The Hive - Still Savoring Sarah Palin Pick
August 31st, 2008It seems like people cant get enough of talking about Sarah Palin.
As always, please keep the discourse on a level you would not mind having your sainted mother read.
Besides confounding the opposition ( just watch TV, or visit the Kook sites... ) it tells me Senator McCain has an eye to the future of both country, and party.
Stay tuned- it is going to get "interesting..."
Found this over at Dirty Harrys Place.
If you like, you can also listen to a 1/2-hour interview podcasted by IBD, and its interesting and heartening. Shes very well spoken.
UPDATE: And reading this piece, I find that I am more and more pleased that she is not another Ivy League lawyer who planned and plotted a political career, but rather a concerned and active, intelligent woman who simply followed her own interests and concerns, and walked through the doors and opportunities as they were placed before her. Thats refreshing - it is also so very can-do American.
We forget, sometimes, that Harry Truman was just a haberdasher, and not an elitist, too. (end update)
I saw some negative comments from people, today, suggesting - on the basis of what, besides simple mean-spiritedness, I cannot tell - that Sarah Palin is Dan Quayle with a vagina. That sentiment seems to have started here.
I found her pretty impressive in that clip. Smart, articulate, forthright and authentic.
Bookworm has McCains response to the Obama camps initial, and rather ungenerous response to his veep pick. I had always thought that a gracious acknowledgment was simply the way it was done.
Anyway, it seems like theyre wasting no time taking Palin out of context. Thats how it goes, I guess. Unsurprisingly, theyre also saying really gross things about little Trig, and about her children. Classy, classy bunch.
You read the crap theyre coming up with and you realize, theyre terrified.
But you know, in the past few weeks weve seen several right-wing blogs defend the Obama team against excessive nonsense (the birth certificate carrying-on, for example) - I do hope well manage to see one or two blogs from the other side actually give Palin a hearing - in context - before jumping aboard.
ALLAH POSTS three interviews with Sarah Palin.
For the antidote of that "hopiness & changiness" malady, click the picture:
BRUCE REED says Democrats shouldn't be too quick to trash Sarah Palin, and that's good advice. And as for comparisons to Quayle, could somebody remind me again how many terms Lloyd Bentsen served as Vice President?
POLITICO: Five questions for Sarah Palin. I notice that several of them have already been answered by bloggers.
Here's an answer to the travel question: "But if it turns out she has rarely traveled abroad or has never been to any foreign country other than Canada this will be seized upon instantly." No worries.
Here's an answer to the finances question. From first thing this morning.
And here's something on evolution.
Bloggers: Doing the MSM's work ahead of time.
JERRY POURNELLE ON SARAH PALIN:
Were matters left to her, she would leave a great number of issues to the states -- as would I. I'd rather see her President than McCain, but we live with the choices we have.
Mr. Heinlein once speculated that we ought to reserve high political office for women with children because they tend to see things a bit more realistically. While I didn't necessarily agree with him, I never won the argument with him. On the other hand, Robert used to take positions for the sheer fun of it. (Actually I think he'd have preferred that anyone elected be a woman with children who could solve quadratic equations in her head, but he never went quite that far in public statements. Ginny never had children, but she could certainly do the math....)
We do live in interesting times.
Indeed.
Friday morning as I was browsing the booths at the dog show;
"Did you hear what McCain did?"
Meanwhile, down at the Hillary Clinton Forum...
The choice of Sarah Palin (whose name is well known to anyone who surfs the American political rightosphere) and a new American Championship title for my 10 month puppy, Minuteman Dead Cat Bounce - it's been a good weekend so far!
More - The Obama campaign is caught launching a Palin smear site.
An Alaskan Democrat - My plea is "Don't underestimate her."
(h/t Larry T.)
Just in - ZOGBY:
McCain/Palin 47%
Obama/Biden 45%...
Maria Bartiromo interviewed Sarah Palin on CNBC last week before her selection was announced. The nearly twelve-minute interview is to be aired today. The interview focuses on energy exploration in Alaska and shows Governor Palin getting in a jab or two against Obama and Biden. It's an impressive performance on an issue with respect to which Governor Palin has something important to offer Senator McCain.
Via NRO's Planet Gore.
To comment on this post, go here.
THE STEYN .. The hostess with the moosest: Over in the Frumistan province of the NR caliphate, our pal David is not happy about the Palin pick. I am - for several reasons. Shaidle weighs in
Rachel Lucas writes: I cant help myself. I dont even have time today to jack with the internet but it is beyond my control; Im simply delirious about Palin and all the very bad things shes going to do for the Obama campaign, and just HOLY SHIT.
What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, Im not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities.
~ Mark Steyn ~
The GOP Plan to turn the convention into a telethon/public service event is brilliant and I whole-heartedly support it. I hope its exactly what they do. Of course it will be spun as cynical opportunism and desperation by the press and the Dems. But that should never stop you from doing the right thing.
And really, it doesnt matter no matter what happens, everything is Bushs fault, or McCains fault, or, - tee-hee Gods apparently loving the Dems so much he will destroy lives and homes for them - so we may as well just carry on and carry forth. Its a great idea.
But heres to praying that somehow - by some miracle - Gustav does not cost too many lives.
Its too long to post here but one to hang on to in the hard drive, a side-by-side comparison of what Obamas actually done, vs what Palin has done. Pretty interesting. Do read and hang on to.
Another for the hard drive: Flopping Aces has the Troopergate facts and timelines. Its only interesting if youre into soap operas, and Im not, but what is noteworthy here is that the authorities have said they didnt even bother issuing subpoenas, because the Palins were so forthcoming. Tells me a) nothing to hide, here and - more importantly - b) Palin is smart enough to know that nothing strengthens a scandal like a real or perceived cover-up. Thats something a lot more experienced pols never learn.
Crittenden has more.
I too loved the shoes. They look comfy, too.
More on Obama and abortion
Palin visiting some troops here
For all you emailers yelling at me that Palin is a moron creationist - no, shes not.
And to you really troubled folks writing your long sad fantasy about Palins having actually having faked her pregnancy to cover for her daughter. Grow up. Just grow up. And if you need help, get it.
Pile this on top of the low blow from TVs Alan Colmes who claims that Palin didnt practice proper prenatal care before she had the baby with Downs Syndrome, blaming the Mother for her disabled child. Well, the lefties dont know a low road they wont take. (Colmes site has crashed right now, but this is the address if it ever comes back: http://www.alan.com/2008/08/30/did-palin-take-proper-pre-natal-care/) 168 posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008 04:02:41 AM by Arthur Wildfire! March
In the real world, there is no doubt whatsoever that Sarah gave birth to trig: http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html
Gonzos response to Colmes [unless its antoher Gonzo]
Of course, Alan, had she went to a medical provider who crushed the babys head with forceps and vacuumed out the fragments and remaining tissue, shed be a progressive exercising her reproductive choice, right?
And if during such procedure, the fetus were to emerge live born, Barak Obama would support the right of the physicians to let it die on the table.
But you want to talk about her prenatal care in conformance with the advice of her personal physician.
Just stunning, Alan. Stay classy.
Who does this person resemble most?
Weasel
Snake
Amoeba
or
Space Alien
She sounds like a female version of Teddy Roosevelt.
No wonder McCain picked her.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
On a plane from Denver to Charlotte following the Democrats' convention, I found myself seated behind former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Their conversation was interesting to say the least.
For example, they made fun of Sarah Palin for several minutes, Fowler calling her "Dan Quayle" on steroids and Spratt creatively describing her as "just terrible." They both agreed that, "Other than the simple fact that she's a female," she has nothing to offer.
