Michael Barrone: Media Wanted Palin to Abort Trig

Barone was speaking at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, to the 121st annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, which calls itself the nation’s oldest higher-education association.
“The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby," Barone said, according to accounts by attendees. "They wanted her to kill that child. ... I'm talking about my media colleagues with whom I've worked for 35 years.”
...
About 500 people were in the room, and some walked out.

Barrone says he was joking but went over the line. I don't think he was joking per se. I think he was overstating for effect.

It's not clear the media "wanted" Sarah Palin to abort, but it's pretty clear they didn't approve of her decision.

Palin for Senate: Some weak news as Palin responds "I'm not planning that" to a question about running for Stevens' seat.

Posted by: Ace at 03:12 PM

Comments

1 the logical end of trig-trutherism?

Posted by: lorien1973 at November 12, 2008 03:15 PM (IhQuA)

2 I don't think he was joking and I think his assessment of the media is dead on. They are Obama tank dwellers so they had to attack her, but I think her pro-life position was what caused the attacks to be so vicious and personal.

Posted by: kefka at November 12, 2008 03:16 PM (fKivs)

3 Ann Coulter would have cleared that room without saying a single word.

Posted by: roy at November 12, 2008 03:16 PM (cB77O)

4 Of course that's what they wanted. It was a double-win for the Left if she did. First, they got one more abortion - to them it's a positive good every time that happens. Second - they get to call a conservative a hypocrite. There's no greater fun for the libtards. Palin's refusal to play along annoyed them.

Posted by: Reactionary at November 12, 2008 03:16 PM (H7yZC)

5 Palin for senate: during another interview, she ruled it out. Saying that it'd be like the murkowski situation and she'd be a hypocrit. If she runs, it'd be disappointing to say the least.

Posted by: lorien1973 at November 12, 2008 03:17 PM (IhQuA)

6 There is no longer any difference between the left and the MSM. The left made numerous comments that they were disgusted that Palin did not abort Trig and they are still making these types of comments. Barrone should have held his position. Just because it makes the MSM look bad, does not mean it is not true.

Posted by: 48 Percenter at November 12, 2008 03:21 PM (GqdSt)

7 It's true, but he should have phrased it differently. Such as this:

The liberals in the media view unborn babies with defects as a good argument for abortion. Some of them feel it is more humane for the unborn baby and less of a burden on society if the mother had an induced abortion.

Posted by: Bart at November 12, 2008 03:22 PM (ICFJ+)

8 It's not clear the media "wanted" Sarah Palin to abort, but it's pretty clear they didn't approve of her decision.

This is semantic quibbling. They wanted her to abort. AS is only the most vocal extreme but he does represent the MSM feelings.

Posted by: 48 Percenter at November 12, 2008 03:23 PM (GqdSt)

9 I think it was quite clear that that was what they thought. They thought that keeping the child was the wrong decision and a poor example for modern women. I think that Sarah Palin's love of children coupled with her ability to succeed professionally scares the livin' bejeezus out of leftards in general. "Can't let the idea get out that you can have a traditional family and succeed professionally at the same time! That goes against what we been teaching all our girls for the last 30 years. We must bring her down!"

Posted by: Mark in Portland at November 12, 2008 03:23 PM (+45yf)

Barone is another one of those Faux Conservatives who has been in Washington too long. He says he “crossed the line”. Actually he did that a long time ago and has never come back. Piss on him.

Posted by: Vic at November 12, 2008 03:24 PM (Qd7GC)

11 How is being cut up in little pieces or being stabbed in the head humane?

Posted by: 48 Percenter at November 12, 2008 03:26 PM (GqdSt)

12 "Barone is another one of those Faux Conservatives"

Wait, what?

This episode, I think, shows that beneath his scholarly manner he really was deeply and angrily affected by the DC elite craziness against her.

Posted by: someone at November 12, 2008 03:27 PM (zHoxL)

Of course they did, and they're also salivating over the hope that Willow has an abortion and doesn't marry her boyfriend, either.

