UPDATE III 1:30PM 2008-09-09 He's back. It's still all fishy. My response to his post about his whereabouts can be found by clicking hereHere are all three posts as to my speculation of Andrew Sullivan's whereabouts, from first to last, so you don't have to click from post to post.
Part 1 (Yesterday, 600PM):Where is Andrew Sullivan today? His blog has received, just today, nearly half-a-million hits as of 5PM and he has only posted once, and that was a "View from your Window" post. So, where's
Andrew Sullivan?
Hmmm
Part II (Yesterday, 800PM):So just where is Andrew Sullivan? Last night, at 8:25, Andrew Sullivan posted something that, on its face, seems straight-forward and clear. The post simply applauds Sarah Palin's decision to raise Trig despite the fact that the Palin's knew of his Down Symdrome during the pregnancy. Take a look:
In thinking about this astonishing week, and what's to come, I want to go on record again as saying that the decision to bring up a child with Down Syndrome is one of the most noble, beautiful and admirable decisions any person can make. That Sarah Palin is doing that says a huge amount in favor of her. The love obviously being shown toward tiny Trig is also about as profound an advertisement for genuine, pro-life Christianity as you can have. It means that, in this respect, Palin has walked the walk of the pro-life movement - in ways that many others have not. In my view, and I mean this as passionately as I mean my criticisms of her public record, this really is God's work.
I have no reason to doubt that Sullivan feels this way. It is consistent with his beliefs about abortion. However read it again.
Now keep in mind that Sully is despised by both the left and right of the political spectrum. In many ways his positions are the loneliest to take because they are not often aligned along party lines or ideologies. I respect Sully for this approach (hence my regular citations of his blog on this blog). Now, once again, read what he wrote.
Did you catch any of it? What seemed perfectly clear at first glance becomes quite cryptic upon further observation. It seems to be foreshadowing something, telling his readers that something is about to break and when it does and chaos ensues, he wants people to know where he stands in regards to the innocent child, Trig, and the woman who is raising him
as her own.
Let's pick the statement apart piece by piece. My commentary is in red:
In thinking about this astonishing week, and what's to come (what is to come? What information does Sully have that we do not? And why is he withholding it? Is he getting his ducks in a row on a potentially devastating story?), I want to go on record again as saying that the decision to bring up a child with Down Syndrome is one of the most noble, beautiful and admirable decisions any person can make (the "decision to bring up" Did you catch it? Bring up. Not "give birth to a child") . That Sarah Palin is doing that says a huge amount in favor of her. The love obviously being shown toward tiny Trig (not "her son". That's odd. Just the "love that is being shown toward Tiny Trig) is also about as profound an advertisement for genuine, pro-life Christianity as you can have. It means that, in this respect, Palin has walked the walk of the pro-life movement - in ways that many others have not. In my view, and I mean this as passionately as I mean my criticisms of her public record, this really is God's work. (Sully never once calls Trig Sarah's son)
Sully is not some unhinged blogger. He is someone that has built a respectable career on nuance and self-reflection. But reading his posts over the past week, one can't help but wonder if Sully has knowledge of something for which he is catiously seeking proof. If the information he has is not concerning the legitimacy of Sarah's relationship to Trig, I have no doubt it is something equally explosive. The question is, will he collect sufficent evidence to reveal the information, or will he, for the sake of his own reputation, be forced to keep the information to himself?
So, once again, where's Andrew Sullivan?
PART III (Today, this morning):
NOTE II: As many have pointed out, Sully has never broken a major story. I said that as well. It could be all this fuss is an illness and it could be that he getting the boot from The Atlantic. Who knows? I just suspect there is something more. I may be wrong. It would not be the first time!My speculation as to whereabouts of Andrew Sullivan has once again brought a huge amount of attention to this blog. The hits last night and this morning alone are more than this blog normally receives in a four month period.
As of this morning Sully has yet to post. Many comments seem to think Sully could be ill or that something might be wrong with his husband or he might be on vacation. But Sully always, always leaves a post about this sort of thing and also gets people to guest-blog. Additionally, he just took a vacation and Sully would not miss the last few weeks of the presidential race for anything. He might be sick (or Aaron might be sick) but I doubt it.
Another comment asked if Sully has broken a major news story in his life. To my knowledge, no. His forte is commentary. But he has implored journalists to start asking the right questions about Palin and start doing their jobs. He has screamed (as loud as one can scream on a blog) that they not be intimidated by the McCain campaign and get to the business of thoroughly vetting Palin since McCain apparently did not .
Is he on to something? I don't know. But I do know he is not intimidated easily. He takes hits from all sides and keeps going strong.
Now, if he is on to something and does "break" a story be prepared for the war on Sully to intensify. His opponents will bring up the sex controversy of 2001 and use it as reason to discredit Sully's story. They will also say he is a hypocrite.
If they do, they do so at their own peril. I imagine Sully is prepared for whatever might come.
UPDATE: As many have pointed out, Sully has never broken a major story. I said that as well. It could be all this fuss is an illness and it could be that he getting the boot from
The Atlantic. Who knows? I just suspect there is something more
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