Bristol Palin, Dancing with the Stars, and the missed opportunity to make a REAL difference

MercedeJohnston.com ^ | 9/5/2010 | Mercede Johnston

[SoKatt]

Many of my readers keep asking what I think about Bristol being part of the cast on “Dancing with the Stars.” I at first hesitated to respond to that because I do not want my blog to be focused on Bristol Palin.

[Hildy]

I guess getting knocked up when you’re a teen really isn’t so bad. I mean, now she’s a star.

[Victoria Delsoul]

What is bad is having an abortion after getting knocked up, which is what many teenagers do and no one gets to talk about it.  But statistics tell us the rate of abortion among teenagers is very high. 

Bristol gets a lot of criticism, but it is to her credit that she didn't kill her baby

[Josh Painter]

What, are you angry that she hasn’t been punished enough?

- JP

[Hildy]

Oh, ok...that’s enough to make her a millionaire. I’m not so much criticing her, but a Society that glorifies this. I’m criticing her parents for not stopping her from doing this. It belittles her and her mother, and by extentions, all who support her. That is my opinion, nothing you say is going to change that.

[marron]

I don’t mind what she does as long as she takes some care not to let them use her to embarrass her family.

She isn’t the first person to do a reality show and she won’t be the last. Some people eat worms to get their winning prize, some people sing, some people survive a series of games on some tropical island, and some people learn how to dance. Big deal. Good for her.

[chris_bdba]

Did you see Bristol on Jay Leno last week.She said that Levi might need to get his GED and move to Wasilla to run it was delievered so perfectly the audience lost it.It appears that Levi’s announcement may have been another attempt at extending his 15 mintues.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Yes, well, I suppose most parents can control their children 24/7, and considering Sarah was the chief law enforcement officer of Alaska she should  have control her nearly 18 year old daughter (at the time).

I'm not glamorizing getting pregnant without getting married first.  I never have glorified it, but to me having an abortion is a moral crime. Getting knocked up, on the other hand, is stupid and shows lack of strength - but the real, more serious crime is aborting a child.

And no amount of sanctimonious criticism will change that.

[Arizona Carolyn]

She has made a cottage industry of dropping unproveable stories about the Palin’s on the Star, US, etc., for almost two years........ I wouldn’t believe a word she says.

[Tucker39]

Hey Mercede! Your croccodile tears over not seeing your precious nephew are almost too much even for an old curmudgeon like me to handle. I don’t think your concerns about the nephew come anywhere close to your green-eyed jealousy over Bristol’s latest gig. “Dancing” would not have been MY choice of a venue for Bristol, had I been advising her, but on the other hand, if it was good enough for Emmitt Smith, Appolo Ohno, Helio Castroneves, Kristi Yamaguchi and Donny Osmond, et al, who am I to object, or YOU either, for that matter?!

[llandres]

When I first heard that Bristol was going on DWTS, I thought it was ridiculous (although Ann Coulter said last week that, having been approached herself but declining, “they pay a LOT of money”. Upon reconsidering, I now think that a) that money will give Bristol a sense of independence and pride in being able to provide well for her son, and b) it could give her a big dose of needed self-confidence to (hopefully) prevent her from settling for, or even being drawn to, another loser ever again in her life.

[Oztrich Boy]

I at first hesitated to respond ...

I would'a gone with that plan

[SoKatt]

Because it absolutely made me see red...and I was curious as to what my fellow Freepers reactions would be.