No fan of Palin here, but to be fair, her policies as governor -- for the whole 22 months she has held the position -- have hardly been in place long enough to effect birth-defect rates (or much else for that matter).

The fact that her policies are as resource extractive/exploitative weighted as any of her predecessors (and are in fact the clear focus of her administration's efforts) in light of the growing evidence that such single-mindedness is unhealthy should be what critics focus on.

If a twigg falls in the forest but nobody is there to hear it, it's probably best because there is bound to be cussing.