregnant Sarah Palin up-close in early 2008 -- most of whom had never spoken publicly about the matter before -- has produced one clear conclusion: Sarah Palin is, indeed, Trig's mother and there is no reason to suspect any kind of a coverup.
If Trig Trutherism sounds like birtherism to you, Sullivan doesn't agree:
Obama has produced the most relevant, clear, unimpeachable, if humiliating, piece of empirical evidence that he is indeed a native-born US citizen. In fact, he produced it a long time ago. (I think he was right to do so, and the press was easily within bounds to ask. That's how these things should work.)
And there is a huge difference between someone asking for exactly that kind of proof, however distasteful, and someone continuing to ask for it after that proof has already been produced.
Possibly, but what Sullivan is missing is there is no law requiring Palin to prove anything concerning this child. As such, there is no real national interest in this matter beyond Palin Derangement Syndrome, a malady that reached a new peak Monday when Wonkette published its disgraceful article about Trig.
Now, days later, Sullivan is disappointed with the "mob action" taken by companies not wanting to be associated with such filth.
This so-called former conservative should be deeply ashamed of himself.
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Comments
Deport...
Submitted by adamsmith on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:21pm.
Deport this moron immediately. He's a disease...
Show us obama's and we'll
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:31pm.
Show us obama's and we'll show you Trig's. This idiot is only sorry for losing money, he could care less about the child. In the real world this idiot would be beaten senseless but instead he is lauded as a hero by the obama minnions.
Nah, invite him to play
Submitted by Rowane on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 9:06pm.
Nah, invite him to play baseball...as the ball.
You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything. (Aaron Tippin)
It's that beard!
Submitted by boomercon on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 12:32pm.
It's that liberal beard thing again, just like Krugman! Either that or this guy's got his head on upside down, hair on bottom, clean on top. Either way, same result, scrambled thinking.
Me and my Gang
Submitted by SnapTie on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:33pm.
Believe you i went wall to wall on Wonky's advertisers with a mass E-mail program that had resulted in nine advertisers dropping them.Took lots of help from lots of people but it was successful.
Only the weak minded fall for this
Submitted by richb313 on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:36pm.
It takes a really weak mind to fall for this type of excrement. You have to want to believe something so badly you will throw away what is right in front of you.
This particular human weakness is not limited to just the left but it is the left that needs it more than the right does. In the end these things hurts all of us. We have to waste time and resources debunking the myths and even then it has no effect.
Charsle Krauthammer was right when he first coined the phrase Bush Derangement Syndrome but he should have named it Conspiracy Derangement Syndrome.
Maybe they can make fun of
Submitted by Thoreau on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:45pm.
Maybe they can make fun of crushing a puppy to death next. Wouldn't that make the NAZI's jump for joy.
what Sullivan is missing is
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:48pm.
what Sullivan is missing is there is no law requiring Palin to prove anything concerning this child.
Not only is Sarah Palin not running for anything, even if she does in the future, there is no requirement regarding anyone in her family but her.
Exactly what is Sullivan's "proof" that Trig is not Sarah's son? Has he actually put forth any, other than she didn't look pregnant at some point?
His proof is he "knows those
Submitted by redfish on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:26pm.
His proof is he "knows those conservative religious types, they're all hypocrites".
Then he'll go on to complain about prejudice towards gay people.
Sullivan's Proof....
Submitted by adamsmith on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 8:51am.
Nevermind proof, what about common sense? Which is more likely, Bristol Palin having a Down's Syndrome child at what, sixteen years old? Or, Sarah Palin having a DS child in her 40's? This guy thinks like an infant...Like most Progressive/Socialist/Statists/Marxists/Maoists/Communists. Like my post at #1 said, Deport him before he spreads anymore idiocy. The man's(?) thinking is a disease.......
When liberals pressure
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 7:52pm.
When liberals pressure advertisers to withdraw from something they don't agree with, that's fine, and they're proud of themselves.
When the same happens to a liberal entity, it's censorship.
The Liberal Internet Has The Same Problem As Liberal Talk Radio
Submitted by Avitar on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 8:09pm.
The problem is namely Liberals. Why the internet Pundents think that Trig is interesting is beyond me. Why would not Trig be Sarah Palin's child and if he is secretly from Krypton why would that be interesting? There is no reason.
