…and this is a 
What Obama says
Category: Politics
Posted on: September 1, 2008 4:09 PM, by PZ Myers
Word from the Democratic presidential candidate on the recent announcement from Sarah Palin (among other rumors):
"Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president.
"And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits."
The issues here should not be "OMG her daughter is pregnant out of wedlock", but "What are the candidates proposed policies for dealing with the issue of teen pregnancy?" That Palin's daughter is pregnant should not be of any concern to either campaign; that Palin's policies of an active maintenance of reproductive ignorance are manifest failures is.
(By the way, I notice I have something in common with Obama: my mother was also 18 when she had me!)
Politics
Comments
Posted by: Greg | September 1, 2008 4:22 PM
Right on. I also fault Gov. Palin for knowingly thrusting her daughter's condition into the global spotlight. She could have turned down McCain's offer. I feel bad for the daughter having to face this in front of the whole world.
Posted by: Pablo | September 1, 2008 4:23 PM
Then again, Palin is the one making things like this an issue. It is pretty galling for an anti-abortion advocate to take a stance that "it's a private matter for the family." Are you kidding me?
Posted by: Sara M. | September 1, 2008 4:27 PM
PZ for president!
Posted by: Patricia | September 1, 2008 4:27 PM
OT - but I don't care - Does anyone know if Rev. BigDumbChimp is OK? Or Scooter?
Posted by: Meng Bomin | September 1, 2008 4:28 PM
Exactly. This should not be used as a personal attack against Governor Palin, though it does expose a flaw in the policies she represents, which is the real issue and would be whether or not her daughter was pregnant.
Posted by: I am so wise | September 1, 2008 4:28 PM
Look not having sex isn't hard. I am to save myself for marriage (or the next hot chick I see). All it takes is some self discipline and desire to punish humanity by refusing to reproduce the genes that make me a genius.
Palin's daughter pregnancy shows she is irresponsible. If she cannot control her daughter, how she going to reign in rogue leaders, extremist elements of both the GOP and democrats, and lead this nation during McCain's naps?
Posted by: Chiroptera | September 1, 2008 4:31 PM
I half agree. It is a pity that Bristol, who probably has no control over her mother's decisions to run for VP or the media's attention to her personal matters, will be in the spotlight.
On the other hand, she represents an important fact that the Right's "Abstinence Only Education" is less effective for preventing teenage pregnancy and STD than actually teaching real prevention techniques, as well as so-called "family values" just don't work in real life.
I mean, how are people supposed to ignore this when Palin's own party, and she herself, has always claimed that this wouldn't happen if only people were God fearing and moral?
Posted by: Azkyroth | September 1, 2008 4:34 PM
Lying about her private life in such a fashion isn't admirable but it shouldn't be a major issue, but the fact that she is apparently screwed up enough to force her daughter to have a child she cannot possibly be ready and able to care for is a huge point against her. A person so void of basic human compassion, with such screwed up priorities, should not be anywhere near any position of power.
Posted by: Kobra | September 1, 2008 4:34 PM
For once, I am in 100% agreement with PZ.
Posted by: Chiroptera | September 1, 2008 4:34 PM
I am so wise, #6: Look not having sex isn't hard.
The issue isn't how hard it is to not have sex. The issue is that nothing is wrong with having sex, and that other people shouldn't be telling other people when, where, and in what situations they should be having sex.
Posted by: Carlie | September 1, 2008 4:35 PM
If she cannot control her daughter,
Wow. I didn't know 17 year olds were a thing to be controlled. Nice.
Posted by: SC | September 1, 2008 4:36 PM
Patricia @ #4,
Rev. BDC posted on his blog about 2 hours ago, saying Hanna was headed stright for them:
http://bigdumbchimp.blogspot.com/
It's worrisome.
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 4:39 PM
I got to be honest, I HAVE been enjoying this story. What does an abstinence-only, anti-abortion lifestyle get you? Apparently 5 kids with one of them pregnant.
But then I kept reading, and I saw something that pissed me off.
