Flit

Palin photo links

Without passing judgment on what appears at first glance to be one of those extraordinary claims requiring something something, this did seem to describe at the very least some very odd delivery day behaviour on the part of America's latest prominent public figure and her physician, at least as it's viewed in this extended household (where, your correspondent excepted, not everyone is entirely unacquainted with childbirth). Links to photo evidence below the fold.

UPDATE: The Times weighs in.

Palin photo evidence, in chron-order:

Palin and family in a photo taken in late October, 2006 (note: not 2007, as the Kos diarist claims; another photo from the same shoot has turned up here. Obviously that means that this photo is a year too early to be evidence of anyone's pregnancy; the Kos writer and several other conspiracists are wrong on this one.)

Palin and unnamed daughter in August, 2007 (note: based on comparison with the other photos, this is probably actually Willow, then 13, not as it says, "first daughter" Bristol, then 16.)

Palin and family in late 2007, probably as with the year before the governor's family holiday shot. At this point, based on the April 18 birthdate, someone in this photo is already early in a pregnancy. However, shortly after this was taken it was Bristol, right, who reportedly stopped attending school for an extended period (5+ months). Her mother continued working until the day of birth (see below).

Palin 1-2 days after the happy day. Despite being a mother at 44, and having a premature, apparent Down's birth, which made her abruptly leave a Texas party event and fly eight hours back to be with her family physician -- after finishing her speech, of course -- rather than have the baby in Texas in case there were heart complications as is common with that syndrome (the physician strangely having put her under no travel restrictions despite the high-risk pregnancy), Palin was back at work as governor three days later.

Palin and girls in July, with baby Trig now 3 mos. old. Note that in the official photo linked above, Palin and her two daughters are about the same height, indicating there are some camera perspective-distortion issues in this shot affecting apparent heights. AP does not attempt to assign names to the daughters, but based on features comparison I'd guess it's Bristol, now 17, in the back.

Palin and eldest daughter now, with one of them now four months post-partum. The question posed by the conspiracists now is which.

The photos of Palin herself in the critical period seem to argue against, however. Here's a composite of the various public photos of a standing Palin with confirmed dates so far unearthed from around her March 6 announcement of pregnancy (when she would have been 31 weeks pregnant, approximately) and before her April 18 delivery date (week 36; the baby was premature). Photos are from (1) Super Tuesday, Anchorage Daily News; (2) National Governors Association, Washington; (3) Washington press conference, National Press Club; (4) Anchorage, Associated Press; (5) Alaska Republican Convention, Alaska Report (NOTE: accompanying the first story that said Palin looked visibly pregnant); (6) Close of state legislature, Flickr (NOTE: Incorrectly identified as a February photo by Michelle Malkin's site).