Then there was this gem of a moment from Fowler:
So you see, it's funny. That New Orleans will get a hurricane
GUSTAV WINDS HAVE HIT 150 MPH, and it has made landfall in Cuba. Brendan Loy has the scoop. Looks like the Cayman Islands -- hit this morning when Gustav was barely over hurricane strength -- dodged a bullet. Cuba isn't so lucky; let's hope others in the path have better luck.
Meanwhile, news on preparations in New Orleans, and video, at the Times-Picayune site.
UPDATE: Actually, Little Cayman was hit harder than initial reports suggested, and -- to a lesser degree -- so was Cayman Brac. British warships are arriving to provide relief.
NAGIN ORDERS MANDATORY EVACUATION: Brendan Loy has more.
UPDATE: Gustav on Twitter. Chuck Simmins notes: "The folks at Twitter are doing a great job following Gustav. Red Cross and Home Depot are using Twitter for providing info."
BRENDAN LOY: "One thing McCain may want to consider is that Gustav, though its getting all the attention right now, isnt the only tropical threat out there. The one on the right is Tropical Storm Hanna, which could be menacing Florida by the end of the week. At present, it is not officially forecasted to become a hurricane, but that could change; some of the models think it could be a Category 2 or 3 hurricane in three days' time! If that happens, a couple days delay in the convention could potentially create a new conflict, this time involving the convention coinciding with a landfalling hurricane in the key electoral swing state of Florida."
Some Democrats think it's the hand of God. Of course, by saying that on video they muddy the question of who it's taking out . . . . Especially as this is the main headline on Drudge right now.
PHOTO: Why you should do your disaster preparedness in advance.
'Guilty as hell, free as a birdAmerica is a great country,' he [Ayers] said."
August 2001, Chicago Magazine (article: No Regrets)
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/August-2001/No-Regrets/
THANK YOU
Great Post! Thank you for your hard work.
Lot’s of good information.
As for Wexler....shouldn’t he run for Congress in his “HOME” district? I still laugh at the film of Fox News catching him on his driveway and how he lied.
Obama wants to raise taxes and kill babies.
Palin wants to raise babies and kill taxes.
"And of course as governor, she has had enormous responsibilities, none of which Senator Obama had. When she was in government, he was a community organizer. When she was taking tough positions against her own party, Senator Obama was voting present 130 times in the state legislature. On every tough issue, whatever it was, she was taking them on. That's the kind of judgment that I'm confident that we need in Washington." -- John McCain
John McCain
Fox News' "Fox News Sunday"
August 31, 2008
Thank you poster, for this great recap on Sarah threads.
And a sincere thanks to all of the other Freepers who over the last three days have located and posted all of the great articles, photos and reference material related to Sarah referenced here and still being posted.
What would we do without Free Republic?
None of us on our own could hope to find all of the material that is right here, just a click away, courtesy of fellow Freepers and the service provided by Free Republic.
Sarah has brought hope to conservatives and new life to the republican campaign but we wouldn't be anywhere near as well informed about it without Free Republic and the dedication and efforts of fellow Freepers.
May God bless Sarah and her wonderful family and stand by them through the terrible abuse she will take over the coming weeks.
Previous discussion here - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070958/posts
From one of the posts - She (Palin) promptly responded to the story in a letter to the editor, that the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla.
AP reported Palin was an official of Steve Forbes campaign that cycle.
...
it doesnt appear Palin donated to Buchanans campaigns.
Maria Bartiromo's interview with Sarah Palin Video. Scroll down a ways.
Maria Bartiromo-Sarah Palin Interview
Glenn Beck had Sarah Palin on back in June.
She appears in the second half, but watch it from the beginning as it leads into the second half.
Glen Beck-Sarah Palin
Oh man, do you have a ping list for this? Or, how can I keep it on one of my sidebars? I don’t want to miss any additions to this thread. Thanks.
It will be very useful in the weeks to come.
LucyT! Thanks so much for the ping!
The "inexperienced" moniker used by the MSM has rocketed Sarah Palin to fame.
Peole all over are curious, they say to themselves, "inexperienced?" and they take a serious look.
WHAT DO THEY SEE?..................Themselves!
America is falling in love with Sarah Palin.
She is a "uniter."
Obama is a "divider."( ask PUMA).
The DEMS are scared $hitless.
I have already reserved a shop at CafePress to promote “Palin for President” in 2012! Thought you’d like to see it based on your last post! LOL
Here is a link:
Sarah Palin 2012 - “We’re Looking to the Future!”
http://www.cafepress.com/SarahPalin2012
And of course, you can get a lot more “Palin Gear” here:
Just say NO to Obama Biden ‘08
http://www.cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08
Take action now. More information at link.
All of which is a way of alerting the MSM especially that just because they have never been to a small town city council meeting doesnt mean they dont matter, or that those who participate as leaders in such settings havent picked up quite a lot along the way.
I fully expect to hear quite a few Sarah Palin speeches that include a paragraph that begins When I was mayor of Wasilla
The political and media elites have been laughing at Sarah Palins small town years. But every mayor and council member she meets over the next two months will have a bond with her that no one else on the national tickets can match.
Most commentators have figured out or soon will with the help of Beldar that she really, really knows the energy issue, and to a nation stunned by the sudden shock to their household budgets brought about by 30 years of indifference to new exploration, this will be a huge advantage. But so will be her experience with federal Endangered Species Act, which has been and remains central to my law practice and which interests very few other than those impacted by it.
Read the whole thing, dang it!
Heres probably 10-20 million (minimum) of PUMAs.
Hillary Clinton Supporters For John McCain:
Party Unity My A$$ PAC/People United Means Action PAC:
Democrats Against Obama/Nobama ever!
http://democrats-against-obama.org
Just Say No Deal:
Take a look around these sites for a half hour or 45 minutes....(there are hundreds more linked to these, just look for links)
It doesnt look to me as if these sites have shut down just because Hillary and Bill endorsed Barack...and many are FIRED UP about Sarah Palin!
On Oct. 22, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News asked Palin and the other candidates, Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?
Her response: Yes. I would like to see Alaskas infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.
KEYWORDS: STATE FUNDING
Nowhere in her quote did she say she supported federal earmarks for the bridge.
- why does the press go to Alaska
to question every resident about Palin
- but NEVERS goes to Chicago
to interview the displaces steel workers "helped" by Obama?
Time to keep a running list of Sarah Palins sins lovingly gathered, mostly in crazed speculative form, by members of the Church of Diversity and Otherness Coddling, and reprinted here, with my gloss, for your delectation.
1) Alan Colmes: Poor prenatal care (waiting too long after her water broke to get to a hospital) on Palins part created a Downs baby. Reached for comment, Science suggested Colmes shut his ignorant yap and for Chrissakes, get a tan.
2) Andrew Sullivan, et al: Concern that Palin taking time away from the young defective she should have shitcanned with a metal rod and some clinical suction (call it compassionate eugenics!) could cause even more harm to the useless little drain on society that should never have been born in the first place (call it the nurturers addendum for those greedy hick breeders who refused to take the high road and just snuff the damaged goods in utero). A child needs a stay-at-home-mother! if that child happens to be the child of a Republican breeder! Or havent you people been paying attention to the nuances of establishment feminist theory?*
3) Also via Sullivan: Two of the Palins children, Piper and Willow, share names with characters from shows that deal with witchcraft (Charmed, I believe?) though they were born and named before the show first aired. This is suggestive to Sullivan the last of the true conservatives (well, if you dont count Glenn Greenwald(s) and John Cole) that the Palins are into Satanic occultism. Either that, or they like Piper Laurie (Carries Mom! Fast Eddies gimp gal pal!) or small aircraft. In which case, just sick.