Sarah Palin is announcing that her daughter WILL be marrying the father.
Is this some sort of return to arranged marriages? The girl is only 17!! If gay marriage somehow dilutes the sanctity of marriage, what's with marrying people far to young to know what marriage even means? Anyone know the divorce rate of marriages-at-17?
Posted by: Joel | September 1, 2008 4:39 PM
but the fact that she is apparently screwed up enough to force her daughter to have a child she cannot possibly be ready and able to care for
And how did you manage to come to this conclusion? I doubt you know if her daughter was forced into any decision and I doubt if you know anything about her daughter's abilities as a mother.
IMO, the only thing we do know is this is a matter for them to resolve and everyone else needs to just STFU and mind their own business.
Posted by: Irene | September 1, 2008 4:40 PM
Obama is right. The Democrats shouldn't criticize Palin because her daughter has gotten pregnant out of wedlock and while still a teen. That would be insensitive and plain wrong. Plus, it's the fundamentalist "family values" crowd who insist on no sex before wedding! No need to reinforce this mindset.
But the Democrats should criticize Palin for dragging her teenage daughter into the public arena with this announcement. And they should pile criticize on Palin's refusal to support explicit sex-ed while saying nothing about her daughter! It wouldn't be necessary: the media coverage will make the link abundantly clear for anybody with half a brain functionning.
Posted by: JStein | September 1, 2008 4:41 PM
PZ, I'm with you and Obama about not dragging her into this.
The real problem for me (and I'm going to say this at full risk of sounding like my dad) is not what happened, but the fact that she lied about it.
The hypocrisy of the religious right (and those who suffer from Larry Craig Syndrome) aside, this is a campaign that has perjured itself to the American people twice, that we know of, and it's only September.
Governor Palin is entitled to deal with her family issues however she wants, and she should receive no penalty for that in the free nation we live in, but the fact that she's lying to the American people so openly and easily is really a matter of public interest.
We don't need another Dick Cheney, a creeping behind-the-scenes figure cloaked in secrecy.
Posted by: robbrown | September 1, 2008 4:41 PM
Too bad several of the first comments here found a roundabout way to turn it into an issue. I especially think this comment makes no sense: "It is pretty galling for an anti-abortion advocate to take a stance that "it's a private matter for the family.""
Maybe if Sarah herself had an abortion, that would make sense, but since she didn't, and her daughter didn't....why does it matter beyond noticing that she DOES stick to her principles?
I wholeheartedly disagree with Palin's (and McCain's) policies, and I wholeheartedly agree with Obama on this. It is not an issue. Her policies are. What is so hard about resisting the urge to pounce on a private issue?
Posted by: tristero | September 1, 2008 4:41 PM
I agree only up to a point. The values of the milieu she claims to represent make it very clear that under these circumstances, Sarah Palin is performing poorly as a mother. Those are not my values, but hers.
In short, if Christianists truly believe what Dobson says, that family must come before career, Palin has no choice but to resign immediately. Both the nomination and the governorship.
Feminists believe the situation is more nuanced and complex, that career need not be overshadowed by family commitments. But Palin and Dobson are not feminists and what they say is clear; Palin should resign now.
You can read Dobson's thoughts on this here, or go to the Focus on the Family website and search under "teen pregnancy."
Posted by: Sili | September 1, 2008 4:41 PM
Thank you, Chiroptera. A succint lesson that I really needed to be reminded of.
-o-
They're already on H? Damn.
Posted by: Moses | September 1, 2008 4:42 PM
Obama is a douche. It's the party of "do as I say, not as I do" and he needs to emphasize that. Of course, Mr. Fund-the-war and trash-the-Constitution isn't a whole lot better so I guess casting stones at another 'moral failure' of the "family values" party isn't his cup of tea.
Posted by: Carlie | September 1, 2008 4:43 PM
JStein, that's something completely different, and it has no basis of support, and is pretty ludicrous besides. If you're going to rumor-monger, at least get your pregnancies straight.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 4:44 PM
Obama said:
Smart move, the way Kerry and Edwards used Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter seemed to backfire on them even though it seemed to point to Cheney's hypocrisy in supporting Bush's agenda to prevent gay marriage.