With Obama just the satisfaction of making him clean up his sloppy work is sufficient for those Republicans who remember the hell the DNC put Barry Goldwater through. (He was born in Arizona before it became a state.) Of course lately since Obama has not been able to clean up the paper work and meet the minimum Constitutional requirement to positively prove natural birth, he may just void every law, decision, regulation and appointment Obama makes as President.
That would be a mess but would not that be something?
OFFICIAL SCORE: TRIG PALIN:
Submitted by Van Halen on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 8:10pm.
OFFICIAL SCORE:
TRIG PALIN: 1
WONKETTE: 0
This Cost Wonkette 1 Million $
Submitted by Free Stinker on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 12:56pm.
And let's not forget the author of the (now purged) article - Jack Stueff
I suspect he hates Sarah Palin because she reminds him of all the intelligent, beautiful, hygenic girls that wanted nothing to do with him in High School, and want nothing to do with him today.
Palin Family: Still Rich
Wonkette: - $1,000,000
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Trig Truthers?
Submitted by rogue operator on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 8:16pm.
These people are nuttier than squirrel poop.
Deport the illegal immediately
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 8:37pm.
These people resembles what falls out the rear end.
COLB does not prove Obama is a natural born citizen. A natural born citizen is one born in the USA to two parents who are US citizens at the time of birth. Only the long form birth certificate can do that.
It's a real shame......
Submitted by John WI on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 8:40pm.
.....as to what some "American" men and women will stoop to.
Making jokes about a 3 year old with down syndrome.
There's some real integrity.
And this Sullivan guy is whining about it?
Obsessed just a bit there, Sullivan?
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 9:23pm.
Your fixation on the "truth" behind Trig Palin's birth seems to rise to the category of obsession. The definition of "obsession" in the psychiatric sense can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/DS00189/D... - thus far Sullivan displays more than enough for a clinical diagnosis at least in manifest outward behavior.
As to the "academic paper", it emanates from a most questionable source. An agenda-driven faculty member publishing an opinion piece does NOT rise to the level of "academic paper". It only rises to the level of "for sale" ad in the local bird cage liner like most soft-science throw-aways.
I guess Mr. Sullivan is too timid, humiliated or not intelligent enough to seek treatment for his Sarah Palin reproductive system obsession. Considering his past failures with the truth, I am not surprised from a psychiatrist's point of view.
The deplorable Andrew Sullivan
Submitted by Boil It Down on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 9:27pm.
Sullivans "moral compass" must be very difficult to read at the bottom of that dark toilet.
He is
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 10:53pm.
the toilet.
Golf during a thunderstorm
Submitted by falcon on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 9:49pm.
That's my solution for Andrew Sullivan. Give him a 3-iron, put him on the 10th fairway at Colonial Country Club during a thunderstorm, and then go hide.
Afterwards, paint the scorched grass green to eliminate all evidence of his presence.
"God's gonna get ya for that" - Tammy Wynette
“I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership, that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose.” – Ronald Reagan, July 17, 1980.
Rhetorical Question
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 10:09pm.
Why aren't "Trig Truthers" denounced by the media as nuts like they do "Birthers"?
Attacks on Trig simply their 'pro-choice' position
Submitted by tinydancer on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 10:52pm.
I'd bet my bottom dollar that the same people who push for more abortions, no restrictions on abortion, including LATE TERM abortion, are involved in the reprehensible attacks on Sarah Palin and her son Trig. They are repulsive, putrid, disgusting, inhuman leftists.
These are the same people who not only push and support late term abortion, but probably also agree there should be death panels.
These people are dangerous, because they influence the non-thinking of the sheeple who pay attention to them.
Free Speech For All
Submitted by Mike8307 on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:20pm.
If someone wants to write nonsense about a special needs child only because they hate his mother that's fine. That is protected speech. Remember that the 1st Amendment is not there to protect what is popular, but what is not.
That being said, advertising and advertising dollars are also free speech. So is pulling advertising dollars for not wanting to be associated with morons. Freedom of association, also under the 1st Amendment is also freedom FROM association as well.