As for Willow a city in Alaska, a Val Kilmer dwarf movie, a tree? Please. This has Old Scratch worship written all over it.
(h/t TomB)
4) From Aravosis evidently frustrated in not yet being able to find pics of Palins husband getting busy with his boatmates (project name: GAY PORN COCK OF ATLANTIC COD HARVESTING) news that the Palins son was born eight months after the elopement of the still married parents. Suggesting that Sarah and the first dude of AK may have gotten busy in the backseat of a pickup to some INXS resulting in the necessity for a shotgun wedding that has lasted many many years
5) But at what cost? Whose children are whose, really? Can we tell? I mean, do they even have blood tests in Alaska? If I recall my Northern Exposure, those folks were living almost like blubber boiling Inuit igloo people until a New Yorker showed up to save them all from their backward-ass selves.
Thus far, Ive heard speculation, via Daily Kos, that two of Sarahs children are actually her grandchildren, and that in one case, incest was involved. Which, maybe these folks should get together with Alan Colmes to try to explain the phantom water breaking of a non-pregnant woman.
And if that fails, bring in Sullivan. Because as hell tell you, the Devil would have no problem orchestrating that kind of misdirection.
6) Palin, according to the feminists at Feministe and Pandagon, is an anti-feminist and anti-woman appealing as she does to women who feel inferior, and who dont adequately mistrust the patriarchy. Her deeds are unimportant. That she has made her own way on her own gifts and hard work suggests that she has adopted the mindset of a man. Because as everyone knows, we can never truly have equality or a strong female role model until we have a number of laws that give women special dispensation laws that are embraced and championed by women of white privilege, not callously ignored by moose dressing hicks with beehives and stretched uteri, married to men who, like, fish unironically.
Real feminists back Bill Clinton and John Edwards whose love for this country is so strong that sometimes they feel as though they have to stick their cocks into all of it.
7) Palins good looks (which really arent good at all: shes got ghastly hair, and the windburned color of a high plains strumpet) suggest she was chosen for the ticket, according to some CNN pool reporters, because shes giving McCain regular hummers. How else to explain it? I mean, Eleanor Clift and her fellow reporters literally laughed at the choice. Is McCain serious? This woman has virtually no experience! Unlike Obama who, though he doesnt have experience, cannot be held responsible for such a gaping hole in his resume. Institutional racism, you see. Experience is relative. Its a black thing, you wouldnt understand. Says Whitey.
8) The Politico reports, Presidential scholars say [Sarah Palin] appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era.
Well, other than Obama, it goes without saying. But just who are these presidential scholars?:
UPDATE: After reading this article, the McCain campaign issued the following statement: The authors quote four scholars attacking Gov. Palins fitness for the office of vice president. Among them, David Kennedy is a maxed-out Obama donor, Joel Goldstein is also an Obama donor, and Doris Kearns Goodwin has donated exclusively to Democrats this cycle. Finally, Matthew Dallek is a former speech writer for Dick Gephardt. This is not a story about scholars questioning Gov. Palins credentials so much as partisan Democrats who would find a reason to disqualify or discount any nominee put forward by Sen. McCain.
Post-partisanship, people. Take a big whiff of the hope and change!
9) Maureen Dowd, aging beauty whose Manhattanite sensibilities and upper-crust connections mark her as, like, so totally different from Palin (Modo would never dress a moose, naturally unless it arrived at one of her parties wearing something completely inappropriate), that shes going to spend the next few months making sure she you know it:
The P.T.A. is great preparation for dealing with the K.G.B., President Palin murmurs to Todd, as they kiss in the final scene while she changes Trigs diaper. Now that Georgias safe, how bout I cook you up some caribou hot dogs and moose stew for dinner, babe?
My goodness! This hick comedy is golden!
Forced? Why, how dare you! Likely to alienate a great swath of voters? Well, perhaps. But thats assuming they can read. I mean, its not like shes writing this in Readers Digest, TV Guide or, you know, the Bible.
Really. Like that New Yorker cover, this is not really meant for certain people. Sniff.
10) Palin? Positively Cheneyesque. Probably actually uses Heinz 57 on her mooseburgers. The trailer trash queen of all that is evil and unholy
11) If youre going to RAPE THE SEAS, you need government approval. EARTH KILLER!
12) Josh Marshall asks, simply, Eagleton? The idea? That Palin is a head fake, a way to win the election (which of course the Republicans cant win, given the unseriousness of the pick, and how a horrified and insulted electorate will recoil from such calculated frippery but you know, just in case), at which point Palin, having propelled McCain into the White House, will step down, allowing the guy with the magic underwear to be named in her place. Evidently, this accomplishes uh, Im not really sure. Fucking over the people who voted for you for no reason that anyone can think of, maybe? (h/t Robin Mac and Pablo)
13) McCain has suspended the RNC convention because Palin is unprepared. Meaning, I guess, that she simply doesnt have the proper shoes! And that will not do!
Or else, the suggestion is thats shes not ready quite for primetime something that none of her appearances since the announcement of her selection seems thus far to corroborate. So its gotta be the shoe problem.
Blessedly, a potentially deadly hurricane has come along to give the GOP time to find themselves a fast-working Henry Higgins. And maybe bring in Stacey and Clinton to convince Gov Palin to trade in her pelts for something with better lines, and with subtle-but-interesting patterns that say, Yes, Im a conservative woman, but no, I wont, on my way to scrubbing the chum off the trawler deck, gut you with a Bowie knife for doubting creationism.
Which, I guess, would put them in rather famous company when it comes to thanking God for another pointed natural disaster coming along just when it was most needed (thanks to Victor)
14) Uh oh. Looks like Palin might have just lost the BK crowd
15) More Sullivan, who is now checking birth records. So far, he cant find the proper documentation. Which means, of course, that TRIGS MOTHER WAS A JACKAL!
666!!1!eleventy!
(thanks to topsecretk9)
WE DEMAND HEALTH RECORDS BE RELEASED! BLOOD TESTS BE PERFORMED! And please, IGNORE THAT OCCAMS RAZOR BEHIND THE CURTAIN!
16) More to come? Oh. I have no doubt.
****
update: Lee Stranahan at Huffpo takes on the Kossacks. (h/t Dan, in the comments)
****
****
update 2: Oopsie!
Be sure to read the comments for clarification.
It seems like people cant get enough of talking about Sarah Palin.
As always, please keep the discourse on a level you would not mind having your sainted mother read.
You know, my instinct is to not even address this crazy stuff, to just ignore it. But its out there, buzzing, so, I may as well jump in.
The doyens of uterine politics have decided that what matters about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not her politics, not her policies, but her periods.
Like some old, suspicious grandmother from the middle part of the twentieth-century, Alan Colmes counted back on his fingers and decided that - not that its anyones business - but maybe, just maybe Gov. Palin was pregnant when she got married!.
Oh, I know youve got the vapors, dont you? Apparently Colmes had them too. Sales of smelling salts just went sky-high!
The party that has claimed that pre-marital sex is groovy and doesnt matter, and - quite rightly - that ones worth should not be judged by ones sex life, is apparently all-of-a-doo-dah because of some scintillating rumors, good for whispering behind the hands, like a bunch of puritanical washerwomen. Puritans indeed. When they finished fainting, they apparently decided to start sewing the scarlet A, for Mrs. Palin. A-for-ADULTERER (cackle, cackle!)
No one should ever be judged, except Christians. If they have sex and dont abort, theyre fair for ridicule, smears and sport. And a womans choice should always be respected; unless shes the wrong sort of woman, the kind with an R after her name.
Apparently, since the left cant really go after Palin on her experience (Obama has equal or less, and hes running for the TOP job, not the bottom) or her record, which seems very appealing to a reform-minded electorate, the left has settled on the uterine comings-and-goings of not just Sarah Palin but of one of her witchy-named daughters, too.