Leave it to the bloggers and Op-Ed writers to do the dirty work of forever reminding people of the things they don't want to know about. This is a gossip, not a policy, issue.
But hell, just saying he won't mention it is a way of mentioning it. It's not going away no matter what he says.
Posted by: Carlie | September 1, 2008 4:47 PM
If nothing else, remember that every minute between now and the election COUNTS when it comes to forming people's opinions on who they will vote for. Every time Palin's family is brought up, you know what that's going to do? It's going to remind everyone of the girl in their own family who got pregnant. Pretty much everybody has one. It's going to remind them of that girl, they're going to feel defensive, and they're going to be PISSED OFF at the person making the snide comments, and feel protective towards Palin and her family. That is not the way to win an election. Every sound bite, every article, every blog post wasted on Palin's family situation is a wasted opportunity to hammer her and McCain on their actual policies and legislative actions.
Posted by: Azkyroth | September 1, 2008 4:47 PM
She's 17, and she's caring for a special needs child. "She might be up to this" is an extraordinary claim that requires some extraordinary evidence.
Posted by: robbrown | September 1, 2008 4:50 PM
Chiroptera, surely you noticed that "i am so wise" is posting in jest, no?
Posted by: Patricia | September 1, 2008 4:50 PM
Thankyou SC. I sure hope he grabs his bacon supply and runs! :(
Posted by: I am so wise | September 1, 2008 4:51 PM
"Wow. I didn't know 17 year olds were a thing to be controlled. Nice."
Yes, underage children are something their parents are responsible for. Children have an extended phenotype that affects everything around them. If parents are unable to raise them properly than smarter people, like myself, need to step in and, in a Christ like way, administer corrective and loving mockery, as to save their souls from the hell fires of damnation.
I believe there is a term for that. That term is hero.
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 4:51 PM
Alright, I found some statistics. It looks like, by the numbers, Sarah Palin's daughter is going to be 2-3 times more likely to end her marriage than others, based on age alone. I have a feeling that the divorce rate of shotgun weddings have to be even higher still.
End of the day, the only reason this is an important issue is for everyone to recognize the logical consequences of the abstinence-only, anti-abortion, no-sex-outside-of-marriage-so-you-better-get-married lifestyle.
Posted by: Moses | September 1, 2008 4:51 PM
I read that teenage marriages experience an 80%-85% divorce rate in England. I tried for US information, but all the publications were behind subscription walls. But even the abstracts indicated that these marriages broke apart early and often.
Posted by: Copache | September 1, 2008 4:53 PM
My mother was 18 as well.
Posted by: Carlie | September 1, 2008 4:54 PM
Damn it, I bought it! Ok, bravo, wise, bravo.
Posted by: Zeno | September 1, 2008 4:54 PM
I applaud Obama's statement.
Leave it to the tabloids and some of the wackier blogs to fuss over.
Keep the focus on Sarah Palin's extremist political views and blatant misrepresentations (like that bridge thing).
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 4:58 PM
>I read that teenage marriages experience an 80%-85% divorce rate in England
Yikes
This isn't something I expect politicians to comment on, but as a people, we got to look at the consequences of this sort of lifestyle. *shudder*
Posted by: Chiroptera | September 1, 2008 4:59 PM
robbrown, #25:
Heh. A dozen new comments each minute, and you expect me to read them carefully?
Yes, I guess I better.
Posted by: Jim Harrison | September 1, 2008 5:00 PM
The Democrats hardly have to publicize the Palin baby. For once the rottenness of the media, its obsession with sex and scandal, insures that the story will have continue for weeks or at least until Palin drops out, which I expect she will eventual.
Posted by: Chris Crawford | September 1, 2008 5:00 PM
There are so MANY good reasons to find Ms. Palin unacceptable, why bother screwing around with lousy reasons?
