Sarah Palin's daughter IS pregnant, actually

[Eraserhead]

It's interesting that of all the scary stories that have come out about Palin's positions on the issues and such, that'll this will probably be the thing that sinks her. It's a funny world we live in.

[Alcon]

I so don't see this "sinking" her.

[Keystone Phil]

Well, let's think of it this way - how did Mike Huckabee, the once prominent voice of many social conservatives in this country, react when we found out that Britney Spears' sister was pregnant? Sure, the Spears' have a reputation for being "conservative" Republicans but at the time the family was an easy target for ridicule in society. What did Huckabee say? He came out against bashing the young girl, expressed joy in her desire to keep and raise the child and wished her all the best.

That's nonsensical because the Spears family aren't the political opponents of the Republicans, leaders in a party the Republicans claim is on the wrong side of the culture war destroying America.

Most people don't know about the political leanings of the Spears family so it could still be used just as easily.

It's interesting that of all the scary stories that have come out about Palin's positions on the issues and such, that'll this will probably be the thing that sinks her. It's a funny world we live in.

Attack her on this and we'll see who ends up getting sunk.

[Torie]

It strikes me as a bit unfair to hold up politicians of more "traditional" values to a higher standard as to the behavior of their children. And I don't think Palin was sold as the perfect mother, nor even as a seasoned cultural warrior. She was sold as a tough minded reformer, who didn't take any crap, a tough but non castrating sister actually. I sure hope this blows over the way of Gustav, with the levees holding. without any real damage.

[Lief 🗽]

Certainly not sink her, but in the crucial couple of days since we as a nation met her, this seems to be one of the big stories (of course, I don't have a TV, so I don't know if they're talking about this beyond the internet news sites).

[Keystone Phil]

Certainly not sink her, but in the crucial couple of days since we as a nation met her, this seems to be one of the big stories (of course, I don't have a TV, so I don't know if they're talking about this beyond the internet news sites).

Yeah, there isn't a hyped up hurricane hitting Louisiana anymore.

[Brittain33]

It strikes me as a bit unfair to hold up politicians of more "traditional" values to a higher standard as to the behavior of their children.

Is it any more unfair than when they hold up gays or African-Americans to a higher standard, and they bring it up in the first place?

If they're the ones who insist on the standards and that they should be higher than the Democrats believe in, yes, they must walk the walk. Perhaps one needs to have been casually referred to as one of society's delinquents by politicians and religious figures on a regular basis to appreciate this. My first sympathies for double standards do not extend to conservative politicians, not since I've had to tune out hearing people quite seriously and sincerely say that I got married in order to destroy the institution of marriage. The onus is on them to stand up to their words.

(on edit: what I had specifically in mind is the accepted views among most Republicans and nearly all Republican elected officials that two same-sex parents are an inferior option to two opposite-sex parents. If Palin hasn't said that at least once, it would have been extraordinary; Bush and McCain say it all the time.)

[Torie]

I just don't get it really. The only line of attack which might hurt a bit with the secular upper middle class in precincts McCain needs to make inroads in, is that Sarah favors abstinence only sex education. That does not sell at all in my zip code, and this highlights that. Of course it should not matter at all in how one votes for POTUS, but lots of things that should not matter to me, do to others, unfortunately. And so it goes.

I can see that.  Of course, I don't know exactly to who that is a game changer in the OC.

There are a fair number of upper middle class swing voters in OC, which is hidden by the overall partisan divide, but I was thinking more about places where it would matter, like in Montco County, and Oakland County, and Indian Hill and Littleton, and Evergreen.

[Torie]

It strikes me as a bit unfair to hold up politicians of more "traditional" values to a higher standard as to the behavior of their children.

Is it any more unfair than when they hold up gays or African-Americans to a higher standard, and they bring it up in the first place?

If they're the ones who insist on the standards and that they should be higher than the Democrats believe in, yes, they must walk the walk. Perhaps one needs to have been casually referred to as one of society's delinquents by politicians and religious figures on a regular basis to appreciate this. My first sympathies for double standards do not extend to conservative politicians, not since I've had to tune out hearing people quite seriously and sincerely say that I got married in order to destroy the institution of marriage. The onus is on them to stand up to their words.

It is tough to pass your values onto your issue seamlessly, Brittain. Folks have hangups on the gay thing, no doubt about it. And it is pretty hard wired.

[J. J.]

Teenager having sex -> Teenager having sex without precautions -> Teenager is a slut -> Teenager has bad judgment all-around -> Teenager's mom didn't raise her right -> Sarah Palin would be a terrible Vice President

Ay, logical leap here.

No.  Democrats attack Palin and Bristol -> Democrats held back Hillary -> Democrats hate motherhood in general -> Democrats hate women -> Democrats are mean for hating motherhood and women -> Americans don't want mean Democrayts as president -> Vote McCain.

Equally logical and a lot more emotional.

[Third Party]

A real Evangelical fundamentalist would kick their 17 year old daughter out of the house and send her to a homeless shelter for punishment for getting pregnant. I think Palin will lose credibility with the fundamentalist base of the GOP if she does not seriously punish this girl.

[Torie]

A real Evangelical fundamentalist would kick their 17 year old daughter out of the house and send her to a homeless shelter for punishment for getting pregnant. I think Palin will lose credibility with the fundamentalist base of the GOP if she does not seriously punish this girl.

I don't think you understand these folks well at all. Now if their son came out as gay .....

[HardRCafé]

That would be true if Alan Keyes were the only real Evangelical Fundamentalist alive.

And remember what happened when he replaced someone else on the ballot against Barack Obama.

