The Doll Question

Several people have asked about the possibility that a realistic doll was utilized to impersonate Trig in the early days of his life, specifically, as what or who some of us would refer to as the Ruffles baby. The photo at right is of a realistic doll. A commenter on a previous post asked if I could post the four photos in a row together to which I was referring to refute the doll possibility. This text is in a separate post simply because I was having problems lining up the four photos and text in the manner I desired. From left to right in the previous post are shown photos from Kristan Cole's baby shower of 5/4/08, Mercede holding Trig in the Palin kitchen on 5/3/08, Trig in the hospital hallway with The Heaths 4/18/08, and just below in the previous post, Trig in the Anchorage office 4/23/08. In my opinion, these four shots cannot be of a doll unless they are of four separate dolls because the mouth and the lines around the mouth are different in all four shots. The position of the baby's head is slightly different, too, and on the magazine cover the baby's hand is wrapped around Sarah's finger.

If anyone still wants to discuss this topic or any other theory concerning Babygate, my couch is always open. We try to remain considerate of all theories and suppositions here at Palin Babygate. The goal is to stop the monster. We don't care who gets the credit for it, just so the deed is done!

Possible Doll Photos

Where's Ruffles?

The official dates on which we can verify that Ruffles, playing the part of Trig #1, was photographed are 4/18/08 - 5/4/08. I am not sure of the exact date of this photo. Maybe one of you can enlighten me, but I do know that it is a crop of a larger shot of Ruffles being held by his pseudo-parents, probably in SP's Anchorage office on 4/23/08. As far as we know, Ruffles has not been photographed since he was taken to a baby shower hosted by Kristan Cole on Sunday, May 4th, 2008. You can read more about Kristan Cole at Barb Dwyer's excellent, but apparently defunct, blog named Terminal Hypocrisy.

The legendary stage prop often referred to as Trig #2 or Round Ear made a grand entrance at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Sarah Palin had been selected as the VP nominee on 8/29-08. In that brief Friday to Wednesday time period, Round Ear may or may not have appeared in photos. I am not certain, and once again, maybe one of you has more detailed information; however, this may be of little consequence anyway. The real questions concern whatever happened to these two babies between 5/4/08 and 8/29/08. If you examine The Ultimate Babygate Timeline, you will notice that there are very few entries of any sort during this approximate four-month time period. There are none at all during the month of July. In other words, we have very little evidence to verify exactly when the baby switch took place. Did both of them coexist in the Palin household during that summer? Was there a time gap in which there was no baby in that household?

Some have speculated that Ruffles reappeared on the book tour as Batwing. Although I think that is possible, it is not likely, but let's examine that scenario for a moment. What if Ruffles grew into Batwing and he rode one bus of the tour and Round Ear rode the other? Well, if nothing else, I think that plan would have made Sarah happy! She could have flown over her peasants without having to deal with a baby except for those brief periods on the buses. There is at least one photo in which Trig's batwing ears seem clearly different than those of Round Ear, but if you blow up that shot, the one near Christmas when Trig is wearing red with a black stripe on his sleeve and being held by Sarah, also in red, you will see that Trig's hearing aid and glasses are the source of the distortion of his left ear. This photo is just Round Ear as usual, except for once, he is properly attired with glasses and hearing aid.

There is another shot of Trig in green in which the batwing ear is even more prevalent, and many have commented on that Trig's vivaciousness, as evidenced in a video clip from the book tour. Maybe his meds had simply worn off? That would be my first guess, since I was telling my wife that I thought Trig had been drugged, even at the GOP convention. Many later photos convinced me even further that the baby was being drugged for most of his public appearances just to make him keep quiet and behave. I am not totally convinced that a separate Batwing Trig does not exist, but I have been mostly skeptical. At this point anyway, I think there is a stronger likelihood of Ruffles and Round Ear being blood related than there is of three Trigs. From looking at the poll above, most of you seem to agree that two unrelated Trigs are the most likely scenario, but the existence of Batwing still garners a lot of votes!

I must end this post on the sad note that you knew was coming. Is Ruffles still alive? Are the Palins pulling a Jane Eyre or The Shuttered Room? Is that one of the reasons they needed to expand the compound, so they would have a home layout that would allow them to conceal the existence of Ruffles indefinitely? Did they place him in an institution during that fateful summer of '08? Did they keep him around until CBJ could produce the right replacement, and then dispose of him in whatever manner you may dread imagining? I do not have a clue how to answer these despicable, disgusting questions. Look at the bright side: Ruffles may be happily living his life with someone who truly loves him. Unless we can find a way to blow open this household of fraudulent behaviors, we may never know. The best thing I can say at this point is that the witch has her panties in a knot and her boobs are exploding over the simple fact that a new neighbor might overhear three hungry babies crying at once!

Ten Toes Addendum

Here is a blowup of the photo Miz Linda suggested. This is, of course, another shot of Mercede holding Ruffles. In this version, the big toe of the right foot appears more average in length. You can also more clearly see five toes instead of only four. It is quite possible that my whole idea of a longer big toe is a mistake, that it only appeared longer in the other photo. The question is whether the toes are distinctive or not. At this point, I am not sure myself, but this is not really the point of this exercise.

What I really want to know is if: (a) There is only one Trig, and there has always been only one Trig; (b) There are two Trigs and they are related by blood in some way; or (c) There are two unrelated Trigs. I generally lean toward there being at least two Trigs, but I do not know that for a fact. A secondary question is when did each Trig appear? Was Ruffles Trig from early '08 until the GOP convention and then Round Ear took over? Was Round Ear ever seen by anyone outside the family between April and August 2008? Was Levi holding two babies of about the same age in that one infamous photo? Is there a somewhat more active, Batwing Trig that appeared on the book tour? Inquiring minds want to know.

Ten Little Toes

Someone sent me a rather cryptic Babygate message yesterday with a theory to which I had previously not allowed much credibility. That theory is not the subject of this post, but in my research of that theory, I stumbled upon something else that I had not noticed before. In this infamous photo of Ruffles, he seems to have an extra-long big toe on his right foot. In a photo of Round Ear held by Sarah on her left hip, he seems to have a long left big toe. That photo is a couple of years later than the first one, and no, I cannot find a single photo of the other foot of either child. I can verify that the earlier photo has not been accidentally flipped in processing because this a blowup of the shot in which Sarah is standing right next to Mercede and Ruffles with a big VANDALS printed on her shirt. I do not have a way to verify that the later photo has not been flipped, however. Maybe someone else can verify this.

A very brief bit of research stated that the long big toe is not a common trait. A longer second toe may actually be a more common condition. I am assuming for now that all two (or four) feet have the long big toe trait. I have not been able to ascertain if some people are born with only one long toe, but I do not think this is the case. I have not found any mention of FAS or DS being associated with this trait, either.

When I first noticed this issue, it looked to me as if Ruffles had only four toes on his right foot, but my better judgment tells me that that is just a distortion in the blowup of the tiny photograph, or the angle is distorting the look of Ruffles' toes. When you look at Ruffles' left foot, it appears to have a normal-sized big toe, but again, my best guess is that this is a distortion emanating from the angle of the photo. If anyone else has any better photos than I have, please chime in with your opinion. I am not the least bit certain of any of this. Is it just a figment of my frustrated imagination? Why has no one else mentioned it before?

This brings me to that other new theory, the one I am not yet ready to disclose until the dust has settled on this one. If these toes are indeed a distinctive trait, does that mean that there is only one Trig, or does it mean the two Trigs are related? Does anyone have clear photos of the other feet?