Posted by: robbrown | September 1, 2008 5:01 PM
Chiroptera... :)
For what its worth, I clicked through to i am so wise's blog.....that boy is funny.
Bookmarked...
Posted by: The Science Pundit | September 1, 2008 5:01 PM
@Kobra (#9)
Your mother also had you when you were 18?
Posted by: Ghost of Minnesota | September 1, 2008 5:02 PM
I respectfully disagree with Senator Obama here. I see this as a very relevant point of discussion. If they want to present Governor Palin as a conservative Christian moral values candidate, then it's quite valid to point out her apparent failure to teach conservative Christian moral values to her own family.
Posted by: Abstruse | September 1, 2008 5:03 PM
She made her family a campaigning tool. She made it fair game.
IMHO
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 5:04 PM
Jim Harrison #35
From what I've been seeing in the last week, McCain announcing her as VP went over as well as the whole Democratic National Convention. Obama and McCain are in a dead heat, just like they were two weeks ago.
Unless this escalates, I think she's here for the long haul.
Posted by: The Science Pundit | September 1, 2008 5:06 PM
Doh! I meant "when she was 18"
Posted by: Patricia | September 1, 2008 5:07 PM
My parents married when my mother was 16, they have been married 53 years. The old grouch and I married before I was 20, and we've been married for 33 years. However, we are the sole survivors in the marriage game out of our entire high school graduating class. That's pretty crappy odds.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:08 PM
Chris Crawford asked:
Because people love gossip a lot more than they like real policy debates. I can't help it, my ears popped open once I heard that on CNN and before that they were talking about hurricane Gustav and now I can't even remember what they said about Gustav... Is Bush leaving early to do something down there?
Posted by: Ghost of Minnesota | September 1, 2008 5:09 PM
I like it the other way. It's much funnier.Posted by: Lago | September 1, 2008 5:10 PM
If she wants to have her head in the sand when it comes to sex education, then that is fine,... It has come to bite her on the ass, and that is her affair.
When she tries to claim these same strategies should be part of how we run our schools? Well, then she is a statistic we are all free to reference,,,
Do not open a can of worms unless you have a bigger can to put them back in after you are done...
Posted by: Lago | September 1, 2008 5:11 PM
By the way, does any of this remind anyone of, "The Bird-Cage?
Just wondering...
Posted by: Derik N | September 1, 2008 5:12 PM
He has to tread a thin line here
don't think for a second he won't be highlighting her policies in this area, now just isn't the time
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 5:14 PM
Lago #46
>If she wants to have her head in the sand when it comes
>to sex education, then that is fine,... It has come to
>bite her on the ass, and that is her affair.
But it's not. She has a 17-yr old daughter getting caught in the crossfire, a guy (who knows how old) who has no choice in the matter, and lets not forget the kid.
Three casualties to a broken lifestyle.
Posted by: sfatheist | September 1, 2008 5:14 PM
Breaking News on MSNBC: Sarah Palin has just hired an attorney.
This story just keeps getting better and better...or worse and worse.
Posted by: tikistitch | September 1, 2008 5:17 PM
Sorry, PZ, but I strongly disagree. If *I* get pregnant, according to Ms. Palin, the government gets to come in and tell me what to do. Why shouldn't I get to weigh in on Bristol? If we're gonna make reproductive decisions a public matter, then I say, quoting ANOTHER prominent douchebag, bring it on.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:18 PM
Lago wrote:
It's not necessarily because her daughter didn't know about condoms or couldn't get the pill. The girl may have wanted the baby, perhaps as a way to get the boy?
Those details I expect to come out.
Posted by: Lago | September 1, 2008 5:19 PM
Jesse, Dallas
Please reread what I wrote...
Posted by: Azkyroth | September 1, 2008 5:19 PM
Because generations of manipulative fables, self-serving ministers, and stupid but well-intentioned parents have thoroughly sold the public on the idea that being a decent human being obligates you to bring a rose to every gunfight no matter who started it or what's at stake?
