Monday, September 1, 2008

Bristol Palin

So, apparently, Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. She plans to keep the baby and marry the father. John McCain said that he knew about it before she was picked VP.
In my opinion, this changes a lot. Palin undoubtedly energizes the social conservatives, but what does this tell about Palin? This is absolutely hypocritical and something that I would expect from the far-right.

Any ideas?

12 comments:

Sanjit said...

Well, she also has a family scandal being sorted out. One of her aids or staffers was fired for firing her brother...there is another article on that. She has skeletons coming out of the closet and its a week into her nomination as VP...

Alex said...

I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't accept the nomination of VP, though that scenario is unlikely.

Mr. Schwager said...

I'm not sure why this is hypocritical. She is no having an abortion nor is she trying to escape responsibility for actions. Is she a little young to be getting married, yes in my opinion, but that is not hypocritical.

Alex said...

I just think that the far-right barks about how they are the family values fighters of America, preserving the USA from morally-inept liberals, then there are all of these scandals (Congressional Pages, David Vitter, Larry Craig, etc.). If that isn't clear hypocrisy, then I don't know what is...

Mr. Schwager said...

Are we talking about homosexuality, child sexual abuse (which should have been dealt with, but the ethics committee decided not to anything, which reinforces why we need real accountability in Washington)or a couple of kids who made a bad choice. It surely does not seem like a scandal. The only reason Palin released a statement was to quell rumors she faked her pregnancy and Trig(her 4 month old with downs syndrome) was a cover up for Bristol having the child. Traditionally the media has left the children of Presidential candidates out of the media spotlight. Should the media change that policy?

Alex said...

Maybe they should leave children out, but it's a bit different because Palin tried to cover it up. Yes, relationships and bad choices are personal, but lies change everything, at least they should.

Mr. Schwager said...

Alex, enlighten me on the lies, I have not heard or read about what you are referring to.

Alex said...

I'm talking about John Edwards' lies about his affair, Larry Craig's lies about his bathroom saga, Bill Clinton's lies about Lewinsky, Mark Foley's lies about Congressional Pages, and David Vitter's lies about going to a DC prostitute...

Brian Wilson said...

Unless I'm very much mistaken John Edwards is a Democrat. And so is Bill Clinton. And I cannot hold Mrs. Palin accountable for the inappropriate actions of others within her party.

The media may not agree with me, but I would not project mistakes of the daughter to the mother.

Alex said...

Yes, the two are Democrats. My original point was that far-right wingers claim to be morally immaculate but have enough of their own problems. However, the part about lying holds true for all parties. John Edwards, for example, ran his presidential campaign around being a family man despite having an affair the winter before...

Lauren Linzmeier said...

Palin is being hypocritical only in her insistance to continue favorign abstinence only sex education, when clearly that doesn't work, even for her own family. However, the decision to keep and raise the baby is not against "family values."

In general, I think politics needs to focus on public policy. In terms of viewing this as a scandel, the media has taken this way out of proportion. At the very most this should be used to raise awareness for the issue of teen pregnancy and what the federal government should do to prevent it.

Brian Wilson said...

Hi Lauren, I haven't seen you post before. Welcome to the blog. And I agree with you that media needs to focus on more of what is really important--what all of these candidates will do for the country if they are elected.