Yes, the washerwomen are whispering and what theyre whispering is imaginative: According to them, Little Trig, (aka that seriously disabled Down Syndrome Baby that should have been aborted) whom Palin seems to have taken to the office and breastfed is not Palins son but her grandson. One of her daughters, you see, is the actual mother, and oh yes some of these whisperers even suggest that the baby has an extra chromosome because of wait for it incest.
Nice, eh? This is why good people do not go into politics, because this is what theyre subjected to. Apparently, in pictures last winter, layered in clothing (she lives in Alaska) Palin doesnt look pregnant enough for some people.
My best friend in the world wore a running suit to her baby shower and although she was 7 months along, she did not look pregnant at all. I hated her very much.
Anyhow, Andrew Sullivan seems to have decided to lead the charge on this one; he is calling for medical records to be released, ob-gyns to be interviewed, and he feels justified in this intrusion because this would be a private matter if the McCain-Palin campaign hadnt made the baby a key campaign point.
Hmmmm I thought the key campaign point was that Gov. Palin was a kick-ass reformer who knows energy and oil backward-and-forward, and that as regards little Trig, the material point - not the campaign point - is that a baby, known in advance to have an extra chromosome, was allowed to live. That is the fact that is so heartening to so many, but Ill play along
Lets suppose its true. Not the incest part, that is so icky-poo disgusting and utterly groundless - saying much more about those who suggested it, than about anything else - that well just kick it to the curb. But lets pretend its true, that the Palins daughter, succumbing to the same temptation so many teenagers succumb to, found herself pregnant.
She goes to her parents. They say well deal with this as a family. Sometime during the pregnancy, because we know Palin discussed it before Trigs birth, the baby was found to be a male with Down Syndrome.
(Lets forget for a moment that teenage mothers are rarely given amniocentesis tests, but mothers over 30 almost always undergo the testing. And lets also forget that for a mother over age 42, the chances of Downs Syndrome are 1 in 20. Were just pretending, after all.)
So now, the Palins are facing the possibility a teenage daughter perhaps giving birth to a baby who will require some mature parenting. Supposedly, they take the daughter out of sight and invest in a pregnancy suit for Grandma Sarah.
Then they let the baby live, and they love it. They announce the birth with joy, and claim the baby for their own, so their daughter - the public daughter of a public figure - will be allowed her privacy, and a chance to get on with her life.
This makes the Palins look bad how, exactly?
IF its all true, then the Palins handled their private business their private way, kept a family matter in the family, and shielded a daughter. Sullivans key campaign point of a commonly-aborted baby with an extra chromosome being allowed to live, and being parented by Gov. Palin and her husband is still valid, is it not?
A hating commenter on another post says this information - if its true - will shatter us. Really? I have just supposed the whole thing true, and I dont feel shattered. If the wild story is true, then I feel admiration.
As my center-left Lil Bro Thom wrote:
I think that if it turns out the baby is indeed her granddaughter, she might be perceived as doing something honorable, for the child and for her daughter.
Seedubya writes:
But waitlets assume for a second that this goofy idea is true. Lets say for a second that Governor Palin decided to adopt her daughters unplanned special-needs child and present him to the world as her own That would make her kind of a saint, wouldnt it?
I hate to give this absurd nonsense any more space. This story still only boils down to a baby that is - in our society - often looked at as disposable, being loved and welcomed by a family (see these adorable pictures of Trig being held by various siblings and his mom, Sarah).
And assuming it is true, so what? Then its about parents helping one of their children out of a rough patch, with discretion and privacy. Something that both the press, and the Democrats, should more than understand. Remember hands off Chelsea?
I have a question. Andrew Sullivan writes here that all of these whisperings and wonderings are coming to him from mainstream media sources.
Could it be, perhaps just perhaps I mean lets pretend that the press decided that they did not completely trust this wild rumor. Possibly these mainstream media sources - unsure that this story will shatter the GOP, and realizing that they will come off looking pretty dreadful if the story proves false (and a bit spiteful no matter what) - are carefully spooning it all out to a blog - because they dont much respect blogs - and hoping it turns to poison?
Frankly, seeing this internet rumor hit the UK papers makes me think that bloggers hyping nonsense do not do the credibility of the medium, or the bloggers in general, any favor. These terrified uber-haters are just making themselves look foolish, and further energizing the right by creating more sympathy for Palin.
Don Surber has another picture. Although true-believer whackjobs will never accept any evidence. How sad that it has come to this. As Betsy Newmark wrote, I hope Palin - who is, after all, hormonal and nursing - can handle everything that that will be thrown at her. If she just stays calm, she should be okay.
Ann Althouse says: stop prying into other peoples vaginas. Yeah. So much for sisterhood.
Maxed Out Mama: This stuff really, really convinces women that Democrats are for women I dont get it, either. Theyre not the Democrats I knew.
Ace has more preg-suit pictures and more unhinged theories
The Maternal Optimist: Spots a working mother who shops at Costco
Think they cant get any more petty? Think again! The woman goes to an emergency area, and theyre so small, all they can do is criticize her freaking EARRINGS.
Also: some sanity from Lee Stranahan
UPDATE: Sullivan is grudgingly walking it back, apparently until further notice. He links to a Kos diarist sounding the charge to go back to the first tactic: criticize her labor situation. But Im bored with that one; covered it here. Happy Labor Day!
Scroll for updates RNC opening night cancelled McCain via Bloomberg: We are facing a great national challenge, McCain said in remarks sent by video from St. Louis to Republicans gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the nominating convention. We have to do away with party politics and we have to act as Americans Fowler apologizes
First, please read this e-mail from michellemalkin.com reader/commenter CantCureStupid, who is a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard. She asks for your thoughts and prayers as the people of his state ready for the storm:
Hi Michelle.
Im a new member to the site and a big fan, and right now Im experiencing a brief (and rare) moment of downtime. I am a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, and we are up to our nostrils in preparations for Hurricane Gustav. There is a lot going on right now in south Louisiana, but mostly we are watching this monster bear down on us and hoping for the best. I wanted you to know, as a soldier who also had to suffer through the cluster that was Katrina, that we are 1000% better prepared (God Bless Bobby Jindal!!), and that while hoping for the best, we are completely prepared for the worst and ready to do what needs to be done to ensure the safety of the people of this state.
I am sure, as a fan of your site, that the vast majority of your fantastic commenters are keeping us in their thoughts and prayers. Most of us are very aware of how sick the rest of the nation must be to hear the namby-pamby cry baby stuff that still comes out of the New Orleans area three years after Katrina, but I would ask for prayer and support for my soldiers, who have nothing to do with politics and who show up and serve whenever called upon.
God Bless America and God Bless Louisiana!!!
New Orleans is under mandatory evacuation orders this morning. Heres a disaster preparedness round-up from Glenn Reynolds. And Weather Nerd and hurricane blogger Brendan Loy is tracking the latest developments.
Per Gov. Bobby Jindals order at 4am this morning: As directed by Governor Jindal, Louisiana State Police will initiate contraflow at 4:00 AM Sunday morning. For the first time in history, the entire Louisiana coastal population will be evacuated due to the impending threat of Hurricane Gustav.
We know who wont be praying for their success and safety: tolerant, peaceful liberals wishing the worst on Republicans in Gustavs path and laughing about the possibility of grave destruction.
Exhibit A: Michael Moore (via Allah).
Exhibit B: Former DNC chair Don Fowler (via redstate diarist Absentee, who caught Fowler and Democrat Rep. John Spratts candid, malicious comments on a plane from Denver to Charlotte. Transcript via Ed Morrissey.