Posted by: mayhempix | September 1, 2008 5:20 PM
PZ is correct.
It is about public policy, not private lives.
But if what Palin teaches her children is the same view that she advocates in the public arena then it is fair game to question her.
Does she believe responsible sex and birth control should be taught in public schools so that all teens understand and can have private access to birth control?
Or does she believe it is soley up to the parents and if the parents teach abstinence only the kid is shit out of luck?
Posted by: Robert | September 1, 2008 5:20 PM
While I believe it is a private matter for the family, it says a lot about both Mrs Palin's values and her success as a mother.
Her daughter is teenaged, pregnant and unmarried. If, as is likely, the pregnancy is unplanned, this is an indication of what lack of sex-education results in (hint: it doesn't stop the sex).
Bristol Palin plans to marry the father, apparently. Did she plan to do so before her parents found out she was pregnant? What about the father? Did he agree without pressure? These are highly relevant questions (albeit ones we aren't likely to get answers to). For that matter, when did Mr & Mrs Palin find out their daughter was pregnant - was it still in the first trimester, or did Bristol Palin hide the pregnancy as long as possible?
Mrs Palin campaigns on a family-values platform. However, her own family seems to be needing parental attention (which could be provided by her husband - parental problems are cause by both parents).
While it is appropriate for the official Obama campaign to stay away from these issues, they are legitimate questions to be asked.
Posted by: Azkyroth | September 1, 2008 5:21 PM
If true, that would be about three orders of magnitude more damning as regards Sarah Palin's parenting and values.
Posted by: Jesse, Dallas | September 1, 2008 5:24 PM
Lagos,
Touche, sir. :P
Posted by: Signout | September 1, 2008 5:25 PM
Indeed! If you think about it, John McCain got Sarah Palin's daughter pregnant.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:27 PM
Azkyroth wrote:
Up to a point I would agree. It's not much of a choice is it? Either her daughter was ignorant or she is desperately manipulative. But how much control does a mother have over her daughters psychology?
Posted by: Azkyroth | September 1, 2008 5:29 PM
Impressing on her that producing a child by deception to use as leverage is incredibly vile, while she was growing up, couldn't have been that hard.
Posted by: df | September 1, 2008 5:29 PM
I posted the following points in a comment on Ed's blog also. I consider the rumours to be vicious and unfounded. But I do believe here behavior at the Dallas governor's conference disturbing and indicative of questionable judgement:
1) She made needless risks after her water broke in Dallas by going ahead with her speech at the conference, then flying back from Dallas to Anchorage and finally making an hour long drive to her local hospital in Palmer. This was all supposedly done to ensure that her baby was born in Alaska.
2) She displayed a callous disregard for her fellow travelers by flying after her water broke. Going into labor during the flight could have forced a medical diversion of the flight and inconvenienced a lot of people in the process. Not to mention the risks to the child and mother should they be forced to deliver in flight.
3) She deceived the airline by not disclosing that her water had broken. I don't believe a commercial airline would knowingly let a woman who was in an advanced pregnancy and whose water had broken get on a flight.
Posted by: Mold | September 1, 2008 5:30 PM
Ms Palin opened the door when she LIED about the parentage. I doubt any adult would fault moms and the GovernorDad from stepping up to the plate when babymama became preggers. We all would lend a hand or two or three.
As far as teen marriages, the pre-Bush stats were very clear. Teens have sex, not marriage. Lots of he-man stud muffins at 16 are less than acceptable when one turns 26, much less 36. Something about the lad still driving his Camaro and working at the same low-wage job that he had when he lived with his parents.
It is relevant. She LIED. She lied about babymama, she lied about the bridge, she lied about TrooperGate, she overstated (a form of lying to academics) her credentials...
If she had told us that her kid was the babymama and to go to hell...I would have agreed it was not our business. But, to spread lies for so long....that goes to the heart of her philosophy and her actions.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:35 PM
Azkyroth wrote:
Maybe... But let's not jump the gun. Teenagers are not entirely sane when compared with adults.
