BS: Laura, a friend on mine on the West Coast said she sees a similarity in looks between Mike Wooten, Sarah Palin’s former brother-in-law, and Trig. So that got me looking at their online photos, and I made the following composite, which shows their heads at the top, and then a close-up of the ears below. (I’ve lightened and sharpened the ear images.) Tell me what you think:
LN: I think ‘Oh My Goodness. Will this family never cease to amaze?’
BS: When comparing the ears, keep in mind that, if Trig and Wooten are related, Trig’s ear would represent a less mature version of Wooten’s; thus, you should try to picture Trig’s ear with the thickening and deepening that naturally would come with age. The more I look for points of correspondence, the more I am struck by the similarities between the ears.
And it’s not just the ears that are similar. The chins look alike too in the above photos. So that got me looking for more photos displaying their chins. Here is a side-by-side comparison:
BS: When comparing the ears, keep in mind that, if Trig and Wooten are related, Trig’s ear would represent a less mature version of Wooten’s; thus, you should try to picture Trig’s ear with the thickening and deepening that naturally would come with age. The more I look for points of correspondence, the more I am struck by the similarities between the ears.
And it’s not just the ears that are similar. The chins look alike too in the above photos. So that got me looking for more photos displaying their chins. Here is a side-by-side comparison:
You have to look closely, but don’t you think there is something very distinctive about the shape of both those chins? Almost a round knob shape at the end of the chin?
LN: Um, yup, I see it. I didn’t want to see it. I never thought I’d see it. But it’s not a stretch.
BS: One thing that looks somewhat dissimilar is the shape of the head, with Wooten’s being fatter around the jowls. But his ex-wife testified in the divorce proceedings that he had been taking steroids, which can result in a fattening of the face. (Just compare a photo of the young Roger Clemons with the current, steroid-puffed-up one.) If you can imagine Wooten’s face slimmed down a bit, then he and Trig would seem to have quite similar blockish head shapes.
If we assume, for the sake of argument, that that Wooten might be related to Trig, how does that work out with what we know?
LN: I don’t think the timing of Trig’s birth (year, not month, whatever month that might be) works out in terms of the Palins’ obsession with Wooten. But I do want to comment on uber-author Joe McGinniss. His writing is so subtle in The Rogue. The irony of Joe's stay on Lake Lucille combined with the factual history of Sarah’s life in public office makes for very good reading. He does not hit the reader over the head, but I was floored nevertheless by the passages on the Palins and Mr. Wooten.
And what struck me, Brad, is how truly fixated, obsessed and confused the Palins were about this man. He might very well have been a “bad guy,” but their focus on him was so overweening as to suggest deeper meaning. And by that I mean, yes, we’ve probably all disliked someone our sibling dated or married. Yet, this vendetta went well beyond that. A judge scolded them. Monegan admonished them. Yet the Palin’s drive to somehow separate this man, Wooten, from their family suggested a deeper pathology because no amount of professional advice or threat (from the judge) could stop Todd and Sarah.
BS: First, let me say that while the physical similarities are suggestive, in themselves they mean nothing. As far as I know, half of all Alaskans might have rounded bumps on their chins. But what makes this interesting, as you point out, Laura, is the level of hatred the Palins seemed to harbor for Wooten. Why? It could simply be because Wooten and Molly, Sarah’s sister, had a messy divorce in 2005, with ensuing battles over visitation rights, child support, etc.
But the venom Sarah and Todd exhibited for Wooten does suggest something deeper. They were engaged in a campaign to get him fired, and if they succeeded, that might have actually hurt Molly and her kids, because without a job Wooten would not be able to pay child support.
Whatever it was that caused that hatred may have precipitated the divorce, and whatever it was may have continued after the divorce. But whatever that something was that inspired Sarah’s hatred, I don’t feel comfortable speculating out loud about it. But it does make me want to do more digging.
As to whether Wooten and Trig might be related, keep in mind there’s more than one way that could happen.
