wizard633: blog 
wizard633's blog
a little brave, too: take a look at sarah palin's daughter from a different view
Published Sep. 2, 2008Tuesday, September 2, 2008
After the beating Palins daughter has taken on some of the recent blogs, I thought this editorial summed it up.
It wasn't like anyone really thought it wasn't going to come out at some point.
Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter had to know when her mother started being asked about the possibility of becoming vice president that her pregnancy would become a national media story.
How hard would that be for an adult, let alone a 17-year-old? She knew she would have to handle the looks, the press and the judgments that were sure to follow.
And that is, of course, after dealing with being the governor's pregnant daughter -- and the stigma in her own hometown and school.
Make your comments about her choices -- both to engage in premarital sex and to keep her baby and to marry its father.
But you have to admire a teenager who could stand beside her mother in front of flashing cameras and know that her personal, private life would soon be fodder for all sorts of stories and criticism. That took guts.
There is no question that Gov. Palin thought about what a run for the White House would do to her family -- and likely discussed all of that with her children and her husband.
They had to know this wasn't going to be easy.
And like many families, they knew there would be skeletons and issues that would allow others to question their morals, their commitments and their values.
What kind of strength does it take to decide that the mission you are on is worth the struggle and the possible embarrassment of having your life put under the microscope?
Sen. Barack Obama has said families should be off-limits in any campaign -- and has refused to comment on the pregnancy concerns. Let's hope he sticks to that decision. It is the right one.
The pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter says nothing about her parenting or her ability to lead a nation -- any more than it does about anyone else's. It is about a 17-year-old who made a mistake.
But how that young lady has chosen to handle the hand she has been dealt is what will be the measure of who she is in the long run.
And anyone who would use a teenager's mistake as a campaign talking point is the one who is not fit to lead.
Bristol Palin might not be a role model for the choices she has made in the last year, but she could teach a lot of Hollywood starlets and other young people a whole lot about standing strong in the face of criticism, adversity and public scrutiny.
She could talk to them about responsibility and right and wrong when the going is not easy.
That is the measure of a young woman who has her priorities and her head on straight and is going to be OK.
And that is all that should matter.
By Renee Carey
Published in Editorials on September 2, 2008 10:59 AM
close23 Comments
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That's a deflection Reb. The target of the criticism is Sarah Palin. The GOP wants to blunt it by symbolically pushing Bristol into the line of fire and then claiming the Democrats are viciously attacking a 17-year old child. Bristol made a mistake, as children do. No one from across the aisle is attacking Bristol. They attack the hypocrite who is her mother, and who obviously failed (with abstinence-only advice) to help her daughter avoid the predicament she is in. As Dan River pointed out, she knew this would happen sooner or later, and in the end decided that her political ambitions meant more to her than keeping her family secrets. Fine and dandy, but don't try to offer up poor Bristol as the true target of this cynicism. It is her MOM.
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
September 3, 2008 12:15 p.m.
"You meanies shouldn't be attacking her"? God, what a hypocrite.
Here's a thought - Sarah Palin knew her daughter was pregnant when she agreed to run, and KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that said daughter's pregnancy would be uncovered and used against her (to the detriment of her daughter), yet she decided to run anyway and subject her daughter to the abuse.
Says something when she's willing to throw her so-called family values under the train for the sake of her ambition, you think?
:-D
GOLO member since June 10, 2008
September 3, 2008 7:44 a.m.
I don't have a problem with any of her choices (although I wonder if there's a shotgun involved somewhere in the marriage plans...). Bristol Palin will be under a lot of stress but I think she will be able to handle it with the support from her family.
The interesting part is that Sarah Palin has spoken out against pre-marital sex, so if she can't get her own family members to live by her convictions, how would she persuade 300+ million Americans to respect her policies if she becomes the president?
GOLO member since October 12, 2007
September 3, 2008 7:18 a.m.
GOLO member since September 1, 2007
September 3, 2008 2:14 a.m.
"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.
After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation -- "SP" -- Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers.
Its purpose (Passage House) is to provide "young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives."
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
September 2, 2008 11:22 p.m.
GOLO member since February 12, 2008
September 2, 2008 10:01 p.m.
Oh, this is gonna be fun! Finally, maybe, some good-looking people in the White House. Well, Jenna Bush is cute.
GOLO member since October 17, 2007
September 2, 2008 9:20 p.m.
GOLO member since August 22, 2007
September 2, 2008 8:55 p.m.
GOLO member since August 22, 2007
September 2, 2008 8:53 p.m.
GOLO member since September 1, 2007
September 2, 2008 8:50 p.m.
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