It might have been the girl's parents that were being manipulated, not the boy. Maybe they both wanted to be married but knew their parents would say "no" unless she were pregnant.
Posted by: Mold | September 1, 2008 5:36 PM
They knew. Babymama was out of school for the pregnancy. Look up mononucleosis in the NIH and you'll realize the hypocrisy of the family.
Is the marriage to the biological dad or some cute sprat with a need for cash? (see Jamie Lynn Spears-Britney 2.0 for the background)
Why does this family look more and more like A$$holis maximus daddums and Screamingus maximus bitchius? Daddy Todd has been attending confidential government meetings. Did you vote for him?
Posted by: natural cynic | September 1, 2008 5:37 PM
How long is it going to be before Palin announces that she is withdrawing "To spend more time with her family">? The MSM and the fundies can do all the dirty work.
Then the MSM should start asking McSame about how he vetted Palin. From all accounts I have seen, the answer is hardly at all. And only then should the Dems start insinuating that McSame has poor judgment.
Can anyone say Eagleton?
Posted by: David Utidjian | September 1, 2008 5:39 PM
Ermm... what if Bristol's lover does not want to get married?
-DU-
Posted by: Ghost of Minnesota | September 1, 2008 5:41 PM
That's what shotguns are for. Duh.Posted by: NickG | September 1, 2008 5:44 PM
From CNN: "The McCain aide insisted a key point to keep in mind is that Bristol decided to keep the baby, a decision 'supported by her parents.'"
What gets me is that they are proud that Bristol made the right choice.... yet Sarah Palin and McCain don't want other young women like Bristol to have that same choice.
The hypocrisy. It burns.
Posted by: NickG | September 1, 2008 5:48 PM
Her mom is a lifetime NRA member and hunts moose. I would be buying a ring and I'm gay.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:52 PM
NickG wrote:
Until someone gets an honest interview with Bristol we can't be sure she actually had much of a choice.
Posted by: justawriter | September 1, 2008 5:54 PM
What a master stroke. In one swell foop the McCain-Palin campaign again has democrats castigating Democrats while and taking everyone's eye off the prize.
Posted by: raven | September 1, 2008 5:58 PM
repost, belongs here. And I got it right. If this had happened to Obama and Biden, the fundies would be all over them about godless hippies having too much fun. If it was one of theirs, well, it is nobodies business.
Oddly enough I would agree with this. I would also add girl friends, boy friends and so on. If we tossed every politician who ever fooled around with someone or did a line of something or smoked a joint in college, there wouldn't be anyone left. We are expecting perfection in our leaders and humans are anything but. I once knew the son of one of our governors. He was a long term, hard core heroin addict. Since he was connected he got on a free drugs maintenance program easily.
The reason why we can't and don't ignore social blunders is simple. One party's private life is private while the other party's private life is evidence of dark evil. Ask Bill Clinton about how that works. A lot of the thugs trying to impeach him had mistresses and children out of wedlock and chased young boys or hung around in restrooms in Minnesota.
Obama is smart to take the high road. Everyone will agree and promptly ignore him. Palin is a gift from the irony and hypocracy gods.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 5:59 PM
justawriter wrote:
How can this help McCain-Palin? There are speakers now at the Republican convention and no one cares what they say.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | September 1, 2008 6:00 PM
Uh --
Is that so in the USA?
I'm with comment 56, BTW.
Posted by: Luke | September 1, 2008 6:00 PM
I think it's dreadfully hypocritical to say that families and children are "off limits" whilst parading them around at party conventions.
Posted by: Chiroptera | September 1, 2008 6:02 PM
Norman Doering, #74: How can this help McCain-Palin? There are speakers now at the Republican convention and no one cares what they say.
That may be how it's helpful :P
C'mon, you knew someone was going to say it!