That's just where radical Leftism takes you.

Posted by: Kensington at November 12, 2008 03:28 PM (kFwRi)

It's ironic that Barone's statement repulsed people, who believe it's a good thing to destroy the unborn (especially ones with defects), to the point that they walked out on him.

Maybe they were ashamed though? Nah, there are no mirrors of self reflexion in the house of the left.

Posted by: Toad at November 12, 2008 03:29 PM (kOQDM)

Barone said it to the wrong people. He should have said it to a room full of journalists. Of course, a lefty is a lefty, academic or journo.

Posted by: huerfano at November 12, 2008 03:29 PM (knHvu)

16 reflexion=reflection

Posted by: Toad at November 12, 2008 03:31 PM (kOQDM)

17 no way Palin runs for Senate. She loves Alaska too much and has said so herself. She will never be in the us senate

Posted by: ousoonerfan15 at November 12, 2008 03:31 PM (yAq/A)

18

Yes, Bristol should have an abortion. But if she doesn't have an abortion she should give the baby up for adoption...to a gay couple.

Posted by: The Media at November 12, 2008 03:32 PM (ICFJ+)

Barone seems to have been radicalized. His article predicting a "thugocracy" if Obama won was a bit over the top, and now this.

Midlife crisis? Maybe he should buy a sports car.

Posted by: sauropod at November 12, 2008 03:35 PM (J9J4M)

I came to the same conclusion a month ago. NPR had talked about her on the radio, and they were constantly beating around the bush as far as taking a DS baby to full term. They can't believe that she would !want! to do that ... It's all the evidence they think they need for the idea Palin is a snake-handling bible-thumper. It took me about an hour after listening to the radio to figure out the thought process, but I was furious for the rest of the day.

Posted by: Cincinnatus at November 12, 2008 03:37 PM (ZAlQ3)

21 Doesn't Palin appoint the Senator when Stevens gets drummed out? It would seem odd for her to appoint herself.

Posted by: Kevin at November 12, 2008 03:39 PM (KO6dP)

22 "Posted by: The Media at November 12, 2008 03:32 PM (ICFJ+)"

It's funny because it's true.

Posted by: someone at November 12, 2008 03:39 PM (zHoxL)

23 "It would seem odd for her to appoint herself."

Yes, that's one of the many reasons she won't.

Posted by: someone at November 12, 2008 03:40 PM (zHoxL)

24 I think Sarah has no desire to be a freshman Senator for six years. She knows all that you do is kiss ass to get your name on something that may or may not matter to anyone. Sarah Palin is not a bloviating waste of space like most Senators are. She like to DO things, not talk about how her "friends across the aisle" are so "distinguished". That place would make her nuts in short order. Before long, she would sound like Fred Thompson, always bitching about Washington and how screwed up it is. The stench of DC is something she should avoid until she's the executive who drives the agenda. Let the Senators endlessly debate nothing without her. I love her because she isn't one of those preening self important fucktards polluting our Capitol. Let her shoot them down from the outside, where Sarah will be more effective. Besides, being a conservative Senator will mean she has to fight John McCain tooth and nail to get what she believes in passed through, so why ruin a good friendship?

Posted by: Brian72 at November 12, 2008 03:40 PM (h6lGQ)

25 If it's not true Barrone shouldn't have said it. If it is true he shouldn't back track now. Either way he comes off looking bad.

Posted by: The Obvious at November 12, 2008 03:41 PM (1g+FW)

Doesn't Palin appoint the Senator when Stevens gets drummed out?

No, not according to Alaska law. They have to hold a special election to replace him, the governor does not get to simply appoint his replacement.

Posted by: Average Jen at November 12, 2008 03:43 PM (OINAg)

27 Palin needs to stay on as governor and stay out of the Washington senate mess. Hell, my wife and I may move to Alaska. Those are tough words coming from a Texan!