The hurricanes going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. [Chuckle] The timing is at least it appears now that itll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that Gods on our side. [Laughter] Everythings cool.
God is not on your side, gloating sleazeballs.
Our Louisiana Army National Guards screen name says it all: Cant Cure Stupid.
***
How to help with Gustav preparation and recovery efforts.
Stay Classy Daily Kos: Accusations Palin 'Faked Her Pregnancy' of Down's Syndrome baby>"...
Palin just announced that her daughter is pregnant - will keep the baby, and marry the father ............... FRegards
So, Gov. Sarah Palins daughter, Bristol, age 17, is pregnant, and wants to marry the father of the baby.
The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.
Hey, since Trig is only four months old, and Bristol is five months pregnant I guess the KosKidz can finally put the it might still be a pregnancy suit nonsense to rest. Andrew Sullivan can stop demanding to hear from Palins doctor, too - which should be a relief to him, because it must have made him very uncomfortable to be demanding records when so many with medical issues, fight to legislate for medical privacy. Right?
Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support, the Palins said. The Palins asked the news media to respect the young couples privacy.
Ace says: contrast that to Obamas I dont want [my daughters] punished with a baby!
We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levis privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates, [Palin's] statement concluded.
Good luck on that, Mrs. Palin. The press rightly understood hands off Chelsea and they rarely if ever reported on the comings and goings of Al Gores kids, but you have an R after your name, not a D, so - Im sorry - but hands off Bristol will mean nothing to them.
Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughters pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
Well, it shouldnt. Hopefully, Sen. Obama, who said, leave my wife and kids out of it, will be classy about this and lead by example.
The politics of the uterus continues. Lets see who can be be bigger, and who can be smaller on this issue.The left just betrayed themselves as mean-spirited fools, capable of thinking anything about the Palin family. Perhaps, aware of that, theyll do better with this issue. I hope they do.
Do consider this: The Palins could have quietly gotten their daughter an abortion, and no one would ever have known about it. Instead, they choose to be who they are, and deal with it, knowing how the world is. Its not cowardly, whatever else you want to say about it. Quite the opposite; its authentic. These people have guts to spare.
My one prediction: the left - who really dont understand Christians as well as they think they do - will gleefully announce that this will kill Palin with the socials cons. She probably will lose a few of the extreme sorts, but over-all, youre going to see the Evangelicals support her.
Youll immediately hear some wag (left or right) say Palin needs to be home taking care of her family Which will not endear that wag to the millions of working mothers who do everything they can and more for their family, but still manage to have teenagers who do things teenagers do. Its a statement that does no one any good; avoid it!
It is going to be incredibly interesting to watch the shredding of caricatures, here.
Were going to watch the tolerant left, champions of sexually active teenagers, who believe that teenagers should be able to have an abortion without parental notification, and who routinely refer to Christians as uptight, sex-hating judgmental, moralizing prudes go all medieval denunciation on Bristol and her family. Ive already read a left-forum comment about the whore governor and her tramp daughter.
Were going to watch the intolerant right, who champion chastity because they know all too well the situation the Palin family faces, and how the road is, rally behind Bristol.
Let us not for a moment pretend were the situation reversed, were the Palins a Democrat family, the left would be rallying behind them, and some on the right would - lets be honest - be throwing the whore and tramp line around.If the Palins allow it - and they dont have to because this is their private business, and not yours or mine - this could be the beginning of a long-needed national discussion on teenage sexuality, responsible sex, and teen pregnancy. Hopefully it can be a clear and honest discussion instead of one corrupted by political point-grabbing but I somehow think the country has moved beyond healthy discourse.
So, lets sit back and watch. I know if Bristol were my daughter, Id be on her side; Id probably ask her to consider the question of early marriage very seriously. But I know families where young couples have married early and gone on to have very successful lives together. I know older couples who married and fell apart within a year, so let the discussion start without all of the theyre doomed sneering, or the theyre wonderful fairy tales.
This will also, once again, be a discussion about womens choices - and the culture of life, and the culture of death. The feminists on the left need to be careful, here. Theyve been arguing that 11 year olds are women for a long time. They cannot suddenly play the Bristol is a baby having a baby and shes too young to know her own choices, crapola.
Anyone want to make some predictions on what various bloggers, pundits and newspeople will say? And comedians?
The blogger to watch here: Ed Morrissey, who will be able to write compellingly, and more knowledgeably than most, about all of this.
I hope the Palins are as strong as they seem.
Deacon Greg - predictably - finds something utterly gorgeous in the midst of all this soap opera:
Solomon Henderson inherited just three things from his birth parents, who left him at an Ethiopian orphanage when he was 1 year old: a picture of Jesus, a plastic crucifix and HIV.
As one of some 14,000 Ethiopian children born with the virus every year, Solomons prospects for survival much less adoption were grim. But Erin Hendersons heart stirred when she saw him, and she decided, on the spot, to adopt him.
They told me that they werent sure he would live through the weekend, Henderson said by e-mail from her home in rural Wyoming, where she lives with her husband and 11 children, two of whom are HIV-positive adoptees from Ethiopia.
Solomon, now an active 2-year-old with chubby cheeks and a shy smile, is part of a small but growing movement: Americans adopting HIV-positive children from abroad.
Theres a dose of perspective, for you. Youll want to read it all.
Also never miss Ann Althouse: and her usual incredibly good commenters. Althouse notes the left is quickly going with the stupider narrative: Ladies: Put your career on hold until everything in youre family stops happening.
Bender in comments below: And dont tell me again that Republicans are out of touch. Dont tell me again that they do not know the experiences of everyday people. Once again, the Palins show themselves to be one of us.
Also writing:
STACLU: a roundup of reactions
Hot Air/Allah
Rhymes With Right
Amuse Cynic: is amused and no longer in need of reality tv
Palin's Teen Daughter Pregnant [ 1, 2 ]
Id just finished whipping out my credit card and donating to McCain/Palin again when I saw this, (H/T Lorie Byrd) and it almost made me donate again, except Im broke.
This MAN - who I will not link to - suggests, with absolutely no knowledge of anything, because before 4 days ago Sarah Palin was not even a blip on his radar:
I DO think she [Palin] flew at a dangerous time in her pregnancy and then took her time getting to a hospital in an attempt to force a miscarriage, however. Or I suspect thats the case, and theres no way to prove that.
Again, so were clear: this is a MAN, who is suggesting that every woman who flies in the 8th month of her pregnancy is being reckless. This is a MAN who is presuming to know - or to more properly project his own inclinations into - Palins mind. This is a MAN (and I am no gender warrior, but lets be clear that this is a so-called LIBERAL MAN) sitting there cheerfully assigning the most awful motives to a woman he does not know, but whom he hates with passion apparently because she is a woman and a smart, strong woman who is also a conservative.
This is a LIBERAL MAN, who probably argues for abortion rights up to the ninth month of pregnancy, suggesting that a woman with four children, who knew her body, knew what her labors was like, and who called her doctor, conferred with him and made a DECISION with him, was actually just trying to kill her baby, which - suddenly - he seems to find an immoral idea!
And excuse me, but arent DECISIONS made between a woman and her doctor sort of sacred, to these folks? Or have they been just yammering about this for 40 years and lying their heads off? Or are they just bloody hypocrites?
I cannot imagine that sane women from the center or the center-left can listen to this stunning misogyny, which flies in the face of four decades of powerful debate and rhetoric, and feel peaceful with this relentless attack upon a woman, launched immediately and chillingly at the very heart of her womanhood, before she had made one campaign stop. The message is: you women better know your place, and it is in the party, under the men who screwed Hillary out of her shot.