Looks like everyone got a civics lesson here. Unfortunately it was more costly for some than others.
Forgive me while I dab away my tears.
Andrew Sullivan is a Liar
Submitted by Tenebrous on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:20pm.
I'm surprised no-one else caught this. What Obama has shown -- in various questionable iterations -- is a COLB -- a certificate of live birth. COLB is NOT equal to a birth certificate, as we all know. Googling for Obama's COLB will bring up all kinds of strange business such as it first appearing on the DKOS (not exactly a reputable source for news), its similarity to fake COLBs shown on the interweb before, and more.
This is not proof any more than having some official who benefits from Obama's presidency claiming that she's seen it.
But what all of this does show is that leftists, as a general rule, do not think logically. The question of Trig's birth (inasmuch there is a question) is hardly comparable to the question of Obama's birth. One person has no official position, is not running for anything, and poses no threat to anyone. The other person is president of the US who is steering the US into a financial abyss.
It is interesting how liberals do not have the ability to accurately compare matters. Perhaps their ability to classify and compare is missing; but as that is a component of logic, I guess no-one should really be surprised. I'm convinced that if you had to pass a logic test in order to vote, 95% of all liberals would not be able to pass it, especially if it involved comparing political topics or political personas.
Visions and Principles blog
I think it all boils down to
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:33pm.
I think it all boils down to some hating Sarah Palin so much they will stoop to anything, no matter how low and vicious, to personally hurt her. Not being able to drive away her supporters, they want to cruelly hurt her feelings. If, God forbid, something fatal befell one of her loved ones, I am sure there is more than one depraved writer out there who would celebrate her suffering. It's become that poisonous in politics.
Phweet. Get it right Mr. Tenebrous.
Submitted by The Vet on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 9:53am.
President Obama produced a Certification of Live Birth during the campaign, not a Certificate of Live Birth. If you want to live the life of a conspiracist, learn the language.
And when you finally get off your couch with your unshaven hungover stanky self and request a birth certificate from the government of Hawaii, this is what you get.
From the government of Hawaii ---
Although original birth certificates (Certificates of Live Birth) are preferred for their greater detail, the State Department of Health (DOH) no longer issues Certificates of Live Birth. When a request is made for a copy of a birth certificate, the DOH issues a Certification of Live Birth.
Not enough for you Mr. Tenebrous?
“The state Department of Health no longer issues copies of paper birth certificates as was done in the past, said spokeswoman Janice Okubo. The department only issues “certifications” of live births, and that is the “official birth certificate” issued by the state of Hawaii, she said. And, it’s only available in electronic form. Okubo explained that the Health Department went paperless in 2001.”
Still not enough Mr. Tenebrous?
STATUS: FALSE. According to both the Hawaii state government website and a June 6, 2009 article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the computer-generated Certification of Live Birth is the only kind of birth record now issued by the state (original records are stored electronically), so the distinction between "short-form" and "long-form" is moot. When a citizen of Hawaii requests a certified copy of his or her birth certificate from the state, a Certification of Live Birth — what people are calling the "short-form," and what Obama released to the public — is what they get. According to Hawaii Health Department spokesperson Janice Okubo, a COLB contains "all the information needed by all federal government agencies for transactions requiring a birth certificate."
--- Vacuous and Pimpled blog
By the by Mr. Tenebrous.
Submitted by The Vet on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 10:07am.
Mr. Tenebrous: What Obama has shown -- in various questionable iterations -- is a COLB -- a certificate of live birth. COLB is NOT equal to a birth certificate, as we all know.
A certificate of live birth IS the long form birth certificate. You got it bass ackwards.
President Obama produced a Certification - not a Certificate - of Live Birth. While both are accepted as "birth certificates" in HI, some interesting information would be learned if one reads the websites of Hawaii's Deportment of Health and of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands:
•Only the Certificate of Live Birth (the one Obama did not produce) is considered an "original birth certificate." (read the Homeland website)
•"A person born in a foreign country who has been legally adopted in the State of Hawaii," is eligible to apply for an amended birth certificate. (Read the Health website)
•"Although original birth certificates (Certificates of Live Birth) are preferred for their greater detail, the State Department of Health (DOH) no longer issues Certificates of Live Birth.When a request is made for a copy of a birth certificate, the DOH issues a Certification of Live Birth." (Read the homeland web site)
Kindly learn various terminologies when engaging in conspiracy talk.