Posted by: Wolverine at November 12, 2008 03:44 PM (/Zcox)

Perhaps so, but only in “this” episode. He has been pretty squishy for a long time.

Posted by: Vic at November 12, 2008 03:44 PM (Qd7GC)

29 I'd like to know when the Pro-Choice group became the Must-Abort group.

Idiots!!

Posted by: Paul at November 12, 2008 03:44 PM (cy/Va)

30 The MSM may as well be the Nazi propoganda machine. Good is bad, bad is good.

Posted by: Wolverine at November 12, 2008 03:46 PM (/Zcox)

31 I'm not really getting what you're saying here, Ace:

"It's not clear the media 'wanted' Sarah Palin to abort, but it's pretty clear they didn't approve of her decision."

Not really any other way to interpret it, is there? If the media disapproved of Palin's decision, and obviously an adoption would not be a "reasonable alternative given the premise that that particular child should not have been, then what the hell else is there? She either carries the baby to term or, and there is absolutely one "or" here, she aborts the fetus. (I won't dare suggest the press would advise celibacy as the optimal choice here because, well, do I have to say it? OK. They're liberal. Of course celibacy is not reasonable coming from them.)

Just because Barone speaks an inconvenient truth to some in attendance does not make what he said wrong... just uncomfortable for those who don't want to be lectured or questioned or explicitely reminded of their own choices and justifications for them.

Also remember much of the press is thin-skinned and cowardly. They'll behave all righteous and deliberate when attacking someone else via their privileged status (however undeserved) but shrink and slink away when acutely challenged. Barone said something provocative and they collapsed. Courage.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 12, 2008 03:50 PM (sI5Ho)

32 Oh, for the days when Senators were chosen not by popular vote, but appointed by the state legislature.

Worst. Constitutional Amendment. Ever.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 12, 2008 03:50 PM (FO+YO)

33 Micheal Barone is right, of course. He is one of the DC types who enjoyed Sarah Palin bursting onto the scene. He likes her, and he understands why the media types have been savaging her from the first minute. He's walking back a little because some were shocked at what he said, but he said that because he was offended by the conduct of Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) towards a figure whom he has some admiration. He knows the citizen-leader tradition in Western civilization, and he sees that in her. Barone could quote you Cinncinatus off the top of his head, and relate that to Sarah Palin. I like Barone, he's the best political anylast out there when it comes to the nuts and bolts of demoracy. He wrote The Almanac of America Politics, for crying out loud.

Posted by: Brian72 at November 12, 2008 03:51 PM (h6lGQ)

34 Oh, for the days when Senators were chosen not by popular vote, but appointed by the state legislature.

Worst. Constitutional Amendment. Ever.

No fucking shit!

Posted by: Manco at November 12, 2008 03:53 PM (5QPbL)

35 American Politics, I mean. Need a comment preview button!

Posted by: Brian72 at November 12, 2008 03:53 PM (h6lGQ)

"I'd like to know when the Pro-Choice group became the Must-Abort group."

"Pro-choice" has always been a euphemism for eugenic genocide Read Ramesh Ponnuru's Party of Death, but be careful afterwards. You'll want to string every Democrat from a tree after you finish.

And I agree - Barrone's a pussy. What he said was dead on and he should have stood by it like a man.

Posted by: Christopher at November 12, 2008 03:54 PM (zF6Iw)

37 If it's not true Barrone shouldn't have said it. If it is true he shouldn't back track now. Either way he comes off looking bad.

Yep.

On another note, are conservatives doing anything these days other than shooting ourselves in the foot multiple times?? It's enough to drive me to drink, were I not already tanked on Val-U-Rite.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 12, 2008 03:54 PM (FO+YO)

38 AD: "Barone said something provocative and they collapsed."

"They" being liberal media generally and likely the Liberals in that audience specifically.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 12, 2008 03:55 PM (sI5Ho)

39 Palin: ''I’m not planning on that.''

Non-denial denial?

