Times Abandons Discretion For Palin

Wait, is it really the New York Times that assigned at least four reporters to essentially investigate those conspiracy theories about how Sarah Palin didn't really give birth to her son Trig? Because while internet rumors are never mentioned in the Times's lengthy Palin baby story this morning, it's hard to imagine any other reason the newspaper went to such great lengths to write about Palin's fifth and most recent child, despite a lack of cooperation from the Republican vice presidential candidate. The Times has not always been so eager to delve into the private lives of politicians, as John Edwards well knows! The bottom-line on Palin, for those who study intricate flow charts about why she took such a lengthy trip home when childbirth seemed imminent, or wonder why there are precious few photos of her pregnant:

Palin concealed her pregnancy for months, and concealed for a time the fact that the baby had Down syndrome (her 14-year-old daughter didn't know until she laid eyes on the infant). But the Times appears to have spoken with two governors who confirm she was pregnant during her trip to Texas. And it also found a doctor who said her long trip home was potentially unsafe for the baby:

A woman with symptoms like Ms. Palin’s should be examined to determine her condition, said Dr. Laura Riley of Massachusetts General Hospital. The long trip home could have posed a risk, “but the odds were still in her favor that everything would be O.K.," said Dr. Susan E. Gerber of Northwestern University.

If you're looking to cover up a pregnancy, scarves and parkas apparently work well:

The couple decided to keep quiet about the pregnancy so they could absorb the news, they told people later.

And there were political factors to consider. “I didn’t want Alaskans to fear I would not be able to fulfill my duties,” Ms. Palin told People magazine last week.

The governor, thin to begin with, began an elaborate game of fashion-assisted camouflage. When Vogue photographed her, five months pregnant, for a profile in January, she hid in a big green parka. At work, she wore long, loose blazers and artfully draped accessories.

“All of a sudden she had this penchant for really beautiful scarves,” recalled Angelina Burney, who works across the hallway from the governor in Anchorage.

So the Times, whose editor at one point refused to "recycle" the Edwards story because it originated in the National Enquirer, is now lifting a quote from People magazine. But this is an important issue — how can we select a vice president if we don' know all the details of her childbirth??

UPDATE: A tipster sends in the "nauseating" Facebook status update of the Times' Jodi Kantor, one of the authors of the Palin story:

Jodi Kantor is sharing the front page with her husband: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/politics/08baby.html?hp and http://nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/08consumer.html.

[Times]

Send an email to Ryan Tate, the author of this post, at ryan@gawker.com.

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