--- Voodoo and Pishposh blog.
Not On My Dime
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:43pm.
You are responsible for your own right to free speech. I am not required to support indefensible incivility.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
Two memos for Sullivan:
Submitted by Tom1969ca on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 5:39pm.
A couple of "open memos" for Andrew Sullivan:
* (Unless she was married to Chuck Norris....)
A funny thing happened in this high speed "BOYCOTT"
Submitted by Deskpilot on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 12:28am.
IT NEVER HAPPENED!!!!!
We on the right simply contacted a number of advertisers on Wonkette and made them aware of something we knew to be vulgar and WAY out of bounds in the political arena.
Some TOP TIER advertisers responded VERY quickly to our pressure. And then a rather amazing thing happened. We applauded them for pulling their ads by going shopping a their businesses. Even on an unemployment budget, I spent $20 (tip incl) @ Papa Johns on Thursday. Many others have chosen to BUY from other advertisers. We know who pulled out fast and rewarded their positive response with $ALES.
Conversely, when the pigs on the left call for boycotts, busineses suffer all around. Does the left but from those who respond to their pressure. NOOOOOOO.
FWIW, The concept of FREE SPEECH and the Constitution is only a "social compact," that prohibits the government from restricting speech. The government had NOTHING to do with this event. This was the free market at work in every direction.
Sullivan Hasn't Changed His Mind On Free Speech
Submitted by txradioguy on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 4:12am.
He still thinks that it should only be free for him and his fellow Liberals.
This piece shows it. He has no problem with the mob trying to silence a voice if that voice belongs to Fox News...Rush Limbaugh or (insert conservative here).
He's only worried when decent Americans who don't think mocking a 3 year old with Downs speak up and tell his Liberal brethren that they aren't funny.
P.S. ...
Submitted by Tom1969ca on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 7:45am.
He still thinks that it should only be free for him and his fellow Liberals.
I defy Sullivan (or any other liberal) to drop by any VFW post and ask any of the veterans there how "free" free speech really is....
Adverisers will kill the MSM???
Submitted by RESTLESS 1 on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 5:12am.
Umm, private businesses letting their feelings known with their $ is not the problem.
Leftists controlling the media and education system is. Those that pulled their ads were just exercising THEIR First Amendment rights.
Excellent Outcome!
Submitted by Bourbeau on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 9:03am.
Go Trig!!!!!! Wonkette deserved exactly what it got, the same crap others like them have tried to hoist on Limbaugh, Beck and Imus, I love it. Now, may they find what resources support Andrew Sullivan and give him a taste of the same. Liberals have no problem stooping into the gutter when it's a conservative, but spew their nonsense at themselves and they're in shock. One day, intelligent people will recognize that liberals thrive on hate - it's always about someone being wronged. In the meantime, they're helping themselves to the spoils while screaming "We're being robbed!" What goes around, comes around.
Excellent!
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 11:38am.
I can anticipate Mr. Sullivan comming to Glenn Beck's rescue now... any second now... wait for it... (tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...)
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Did the website close?
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 12:39pm.
Hay, Andy, did the website close? Are those members being deny access? Are they being banned from posting? No? Then just how is "free speech" being affected? It isn't, so stop lying to us.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I got a bet for Andrew.
Submitted by pbthinker on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 7:30pm.
Hey Andrew, I'll bet you Trig Palin has a birth certificate that says Sarah Palin's his mother and Barack Obama has a birth certificate that says he's a Muslim. Wanna take that bet???
Of course, Andrew wouldn't belive Trig's and expect us to take Obama's on faith, since no one has seen it.
cowed and defensive
Submitted by sherlock1 on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 1:06pm.
"an already cowed and defensive MSM when covering the truly tough stuff about Palin."
Yes, the MSM deserves so much sympathy for the "tough stuff" they have done, like dragging the Palin family through the dirt, while protecting the Obama family secrets.
If it was up to me, the MSM would not be cowed and defensive - they would be out of business and their journOlist "stars" would be living in refrigerator boxes under a bridge, freezing, starving, and alone.