Posted by: arbuthnot at November 12, 2008 03:55 PM (Tw7Fm)

40 Obviously the MSM loves to dish it out, but can't take it. And they take themselves way too seriously.

Posted by: Wolverine at November 12, 2008 03:57 PM (/Zcox)

#32 OM,

Damn straight.

Posted by: spongeworthy at November 12, 2008 04:02 PM (rplL3)

42 I don't think the media much cared one way or another whether Palin had an abortion or not, except in how it could be used to attack her. Had she had an abortion, she'd have been attacked as a hypocrite. Had Trig not had DS, she'd have been attacked for being careless, and having a high-risk pregnancy.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 12, 2008 04:02 PM (PVpTQ)

43 From what I've heard from the Governor herself, the law in Alaska is unclear at this point. The legislature passed one law about appointments from the Governor after Murkowski appointed his daughter to fill his own Senate seat. Then there was a referendum passed by the voters on the same subject, and they are in slight conflict. The law from the State House says that the Gov. can appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy in DC, but the referendum says a special election must be called within 90 days of a vacancy.

The conflict has yet to be taken up by the State courts. If Stevens is booted, I think Gov. Palin could appoint someone to fill the seat, then call for an election within 90 days, and her appointment would be the defacto Republican nominee in that election. Regardless, the Democrat Party in the State may take it to court to challenge an appointment.

Either way, Sarah is not going to appoint herself, that would be stupid since she ran against Murkowski's corruption and nepotism in her election victory in '06. She said so in an interview with a local radio show the day after she returned home from Pheonix.

Posted by: Brian72 at November 12, 2008 04:03 PM (h6lGQ)

44 Speaking of Palin, why haven't we seen Carl Cameron lately? Was he injured trying to deflect bullets with his bracelets?

Posted by: Jim62sch at November 12, 2008 04:07 PM (zYagu)

Er, this is about three days old, just saying. You guys out hobo hunting or what?

You need to take out some, while they are still in season. Remember homelessness disappears under a Dem president.

Kemp

Posted by: Kempermanx at November 12, 2008 04:13 PM (qvT/A)

46 The senate doesn't seem like the right place for Palin, but the other side of the coin is that given the funky, unique nature of the Alaskan economy, there is a limit to how much she can achieve as governor to burnish her free-market, conservative record. The state has limited opportunities for economic growth outside of pushing for energy resource development and the Democrats are going to have zero interest in enabling her.

Posted by: HipsterCon at November 12, 2008 04:17 PM (fkgyi)

Barone rules. Love watching him during any election. Its funny watching him offer his in depth county by county analysis and his attempts to hide dissapointment when the lefttardz are winning, as in the last 2 cycles.

I think he meant what he said. The left hates Palin for alot of reasons- but the fact that she lives her principles is the biggest.

They hate when people do that

Posted by: TMF at November 12, 2008 04:18 PM (waaUg)

The press hates and fears Palin because she actually lives her convictions. How can you act morally superior to conservatives unless they're all just self-righteous hypocrites? Answer: you can't. And they know it.

Barone was right. He shouldn't have apologized.

Posted by: Warden at November 12, 2008 04:18 PM (QoR4a)

49 Speaking of Senate appointments, I'm waiting to see who Rod Blagojevich, Gov. of Illinois appoints to fill out the O's term of office. I'm guessing Jesse Jackson Jr., current House Representative for the 2nd "Lil' Beirut" District.

Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at November 12, 2008 04:21 PM (ERJIu)

Barone should have stood up and owned it, not backed away from it. The only people such a statement appears bad to are liberals, and thus backing away from the statement - which is absolutely true, btw - is just another example of conservative dhiminitude. Have some balls, Barone.

Posted by: thirteen28 at November 12, 2008 04:25 PM (s8N54)

51 My wife works at Mat-Su School District, where Sarah Palin's children went to school. Sarah took a deep interest in the schools and her children's education. Many teachers have deep friendships with her. She is the real deal.