Posted by: imflyboy | September 1, 2008 6:06 PM
Joel #14
You're an idiot! Palin has made sex-ed and reproductive choice part of her position as a politician. If there's an issue of her child having an out of wedlock pregnancy or her lying about it then I think it fair game for public debate. Once again McCain seems to be making the Democrats argument for them. BTW couldn't a simple pregnancy test resolve the issue?(never had a to worry about and hope not to for some time) If my integrity was being challenged on this issue I'd be the first to suggest it
Posted by: timcol | September 1, 2008 6:12 PM
It's fascinating to me that Palin's handlers are saying this is a private "family matter". And I totally agree with this. Yet, what two consenting members of the same sex do in the privacy of their own homes is, according to what we know about Palin and her record, very much not a family mater and one that instead should be controlled through legislation - even to the point that health benefits could be denied and taken away.
The hypocrisy takes my breath away.
Posted by: JoJo | September 1, 2008 6:14 PM
I don't care what politicians and their families do in their personal time, as long as it isn't illegal. I've never been unfaithful to my wife but I don't care if Bill Clinton got a hummer or not. I do care about him lying about it in a sworn disposition. I'm straight but I don't care if Larry Craig goes trawling in public toilets. I do care about him trying to withdraw a guilty plea for solicitation (I also care that he's a hypocrite concerning gays).
In the same way, I don't care if Palin's kid is her son or grandson. I certainly don't care if her daughter is going to be a teenage mother. I do care that Palin supports teaching abstinence only sex ed in public schools and is anti-abortion.
Let's keep our eye on the ball, folks.
Posted by: Kel | September 1, 2008 6:21 PM
So sex before marriage is wrong except when it's your own daughter and it's all good because it's a shotgun wedding? Bah, more hypocrisy.
Though Obama is right tbh. The media focusing on her daughter should be off-limits. Regardless of how much a hypocrite Palin is...
Posted by: mayhempix | September 1, 2008 6:21 PM
Posted by: NickG | September 1, 2008 5:48 PM
Ermm... what if Bristol's lover does not want to get married?
"Her mom is a lifetime NRA member and hunts moose. I would be buying a ring and I'm gay."
I posted this on a previous thread ...
I wonder how the boy felt after seeing Sara shooting an automatic rifle on TV? I can just see him thinking, "If Cheney got away with it..." No more hunting trips with the Palin family for him.
Posted by: mayhempix | September 1, 2008 6:23 PM
CNN has just broke the baby story at the GOP convention...
Posted by: Julie Stahlhut | September 1, 2008 6:24 PM
I personally long for the day when candidates' spouses, children, and other relatives are considered 100% irrelevant to political campaigns.
Posted by: Anon | September 1, 2008 6:26 PM
Soo, America is going to have a smarter president for a change? I'm feeling more positive about this president now! Families etc. are definitely off-limits!
Bright future? Who knows now!
Posted by: mayhempix | September 1, 2008 6:28 PM
quote from a delegate from Alaska interviewed on CNN:
"...teach abstinence, but hey, life happens..."
Posted by: justawriter | September 1, 2008 6:30 PM
Well, for one thing it extends a courtesy that McCain himself was unwilling to abide by and will energize the concern trolls in the party to birddog other Democrats instead of talking about failed sex ed and retrograde reproductive rights policies.
Posted by: Luke | September 1, 2008 6:30 PM
86: Virgin birth?
Posted by: Cynthia | September 1, 2008 6:32 PM
This comment on Hullabaloo made me laugh:
"This new baby drama just makes the Presidency look like a Jerry Springer show.";^)
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 1, 2008 6:34 PM
mayhempix quoting a delegate on CNN:
There's always something I've wondered about, how exactly do they teach kids abstinence?
TEACHER: Alright kids, don't have sex until married. That's your sex-ed class for the rest of your life.
Posted by: Scott from Oregon | September 1, 2008 6:37 PM
If the daughter is a young version of her hot mama.... Well, then...
I can sure understand what happened!
Posted by: imflyboy | September 1, 2008 6:48 PM
They'll be off limit when candidates quit making private decisions public poilicy
Posted by: xander | September 1, 2008 6:49 PM
NickG wrote:
Giving her the benefit of the doubt,