The hope, apparently, is that they will chase Sarah Palin away. Theyd better hope they do not succeed. Because every thinking woman in America will have seen what they did, and how they did it, by attacking womanhood and motherhood and the private and career decisions of a gifted woman. And those women will look at their own lives and their daughters, and they will not sit there and take it.
Look at what their shocking hate is doing to these people. And they dont even know Sarah Palin; they are so terrified of the tiny bit theyve seen that they just went into immediate, rabid and unnatural attack.
The commenters at Dirty Harrys Place do a good job of exposing his ignorance. Hello, an 8th month birth is a premature delivery, not a miscarriage. If shed been in labor, her doctor would not have had to induce her.
I wrote about all this several days ago.
Unlike these creatures, who want to think nothing but the worst of Sarah Palin, all five of her children, her husband and - if she has one - her dog, I dont want to believe the worst about Obama. But I am really starting to wonder about the weird co-incidence that the Koskidz started a rumor - based on nothing - about Palin, and her daughter Bristol, and then it turns out that Bristol is pregnant. We know now that the press knew about the pregnancy.
The press is in the tank for Obama, we know that. When I read Allahpundit a while ago, I thought, no - but now, I have to wonder: did the Koskidz bungle a leak from the Obama camp?
Anyone find it amazingly coincidental that Daily Kos went after Palins own pregnancy right out of the chute on Friday, with no apparent evidence whatsoever, and now we find out that her daughters actually pregnant? I usually scoff at the idea of party researchers planting memes with bloggers, especially since the nutroots is so paranoid about that happening on the right, but thats a simply remarkable stoke of good luck on their part, no?
I dont believe Obama would do it. But his camp might. Remember, his camp greeted the news of Palins addition to the ticket with nastiness and a distinct lack of common political courtesy or generosity. Obama had to walk it back.
The co-incidence is pretty neat, isnt it? I wonder who leaked it.
Ace writes: Dont believe a damn word the lefties write about the Palins.
Dont worry, I wont. Their credibility is finally, utterly, used up with me.
If there was ever a time to ask, have you no shame. Finally, have you no shame, this is it.
Mikes Noise looks at all of this and sees how little these people understand about their opponents, and he cannot help but quote Jonah Goldberg from his book, Liberal Fascism
A FAIR HIT: Noting that Sarah Palin supports abstinence education in place of traditional sex-ed. I'm not a fan of abstinence education, and while this is hardly proof that it doesn't work -- plenty of teenagers get pregnant after having traditional sex-ed, too -- it's a fair point.
My daughter, meanwhile, got one of those robot babies -- I think it was called "Baby Think Twice" or something like that -- that wakes up and cries and has to be fed, changed, etc, and produces a printout of how well you did. But although it's clearly intended to make motherhood look less appealing, she liked it and, like several of her friends, said it made her want a baby more. Gulp.
UPDATE: Sissy Willis: "If McCain can get the votes of all the women who were pregnant at their weddings, it'll be a landslide!"
ANOTHER UPDATE: Pointing out that Palin is pro-contraception. So am I!
MORE: Some thoughts from Hilzoy.
Photoshop: David Lunde
The Palin family values the sanctity of life. They talk the talk and walk the walk. It is driving the Left absolutely insane beyond the farthest reaches of unhingedness. Now comes the news that 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant. News that wouldnt be news but for the nutroots P.D.S. conspiracy theories that wont die.
The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.
Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palins five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The official family statement on the McCain website:
We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. Were proud of Bristols decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levis privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.
What will the bottom-feeders do next? Investigate their dating history? Hound them during their pre-natal visits a la Alan Colmes?
***
We know what Obama and company think she should have done. Remember?
Look, I got two daughters 9 years old and 6 years old, he said. I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I dont want them punished with a baby.
One ticket sees this as a blessing. The other sees it as a curse. Could the core differences between the two be any starker?
Ed Morrissey shares his experience: We have walked in the Palins shoes.
September 1, 2008 06:05 PM by Michelle Malkin116 Comments
Darleen has already noted the release of the story, by the McCain campaign, that Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will marry the father of the child.
But heres the interesting bit, politically speaking. From Reuters:
Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughters pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.In the short period since she was announced last Friday, Palin has helped to energize the Republican Partys conservative base, giving the McCain camp fresh energy going into the campaign for the November 4 election against Democrat Barack Obama.
McCain officials said the news of the daughters pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called mud-slinging and lies circulating on liberal blog sites.
According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palins child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.
A senior McCain campaign official said the McCain camp was appalled that these rumors had not only been spread around liberal blog sites and partisan Democrats, but also were the subject of heightened interest from mainstream news media.
The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obamas name in them, is a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their campaign of change, a senior aide said.
[my emphases]
Many on the left will believe, quite mistakenly, that such an announcement is likely to weaken Palins support among the hard-right conservative base. But in fact, it will do no such thing first, because the hard-right conservative base that liberal Democrats consistently invoke is largely a caricature that lives only in their minds and as a convenient trope in their rhetoric, from whence it can be trotted out as a foil and a boogeyman on cue; and second, because those energized over the choice of Palin include many disaffected libertarians and classical liberals who were, until the announcement of the Governors candidacy, set to either sit the election out, or else cast a protest vote for Bob Barr.
That the Palin family by dint of ugly rumor mongering from progressive activists and a compliant left-leaning press that was cynically situating itself to pretend that these rumors needed investigating was all but compelled to release information about their teenage daughter, is precisely the kind of thing that drives real civil libertarians and privacy advocates crazy, especially because the information has nothing whatever to do with Governor Palins candidacy, but instead invades the privacy (and quite possibly affects the choice) of a minor.
This kind of savage smear campaign by leftists and so-called feminists a campaign that forced a young woman to make public a very private matter in order to stop vicious rumors about the Palin family suggests that, when it comes to privacy concerns (NSA data mining for terrorists = bad; demanding the release of a Governors medical records = good; parental notification for abortions performed on women under a certain age = bad; insisting that the world be privy to the private sexual and family concerns of the seventeen-year-old daughter of a conservative = good), progressives care about such things only insofar as it protects their political interests and advances their political agenda.
The left, as it has now been shown in one of the ugliest incidences of McCarthyite bullying I can remember, has no core belief in privacy, or even an investment in actual choice for women unless the woman in question falls in line with their particular orthodoxies, that is. Anyone else is an anti-woman woman, and as such is subject to public exposure and ridicule.
The ironic thing is, Bristol Palins political beliefs arent even known, beyond (I assume) her support for her mother. But hey: all is fair in love and war, and suddenly, the progressive left seems quite unconcerned with collateral damage and the children!
Hopefully, any real feminist not the kinds of second wave establishment feminists who have eschewed the end game of equality for the politically charged power politics of identity group activism and grievance pimping will be so appalled by what has transpired over the last several days that they will run screaming from the enlightened base of the Democratic party: totalitarian progressives who have devoured Alinsky like he was a particularly plump and inviting veggie burger.
They are what they pretend to despise. And in the quiet moments between attacks, I suspect many of them recognize this, and secretly curse what it is theyve become.
****
update: thor argues in the comments:
If Sarah Palin thinks so highly of privacy and her family matters then why in the hell does she want to dictate to others regarding their decisions of privacy and family matters when it comes to pregnancy?This, my friends, is a breathtaking moment of hypocrisy (pun driven too).
My response, which is actually a general response to this kind of question, is really rather simple: Being anti-abortion is a position with respect to a practice. So far as I know, Palin is not calling for the bombing of clinics, or the harassment of women who make the choice to have an abortion. It just happens to be her opinion that abortion is wrong just as it is thors opinion that hicks from Alaska have no business doing anything other than skinning bears and making little beer-swilling trailer trash urchins for him to sniff at.