This whole thing with Trig and his Down's Syndrome is that it is Sarah and her husband Todd's decision. The Left has run this big bandwagon slogan on the Right to Choose™. Sarah and Todd chose to have the baby. That was their choice.

The Left looks at the situation not as the right to choose but the obligation to abort. It just shows the moral bankrupcy of their position.

Posted by: Alaska Paul at November 12, 2008 04:32 PM (rMkgW)

#48 is correct...it's not that she's pro-life...it's that she lives pro-life. Make no mistake, the radical mainstream left has a vested interest in seeing that as many abortions as possible occur. This is why, IMHO, the smarty pants right wigged on her, as well. Frum, Parker, Noonan, et al want the party to capitulate calibrate towards the center and having such an obvious pro-life baby-machine at the top of the ticket makes that more difficult.

Palin has become the face of the culture war, not because she sought to do so for political reasons, but because she lived out her conservative convictions. That is something the left and pro-abortion center just can't deal with.

Posted by: The Hammer at November 12, 2008 04:52 PM (P89vv)

53 I'm not sure Barone was right in detail, but it was certainly no more of a stretch of the truth than most of what the press put out during this election.

Posted by: mrkwong at November 12, 2008 04:57 PM (G8Eo0)

54 Governor Palin will need more National exposure if she is planning for 2012. CPAC conventions just ain't going to cut it.

Posted by: Barbula at November 12, 2008 05:25 PM (UKP1H)

55 If this wasn't something he felt strongly about he would not have brought him up, county chairman, voting patterns, turnout models, that's his balliwick. I think he was offended by the attacks and I admire his ability to speak such an unpopular truth out loud to an unreceptive audience. I hope political courage comes back into vogur because the Obomabots are all bluster who have never risked anything in their lives, soft , stupid quislings like the pod.

Posted by: JohnTBissell at November 12, 2008 05:28 PM (AjfGV)

56 I never have understood why we let them get away with calling themselves "pro-choice". The correct term should be "pro- death".

Posted by: emdfl at November 12, 2008 07:45 PM (N1uaO)

57 The media is a bunch of low-life's. I put them on the same level as Hollywood celebrities.

Posted by: katya at November 12, 2008 11:17 PM (G3frc)

58
It's so horrible the way the abort-the-defectives mentality has permeated our society. There are lots of people who call themselves pro-life who support exceptions for "severe fetal defect."

When pregnant with my younger son, I and my husband and I went to a Lamaze review class that was specifically for people who'd already had at least one child. There were about 15 couples. Most of the women were 30-ish, a few were even younger. At 40, I was probably the oldest woman in there, thus, the one at highest risk for Down syndrome--and yet I was the ONLY woman who had NOT had an amniocentesis!

Thanks in large part to research funding from March of Dimes--which no pro-lifer should ever give any money to--amniocentesis has become very mainstream. As have other prenatal diagnostic tests done earlier in pregnancy than amnio can be done. My own OB/GYN offered a couple of these tests, and I told him in no uncertain terms of my moral objections to them, and told him he should not even be offering them. Fell on deaf ears, of course. The eugenics mentality unfortunately is very strong in medicine today.

Posted by: Kathy from Kansas at November 13, 2008 01:35 PM (Prdx7)

59 @25: If it's not true Barrone shouldn't have said it. If it is true he shouldn't back track now. Either way he comes off looking bad.

Amen to that. I'm so tired of conservatives who on rare occasions actually speak the truth, then immediately "explain" or "clarify" so no one will get offended. When are they going to learn? You CANNOT, EVER please the Political Correctness Police. So you might as well go down fighting and speak the truth.

One reason to do that (and it is not an unimportant one) is the encouragement it gives to others out there who believe the same things, but have trouble persevering in the struggle because they so rarely hear those truths articulated and affirmed.

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