Sue Williams Passes My Credibility Test

Below, I’m building on last week’s post Insider Knowledge, MeAgain and Sue Williams by laying out a case for saying Ms. Williams was credible.  Once we establish that, I’ll examine what she said about some of our favorite topics:  babygate, Trig, Bristol, Levi, Tripp, Sarah, pregnancies, weddings, and homeschooling. (Hint: going to support parts of my Tripp was born earlier than stated theory from "Allison's Own Thoughts...", and the possibility Trig is Bristol's.)

Keep in mind that on August 30, 2008, when Sue William’ comments were launched on the Internet, the rest of us couldn’t name the five Palin kids or spell Wasilla, Bristol’s pregnancy had not been announced, and Levi was on a mountain in Alaska hunting with his dad.

Here we go:

Parenting:  Everything Sue said about Sarah and Todd’s parenting rings true, and Sue was the first to make an issue of it. In years since we have collaboration from Levi Johnston’s interviews and book, Mike Wooten’s interview in “Sarah Palin, You Betcha!” and Joe McGinniss’ journalistic investigation.

SP Lying vs Being Crazy:  SW said she thought it was “insane”, for the governor (who ran a campaign for more than a year) to “somehow not think to have a conversation with Todd about how to best care for their four school aged kids if she won. “… either her judgement [sic] is super goofy, or she wasn’t telling the truth.” 

Yes, Sarah says insane things and contradicts herself. I have no reason to doubt she said these things and I completely agree with Sue’s opinion of them.

Media and Accountability:  Ms. Williams is disgusted that “The Anchorage Daily News has known about [wild ride and/or Bristol pregnancy stories] for months - and haven’t touched the story. But I can’t imagine the national press or the Democratic Party will be as willing to turn a blind eye. For me, once again, it speaks to judgement.” 

That’s been OUR frustration since 2008. Various blogs have become must-reads, places where we can vent and join in the cry for the media to COVER THIS STORY.

Bristol’s Summer 2008:  Reporting what she heard from Heath/Palin friends, Ms. Williams said, “Once Bristol’s condition became more obvious this summer, she was whisked out of sight and hasn’t been seen in public until yesterday in Ohio.”

Well, there’s a picture of Bristol (looking big around the middle) dishing up food at the Governor’s picnic. So maybe Bristol wasn’t in Wasilla, but she did make at least one public appearance.

It’s too harsh to say Sue lying, we don’t know that. More likely, Sue repeated something she’d heard. Proof of “likely” is that this “out of sight” thing is also mentioned in comments by other Alaskan bloggers in this time period, with other sources of reference. Sue was probably telling what she believed to be the truth.

Throwing Bristol Under the Bus:  ”Why would [Sarah] accept the nomination, knowing that Bristol’s situation will come to light and knowing her hunger for national and international acclaim and attention will carry with it a mighty high price for her seventeen year old daughter…[who is] pregnant.” 

That’s a sane and honest question we have all asked.

Sarah’s Friends and What They Knew:  “We all - every single one of us - even Sarah’s closest friends in the Valley (I know, I’ve been speaking to them) know she is in no way qualified for this position. At all.”

Hey, folks, we know it so of course her friends knew. Oh, sure, they shut up fast, but it’s not hard to believe that their initial reaction was to blurt out-  “She’s not qualified!” “This is crazy!”

Trig The Prop:  How does one dash about the country for the next 66 days trying to pull off an image of the devoted mother of five… not to say anything about the needs of Trig. But maybe he doesn’t count, except as a talking point or a photo prop.

Sarah’s Business:  The only thing – business wise – [Sarah] she did while being unemployed for almost three years [after quitting her job on the oil commission], was to file for a business license she called Cou Rouge or Rouge Cou (I don’t know French). But it means “redneck” in French. Sarah wanted to start a local political consulting firm. 


This story was picked up throughout September 2008 by national media. We heard it from Sue Williams in August.

August 29, 2008 in the Mat-Sue Valley:… yesterday [when McCain announced his choice, it] felt like someone had died. People were walking around saying how they wanted to throw up. Truly. I’ve never heard (or read, try andrew halcro.com or adn.com so many people describe feeling like they were going to get physically sick and vomit). That’s how CRAZY this sounded to all of us.

Palinbots:  fyi – on those blogs, esp the adn site you’ll find a posse of Palinbots – as they’re referred to up here – who think she can do no wrong. These are what we call “bumper sticker” citizens. If an idea is too long for a bumper sticker, it’s too complicated for them to try and wrap their minds around…

August 31, 2008 greeting: I know it must be beyond bizarre to think any of this is truly happening. Well, welcome to my world. I’ve had to live in it (crazy, insane, nonsensical Alaskan politics) for most of my life. But Friday’s announcement took the Insane to depths even I didn’t know existed.

I’ve concluded that Sue Williams was an early leader among people who see the threat Sarah is to our country. I hope Sue is not the Sue Williams in this obituary. I hope she’s alive today, reading this blog, forming opinions about Brad’s Ruffled Ear posts, looking forward to the next installment of this dissection of her words that is coming later this week, and like all of us, wanting to know more about Fred’s book. 

******

PS – I don’t think Sue was a caterer. That could have been sloppy journalism stemming from Palin-mania.  The Sue Williams reached by the journalist could have been a caterer, but that doesn’t make her “our Sue.” The caterer wasn’t at all forthcoming nor critical of the Alaskan governor. Our Sue described herself as many things, including a business woman, but not specifically as a caterer. Sue said:

I live in this Valley. I know the Heath/Palin families. I am a proud Republican. And I’m a conservative.

Here’s who I am: Christian, wife, mom, business woman, proud (except for the past 42 hours) Alaskan, proud (except for the past 42 hours) American.

“Sarah is all about spin, spin, spin. I’m not. You either are who you are, or get out.”