Perhaps Palin believes fetuses are children, and as such, are entitled to protection of the law. This view is shared by many people and plays to a libertarian concern over the hierarchy of rights: if a fetus is a child (or eventually is defined as such by scientific advancement), does that child not have the right to life? For my part, I believe eventually science will make this a moot question as viability of the fetus outside the womb is extended. Which is why right now I remain reluctantly pro-choice. But for me this is a difficult question and the easiest answer, it seems to me, is to dismiss the fetus altogether and pat yourself on the back for supporting women when what you are supporting is a practice that may help some women and may harm others.
None of which has anything to do with privacy. Again, Governor Palin has not, that Ive seen, called for a Constitutional Amendment banning abortion. Rather, she has stated her opinion on what to her appears to be a moral issue.
Being against the practice of abortion has not impelled Sarah Palin to put up a statewide list of those who have had abortions. Those who advocate for parental notification arent advocating for a scarlet letter.
So, as is so often the case, thors argument is a piece of vindictive misdirection. As I say, Im (reluctantly) pro-choice. But even so, I believe Roe v Wade was bad law and pointing it out, or even disagreeing with a particular reproductive practice, does not necessarily suggest that one is trying to stick her nose into another womans uterus. Instead, they believe that what they are doing is acting as an advocate for an unborn child.
And science by way of advancements that keep the fetus viable ever longer outside the womb seems to be moving the debate in their direction.
****
update 2: More from Malkin and Hot Air.
Alas, from a left/feminist perspective, looks like Bristol is gonna be punished with a baby. And a husband. And a tight-knit family that supports her. Poor dear.
Lesson: teenage sex is good and shouldnt be discouraged provided we have a mechanism to kill off whatever we call that thing inside that acts as a punishment. I mean, who knew it would be the left who saw sin growing in a young womans womb?
First, Marcotte proves to be a Calvinist and now the argument of the left appeals to hardcore Catholicism?
Wow. Strange days, indeed.
Wonder how the product of a single mom, Barry O!, will treat this shameless wilderness hussy ?
Its an interesting phenomenon that the left is comfortable with women only insofar as they are the right kind of women, whereas they dont seem to be comfortable with middle class people, backgrounds and values at all. Regardless of the constant chin-wagging about hard working American men and women or somesuch, the appearance of Palin, her hard-working husband, their oh-so-pedestrian pastimes, and their family with real family issues, seems to have sent them running the other way.
I guess we all arent getting the message of Change the right way..."
I suggest you watch it to the end.
"Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead."
CNN especially is getting raked over the coals. Obama voters are deserting by the truckloads.
When your enemy is destroying itself, don't interfere.
When Sarah gave her acceptance speech, my wife, former Democrat ( think Zell Miller, please, not Moonbat ) and union member, stood up and said
"I want to vote for her!"
Sent her money, ordered bumperstickers for our truck & car. This stuff with the babies gets a "big deal, family stuff, everybody I know has something like that..."
I can't claim that is typical- but if it is, The Duke of Hopy-Changiness is in a heap of trouble.
I just need to ask it.
Let me state up front that I believe Sex Education is the responsibility of parents, and that a part of responsible parenting is comprehensive sex education: talking clearly, openly and often with your kids about human sexuality, natural urges, hygiene, masturbation, abstinence, forms of birth control etc, along with moral guidance reflecting your familys belief system or humanist ethics.
Having endured sex education in school, I dont know that school is where it should be taught. It seemed pretty ineffective to me, when I was a kid. Maybe THAT is the question that some of these hysterical newscasters - who are using the Sex Ed question as a means to beat up Sarah Palin and her 17 year old daughter - should be asking:
I had hoped, when the story of Bristols pregnancy had broken, that the nation might finally engage in a real national talk about teen sex and sex ed. But were not having that talk; were just seeing an issue framed thusly: Sex Ed in school is an unqualified success and a good, and there is no argument.
Here is what this laywoman knows about Sex Ed:
It started out that kids in High School needed sex ed, to prevent teen pregnancies and the transmission of STDs
Then so many kids were getting pregnant or STDs that it was determined that sex ed needed to begin earlier, in Junior High School!
But teen pregnancies were declared to be a crisis, and so sex ed needed to begin even earlier - in elementary school. And condoms needed to be free at school.
Ive heard talking heads mention that sex ed should begin in pre-school.
And yet, teenagers, with all of this sex education, coming at them all through their school years, are still managing to get pregnant. Still managing to get STDs. Still managing to get lots of abortions. Its all still a perpetual crisis.
My kids deplored sex ed in school; they found it a huge waste of time because they already knew everything. The only thing they heard in school that they did not hear at home was a different philosophy.
The one we taught here was:
Sex is natural; sex is good. Sex belongs in committed relationships because sex is POWERFUL; it is the only thing we can do that creates LIFE, so it must be RESPECTED. Respect yourself. Respect women. Porn is titillatingly but it reduces people to THINGS, and most of the women involved in porn, even if they say theyre there voluntarily, are actually there because someone has communicated a message to them - probably when they were very young - that sex was all they were good for. When you reduce people to mere vessels for your personal gratification, you are committing a grave sin. Masturbation is natural, but dont let it take over your life, dont let it draw you into a mindset of instant gratification, and dont make a habit of it. As you grow up and mature, it will seem less engaging and less necessary. Try to wait for marriage. If that doesnt happen, be responsible; acknowledge the fact that youre engaging in behavior that can end up creating a new life; be ready to take care of that new life. Be READY for sex, because it is not simply good. It is sacred and holy.
The message they got at school was:
Sex is natural, sex is good, dont worry about prudes and moralists. Youre going to have sex. Here are condoms. Put one on a banana. See? You needed a class to learn how to do that. Oral sex is one way to keep from getting pregnant. Have oral sex. Dont worry about those sores in your mouth. Masturbation is natural; do it all you want. Everyone looks at porn and as long as its not violent stuff, thats okay, it enhances sex. Recreational sex is fine as long as youre respectful of your partner. Sex is no big deal. Have sex, dont multiply; if you do, youre old enough to decide on an abortion and here are where they are offered in this neighborhood. Oh, and have safe sex. You dont want any STDs.
I never feared what my kids would learn at sex ed classes in school, because Id taken care of it at home, and Id grounded them in our moral guidelines.
Several liberal and "progressive" bloggers are gleefully pointing out the supposed hypocrisy that Sarah Palin represents because she believes in abstinence as a means to battle teen pregnancy.
"It didn't work for her daughter, did it?", they point out.
I won't jump on the fact that they're using a single point of reference to belittle a society-wide education plan, that's neither here nor there. What I will question them on is if they believe that education is the be-all, end-all to combat teen pregnancy?
I ask, because on Page 25, (pdf, 6.7M, 145pp) of the State of Alaska, Department of Education & Early Development, Content and Performance Standards for Alaska Students (Revised Mar 2006) it says this under Skills for a Healthy Life:
7) understand the physical and behavioral characteristics of human sexual development and maturity; and
8) understand the ongoing life changes throughout the life span and healthful responses to these changes.
I'm guessing that abstinence isn't the only piece of the system that failed in the case of Bristol Palin, eh?
Update: Damian is on the education theme too.
Cheers,
lance
From David Harsanyi, writing for RCP:
Palin, for example, vetoed 300 pork projects in Alaska in her first year in office. She made a habit of knocking out big-government Republicans in her brief political career. For this, the 44-year-old mother of five enjoys a sterling approval rating in a state with arguably the nations most libertarian-minded populace.When it comes to healthcare, Palin says she wants to allow free-market competition and reduce onerous government regulation. These days, any mention of the free market thats not framed as a crass pejorative is a sign of progress.
