HANNITY: Let me ask you a question. What was so wrong in saying ‘Can we see your birth certificate?’ Tell me what was so wrong with that.

CALLER: Because he showed it. He’s got copies of it!

HANNITY: No, no, no, no, no. That’s not true. We were told early on that someone else had looked at it and confirmed that it was legitimate. So what was wrong with people saying, wait a minute, in light of the fact of where your father came from, etc, let’s just make sure that this is a legitimate birth certificate. What was so wrong with asking that question?

CALLER: It’s been asked and answered!

HANNITY: No, no. It was not asked by the mainstream media. It was asked by places like WorldNetDaily, who I think were just doing due diligence, considering it’s a constitutional mandate.

I beat this dead horse because the purchase that birtherism has achieved in the conservative movement is far and beyond what you’d expect for such a strange conspiracy theory. Compare that to what Sarah Palin calls “Trig Trutherism,” the conspiracy theory (as far as I’m concerned) that Palin is not the real mother of her youngest child. Neither Palin nor her defenders can name any more prominent “Trig Truthers” than Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic, an established journalist who has alienated some readers with his posts about this. And here, for context, is how Hannity dealt with the “Trig Truthers” when he interviewed Palin in November.

PALIN: The most devastating attack on me were those things that would affect the kids, the attacks on Trig, which still blow me away that anybody would be that cruel to think that, you know, he shouldn’t have been allowed to be born or that he was…

HANNITY: Or that he wasn’t your child.

PALIN: Oh, yeah, that’s funny.

HANNITY: That was another thing, it was really Bristol’s child.

PALIN: Right.

“Trig Truthers” — crazy! “Birthers” — asking legitimate questions!

A crowd braved inclement weather at a Sarah Palin book signing on Dec. 5 in Fairfax, Va. (Photo by: David Weigel)

FAIRFAX, Va. – The people who snagged the first spaces in line for Sarah Palin’s book-signing appearance had arrived at the parking lot of BJ’s, a members-only retail store, on Friday afternoon. They opened up folding chairs and draped themselves with blankets, camping out overnight. At 11 a.m. Saturday, they were shepherded inside by determined BJ’s staffers and given a few precious minutes with the Palin family. And when they were done they walked outside into a scrum of national and local media, cameras and microphones pointed out them, reporters shouting out the same questions: What did she say? What did you say? What does she mean to you? Do you want her to run for president?

[GOP1]“I think Sarah represents the majority values in this country,” said Peggy Fallon, pausing for reporters as her father Ron Wolf — he had been first in line — did interview after interview. “I want her to break up the corruption in Washington. I want her to bring her common sense good judgment, and do what she started in Alaska and take it into Washington.”

More Palin supporters started to exit into a scene that not unlike the one outside the audition room of an American Idol cattle call. Joseph Knowles, a Georgetown University freshman, walked up to the cameras as if conducting a press conference. “I came out of my last class at 11:30, which was an international relations class, and I came straight here,” said Knowles. “I got to meet Sarah, and Todd, their wonderful parents, their wonderful kids. It was a wonderful experience.”

An estimated 2,200 people, according to staff, showed up to get their copies of “Going Rogue” signed by Palin. Store employees offered mini-muffins to those who waited, although the food, like shopping carts full of lemon-flavored Snapple iced tea, sat untouched as the weather grew colder. As they huddled, the fans abided by strict guidelines. They needed to be members of BJ’s. They needed to have copies of the book purchased from the store (at $16.75). They needed wristbands, which gave them access to the event. When inside, they were to get their books signed quickly. They were not to bug the former governor for photos, although Theresa Danner and her daughter Maria — who has Down syndrome — got a group photo after the elder Danner hugged Palin’s son Trig.

At every stop on her national book tour, Palin’s handlers have managed to box out political reporters while granting exclusive access to fans. In Fairfax, the effect was enhanced. Palin eschewed the decked-out “campaign” bus that had spirited her to some earlier events on the tour. She arrived quietly and stayed at a signing table that only some reporters were allowed to see, and only then to take a few photos or B-roll before heading back into the falling snow.