[Eraserhead]

A real Evangelical fundamentalist would kick their 17 year old daughter out of the house and send her to a homeless shelter for punishment for getting pregnant. I think Palin will lose credibility with the fundamentalist base of the GOP if she does not seriously punish this girl.

She'll probably lose it with Mr. Alan Keyes, that's for sure.

[Keystone Phil]

I think this story is Strike Four...or is it Five?...for the Palin Hate Brigade.

[Torie]

That would be true if Alan Keyes were the only real Evangelical Fundamentalist alive.

And remember what happened when he replaced someone else on the ballot against Barack Obama.

Nah. Keyes bounced his daughter for being gay.

Keyes is going to have a cell next to mine in hell, and be consigned to having to debate with me about abortion and gays  for all eternity. There really IS justice in this world.

[HardRCafé]

I know.  Point remains.

I beat Eraserhead by only twenty-nine seconds.

[TomC]

A real Evangelical fundamentalist would kick their 17 year old daughter out of the house and send her to a homeless shelter for punishment for getting pregnant. I think Palin will lose credibility with the fundamentalist base of the GOP if she does not seriously punish this girl.

Yes, actually. This happened to my sister's inlaws. Her sister in law got pregnant out of wedlock and her father in law would not speak to her. She could not attend any family events he was at.

[Third Party]

I don't think you understand these folks well at all. Now if their son came out as gay .....

Actually, I went to a fundamentalist school K-12. There was a 17 year old girl there who dated a member of a rival fundamentalist sect (she didn't get pregnant though). Her parents kicked her out of the house and sent her to a homeless shelter. That is what this story made me think of.

[cinyc]

BS, JSojourner!

BS!

I love you man, but you're getting awful unreasonable.

The conservative creed is that you should not have a baby until you get married.

The conservative creed is that conservative mothers should teach abstinence!

This is a big hit to the McCain campaign. Period.

You simply don't understand conservatives or Evangelicals.   Have you ever heard of the phrase love the sinner, hate the sin?  Evangelicals have.  Evangelicals also understand that nobody's perfect.

This won't hurt the McCain campaign among Evangelicals.   But if so-called "progressives" overplay their hand, it could boomerang against them.

Obama's response so far has been perfect - I said don't bring families into the campaign and I meant it.  Unfortunately for him, I suspect some so-called "progressives" will overplay this.  Obama's going to have to police his campaign website better to make sure things don't get posted there.

[cinyc]

The Anchorage Daily News reports that as of two days ago, Sarah Palin's press spokesman, Bill McAllister, didn't know Bristol was pregnant.

I'm inclined to believe more than ever McCain didn't know, that the Palin family was trying to keep this a secret (not an unrealistic proposition), and that deeper vetting would have brought it out because the Palins aren't pathological liars or idiots.

Link with the relevant bits to be found at the bottom.

http://www.adn.com/1536/story/512560.html

I really don't understand why everyone seems to think the McCain campaign didn't vet Governor Palin.  The Washington Post story says the campaign vetted Governor Palin as much as any other Veep candidate.  She WAS on the short list.  She made every cut when the list was whittled down along the way.  And the campaign performed an FBI background check on her.

[Torie]

I don't think you understand these folks well at all. Now if their son came out as gay .....

Actually, I went to a fundamentalist school K-12. There was a 17 year old girl there who dated a member of a rival fundamentalist sect (she didn't get pregnant though). Her parents kicked her out of the house and sent her to a homeless shelter. That is what this story made me think of.

I certainly hope the state sent them a bill, for the costs. That is all they had for alternative living arrangements for minors - a homeless shelter? It must be a quite backward zip code.

[Beet]

BS, JSojourner!

BS!

I love you man, but you're getting awful unreasonable.

The conservative creed is that you should not have a baby until you get married.

The conservative creed is that conservative mothers should teach abstinence!

This is a big hit to the McCain campaign. Period.

You simply don't understand conservatives or Evangelicals.   Have you ever heard of the phrase love the sinner, hate the sin?  Evangelicals have.  Evangelicals also understand that nobody's perfect.

This won't hurt the McCain campaign among Evangelicals.   But if so-called "progressives" overplay their hand, it could boomerang against them.

Obama's response so far has been perfect - I said don't bring families into the campaign and I meant it.  Unfortunately for him, I suspect some so-called "progressives" will overplay this.  Obama's going to have to police his campaign website better to make sure things don't get posted there.

During the primaries someone posted on Obama's site that they wanted to slit Hillary Clinton's throat and throw her in a ditch. Sites can be moderated, but no one can control things that an anonymous person might write.

[Thomas Jackson]

Actually, Bristol's pregnancy shows the IMPORTANCE of family values. To begin with, it demonstrates that despite the fact that Bristol was raised in a grounded, loving, Conservative home, the hedonistic filth from Hollyweird and the NEA crept in anyway. Thus, bombarded by images of sex and told by her school that sex before marriage is OK, she made a teenage mistake.

None-the-less, she understood that life is precious and that murder of her unborn child was not an option. She also realized that marrying the father of her child was the right thing to do.

As Robert Bork pointed out, there are Amish kids in Pennsylvania who know about Madonna, despite the best efforts of their parents.

[Eraserhead]

Actually, Bristol's pregnancy shows the IMPORTANCE of family values. To begin with, it demonstrates that despite the fact that Bristol was raised in a grounded, loving, Conservative home, the hedonistic filth from Hollyweird and the NEA crept in anyway. Thus, bombarded by images of sex and told by her school that sex before marriage is OK, she made a teenage mistake.

None-the-less, she understood that life is precious and that murder of her unborn child was not an option. She also realized that marrying the father of her child was the right thing to do.

As Robert Bork pointed out, there are Amish kids in Pennsylvania who know about Madonna, despite the best efforts of their parents.

LOL