Culturally, there is little for the Heartland to dislike. By now, youve probably seen picture or two of Palin sporting a rifle. Apparently, shes left carcasses strewn across the Alaskan wilderness. In some places areas where the nation is growing owning a gun is not yet a sin. And unlike Obama, Palin seems to believe that the Second Amendment means the exact same thing in rural Alaska as it does in the streets of Chicago.
Yes, Palin is without argument a staunch social conservative. She is fervently opposed to abortion - even in cases of rape and incest, which will raise eyebrows, but is certainly more philosophically consistent than the namby pambyism of your average politician. The choice issue, after all, is complicated, even for many libertarians. And, as I was recently reminded, Ron Paul, the Libertarian champion of the 21st century, also opposes abortion.
Even when advocating for moral issues, Palins approach is a soft sell. Palin does not support gay marriage (neither does Obama, it should be noted). Yet, in 2006, Palins first veto as Governor was a bill that sought to block state employee benefits and health insurance for same-sex couples.
We cannot bore into Palins soul to see her true feelings about gay couples, but, at the time, she noted that signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office because it was unconstitutional. For most libertarians, the thought of politician following any constitution, rather than their own predilections, morality or the common good, is a nice change of pace.
On the counterproductive War on Drugs, Palin is no warrior. Her Republican opponent in 2006 primary, incumbent Republican governor Frank Murkowski, made recriminalizing the possession of small amounts of pot a priority. Palin, though she does not support legalization, believes enforcement should not be a high priority.
I cant claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled, Palin once said. This sort of honesty is a welcome change from the standard hand-wringing about marijuanas supposed disastrous consequences.
On education, Palin supports school-choice programs. There have already been smears that she backed creationist teaching in public schools, when in fact, Palins comment regarding intelligent design should hold some appeal to libertarians. Even if you find the idea inane, in essence, Palin pushed the idea that parents, rather than the state, should decide what children are learning.
When asked about this commotion, Palin said, I wont have religion as a litmus test, or anybodys personal opinion on evolution or creationism. If lockstep left-wing union-run school boards in urban districts would follow this sound advice on ideological litmus tests, our educational system would be a lot more productive.
Then there is a question of authenticity. And it matters. Those who will do anything for power, will say anything and support any position that is convenient. From John McCain to Joe Biden to Obama, one gets the sense that political office is their lifes work. All of them have made attempts to create the perception that, hey, theyre ordinary Americans just like you. Palin wont have to work at genuineness. With Palin, you get the impression she can take politics or leave it. Her life certainly hasnt been saturated with policy, favor trading and back scratching.
Of course, Washington has a mysterious power to turn perfectly reasonable, wholesome, well-meaning human beings into equivocating crooked gasbags. But, from the little we know about Palin, such a transformation doesnt seem likely. And for libertarians - in the broadest sense of the small l word shes the best candidate they can expect.
As Glenn Reynolds notes and as I noted several times in the last few days (in re:, eg., the practice of abortion, or her position on ID, or even, as EG notes here, sex education) one can, of course, be a social conservative in philosophy and still support a libertarian approach to government and regulation.
That is, unless one happens to be from the reality-based community of nuance, of course part of the charm of which is that the nuance itself is so starkly black and white that it ironizes the very meaning of nuance.
Which, you have to admit, is quite the nuancy view of nuance. Really. All the truly important kinds of people are saying so
September 2, 2008 11:57 AM by Michelle Malkin181 Comments
On Todays Show...
Sarah Palin is the Clarence Thomas smear of 2008. Democrats and their willing accomplices in the Drive-By Media seek to destroy this woman through her pregnant daughter. It's the Wellstone Memorial times ten. (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here)
Pearl of Wisdom: "Every parent with a child has hoped that this never happens to their daughter. They don't appreciate political hacks trying to make hay out of it. It is a tradition that Americans understand that families are not part of political campaigns. The smart Democrats -- and I think there probably are a couple -- don't want to debate Bristol Palin's pregnancy. The problem is, the wackos run their party now."
The Drive-Bys viciously attack Palin, calling her everything from a supporter of a Nazi sympathizer to a deadbeat mom. Rush has the clips. (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here)
Sarah Palin is an accomplished woman who succeeded in politics on her merits, unlike Hillary. She offers a path for success that's directly opposed to the feminist model.
» Camille Paglia: "We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling. That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails." (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here)
Pearl of Wisdom: "Obama had lots of women to choose from to help with that demo, but he went with a white male to get that vote. That means that his biggest problem is with white men. He's having problems broadly appealing to the whole electorate."
John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and the press say Rush forced McCain to choose the pro-life, conservative Palin. Hey, they got one right! (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here)
Lady callers burn up the EIB phone lines to praise and brag on Governor Palin.
Pearl of Wisdom: "This coverage of Sarah Palin is the greatest example of Drive-By Media I could give you, short of the definition. They run around wildly ruining people's lives, and we have to come along at the tail end of it and clean up the mess."
We had the same Bush, the same FEMA, and the same Mayor in New Orleans. The big difference between Gustav and Katrina: Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.
Obama booster "P. Diddy" went on explicative-laced tirade against Palin, saying she's out of touch with black folks because "There's not even no crackheads in Alaska."
The media is giving Sarah Palin her uterus exam, so where's Biden's anal exam? His serial plagiarism disgraced him for president in 1988, but now he's okay for VP?
From Rush's Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page: |
Ive never seen this kind of fear from these people.
Dont take this lightly. What theyre capable of will surprise even the most jaded observers.
Everybody better be ready to fight like hell. This is going to be a war.
A couple of thoughts:
1. If you read all the details, you walk away smiling because she sounds like a charming and warm person. REAL.
2. All the details about skateboard parks and funding pensions just add to the claim that Governor Palin has walked the walk.
3. This one article with these clippings allowed me to learn more about Governor Palin and the issues shes worked on than everything I have read about Barack Obama. Beyond Rev. Wright, Ayers, Resko, Birth Certificates, Indonesia, Muslims and killing new born babies...everything else written about Obama seems to be written by himself. (sorry I forgot to capitalize Himself for the inferred deity.)
This is great stuff! I had no idea he was committed to all this:
- Phase out the Alternative Minimum Tax outright
- Increase the tax exemption for children from $3,500 to $7,000
- Keep the Internet tax free
- Make the Bush tax cuts permanent, with the top individual income tax rate at 35%
- Keep the capital gains at 15%
- Continue phasing out the death tax
- Freeze all federal discretionary spending outside of defense and veterans benefits for one year
- Limit overall federal spending growth to 2.4%
- And my favorite, veto every pork-laden spending bill and make their authors famous.
I have a sudden epiphany for why certain persons on the left are having their heads somewhat explode over the last few days.
The so-called "Troopergate" crappola is all over the news today. Anyone who even remotely looks into that immediately can assess how asinine this manufactured "scandal" is.
Yesterday the coverage was wall to wall on her daughter's pregnancy.
The absolute most sweat revenge is victory.
I ran into a friend at the store today and we were discussing politics as we often do. It turned out that she lived in Palmer, Alaska and knew Sarah (Heath) Palin through middle school, high school and then when she returned after college in Idaho. (Both named their daughters Willow)
Anyway, she said that what ever we hear about Sarahs toughness, honesty and frank openness would be doubled or tripled if we could meet her in person. She is the real deal. When she was on the city council she got irritated about the budgeting and insider dealing going on at City Hall in Wasilla. She ran for Mayor, won and at the first meeting announced the firings of almost everyone under her control.
I can see why the media and Washington insiders fear her so. They have been up there snooping around and they know who she is.
DATABASE: palin