The fans, huddling outside, appreciated the arrangement. Some were veterans of other excruciatingly long book-signings from conservatives who’d called foul on the press. Lonnie Robertson told TWI that she’d attended a legendary March signing event a few miles to the east, where radio host Mark Levin signed copies of his manifesto “Liberty and Tyranny” for five hours. She’d just finished Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” which she said had eerie resonances to what was happening in Barack Obama’s America. Having gotten an early start on “Going Rogue,” she was struck by how many people Palin “called out” for their corruption or personnel failures, people like former Gov. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) or Palin’s old legislative aide.

“It makes sense,” said Robertson. “Why deal with incompetence? She’s a nice person overall, though — good standards, good morals, fiscal responsibility.”

Some Palin fans declined to give their first names; one approached a woman being interviewed by TWI to pull her aside and inform her that (as she had been told) she was talking to a reporter. Reporters, who had descended on the event with Flip cameras and notebooks, pulled Palin fans aside, largely trying to figure out and report what they liked so much about her. The most excitable fans left with their signed books and milled around with the people still in line, psyching them up.

“Your toes are frozen now, but they won’t be anymore!” said one fan who didn’t give her name. She wore four buttons of Palin’s face; her husband had three, one with Palin’s image next to Ronald Reagan’s. “She’s gorgeous, guys! She’s gorgeous!”

The less attention-craving Palin fans, people who’d brought books to get signed as Christmas presents, had more to say about why, exactly, the former governor of Alaska was so appealing to them. Al Geunot, a consultant who said he couldn’t really talk about politics with his clients, said that he was less interested in Palin’s.

“Getting elected governor of Alaska isn’t that impressive,” said Geunot. “She’s a regular person now. I’d be more interested to read the book she writes in 10 years, after dealing with all of this.”

Geunot was one of several attendees at the signing who connected with Palin not on social issues, but on economic angst. He was happy about Friday’s labor report that showed the unemployment rate dropping to 10 percent: “Any good news is welcome.” But he worried that both parties in power were shoveling money to powerful corporations, which weren’t interested or able in bringing back prosperity.

“Bank of America gets $45 billion and cuts $200 billion in credits,” said Geunot. (Palin supported the September 2009 passage of the bailout but has occasionally criticized it since.) “When we were giving them $45 billion to keep them from going bankrupt, the whole point was to keep the lines of credit flowing!”

Joe Sargent, a conservative activist who’d spent the year attending conferences and Tea Parties, was fired from his job on Friday. Immediately thereafter, he drove to BJ’s to line up for Palin with his daughter. He got to spend a few minutes with the former governor and her family, “probably the only chance I’ll ever have.” The media were missing the point when they suggested that Palin’s fans didn’t understand the issues, he said; they understood that the government couldn’t fix the economy, as did she.

“God always has a plan,” said Sargent. “He took me out of an uncomfortable situation I was in and got me into a better job. And then that company went south, but I’m not worried.”

HUMPHRIES: One of the questions Jason asks is would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?

PALIN: I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t know if I would have to bother to make it an issue because I think there are enough members of the electorate that still want answers.

HUMPHRIES: Do you think it’s a fair question to be looking at?

PALIN: I think it’s a fair question just like I think past associations and past voting records. All of that is fair game. You know, I’ve got to tell you too, I think our campaign, the McCain-Palin campaign didn’t do a good enough job in that area. We didn’t call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were, and perhaps what their future plans were, and I don’t think that was fair to voters to not have done our job as candidates and a campaign to bring to light a lot of things that now we’re seeing manifest in the administration.

HUMPHRIES: I mean, truly if your past is fair game and your kids are fair game, certainly Obama’s past should be. I mean, we want to treat men and women equally, right?

PALIN: Hey, you know, that’s a great point. And that weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn’t my real son, and a lot of people that went “Well, you need to produce his birth certificate, you need to prove that he’s your kid,” which we have done, but yeah, so maybe we can reverse that, and use the same [inaudible] thinking on the other one.

So, to recap: Palin, prompted only to talk about “the birth certificate,” realizes that she’s being asked about President Obama’s proof of citizenship. She says the public is “rightfully” making it an issue, that it’s a “fair question,” and that it’s fair game — and because some people have questioned whether Trig Palin is really her son, it’s fair to “reverse that” and ask questions about the president’s birth certificate.

