A GUEST EDITORIAL

My wife and I are taking care of a new grandson, age 4-1/2 months. It's been awhile since we've handled an infant, but one reminder came through immediately after he was born: babies operate on their own schedule. When they are hungry, they cry and need to be fed. When they are tired, they cry too, and need to be quieted down for sleep. This cycle happens on and off during the day.

We also know something about special needs children, because our second child was born with severe heart defects and eventually died at age two.

Which brings me to Trig Palin. I've been watching Sarah Palin get off her bus during her book signing tour, always with her 19 month old child in her arms. She carries Trig on stage with her and holds him while she answers questions from the crowd. One thing seems to be clear: whatever mood Trig seems to be in, whatever special needs he may have at the moment, when the Sarah Palin tour bus pulls into that Borders, it's Show Time! He is dressed and ready to go meet the adoring crowds, like some prop in a vaudeville program.

No doubt some people think this is all very cute - Sarah and Trig, a modern version of the Madonna and Child (I owe this metaphor to Andrew Sullivan). Everyone knows Trig could have been aborted, because Sarah Palin told us so - and who knows whether her stories are true or not, especially on something so personal. Trig stands as a symbol of hope for the anti-abortion crowd, not to mention proof of Sarah Palin's fortitude in accepting God's decision to give her a special needs child.

Well, I call bullshit on this. In fact, what I should be doing is calling the Department of Children and Family Services in whatever state Sarah Palin happens to be visiting. This is child abuse. This is a narcissistic woman using her special needs child as a campaign prop. This is all about her and her adoring crowds, and Trig's needs come a very distant second. I don't care how many handlers she has helping out or how many family members travel with her. This is her son , and his schedule comes first, not hers. And no infant should be exposed to the rigors of the campaign trail in the first place.

Down Syndrome children have a 40% - 60% chance of having severe heart defects, along with respiratory and stomach tract problems. We don't know what Trig Palin's medical situation is, but he is highly unlikely to be a healthy one year old child. I can tell you from personal experience that children with heart defects need 24 hour a day attention from their parents, not from some campaign surrogate caretaker. Decisions have to be made all the time that affect the health of the child.

Sarah Palin is behaving recklessly, negligently, and criminally. So are her doctors if they have approved this public and dangerous treatment of a special needs child. Sarah Palin needs to be stopped by the public authorities wherever she is pulling off these book tour stunts, and her admirers need to get educated about the very serious and immoral risks she is taking with Trig Palin.

Thanks to The Agonist