LN: A few months ago, when we were looking at the montage of Trig and Levi that a reader put together for me, I discussed it personally with a regular reader of this blog. I said that if Levi looked like Shaq, we would not even be having this discussion. Little did I know how ironic that comment would turn out to be given what we now know from Joe’s thoroughly researched book on Sarah, that she had reportedly slept with a black basketball player.
My point being that curiously, all of these folks resemble one another. No, we are not pointing to someone who looks like Shaq and wondering if he might be Trig’s father. We are looking at a person who, once again, exhibits facial features that are not that far off from this sweet boy’s.
Other people are also seeing resemblances between people who have fraught, tense, and publicly volatile relationships with the Palins. So you are right not to speculate about the cause of Sarah and Todd’s obsession. But it does suggest something beyond a sister being unhappy or poorly treated. What do our readers think?
LN: Um, yup, I see it. I didn’t want to see it. I never thought I’d see it. But it’s not a stretch.
BS: One thing that looks somewhat dissimilar is the shape of the head, with Wooten’s being fatter around the jowls. But his ex-wife testified in the divorce proceedings that he had been taking steroids, which can result in a fattening of the face. (Just compare a photo of the young Roger Clemons with the current, steroid-puffed-up one.) If you can imagine Wooten’s face slimmed down a bit, then he and Trig would seem to have quite similar blockish head shapes.
If we assume, for the sake of argument, that that Wooten might be related to Trig, how does that work out with what we know?
LN: I don’t think the timing of Trig’s birth (year, not month, whatever month that might be) works out in terms of the Palins’ obsession with Wooten. But I do want to comment on uber-author Joe McGinniss. His writing is so subtle in The Rogue. The irony of Joe's stay on Lake Lucille combined with the factual history of Sarah’s life in public office makes for very good reading. He does not hit the reader over the head, but I was floored nevertheless by the passages on the Palins and Mr. Wooten.
And what struck me, Brad, is how truly fixated, obsessed and confused the Palins were about this man. He might very well have been a “bad guy,” but their focus on him was so overweening as to suggest deeper meaning. And by that I mean, yes, we’ve probably all disliked someone our sibling dated or married. Yet, this vendetta went well beyond that. A judge scolded them. Monegan admonished them. Yet the Palin’s drive to somehow separate this man, Wooten, from their family suggested a deeper pathology because no amount of professional advice or threat (from the judge) could stop Todd and Sarah.
BS: First, let me say that while the physical similarities are suggestive, in themselves they mean nothing. As far as I know, half of all Alaskans might have rounded bumps on their chins. But what makes this interesting, as you point out, Laura, is the level of hatred the Palins seemed to harbor for Wooten. Why? It could simply be because Wooten and Molly, Sarah’s sister, had a messy divorce in 2005, with ensuing battles over visitation rights, child support, etc.
But the venom Sarah and Todd exhibited for Wooten does suggest something deeper. They were engaged in a campaign to get him fired, and if they succeeded, that might have actually hurt Molly and her kids, because without a job Wooten would not be able to pay child support.
Whatever it was that caused that hatred may have precipitated the divorce, and whatever it was may have continued after the divorce. But whatever that something was that inspired Sarah’s hatred, I don’t feel comfortable speculating out loud about it. But it does make me want to do more digging.
As to whether Wooten and Trig might be related, keep in mind there’s more than one way that could happen.
LN: A few months ago, when we were looking at the montage of Trig and Levi that a reader put together for me, I discussed it personally with a regular reader of this blog. I said that if Levi looked like Shaq, we would not even be having this discussion. Little did I know how ironic that comment would turn out to be given what we now know from Joe’s thoroughly researched book on Sarah, that she had reportedly slept with a black basketball player.
My point being that curiously, all of these folks resemble one another. No, we are not pointing to someone who looks like Shaq and wondering if he might be Trig’s father. We are looking at a person who, once again, exhibits facial features that are not that far off from this sweet boy’s.
Other people are also seeing resemblances between people who have fraught, tense, and publicly volatile relationships with the Palins. So you are right not to speculate about the cause of Sarah and Todd’s obsession. But it does suggest something beyond a sister being unhappy or poorly treated. What do our readers think?
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