The way I always look at birther questions and answers is: How would they read if they covered another conspiracy theory? Imagine a politician being asked, say, if he/she would “make the real story of 9/11 an issue.” If the politician answered anything but no, it would be a scandal. If he/she said “I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue,” I think it would be interpreted as a flat-out endorsement of the “truthers.” Look, for example, at the mini-uproar that happened after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was ambushed by truthers with cameras who asked leading questions about the “families’” desire for a new 9/11 investigation. Indulging a conspiracy theory that casts doubts on the legitimacy of the president is not something serious politicians do.

Another angle here is what it reveals about Palin’s character. She has spoken and written angrily for more than a year about the people she calls “Trig Truthers,” anyone who questions whether Trig Palin is her son. The lesson she’s taken from the experience is not that conspiracy theories are out of bounds. It’s that if they are going to be conspiracy theories about her, there might as well be conspiracy theories about her political enemies.

Ahead, on my right, I saw the Alaska Right to Life (RTL) booth, where a poster caught my eye, taking my breath away. It featured the sweetest baby girl swathed in pink, pretend angel wings fastened to her soft shoulders.

“That’s you, baby,” I whispered to Piper, as I have every year since she smiled for the picture as an infant. She popped another cloud of cotton candy into her mouth and looked nonchalant: Still the pro-life poster child at the State Fair. Ho-hum.

Well, I still thought it was a nice shot, as I did every time I saw it on its advertisements and fund-raiser tickets. It reminded me of the preciousness of life.

It also reminded me of how impatient I am with politics.

A staunch advocate of every child’s right to be born, I was pro-life enough for the grassroots RTL folks to adopt Piper as their poster child, but I wasn’t politically connected enough for the state GOP machine to allow the organization to endorse me in early campaigns.

Time and again, Palin uses her large family for political purposes, and then complains that they’re “off limits” when she decides they’re under attack. We’ve seen it with the use of her son Trig–Palin put him on national TV at the 2008 Republican National Convention, and has occasionally accused liberals of wanting to kill him. We’ve seen it with Bristol Palin, whose pregnancy became a national story, and with Track Palin, whose military service Palin has referred to again and again. But it seems like Piper Palin’s star turn for Alaska Right to Life was the first political deployment of a Palin family member.

I was shocked to learn of the comment made by President Obama about Special Olympics. This was a degrading remark about our world’s most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world. These athletes overcome more challenges, discrimination and adversity than most of us ever will. By the way, these athletes can outperform many of us and we should be proud of them. I hope President Obama’s comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community.

Benjamin Sarlin adds the necessary context about Palin and special needs funding. I’d add that it’s surprising the statement took so long — it missed the news cycle and will be lost over the weekend — and that it doesn’t acknowledge Obama’s immediate apology, instead asking whether the comment reveals how the president “truly feels” about the mentally challenged.

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Michael Barone, senior writer at U.S. News & World Report and principal coauthor of “The Almanac of American Politics,” said at a luncheon today that journalists went after Gov. Sarah Palin so fiercely because she decided to carry her youngest son, Trig, to term.

From Politico:

“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.”

Barone has apologized since making the remarks earlier today, saying he was joking.

Here’s why I think it’s worth noting. The press has taken a lot of heat for aggressively digging into Palin’s record as mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska, from Palin herself and some of her supporters. Even some journalists I know have asked me about the sheer volume of the coverage.

Let’s remember what happened.

After having months to pick his running mate, Sen. John McCain suddenly selected Palin after having met her just once. News reports suggested the choice was a purely political move meant to prevent a major Sen. Barack Obama bounce after the Democratic convention. Palin was a relative unknown, with a short record in statewide office, having been governor about a year and a half. But she was suddenly running to be vice president of the United States with a 72-year-old man with a history of health problems. There was a real chance she could end up stepping in as president.

Taking this into account, the media had a responsibility to take a hard look at her record. We’ve had 30 years to figure out who Sen Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate, is, what he believes and what kind of decisions he makes. But with Palin, the press had about two months to report out the information. The scrutiny of Palin was intense because it had to be.

Compounding the problem was the McCain campaign’s decision to isolate and insulate Palin. The once media-friendly politician was suddenly unreachable. At the same time, she was stoking a culture war on the stump by accusing the press of being disconnected with the people.

Maybe I just can’t take a joke. But for now, I think, we should have done more, not less.